Seeing that there was nothing they wanted to exchange for, the three brothers walked out of the classroom.

It wasn’t time for dismissal yet, so it was free time. They sat down by the fence.

Da Mao and Tie Dan saw them and enthusiastically stuck their tongues out outside the fence.

“I want to eat cake,” Er Bao said.

“Okay.” Yi Bao took out three pieces of green bean cake from his bag, giving one to Er Bao, one to San Bao, and keeping one for himself.

San Bao took the green bean cake, broke it in half, placed one half in his palm, and reached his hand out through the fence, saying, “Da Mao, eat.” He nibbled on the other half himself.

Da Mao sniffed it, then nudged San Bao’s hand with his head, indicating that San Bao should eat it.

San Bao chuckled, “Da Mao, not eating?”

Da Mao continued nudging his hand.

Seeing this, Er Bao also broke off a piece and gave it to Tie Dan.

Tie Dan also nudged his hand, indicating that he wouldn’t eat it either.

Green bean cake wasn’t something Da Mao and Tie Dan liked to eat.

Seeing Da Mao and Tie Dan not eating, Er Bao and San Bao ate it themselves while reading a picture book.

Some children from Class 3 who liked dogs saw this and ran over.

“Twins, can we play with the dogs?”

“Twins, can I pet them?”

“Twins, what are you reading?”

“We’re reading a picture book my mom bought. It’s very interesting. Do you want to see?” Mom said to be polite to other children. When they were in the village, they would also invite other children to read together.

So, facing the new children, Er Bao also extended an invitation.

Some of the children, although they were in kindergarten, did not have picture books at home.

When they heard Bao Er’s invitation, they were curious. “Yes, yes…”

Yi Bao told the other children, “You can pet them; Da Mao and Tie Dan don’t bite.”

So, the children who came to see the dogs petted Da Mao and Tie Dan.

After a while, they were also attracted by the picture book.

They gathered around to read the picture book together.

San Bao didn’t like reading picture books. Although he would occasionally accompany his brothers to read, he couldn’t understand the content of the picture book.

So, compared to his two brothers, he couldn’t sit still.

Seeing his brothers reading the picture book, San Bao quickly took out a cloth ball from his small bag and started playing with it by himself.

Yi Bao was a careful person.

Even when reading the picture book, he always paid attention to San Bao.

This habit was formed from their early life environment.

Even though Mom loved them now and Dad was by their side, he still paid attention to San Bao.

Seeing San Bao playing with the cloth ball by himself, Yi Bao stood up and went to play with him.

As soon as Yi Bao moved, the other children looked over.

Actually, when San Bao was playing with the cloth ball alone, everyone had already seen it and was curiously watching.

Seeing Yi Bao going over, the children became even more interested.

“This is similar to basketball and football,” one child said.

“Yes, the elementary and middle schools and high schools have basketball, but we don’t have it at the kindergarten.”

Er Bao, puzzled, asked, “Why don’t we have it at our kindergarten?”

“Because we are kids, and if we get hit by it, it will hurt, so we can’t play.”

Er Bao said, “Then why don’t you all come and play with the cloth ball? My mom made this, so it won’t hurt if you get hit.”

—–+

On the other side

Without her three children around, Ning Shu found everything much more convenient.

The army had given her half an acre of vegetable garden, and because she was planting radishes, she didn’t need to prepare the soil meticulously.

So, she just dug a hole and planted two radish seeds, finishing before lunchtime.

After planting, she returned home and didn’t have time to prepare lunch carefully. She simply decided to make noodles.

Preserved meat, cabbage, and egg noodles.

While the noodles were still being prepared, barking sounds came from outside.

The first ones to rush in were Da Mao and Tie Dan.

“Mom, we’re back…” The three children bounced around, looking very happy.

The first thing Da Mao and Tie Dan did when they came back was to queue up for food.

They washed their hands first, then lined up behind Da Mao and Tie Dan to wait for their meal.

“Mom, today at school, we learned to sing and participated in a tug-of-war competition.” While queuing for food, Er Bao couldn’t wait to share what happened at school.

“What song did you learn? Did you win the tug-of-war competition?” Ning Shu asked with a smile.

“Mom, you’re so smart. Big Brother and San Bao won. They both won a small red flower, but I didn’t win.” Er Bao smiled happily.

“Because we were separated from Er Bao. I was with San Bao in Bella’s team, Er Bao was in the Qin Wei team. So, no matter which team won, we would all have a small red flower.” Yi Bao explained.

Ning Shu understood immediately, “Not putting all your eggs in one basket, that’s a good distribution. Who came up with the idea? Very clever.”

