Chapter 131

The one-and-a-half-year-old twins could already sit steadily on their own. They had been on a few trips to the town by car, so riding in a car was not unfamiliar to them. Still, they loved turning their heads to look at the scenery outside.

After a while, Xiao Roubao leaned on his older brother’s legs and fell asleep, while Xiao Tangyuan spent the whole morning feeling gloomy, in the end, she was unable to resist the urge to sleep and eventually succumbed to a nap.

The child’s forgetfulness was so great that when she woke up from sleep, Xiao Tangyuan temporarily forgot about his Brother Xiao Zhuzi’s and happily squinted her eyes.

……

In the city, the whole family went to the state-owned store to buy fabric for Xiao Doubao. They had agreed to let their grandmother make him a small, chicken-shaped backpack.

Han Cheng was carrying Xiao Roubao, Fantuan carried his sister on his back, and Su Xiaoxiao held Xiao Doubao’s hand. The family of six entered the state-owned store with great enthusiasm.

In fact, Su Xiaoxiao had saved some fabric and brought it along. She had promised Xiao Doubao that he could choose a fabric he liked and buy it with his own money. So, Su Xiaoxiao deliberately kept some cloth tickets and put them in his chicken-shaped backpack.

Who knew that Xiaodou didn’t bother looking at other fabrics; he wanted the same army-green coarse fabric as his current chicken-shaped backpack? After making his choice, he happily took out the money and tickets from his chicken-shaped backpack and handed them to the sales clerk.

Xiao Doubao handed the cloth ticket to the sales clerk and earnestly asked, “Auntie, how much is this fabric?”

At this time, sales clerks tend to look down on customers and answer indifferently. However, Xiao Doubao was just too cute, his voice was soft and sweet. Even the proud sales clerk couldn’t help but soften her tone when responding to his question, “It’s two yuan and three cents in total, and these tickets are enough.”

The shopkeeper returned the extra cloth ticket to Xiao Doubao.

“Thank you, Auntie. Here’s two yuan and three cents.” Xiao Doubao took the cloth ticket and put it into his small backpack. He lowered his head, calculated for a while, and then pulled the small chicken on his backpack, asking the sales clerk, “Auntie, do you have this kind of fabric? I want my grandmother to sew another small chicken backpack for me, but we don’t have this fabric at home. If you have it, can you give me some? Can I buy it for seven yuan and fifty cents? I’ll use two cents to buy the fabric. Is that okay?”

After hearing Xiao Doubao’s words, the shopkeeper had her mouth formed into an “O” shape. 

After carefully looking at Xiao Doubao, this handsome little guy seemed to be only four or five years old. This family was really pleasing to the eye. She had noticed from the moment they entered that, from choosing fabric to paying, neither the parents nor the older brother had said a word.

The whole process was up to him to decide. How did this family teach the child? The four- or five-year-old child actually knows so much and has such strong expression skills, not to mention his ability to calculate, which was impressive! She was willing to bet that her third-grade son at home couldn’t match his skills!

The sales clerk’s gaze towards Su Xiaoxiao’s family changed, and she gave them a thumbs-up, saying, “You are really good at teaching your children!”

Su Xiaoxiao rubbed Xiao Doubao’s head and smiled, saying, “I didn’t teach him much; the child learned by following his brothers.”

Su Xiaoxiao mostly taught Fantuan and Zhuzi. On the other hand, Xiao Doubao, from a young age, enjoyed imitating his brothers. 

After Fantuan and Zhuzi went to school, they systematically taught their younger brother whatever they learned. Regardless of how much Xiao Doubao absorbed or whether he was interested, they taught everything, and Xiao Doubao was a good learner. Regardless of how much he absorbed, he learned whatever his brothers taught.

Su Xiaoxiao always kept Xiao Doubao by her side, taking him almost everywhere. Due to this, he knew the procedures for small things like going out to buy groceries, and he learned mathematics at a very young age. Before the age of two, he could imitate his brothers in arranging persimmons. It just happened that today was an opportunity for Su Xiaoxiao to realize how capable Xiao Doubao had become.

“Comrade, you’re too humble. Little one, wait a moment, Auntie will give you the change, and then I’ll give you some cloth.” 

Xiao Doubao nodded obediently and said, “Thank you, Auntie.”

When the shopkeeper walked away, Xiao Doubao, with lowered eyes, said, “Mom, I can buy things by myself now.”

