Chapter 178: No one can bully you

“Okay!” Jiang Xiaochao nodded and ran back to play with Jiang Fuheng.

Jiang Han returned after about fifteen minutes. He had been going out frequently these past two days, but he would usually buy cooked food to eat at home when it was mealtime.

Chicken soup was simmering in the kitchen. During Hu Yao’s confinement period, he would buy a chicken to stew every few days. He had prepared it before going out, so Hu Yao only needed to watch the fire.

The chicken soup with herbs was fragrant and delicious. Hu Yao ate the chicken legs, Jiang Xiaochao ate the chicken wings, and Jiang Han ate the chicken feet. The different parts of the chicken were almost always divided and assigned to each person.

“Is that kid at the door Hu Xiujie’s son?” Jiang Han asked casually.

“Yes, yes, he’s Aunt Xiujie’s son.” Jiang Xiaochao nodded while chewing on his chicken wing. His little hands and mouth were both busy. This morning he had told Jiang Han that he wanted to eat shrimp, but Jiang Han had told him to go away. But now he had bought some shrimp anyway. He was busy peeling one shrimp after another and dividing the meat between Hu Yao and Jiang Han.

Jiang Xiaochao was often very generous, unless it involved his eggs.

“What’s he doing squatting at our door, trying to steal work from your two dogs?” Jiang Han ate the shrimp that Jiang Xiaochao had peeled for him, taking it for granted.

“He’s so annoying! He doesn’t listen, and his mom threw him away and doesn’t want him anymore.” Jiang Xiaochao said seriously.

His smug and annoying attitude made Jiang Han click his tongue. “You’re not much better! You have the nerve to talk about others, after you finish eating, get out there and squat with him, one on each side!”

“No! I didn’t do anything bad today.” Jiang Xiaochao pouted.

They were about to start arguing again, so Hu Yao quickly changed the subject. “Hengheng’s full-month celebration is in about ten days. Besides our neighbors, who else should we invite?”

Jiang Han had said he wanted to hold a full-month celebration for Jiang Fuheng, and Hu Yao had been writing invitations based on the names he gave her for the past two days.

“No one else, it’s enough. Jiang Fuheng isn’t some rare treasure. Jiang Xiaochao didn’t have such a big celebration back then.” Jiang Han’s tone was casual.

Hu Yao gave him a playful glare, but she was also curious about what kind of scene Jiang Xiaochao’s full-month celebration was like.

She couldn’t help but ask.

Jiang Han glanced at her and twitched the corner of his lips. “It was pretty lively.”

Back then, she had taken Jiang Xiaochao and gone for a walk in the mountains without paying attention. Everyone had finished their meal and was searching for her and the child with drums and gongs. How could it not be lively?

She had also carried Jiang Xiaochao up a tree to pick wild fruits. She picked the wild fruits and climbed down with them in her apron, sitting under the tree to eat them. She was very happy and in a good mood. When he found her, she even asked him if he wanted some, and the smile on her face as she looked at him was incredibly bright.

If she hadn’t gotten Jiang Xiaochao stuck on a tree branch when he was only a month old, maybe he wouldn’t have scolded her.

Without their mother and son around, he didn’t have any face to lose. After they were around, there were countless opportunities to lose face!

“It was very lively?” Hu Yao imagined it and smiled.

Missing those years of Jiang Xiaochao’s profound growth was her biggest regret. If she hadn’t been so foolish back then.

“You should ask Jiang Xiaochao if he was happy.” Jiang Han pointed at Jiang Xiaochao with his chin, who was still diligently peeling shrimp.

“He was so young, how could he remember?” Hu Yao looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“Yeah, I don’t remember.” Jiang Xiaochao peeled the shrimp, he didn’t really listen to what they were saying, and only responded to Hu Yao at the end.

“It’s good that you don’t remember!” Jiang Han slapped away his hand that was reaching towards him.

If this bastard knew that Hu Yao only remembered eating wild fruits and getting him stuck on a tree branch, he would cry his eyes out.