Yi Bao’s little face turned red, embarrassed to say it was himself.

Er Bao proudly said, “It’s Big Brother. Mom, do you want to hear the new song I learned?”

Ning Shu replied, “Sure, let me hear you sing it.”

Er Bao cleared his throat and began to sing, “Little swallow, wearing a flowery dress, comes here every spring…”

Lin Guodong returned home from work at the camp.

Before he reached the door, he heard Er Bao’s loud singing from inside.

Er Bao’s voice was suitable for shouting slogans during training; it must have been quite passionate.

When Lin Guodong entered the courtyard, Er Bao, who had only learned a few lines of the song, had already finished singing.

But when he saw his dad return, Er Bao circled around him like a little peacock, then proudly asked, “Dad, can you sing?”

Lin Guodong: “…”

Er Bao grinned and asked again, “Dad, did your teachers teach you how to sing when you were studying?”

He raised his chin as he spoke, looking like a colorful peacock, even though he didn’t have colorful feathers.

But now, he looked more like a little monkey.

Lin Guodong looked down at him, wondering what this short, still-growing kid wanted to say.

Yi Bao and Er Bao were indeed not tall, slightly shorter than the average height for boys their age.

Perhaps it was because their nutrition wasn’t good in the past five years, but in the past half year, Ning Shu had fed them well, and their height and weight had noticeably increased.

Ning Shu looked at the father and sons and found it amusing.

“Dad, come on, tell us. Our teacher taught us to sing today. It’s the song of the little swallow flying in the sky. Dad, can you sing?” Er Bao asked incessantly.

If his dad said he couldn’t sing, Er Bao would definitely look down on him.

Lin Guodong’s ears buzzed from what he said. “Yes, I was taught.”

“Then Dad, what song did your teacher teach? Can you sing it for me?” Er Bao’s eyes lit up; he wanted to hear his dad sing.

Lin Guodong felt Er Bao was asking for the impossible. “I’ve forgotten. It was taught when I was young, and now that I’m grown up, I’ve long forgotten.” He thought Er Bao’s idea of hearing him sing was too idealistic.

Er Bao pursed his lips and once again showed his disdain for his dad, “Dad, you have a really bad memory. I wouldn’t forget the songs I learned. I can sing it for you…”

“Stop, no need,” Lin Guodong interrupted.

“Don’t sing anymore, Er Bao. It’s time for dinner. You can sing for your dad later in the evening,” Ning Shu also chimed in.

“Ah, it’s time for dinner. Mom, what are we having?” As soon as he heard it was dinner time, Er Bao didn’t care about singing anymore.

Lin Guodong breathed a sigh of relief.

“Preserved meat, cabbage, and egg noodles,” Ning Shu said as she served everyone.

But as she turned around, she saw Lin Guodong and the three children standing behind Da Mao and Tie Dan, and she couldn’t help but smile.

“How’s the planting going?” Lin Guodong asked about the morning’s activities during dinner.

“I planted two seeds in each hole, and it’s done. I’ll go to the mountain this afternoon to take a look and dig some bamboo shoots. By the way, can we still get bicycle tickets?” Ning Shu thought about it.

If she wanted to bring out the dried mushrooms and fungus, she couldn’t do it without a bicycle.

She couldn’t carry it alone, and it would be too tiring to walk to the city just by walking, and it would take too long.

“I’ll ask about that. If we need to spend a bit more money, it shouldn’t be a problem,” Lin Guodong replied without hesitation.

“I’ll spend a bit more to buy it; it’s inconvenient without a bicycle to go to the city,” Ning Shu didn’t mind spending a little extra money.

“Okay, I’ll go ask,” Lin Guodong agreed.

After lunch, Lin Guodong went to inquire about bicycle tickets, while Er Bao and San Bao played with Da Mao and Tie Dan.

Yi Bao helped his mother clean up the table.

Ning Shu didn’t let Yi Bao wash the dishes, only letting him wipe the table, afraid he would drop the dishes and hurt himself.

Surprisingly, Yi Bao wiped the table quite clean. He was serious about everything he did.

After the dishes were cleaned up, Ning Shu said, “Er Bao, come and wash the dishes.”

“Coming.” Although Er Bao didn’t take the initiative to do housework, he was not lazy when asked to work.

Er Bao washed the dishes slowly, and Yi Bao accompanied him.

Ning Shu didn’t interfere, but she watched from the side and occasionally gave pointers.

“Oh, the children are washing the dishes, how obedient,” Yang Pozi came over with a bundle of firewood on her back and was surprised to see the two children washing the dishes.

She didn’t understand how Ning Shu could bear to let the boys wash the dishes.