Su Xiaoxiao gently patted his head and said, “Xiao Doubao is amazing. Keep the money safe, and in the future, you can buy whatever you want.”

Han Cheng also nodded and said, “Xiao Doubao is great.”

Xiao Doubao was even happier when he received praise from his parents. Usually, when he went out with his parents or brothers, he rarely had a chance to showcase his abilities. Today, using the money he earned to buy fabric and calculate the cost, he felt proud of himself.

Fantuan turned his head and asked his sister, who was holding onto his shoulder, “What does my little sister want? Brother has money, and he will buy it for you.”

Xiao Tangyuan blinked her big, round eyes and, tilting her small head, looked at the array of goods. Finally, she pointed to a porcelain cup with a large red peony and said, “Gege, that one.” ^[1]Gege- Big Brother

Xiao Fantuan couldn’t actually see what she was really pointing at, so he said to his parents, “I’ll take Xiao Tangyuan to have a look and come back soon.”

Su Xiaoxiao said, “Don’t go too far, we still have to continue our trip later.”

Xiao Fantuan replied. “I know, I’ll buy something for my sister and come back.”

Xiao Doubao raised his head and tugged at Xiao Roubao’s little short legs. “Little brother, what do you want? Big brother will buy it for you.”

Xiao Roubao looked around, then shook his head and pouted. “I’m hungry, I want to eat~~”

Han Cheng couldn’t help but say, “You just had egg cake and rice cake in the car.”

Xiao Roubao lowered his little head, touched his tiny belly, and earnestly said to Han Cheng, “Daddy, not enough, hungry~~”

Su Xiaoxiao reached out and pinched his chubby face. “We’ll take you to eat some dumplings later to make you full.”

Xiao Roubao understood and squinted his eyes as he reached out for his mother to hold him. Han Cheng didn’t let go and said, “Your mommy is tired, Dad will hold you.”

This little chubby chick weighed more than twenty kilograms, and Su Xiaoxiao would get tired after holding him for a while.

Xiao Roubao twisted in his father’s arms. “Daddy, put me down.”

Han Cheng placed him on the ground, and Xiao Roubao went to grab his older brother’s chicken-shaped backpack. “Gege, want~~”

Xiao Doubao patiently asked his younger brother, “What do you want? Candy?”

Xiao Doubao’s little chick backpack is like a treasure chest. He liked to put everything inside, from biscuits to candies. Each time he didn’t finish eating something, he would save it in there. Occasionally, he would take something out to share with Xiao Roubao. However, their mom advised against giving Xiao Roubao too many sweets and cookies. So, Xiao Doubao would always ask for permission before sharing with his younger brother.

Su Xiaoxiao pulled Xiao Roubao away, saying, “You’ve already finished eating your candies and cookies for today. You can’t have more. Mommy said you can have dumplings later, right?”

Xiao Roubao, who they know if he understood or not, was still pulling his big brother’s backpack.

Xiao Doubao had no choice but to open it for him to see. He had just left the hidden box open, and some scattered lucky money could be seen. Xiao Doubao said, “No candies today, you ate them all.”

Surprisingly, Xiao Roubao reached out his little chubby hand to take Xiao Doubao’s money. After getting it, he squinted his eyes and said while pulling his brother, “Buy~ snacks~~”

Xiao Doubao was delighted. “My little brother is so smart, you already know that you can use money to buy food. But there’s no food here.”

Su Xiaoxiao and Han Cheng were completely speechless. This little chubby chick must have seen that his older brother could buy things with money, so he wanted to use money to buy snacks.

Su Xiaoxiao made a decision; she needed to control Xiao Roubao’s pocket money; otherwise, he might use it all to buy snacks. She also needed to tell the older brothers not to buy him snacks.

Su Xiaoxiao pinched his cheek. “Do you know that this is something money can buy? First, put the money back in your brother’s backpack, and we’ll go buy snacks after we buy fabric.”
The little guy was mischievous, but he still listened to his mom. He let go and put the money back into Xiao Doubao’s little backpack.

Han Cheng picked him up and said, “Dad will take you to eat later.”

“The little one again hugged his father’s neck and gave him a peck on his face, leaving a drool on his face. Su Xiaoxiao suppressed a smile as she wiped the drool from Han Cheng’s face. She wondered where this habit of pecking and leaving saliva on people came from, but he usually only did it to his dad and older brother; he rarely did it to others.”

