Chapter 9: Big Kids

When Mingming woke up in the morning, he was a bit dazed. It wasn’t until Lin Wei put a short-sleeved shirt on him that he came to his senses and asked, “Mom, why am I in your room?”

As he asked, his mind started to wander, and with his round eyes spinning, he asked, “Could it be that I can teleport? Like, when I’m sleeping, I can move from that room to this one?” The more he spoke, the more excited his expression became.

Lin Wei gave him a cold, hard truth: “You’re overthinking. While you were sleeping, your dad carried you over.”

The little guy’s face immediately fell, and he dragged out an “Oh…” After a while, he asked again, “Why did Dad carry me over here? Is it because you two are afraid to sleep together?”

His expression turned conflicted. Although he liked the idea of sleeping with Mom, he had his own room now, and he was a big kid. It felt a bit embarrassing to sleep with Mom again!

However… the little guy stole a glance at Mom’s face. He thought, if Mom is really scared… He puffed out his chest and said, “Mom, if you’re scared, I’m still willing to sleep with you.” He looked around, then leaned toward Lin Wei’s ear, lowering his voice, “But you have to leave my room for me. If anyone asks, you can’t tell them I’m sleeping with you, okay?”

Out there, he wanted to be a big kid!

Lin Wei was both amused and exasperated by Mingming’s imagination. She pulled up his pants and gave his bottom a light pat, saying, “Go brush your teeth and eat breakfast!”

Mingming responded with an “Oh,” and then asked, “What about my little brother?”

“He’s been awake for a while, and he’s already downstairs,” Lin Wei replied, as she folded the thin blanket from last night and placed it at the foot of the bed. She adjusted the sheets and put the pillow back in place before walking out with Mingming.

Just as they reached the stairs, Mingming suddenly cried out, whining to Lin Wei, “Mom, my legs are numb!” He bent down, pretending to rub his legs.

Mingming was an impatient child. He didn’t like walking down the stairs step by step. Instead, he had to skip two steps at a time, as if it would make him go faster.

Although the stairs in their new home were long and flat, split into two levels, and not steep—so they were easy for children to climb—Mingming’s method of skipping steps was a little dangerous. What if he missed a step and fell?

When Zong Shao saw this yesterday, his face instantly darkened.

Some people teach their children with rewards, some with reason, but Zong Shao wasn’t either of those. He didn’t explain how dangerous it was nor did he move a finger. He simply made Mingming keep going up and down the stairs, skipping two steps at a time.

At first, Mingming thought it was fun, but soon he grew tired and refused to move. But if he didn’t move, Zong Shao didn’t let him leave the stairs. The father and son stood there, staring at each other.

Zong Shao had been in the army for many years, so standing at attention was as easy as eating or drinking for him. Mingming couldn’t outlast him, and soon he started crying for his mom.

But crying for his mom didn’t help. Although Lin Wei loved her children, she wasn’t to the point of indulging them endlessly. If Zong Shao didn’t intervene, she would have to gently explain things to Mingming. Lin Wei usually preferred to teach through reason, only resorting to harsh methods when she was truly angry.

In any case, Zong Shao took charge, and Lin Wei fully supported him. She wasn’t going to interfere.

Mingming couldn’t call for Mom, so he cried even harder. But after he cried for a while, he realized the situation and started to admit his mistake.

What Zong Shao expected from Mingming wasn’t just a simple “I’m sorry.” No, he wanted at least a couple of hundred words, and for Mingming’s apology to be sincere.

Once Mingming had apologized, Zong Shao said, “If I see you stepping over two stairs at once again, you’ll go up and down these stairs one hundred times, understand?”

Mingming sniffled and tearfully replied, “I… I understand.”

Zong Shao was not satisfied. “Louder!”

Mingming reluctantly raised his voice and shouted, “I understand!” only then could he come down the stairs. From that point on, he didn’t dare to slack off, stepping one step at a time, carefully and steadily.

But once he escaped his father’s clutches, Mingming rushed into Lin Wei’s arms to complain, refusing to speak a word to Zong Shao until bedtime. However, he didn’t know that after he fell asleep, Zong Shao had carried him to the master bedroom, and by nightfall, father and son were still sleeping side by side.

Overall, the lesson Zong Shao gave was quite effective. At least now Mingming didn’t dare to skip steps while coming down the stairs, instead using his charm on Lin Wei.

Lin Wei said, “… Go down by yourself.”

The little guy pouted. “But my legs are numb, I can’t go down.”

Lin Wei thought, I’ll deal with you later, and as she headed downstairs, she said, “Rui Rui and I will be leaving after breakfast. If you don’t want to come down, you can stay home.”

As soon as Mingming heard that they were leaving, he couldn’t stand it and hurriedly followed Lin Wei downstairs.

But since Mom didn’t carry him down as he had hoped, he wasn’t very happy, and his mouth was turned down as he walked down the stairs.

However, his bad mood didn’t last long. By the time they had exited the living room, he had cheered up, noticing his little brother squatting in the corner of the wall. He walked over and asked, “What are you looking at?”

“Shh!” Rui Rui raised his finger and whispered, “I’m watching a big ant.”

Mingming thought, Aren’t they all little ants? He looked down at the ground, then exclaimed, “Wow, there really is a big ant!”

The ants on the island weren’t very big, none were thicker than his pinky finger, but they were still much larger than the ones at home. Mingming was fascinated and watched with his brother, so focused that he didn’t even hear Lin Wei calling him to brush his teeth.

It wasn’t until Lin Wei came out to catch him that Mingming reluctantly stood up. As he entered the bathroom, he told Lin Wei, “Mom, there are some really big ants outside.”