“Yes, to cultivate their practical abilities,” Ning Shu explained. “Auntie, you can just leave the firewood here. I’ll need to take it to return to someone later.”

“Okay, I’ll leave it by the wall then.” Yang Pozi put down the firewood and watched the boys washing the dishes for a while.

She felt sorry for them and decided not to watch anymore. “Ning Girl, I’ll be going now. I have things to do.”

“Okay, Auntie, I won’t see you off.”

“Just next door, no need to send anything.”

Yang Pozi hurried back home after just a few steps, seeing her daughter-in-law tidying up with her eldest granddaughter.

She whispered to her daughter-in-law, “I went to bring firewood to Lin’s wife just now. Do you know what I saw?”

Zhao Huan shook her head, “Mom, what did you see?” Judging from her mother-in-law’s expression, it must have been something shocking.

“I saw the twins washing the dishes, while Lin’s Wife just stood there. She really is willing to let the boys wash the dishes. If it weren’t for her usual kindness to the twins, people who didn’t know would think she’s a stepmother.” Yang Pozi was truly envious of the boys.

If it were boys from other families washing dishes, they would be treated like ancestors if they came to their house.

Zhao Huan also widened her eyes in surprise, “Mom, when I went to wash things at the well this morning, I heard someone say that there’s a man who goes to wash dishes and clothes every day, even washing women’s clothes. I wonder when our neighborhood got such a lazy wife.”

“Really? Asking men to wash dishes and clothes?” Yang Pozi was almost about to shout in disbelief.

Lin Guodong had been washing for several days, but unfortunately, he had never run into Yang Pozi, so she didn’t know that the person they were talking about was right next door.

Ning Shu had no idea she had become the talk of the town for Yang Pozi and her daughter-in-law.

She saw that the two children had finished washing the dishes, and Lin Guodong hadn’t returned yet, so she had nothing to do.

She decided to take out Lin Guodong’s unwanted clothes and tidy them up.

Lin Guodong had been in the army for several years, and those clothes that he didn’t want to wear were neatly stacked on the side.

People of this era didn’t throw away clothes easily; even clothes that were too worn out could still be put to use.

Ning Shu decided to use these clothes to make pads for Da Mao and Tie Dan.

Just as she was tearing up the old clothes, Lin Guodong came back.

“How was it? Did you get the bicycle tickets?” Ning Shu asked eagerly when she saw him back.

The neighborhood was so big, bigger than a production brigade, bigger than a factory.

With thousands of soldiers and hundreds of families, it was natural that there would be a bicycle ticket available.

“Yes, but they want to sell it for 160 yuan. What do you think?” Lin Guodong had exchanged his previous bicycle ticket and didn’t expect it to be so expensive.

Ning Shu said, “Yes, we can always earn more money. We never know when there will be bicycle tickets available again.”

Lin Guodong replied, “Then give me the money, and I’ll go exchange it.”

Ning Shu gave Lin Guodong the money without hesitation.

Luckily, she usually kept a few hundred yuan in loose change at home; otherwise, they would have to wait until tomorrow.

After Lin Guodong went to buy the bicycle tickets with the money, Yi Bao curiously asked, “Mom, are we buying bicycles again?”

Ning Shu replied, “Yes, Mom needs to go to the city to buy groceries. It’s too far and too slow to walk without a bicycle.”

Yi Bao nodded, “Okay, Mom works really hard. Mom, can I go with you to buy groceries and carry things for you?”

Ning Shu smiled and said, “Yi Bao, being able to take care of your younger brother well makes you my biggest helper.”

Yi Bao smiled sweetly; he liked being his mother’s helper.

So, as soon as Lin Guodong bought the bicycle tickets, Ning Shu didn’t stay at home for a moment longer.

She took the tickets and her passbook and went to the city.

Meanwhile, the three children went to school with Da Mao and Tie Dan.

The bell for class had been ringing for a while, but the children in the classroom were still chatting lively.

However, when they saw Teacher Jiang come in, they immediately quieted down. They weren’t afraid of the weather, their parents, or anything else; they were only afraid of their teacher.

After Teacher Jiang greeted the children and counted them, she began the daily questioning segment. “Students, it’s time for our daily questions again. From yesterday until today, do any of you have questions for me?”

“I do, I do, I have a question!” Er Bao raised his hand eagerly.

He had been waiting to ask his question since yesterday, and he was quite anxious. “Teacher, me, me…”

Seeing Er Bao so eager to participate, Teacher Jiang was pleased with the classroom atmosphere.

“Then, please let Lin Haizhi ask the question.”

She liked students who cooperated with her like this.