“I know about stepmothers,” Er Bao said. “Before, Second Aunt wanted our dad to find us a stepmother.”

“Ahh?!!” Wang Wei reacted as if he had just heard some big news.

Lin Guodong’s temples started to throb. “Stop talking Erbao,” he said

Then paused in his steps. “Wang Wei, you go to school first. I need to talk to them.”

“Okay okay.” Wang Wei walked away, but he still wanted to hear what would be said next.

Seeing Wang Wei leave, Lin Guodong squatted down, very seriously, and said to them, “Yi Bao, Er Bao, San Bao, you must remember, family matters should not be shared with others. If others know about our family matters, it can be good or bad. If it’s good, they might envy us; if it’s bad, they might ridicule us.

For example, it’s good that we have meat to eat at home. But if others find out and don’t have meat themselves, they might envy you.

For example, what your Second Aunt said, that’s not a good thing. If people who don’t get along with your mom find out, people who argue with her, then they might laugh at her.

So whether it’s good or bad, it’s best if we keep it to ourselves. You don’t want others to come and snatch your meat, do you? And you don’t want anyone making fun of your mom, right?”

“Okay.” The three brothers nodded together.

They understood that the meat shouldn’t be given to others, and their mom shouldn’t be made fun of by anyone.

Lin Guodong saw that they were listening attentively, feeling relieved. “Yibao , Erbao z Sanbao, we are men. Men need to take responsibility.

We can’t bully the weak, and of course, we shouldn’t let others bully us either.

You should know, a man’s world isn’t just in the backyard; it’s in front of us.

We protect our home and country, strive for the betterment of our nation. These are our goals, what we should strive for.

Also, we need to earn money to support our family, to ensure our wives and children live well.

You’re still young now, but when you grow up, your responsibility will be to your wife and children. You should earn money to give them good lives.”

The first part of what their father said, the Erbao agreed and understood.

But the latter part, his young mind couldn’t quite grasp. He said, “Dad, when I grow up, I’ll earn money to spend on mom, buy her soda, meat, clothes, but I don’t want a wife or children.”

Lin Guodong asked, “Why?”

Erbao’s reason was solid: “Because the money I earn will have to be given to my wife. Like you, you give all your money to mom, then you won’t have any left. Also, if we buy less meat and it’s all eaten by the wife and kids, then me, my brothers, and mom won’t have any left to eat.”

Lin Guodong cautiously asked, “…So should I stop giving money to your mom?”

“Nope,” Erbao replied promptly, “You have to give the money to mom.”

His dad’s money had to go to mom, but his own money he didn’t want to give to a wife, so he didn’t want a wife.

Lin Guodong sighed, and surrendred “…Just go to school.”

“Okay, hehe…” Erbao smiling for being smart.

The three brothers bounced into the school.

In the playground, many children were playing.

Since it was still before afternoon classes, the kids were engaged in various games.

The three brothers were new today.

Apart from the kids in Class Three, nobody knew them.

However, since they had two dogs, they quickly became known throughout the kindergarten in the quickest way possible.

“There are kids with dogs.”

“They’re twins.”

“I don’t see their dogs.”

“I want to play with their dogs. I wonder if that’s allowed.”

“I don’t like dogs. They’re so scary.”

Some kids started talking among themselves.

” Yibao , Erbao and Sanbao…” a kid called out to them.

The three brothers looked towards the voice.

It was a student from Class Three.

They remembered Teacher Jiang introducing him; he was the class captain of Class Three, named Yu Bo.

They were told they could go to him if they had any problems.

Each class in the kindergarten had one captain, two vice-captains, and four squad leaders.

Yu Bo, who was seven years old this year and would be going to preschool in the second half of the year, was one of the oldest kids in Class Three.

He had also been instructed by Teacher Jiang to take care of the new kids.

So when he saw the three brothers coming to school, he called out to them.

“Hello, Captain,” said Yibao politely.

“Hello, Captain,” Erbao echoed along with his older brother.

Sanbao followed what the two big brothers said, “Hello, Brother.”

For him, older boys were ” Guo Guo” and older girls were “Jie Jie.” He ignored other complicated titles.

Yu Bo felt proud when he heard them call him “Captain” and “brother.”

He felt they respected him, so he decided to act accordingly.

“We’re playing games, do you want to join?”

Erbao Bao looked at his brother.

He wanted to play, but in front of strangers, he always listened to his brother.

Yi Bao, being a kid, naturally liked playing, so he curiously asked, “What games are you playing?”

Yu Bo replied, “We’re playing a kicking game. Do you want to join? What games do you usually play?”

“We play Eagle Catches Chicks and throwing cloth ball game,” Yi Bao said.

“Eagle Catches Chicks? What kind of game is that?” Yu Bo asked, also curious.

Kids came from all over, and different places had different games.