The shopkeeper returned with a pile of fabric, handed over the change along with the fabric scraps to Xiao Doubao, and said, “Here’s seven yuan and seventy cents for you. The fabric scraps are free; Auntie is giving them to you.”

Xiao Doubao hesitated and looked at his mom.

Su Xiaoxiao reached out and took it. “Thank you.”

Only then did Xiao Doubao bend his eyes and say thank you to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper’s heart really melted. How could there be such a well-behaved child?

Su Xiaoxiao bent down and put the change back into Xiao Doubao’s small backpack, helping him fasten the hidden compartment. “Xiao Doubao, remember, don’t let others see your money casually. When you get home, we will find a small box to keep it in. Keep it at home, only take it when you need it, and carry a little spare change with you.”

Xiao Doubao nodded. “I understand, Mom.”

Xiao Fantuan led the happily skipping little girl back, holding two enamel cups in her hands.

Su Xiaoxiao asked in surprise, “Don’t you need a ticket to buy this thing?”

Fantuan replied, “Yes. Since my little sister likes it so much, I exchanged money with someone. From now on, she and Xiao Roubao each have one. The peony flower cup is for my sister, and the big rooster cup is for Xiao Roubao.”

Alright, there’s nothing their eldest can’t handle.

……………..

After buying everything, it was mealtime, and the whole family headed to the state-owned restaurant.

Xiao Roubao finally had a full meal. He shared a bowl of wonton with Xiao Tangyuan, and most of it went into his stomach. Now, he patted his belly and told his dad he was full.

Han Cheng thought that raising Xiao Roubao would likely require more food than when he was raising Fantuan.

After a satisfying meal, they hurried to the black market to buy meat.

This time, there were noticeably more profiteers in the black market compared to last time. Not only were they selling meat, but various goods had also increased. It was like a small-scale wholesale market, with more and more daring people. All of this indicated that the countdown to the open-market economy had begun.

Because they have to stay in their hometown for nearly half a month and have many hungry mouths at home, the couple, after considering the situation, bought half a sheep and a quarter of a pig. They cut out approximately a quarter of each and planned to bring it along to Fantuan’s grandparents.

Xiao Doubao also bought a floral tie for his younger sister. It was a handcrafted item by an old lady, and he found it beautiful, so he decided to give it to his sister.

Being the caring elder brother that he was, Xiao Doubao also purchased a box of dragon’s beard candy. However, he hid it in his little backpack, deciding not to give it to Xiao Roubao today.

Fantuan, neither extravagant nor stingy, bought a one-yuan firework and some firecrackers. Additionally, he got some snacks for Da Bao, Xiao Bao, and Yao Bao.

After all the major shopping was done, the whole family was exhausted. As they were about to hit the road again, the car was packed to the brim, leaving no space for anything else.

Pinching her sore neck, Su Xiaoxiao said, “Han Cheng, let’s see if I can get a chance to get a driver’s license this time. Driving alone for long distances is too tiring.”
 

Su Xiaoxiao was an experienced driver with over ten years of driving experience in her previous life, but she couldn’t find an excuse to drive here. At this time, drivers were already scarce, and male drivers were even rarer, let alone female drivers. She needed a reasonable excuse.

Han Cheng didn’t expect her to have this idea and was worried that she, a delicate woman, might not handle the car well. He shook his head and said, “It’s okay; we don’t travel that much in a year.”

Su Xiaoxiao said, “I secretly drove the tractor in the production team before and also drove a classmate’s car. I have some basic knowledge. After getting a license, I can take turns driving with you. Moreover, if you’re busy in the future, it would be convenient for me to take the children in and out.”

Han Cheng didn’t expect her to be so bold. He couldn’t imagine his delicate wife secretly driving a tractor. However, since she wanted to try, Han Cheng supported her, “Keep the car in Su Family Village. I’ll teach you when I come back.”

Su Xiaoxiao said tactfully, “I have some foundation, and with a little practice, I’ll get the hang of it quickly. I’ll find out where I can take the test from my classmates. Since there’s still some time before the Chinese New Year and there are people at home to take care of the children, I can spare some time to learn. You don’t have to worry; I’ll manage it on my own.”

Su Xiaoxiao has a soft temper, but when she made up her mind, Han Cheng usually couldn’t resist her. He had to go along with her decision.

The original plan was to return home leisurely after dark without rushing. So, when they reached the urban area of the county, they parked the car and had a meal at the state-owned restaurant to rest. Only then did they slowly proceed towards Sujia Village.