“How big?”

Mingming set down the enamel cup and held up his pinky, saying, “A little smaller than my finger, but way bigger than the ants at home.”

Lin Wei responded with an “Oh,” not paying much attention as she prepared warm water in the basin on the shelf, bent over to wash her face, and started getting ready for the day. She hadn’t had a chance to wash her face yet.

But Mingming’s need to share was overwhelming. Standing nearby, he mumbled incoherently while brushing his teeth. Lin Wei didn’t catch any of it and, while wringing out the towel with her eyes closed, asked, “What did you say? Say it again.”

So, Mingming took the toothbrush out of his mouth and repeated, “Mom, why are the ants in the new house so much bigger than the ones in the old house? Are the ants in the new house the parents of the ants in the old house?”

Lin Wei: “…”

Sometimes she really didn’t understand the wild imagination of children. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Our new home is over a thousand miles away from the old one, with a big ocean in between. The ants’ parents probably can’t make it here.”

“Can’t they take the train? Or even a ship?”

“That probably won’t work.”

“Why?”

Lin Wei, just making things up, said, “… They don’t have money to buy tickets.”

“Oh, I see.” Mingming was enlightened, but after a moment, he remembered his original question. “Then why are the ants in the new house so much bigger than the ones in the old house?”

Lin Wei, having wiped her face, was about to answer, but when she turned her head, she saw Mingming’s mouth full of foam. She had no idea how much he had swallowed while talking, so she changed her mind and said, “I’ll tell you after you wash your face.”

“Okay.”

Mingming sighed, quickly brushed his teeth a couple of times, then rinsed his mouth, spat out the water, and said, “I’m done.”

“Did you clean them properly?” Lin Wei asked skeptically.

Mingming grinned, showing a mouthful of white teeth, looking very confident. “I cleaned them.”

Lin Wei squatted down in front of him and carefully checked his teeth.

In the past, people didn’t pay much attention to brushing their teeth, especially in rural areas. Few people even used saltwater to rinse their mouths, and the older generation often had bad teeth, which were usually yellowish.

Lin Wei had always cared about her appearance. By the time she was four or five years old, she was already demanding a toothbrush from her parents and insisted on brushing her teeth every day. With her leading by example, the Lin family started brushing their teeth more regularly, and their teeth were generally in good condition.

Lin Wei was willing to date Zong Shao also because he was a clean person. When they went on blind dates, she had carefully observed him. Not only were his teeth white, but his hands were also clean. His nails were neatly trimmed, and there wasn’t a speck of dirt between his fingers.

Even the young people who had gone to the countryside could only maintain cleanliness during the first few days. After a while, they became lax about personal hygiene. They might still brush their teeth, but their clothes weren’t necessarily washed every day, and their nails, especially the gaps between them, were often neglected when they got busy.

After looking around, Lin Wei still felt that Zong Shao was the best.

Lin Wei was a person who valued cleanliness, so once the two kids’ teeth were growing well, she began teaching them to brush their teeth. However, like all children, they would sometimes slack off, brushing carelessly or claiming they had brushed when they hadn’t. So, whenever Lin Wei felt something was off, she would check the brothers’ teeth to see if they had brushed them properly.

Today, Mingming had been a bit careless; he hadn’t brushed the gaps between his teeth properly. Lin Wei, not pleased, asked, “Is this how you brush your teeth? I’m more careful when I clean my shoes than this. Brush again!” She squeezed more toothpaste onto his toothbrush.

Mingming pouted again, but he knew that his mom was strict when it came to brushing teeth. So, he opened his mouth and began brushing properly.

This time, he didn’t dare be careless. He brushed each tooth thoroughly and even took the initiative to show Lin Wei. “Mom, look, I brushed them clean!” he said, opening his mouth wide.

Lin Wei bent down to take a look and nodded. “Alright, now wash your face.”

After Mingming finished washing his face, Lin Wei checked the time. Twenty minutes had passed.

“Alright, it’s the first day anyway.”

…

Breakfast was simple: a pot of plain congee, a plate of pickled vegetables, and a plate of stir-fried greens.

The pickled vegetables were dried mustard greens, which are easy to carry and can withstand being stored. Before coming, Lin Wei’s mom had specially packed a large jar of them. In addition to the mustard greens, she also packed a jar of dried long beans, a large bag of mountain delicacies, including dried mushrooms, ferns, and other herbs. The former was perfect for braising meat, and the latter was great for making soup to enhance the flavor.

The vegetables were bought at the market yesterday afternoon. Since it was already late, there weren’t many meat or seafood options left, and the seafood supply station had closed. Only some leafy greens and cucumbers remained, so dinner was made up entirely of vegetables.

Eating vegetarian wasn’t a big deal; back home, they didn’t have meat every meal either. But who wouldn’t want to eat seafood when coming to an island? Lobsters, crabs, sea cucumbers—just thinking about them made her mouth water.

However, nowadays, seafood was also limited in supply. You could only buy it with a ticket, and to get a ticket, you needed to provide a household registration.

There were also ration books for grain, coal, and other essentials, and you needed a household registration to get those as well. Without the household registration, the mother and two children could only rely on Zong Shao’s supply, but that was limited too. If they only ate his provisions, they would run out of food within half a month, let alone have lobsters and crabs.

After the meal, Lin Wei took the two children out, planning to go to the military family settlement office to inquire about the household registration. Afterward, they would stop by the seafood supply station.

Even if they couldn’t buy anything today, it would be nice to get a glimpse and start thinking about the menu for the future!