Yi Bao explained, “Eagle Catches Chicks is played by two teams. One team is an eagle, and the other team is a mother hen with a bunch of chicks.

When the eagle tries to catch the chicks, the mother hen has to duel with the eagle, trying to stop it.

If the eagle’s hand touches a chick, it means the chick is caught by the eagle. If all the chicks are caught, then that team loses.”

Yu Bo found it very interesting. “What about the cloth ball game?”

Yi Bao explained, “The cloth ball game is something our mom made for us. At home, we split into two teams and toss the ball back and forth. If you don’t catch it, you lose, and the loser has to accept punishment. For us boys, the punishment is getting hit on the palm or the butt. If we play with girls, it’s just hitting the palm.”

“That sounds interesting. Let’s play the games you mentioned,” Yu Bo said, then called out to the other kids in Class Three, “Vice-Captain, Vice-Captain, are you here? Quickly gather all the kids from our class.”

“I’m here,” a chubby little girl raised her hand. “Kids from First Vice Squad, come over here.”

Another chubby boy also raised his hand. “Kids from Second Vice Squad, come over here.”

The kids from Class Three immediately went over to their respective squad leaders.

Er Bao sneakily asked Yi Bao, “Bro, where are we supposed to go?”

First Bao shook his head. “I don’t know either.” So, Yi Bao went to ask Yu Bo, “Captain, which squad should we join?”

Yu Bo said, “Let me ask the two vice-captains…”

Ding Ling Ling… Ding Ling Ling…

Just at that moment, the afternoon class bell rang.

The kids who were still playing in the playground all rushed into the classrooms like a flock of penguins, running in a funny, chaotic manner.

Kindergarten Class Three.

Teacher Jiang walked into the office, glanced around the classroom, counted the number of students, and seeing that the count was correct, she smiled and said, “Good afternoon, everyone.”

Yu Bo stood up and said, “Everyone, please stand up…”

The three brothers watched as all the kids stood up, and they followed suit.

Then they heard Yu Bo say, “Good afternoon, teacher.”

The three brother’s listened as the kids started calling out, “Good afternoon, teacher.”

It was their first time witnessing this scene.

When they were brought in by Teacher Jiang before, they didn’t stand up like this, so they didn’t know what to do.

Now, hearing the other kids call out, they listened with curiosity.

Teacher Jiang’s gaze lingered on the three brothers. Seeing them standing up obediently and adapting well, she said, “Good afternoon, everyone. Please take your seats. Now, I’d like to ask our new students, how have you been in the class? Have you had any arguments with other kids?”

The three brothers sat quietly without saying anything. Er Bao looked at Yi Bao.

Yi Bao said, “We haven’t had any arguments. The captain even played games with us and the other kids.”

Hearing Yi Bao’s words, Teacher Jiang praised them, “Our new students are very well-behaved, and our old students are also very good. To commend you for not arguing and getting along well, each of you will be rewarded with a small red flower today.”

Upon hearing Teacher Jiang’s words, all the kids cheered excitedly.

“Thank you, Teacher Jiang.”

“Teacher Jiang, you’re really nice.”

“I have three little red flowers this semester.”

“I have five little red flowers.”

Seeing them so happy, Yi Bao and Er Bao were very curious about the little red flowers.

Er Bao asked softly, “Brother, what are the little red flowers?”

Yi Bao shook his head, also responding softly, “I don’t know either. Let’s ask the captain after class.”

Teacher Jiang continued, “Next, I want to commend our class captain, Yu Bo. You’ve done a great job, leading the new students to play games. Today, you’ll receive another little red flower, so you’ll have two red flowers today.”

“Yeah!” Yu Bo was happy.

He didn’t expect the words of the new students to earn him an extra red flower.

He was thrilled because having more little red flowers meant he could exchange them for things like candy, pencils, or notebooks. So, they all cherished the little red flowers.

Teacher Jiang continued, “Next is our daily questioning session. Students, if you have any questions, feel free to ask the teacher.” With that, Teacher Jiang sat down, still looking kindly at the children.

“Students, be brave and raise your hands. It’s a good habit to ask when you don’t understand, as a child, as a student.”

As the class captain, Yu Bo was the first to raise his hand.

Teacher Jiang said, “Let’s have our student, Yu Bo, ask the question.”

Yu Bo stood up, full of confidence, and asked, “Teacher Jiang, the new students are twins. Do you know which one is the older brother and which one is the younger brother?”

Ah?

Teacher Jiang didn’t expect Yu Bo to be so mischievous, asking her such a difficult question.

She looked at Yi Bao and Er Bao.

She had just met them today and really couldn’t tell which one was the older brother and which one was the younger brother.

Yu Bo smirked triumphantly.

Teacher Jiang was stumped, wasn’t she? Yi Bao and Er Bao hadn’t expected Yu Bo’s question to be related to them, so they both eagerly looked at Teacher Jiang.

For a moment, they felt fully integrated into the class!