Chapter 59 – Painting a Big Pie (Making Promises)

The two boys were clever enough. The moment they saw Lin-shi storming over with fury, they instinctively knew things weren’t looking good. Without hesitation, they turned and ran.

“Stop right there! You two little brats! Stop!”

Which only made Yan Meihua and his younger brother run faster. They took off in opposite directions, knowing they were small and agile—and that it was harder to catch them if they split up.

Lin-shi watched as they darted off in two different directions and came to an abrupt stop. With her big belly, it wasn’t realistic for her to go chasing after either of them. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. These two little rascals were sly as monkeys! Running that fast—didn’t they care about their poor mother?

She stood in place, fuming, one hand on her belly and face darkened with anger.

Gu Yuzhu had an idea. “Cousin! Cousin Meihua! My second aunt’s belly hurts! Ow!”

Yan Meihua was already six this year. In the modern world, what would a six-year-old really understand?

But in ancient times, children tended to mature earlier. Even as a little boy, Yan Meihua was already quite sensible—not only could he lead his younger siblings around, he had also begun learning how to care for his mother, who was pregnant with a “little sister.”

Both Yan Xingye and Lin-shi hoped for a girl this time. So as the dutiful son, Yan Meihua naturally had to tell everyone that his mother was carrying a sister!

He had to say it himself—and he also had to train his four-year-old brother, telling him, “That’s a cute, soft, sweet little sister in Mama’s belly!”

Definitely not a smelly little brother!

But honestly, Yan Meihua didn’t fully understand the adults’ logic. Most people in the village doted on little boys—why did his parents want a girl?

That is… until his aunt moved back with her two children.

Then he suddenly understood!

Ah! So that’s what a cute, soft, pretty little sister was like! Before, when they weren’t living together, he hadn’t fully realized.

Now, he glanced back at his snot-nosed little brother, bouncing along behind him…

And instantly wrinkled his thick, dark brows—just like his father’s.

Oh, suddenly it all made sense.

No wonder everyone else liked brothers, but his parents liked daughters. Just look at his little brother—sure, he wasn’t that annoying and usually copied whatever Yan Meihua did.

That wasn’t too bad…

But once you compared him with cousin Zhu Zhu? Yan Meihua felt… yeah, there’s no comparison!

Anyway, when he heard his adorable, sweet, pretty cousin say his mother’s belly hurt, Yan Meihua immediately stopped running.

He hesitated briefly… The young fellow hadn’t yet been beaten down by the harshness of life. He didn’t understand yet that there were reasons why women shouldn’t be offended.

But right now, all he could think about was: There’s a cute baby sister in Mama’s belly, and Papa said a real man must protect his mother and sister!

So the young fellow turned right around and ran back.

“Mama, what’s wrong? Is my baby sister kicking you?”

Hearing this, Yan Tietou got excited too. He shouted joyfully, “Ooooh! Baby sister, baby sister!”

Lin-shi exchanged a wink with Gu Yuzhu, then grabbed her eldest son and gave his butt a good spanking!

Yan Tietou got so scared, he clutched his head and ran off like a panicked little mouse. The sight made Lin-shi laugh despite herself.

After all this fuss, she wasn’t actually angry anymore. She’d long known her two sons were mischievous.

Her husband had thought it over too—since they didn’t expect the boys to pursue scholarly honors anyway, they’d wait until the kids got a bit older and their finances improved before deciding.

Another reason was that her pregnancy was already six to seven months along. With two sons at home already, if this one was a girl, great—nothing more to consider.

But if it was another boy… well, boys could take the imperial exams. Whether they were cut out for it would have to be tested.

Now with two sons and one on the way, each of them would have to be tested eventually.

This just showed how difficult and high-pressure it was to raise a scholar in this era.

It was exhausting!

Yan Meihua, meanwhile, was deep in existential crisis after that spanking.

Even though his mother hadn’t hit him hard, he still felt betrayed—and utterly confused.

He still didn’t know what he’d done wrong to deserve that spanking.

He was a man! And yet his own mother spanked his butt. How humiliating!

And that useless little brother Yan Tietou didn’t even help share the “damage”! He’d just run off! No sense of loyalty at all!

To make matters worse, Gu Yuzhu was “fake-sincerely” trying to console him:
“Second Aunt, don’t hit Brother Meihua anymore. Getting your butt smacked really hurts. Brother Meihua, are you in pain?”

See that? See that??

That’s a soft, adorable, sweet-smelling sister for you! Then look at that stinky brother again—ugh, the more he looked, the angrier he got.

…

“Zhu Zhu, I’ll boil some duck eggs for you later. I found three, and you can have them all!”

“What about mine, Brother? What about mine?”

“You don’t get any.”

Yan Meihua said mercilessly.
Four-year-old Yan Tietou: “…”

Yan Tietou was a tough little guy. Even after being “betrayed” by his own big brother, he didn’t cry. He simply turned and ran to tell Mama.

But once his mother learned that his brother wanted to give all the duck eggs to their cousin, she told him that a real man shares the good food with his sister.

Yan Tietou: “…”

Really? That… kinda makes sense? Okay then… after all, big cousin is the only girl in the family.

A four-year-old couldn’t think that far ahead, but when his cousin started eating the duck eggs, he could smell how fragrant they were!

Yan Tietou took a deep sniff of the scent and swallowed hard. Ahhh, I really want to eat one!
But… he wasn’t a sweet-smelling little sister, so oh well.

For the first time in his four years of life, little Yan Tietou thought to himself: If only I were a girl…

Gu Yuzhu had no idea that her little scheme had made her younger cousin wish he were a girl.

That said, she couldn’t eat that many duck eggs either. She carefully ate one herself, and after getting Cousin Meihua’s permission, gave one to her biological brother Gu Qingbai and the last one to her own mother Yan Fengru.

By the time she returned, the two little brothers had already made up and were sharing the remaining duck egg—one half each. Yan Meihua hadn’t completely forgiven his “traitor” little brother, so Yan Tietou only got a small piece of egg white.

But the little guy wasn’t picky at all. Just having food made him happy.

Maybe it was because of her different upbringing—Gu Yuzhu, after all, had grown up in modern society.

The old Taoist who raised her had plenty of money. She’d never been deprived of anything material.

So seeing two grimy little boys splitting one duck egg gave her a strange pang of sadness.

So, she couldn’t help but “paint a big pie” (make an enticing promise):
“My mom makes the best meat buns! When our house is built and the scallions I planted grow up, I’ll have my mom make us big meat buns to eat!”

The moment he heard that, Yan Tietou ran over excitedly, drooling, and mumbled, “Really? Really, Cousin Zhu Zhu?”

Gu Yuzhu: “…”

Even Yan Meihua, who had been ignoring his silly little brother, was fully focused now—his attention completely stolen by the mention of big meat buns.