Chapter 9: Xiao Bao Didn’t Eat Candy

Xiao Bao is an adorable and well-behaved child. He rarely fusses or cries. However, something seems off about him today. He has been furrowing his brow, appearing somewhat unhappy.

Wang Jinhe noticed Xiao Bao’s unusual behavior. She walked over to him, her heart filled with warmth. Her son, especially when he tilts his head and looks at her like that, is simply too cute.

Whenever she sees Xiao Bao, her heart melts. She would do anything for him, no matter what it takes.

Xiao Bao looked at Wang Jinhe and giggled, ” Xiao Bao loves Mommy the most.”

She gently caressed his face and asked, “Why does my Xiao Bao have such a sweet mouth today? Did you secretly eat candy without telling Mommy?”^[1]note: I will be using Mommy when Xiao Bao is addressing Wang Jinhe

Xiao Bao quickly shook his head, saying, ” Xiao Bao didn’t eat candy. Xiao Bao is being good.”

Seeing Xiao Bao’s expression, Wang Jinhe pretended to be serious and said, “Based on how well-behaved Xiao Bao is, Mommy has bought some candied hawthorns for you. Would you like to try them?”

Xiao Bao looked at Wang Jinhe with confusion, asking, “Mommy, what are candied hawthorns? Are they tasty?”

Wang Jinhe felt a pang of heartache as she looked at Xiao Bao’s bewildered face. Despite doing her best for him, perhaps this is all she can offer.

She took out the candied hawthorns from her bag, Xiao Bao’s eyes couldn’t look away from them. He looked at her with excitement, asking, “Mommy, are these really for me?”

Wang Jinhe smiled and replied, “Yes, they are for you, Xiao Bao. Mommy also bought some delicious snacks for you. You can have them every day, but only two pieces a day, alright?”

Xiao Bao nodded obediently and said, “Alright, Mommy, I’ll only eat two pieces.” As he spoke, he tried to use his fingers to show the number two, but got a bit confused and ended up showing three fingers.

Seeing Xiao Bao’s adorable gesture, Wang Jinhe couldn’t help but smile and said, “Why is my Xiao Bao so cute?”

Xiao Bao handed the candied hawthorn to Wang Jinhe first for her to eat.

After Wang Jinhe took a bite, she passed it to Grandma Wang to taste.

Everyone, including Wang Jingyu, had a share. In the end, only two pieces were left for Xiao Bao, but it was enough. The candied hawthorns were both sour and sweet, and it was better for Xiao Bao to eat less.

Xiao Bao didn’t care how many he had left; he happily enjoyed his candied hawthorn.

While Xiao Bao was eating, Wang Jinhe shared her thoughts with Grandma Wang and the others.

“Grandma, since the rainy season hasn’t arrived yet, why don’t we rebuild the house? My brother is growing up, and he can’t keep sleeping in cramped conditions with all of you,” Wang Jinhe spoke up.

The room belonging to Grandma Wang and her husband is the largest, and that’s where Wang Jingyu sleeps.

“After we rebuild the house, we should prepare a big room for my brother. One side will be for sleeping, and the other side will be a study area. We can hire someone to make a bookshelf and a desk so that my brother can read and write. We should also get more books for him to read,” Wang Jinhe suggested.

Hearing Wang Jinhe’s plans, Wang Jingyu wanted to say there was no need, but he also yearned for a dedicated study space.

Seeing Wang Jingyu’s hesitant expression, Wang Jinhe pretended to be generous and said, “Brother, don’t worry. Your little sister has money, and we have quite a bit of it. We will build the best house possible. Fortunately, the foundation of our property is large, so we can definitely construct a spacious brick and tile house.”

“Xiao He is right. It’s settled then,” nodded Grandpa Wang, thinking that his granddaughter’s plan was excellent.

It’s true that our grandson has grown up and needs his own room. Who knows when he’ll get married? It wouldn’t be right for him to have nowhere to live after getting married, would it?

The reason our grandson hasn’t married yet, despite his age, is because our family hasn’t been well off, and that has delayed things.

Now that our granddaughter has ideas, it couldn’t be better.

“Brother, you keep this money. When you go to your teacher’s house, you can’t go empty-handed, right? You should bring some gifts with you. Apart from this, you’ll also need to buy writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, which will cost quite a bit of money,” Wang Jinhe thought about how much money she should give Wang Jingyu, and in the end, she handed him fifty taels of silver.

Wang Jingyu was startled when he saw the silver being stuffed into his hand by Wang Jinhe. “Xiao He, you don’t need to give me so much. What you’ve given me is too much. I won’t be able to use this much.”

“This isn’t too much. When you go to the academy in the future, won’t you have various expenses? You can’t always refuse your classmates when they invite you to go out, right?” Wang Jinhe found a good excuse, leaving Wang Jingyu with no rebuttal.

Seeing Wang Jingyu’s speechless expression, Wang Jinhe smiled triumphantly. “Brother, you can confidently focus on your studies. Our family won’t lack money in the future,” Wang Jinhe assured him.

Wang Jingyu felt a bit uncomfortable as he looked at Wang Jinhe. “Xiao He, if I go to study, many things will fall on you, that’s a lot of work.”

Moreover his sister was also taking care of Xiao Bao.

“Brother, don’t worry. I’ll just grow some watermelons. It’s not too tiring. Besides, we still have our grandparents and parents, right? I’m very confident with Grandma taking care of Xiao Bao,” Wang Jinhe said seriously.

Grandma takes better care of children than she does.

Xiao Bao, who was gnawing on the sugar-coated hawthorn, heard them talking about him and quickly said, ” Xiao Bao is very well-behaved and obedient. Mommy doesn’t need to worry. Mommy can earn money for Uncle’s education.”

This was the first time Xiao Bao had spoken such a long sentence, which surprised Wang Jinhe. “Xiao Bao is so considerate. How did I get such a precious treasure?”

“Xiao Bao is the little treasure, and Mommy is the big treasure,” Xiao Bao looked at Wang Jinhe with his big, round, clear eyes.

The innocent and pure look in his eyes warmed both Wang Jinhe and Wang Jingyu’s hearts. Xiao Bao was so endearing that they would give their lives for him.

Grandma Wang and the others laughed. Xiao Bao was truly the lively treasure of their family.

Words like “big treasure” and “little treasure” were insignificant compared to Xiao Bao.

The family had discussed all the matters that needed to be addressed. The next morning, Wang Jingyu went to meet the tutor, while Wang Jinhe and Grandpa Wang went to the field together.

Grandma Wang looked after Xiao Bao, while Wang Jinhe went to the sandy area to plant watermelons.

Last night, she had soaked the watermelon seeds in diluted spring water to ensure that every seed would sprout.

It took Wang Jinhe a whole day to plant watermelons on the more than two acres of sandy land. After planting, she went to fetch water and irrigated the field with diluted spring water.

From then on, Wang Jinhe would come to check on the watermelon field every two days.

When she came on this particular day, she was delighted to find that the watermelon seedlings had already sprouted. Each one had grown, without any casualties or failures.

This brought great joy to Wang Jinhe because it meant that in the future, she would have a powerful tool for growing any crops she desired.

Although they couldn’t ripen as quickly as the previous cabbage, they would still grow slowly over time.

The only question was whether the watermelons irrigated with diluted spring water would taste better than regular watermelons.

If they turned out to be better, she could sell them(the watermelons) for more money.

It’s worth mentioning that a few days ago, after Wang Jingyu visited the tutor, the tutor quickly arranged his enrollment in the academy. He had already started attending school and would come back home every three days.