Jiang Xiaochao frowned slightly when Jiang Han slapped his hand away, then he stuffed the shrimp in his hand into his own mouth.

Qin Siyuan had been standing outside the door the whole time, because he firmly believed that Hu Xiujie would come back to apologize to him and coax him back.

But she didn’t. She didn’t come back even in the evening.

The grievance and anger on his face grew stronger, and his eyes turned red.

The nineteenth time Jiang Xiaochao’s loud voice echoed from the courtyard, saying that Hu Xiujie didn’t want him, and that he was like a cow or a dog, Qin Siyuan clenched his fists tightly.

This stinky kid, he still wanted to call him brother and play with him, no way! He was as wild as an ox, and his punches hurt! He wouldn’t listen to Hu Xiujie and recognize him as his brother!

Jiang Xiaochao’s loud voice rang out again from inside the house: “Dad, I fought with him today, and I won! He’s so stupid! Five…no one bought a single penny!”

Qin Siyuan gritted his teeth. He just hadn’t expected him to hit him, he was just feeling down for a while!

“I know you’re amazing, you’re bringing glory to our family!” Jiang Han held Jiang Fuheng, whose expression was calm and bored, and took the opportunity to “praise” him.

“It’s getting dark, don’t stay out in the wind.” He told Hu Yao to go back inside.

Hu Yao hesitated and looked at the door. Although she wanted Qin Siyuan to learn a lesson, he had been standing outside for so long, he hadn’t even eaten lunch or dinner. He was still a child, and leaving him outside at night, something might really happen. He was Hu Xiujie’s son, and she still felt sorry for him.

“Jiang Xiaochao is still running around at night, even though he’s so small. Will a man die if he stands outside for a while and misses a couple of meals? He needs to suffer a bit so he knows who’s supporting him!” Jiang Han saw through her thoughts.

That kid wasn’t their son, his own mother Hu Xiujie didn’t even care about him, why was she caring about him? If Jiang Xiaochao was as arrogant and disrespectful as that kid, could he have even climbed down from the tree branch during his full-month celebration? He would have been dried out and sent to the ancestors of the Jiang family to be tamed.

He was just spoiled!

It seemed like he made sense. Jiang Xiaochao had been punished by being sent outside to stand in the cold winter for doing something wrong, and he didn’t get anything to eat either, and he was fine.

That’s what she had thought in the morning, why was she feeling soft now?

Qin Siyuan deserved to suffer!

“Jiang Xiaochao, play with your brother, don’t put all your messy stuff on top of your brother. If you want to be the only child, why didn’t your mother say it earlier?”

“I’ll wash your mother’s hair, and if I see those two stinky shoes of yours not put away again, I’ll beat you flat!”

Before Jiang Han went to wash Hu Yao’s hair, he gave Jiang Xiaochao a lot of instructions, including telling him to put away his two shoes that were lying around everywhere, one on top of the TV and the other on the coffee table.

“Oh.” Jiang Xiaochao obediently responded, running to pick up his little shoes and put them away. He then lay down beside Jiang Fuheng and played with him.

Jiang Fuheng has grown a lot now, he’s white and tender, and he’s gotten fatter than when he was just born. Still, he’s not very interested in interacting with others.

“Little brother~”

He babbled to Jiang Fuheng, reaching out to grab his little hand, which he liked to play with.

Jiang Fuheng, whose little hand was being grabbed, slightly furrowed his delicate brows. He opened his half-closed, moist and bright eyes, as if he was annoyed by his brother’s chatter. He hummed and after a few seconds, used his other little hand to cover his own eyes.

Jiang Xiaochao grabbed his other little hand as well. He didn’t seem to notice his brother’s indifference and continued to speak to him softly, “Little brother, Dad said he wants me to play with you! That nasty guy is still outside, he’s nasty, Aunt Xiujie doesn’t want him anymore, and you don’t need to play with him anymore either. I’ll play with you, no one can bully you, I’ll protect you…”

Jiang Fuheng: “…”