Chapter 22

Gu Yang looked all innocent. “It’s Uncle Gou Dong! I just saw him telling Tie Zhu-gege’s mom that little vixens are good at teasing people.”

“Pffft—”

Luckily, Lin Xi had soup in her mouth. If it had been noodles, they’d be flying everywhere.

She and Tian Yufen exchanged glances for a moment. Both felt as if a juicy piece of gossip had just landed in their laps—but their reactions couldn’t have been more different.

Lin Xi wanted to hear all the details, while Tian Yufen worried that the child was making things up. This kind of thing wasn’t to be said aloud.

She was just about to scare her grandson into keeping quiet when she heard him continue:

“Me and my sister were playing hide-and-seek with Tie Zhu-gege. He told us to hide first while he went to get Ya Ya to help find us.

My sister and I hid in the grass ditch, but she fell into a pit. I went to pull her out.

I heard people talking and thought Tie Zhu-gege and Ya Ya had come to look for us, so we stayed down and didn’t move.

But I didn’t see Tie Zhu-gege or Ya Ya. I saw Uncle Gou Dong hugging Tie Zhu-gege’s mom. He was hitting her on the butt and biting her mouth—biting her so hard she cursed at him.”

Lin Xi, curious and eager, asked:

“What did she curse?”

Tian Yufen frowned. She knew she shouldn’t let the child ramble, but now she really wanted to know exactly what they’d seen. If the kids had witnessed something they shouldn’t, it could be bad for them. So she didn’t interrupt and let Lin Xi keep asking.

Little Gu Yang tilted his head, thought for a moment, and said:

“She called him a ‘damn ghost’ and said ‘wait a bit.’”

Lin Xi slurped a mouthful of noodles. “And then?”

Gu Yang: “What?”

Lin Xi: “What did they do or say after that?”

Gu Yang: “After that… after that they went over to the haystack. My sister said she was hungry, so we came back. That’s when we heard Grandma calling us.”

Lin Xi: “…” These two were doing something that exciting in broad daylight?

Tian Yufen, relieved the children hadn’t seen anything too indecent, said:

“Kids should focus on eating. Grown-ups’ business isn’t for you to meddle in. What happened today must not be repeated to anyone. If you talk, you’ll get your mouth smacked—and then you won’t be allowed to eat.”

At that, Gu Yang shrank his neck and clapped both hands over his mouth, nodding to show he wouldn’t talk nonsense again.

He didn’t know what a little vixen was, but not being able to eat was unacceptable. He had candy now, and biscuits, and meat, and even candied hawthorn skewers…

Tian Yufen then turned to Lin Xi. Lin Xi assured her,

“Don’t worry, I won’t talk. This has nothing to do with us anyway.”

Little Xing Xing ate her meal quietly, eyes darting between the others without a word.

Lin Xi had already noticed this child didn’t talk much—probably because she’d lost her parents young, and Tian Yufen had struggled to raise them alone.

At her age, the old woman didn’t know much about children’s emotional needs. She just focused on keeping them fed, clothed, and safe, thinking that was enough.

After the meal, Tian Yufen didn’t let Lin Xi help clean up. She gathered the bowls herself and, while at it, warned Gu Yang:

“Don’t take your sister over there to play hide-and-seek today. Stay home.”

“Oh.”

Gu Yang was puzzled—why did Grandma seem unhappy? But he was a good boy, so he nodded anyway.

“I’ve got a super fun game. I wonder who wants to play?”

Lin Xi smiled brightly at the two little radishes. Gu Xing Xing’s eyes lit up, while Gu Yang eyed her suspiciously.

The bad woman was trying to trick them again! Last time she’d lured him into Grandma’s room like this and tried to get him to say where Grandma kept her money. No way was he falling for it again!

Thinking this, he glared and said loudly:

“I don’t want to!”

Xing Xing looked between her brother and aunt and said in a soft, sticky voice, “I do. Xing Xing wants to play.”

Gu Yang: ??? His sister had betrayed him?!

“Mei-mei, you don’t want to.”

“Xing Xing does.”

“No, tell Gege you don’t want to.”

“But Gege… Xing Xing does want to!”

The little radish was conflicted. His sister looked like she really wanted to play. And besides, she didn’t know where Grandma’s money was, so it should be fine, right?

Maybe if he stayed nearby to keep watch, he could stop the bad woman if she tried anything.

Thinking this, he looked at his sister’s eager face and nodded. “Fine, you play.”

Xing Xing clapped her little hands in delight.

“Okay, Xing Xing wants to play!”

Lin Xi glanced at Gu Yang but didn’t invite him. She wanted to see how long this little guy could hold out.

She brought over a small stool and placed it at the base of the courtyard wall, then set a piece of candy on top. Taking Xing Xing’s hand, she led her to the other side of the yard and asked:

“Do you know how to play rock–paper–scissors?”

“Uh-huh.”

The little one nodded, eyes shining like grapes.

“Good. We’ll play rock–paper–scissors, and whoever wins gets to take one step forward. Whoever reaches the candy first wins, and the candy will be the prize. Okay?”

“Okay.” The little one nodded again. Gu Yang stood nearby, ears pricked. He had to make sure his sister wasn’t being tricked.

But… he’d never played this game before. It actually sounded really fun. He kind of wanted to join…

No! He’d already said he wouldn’t play the bad woman’s games.

While he was still battling with himself, Lin Xi and Xing Xing began the first round.

In the first round, Lin Xi deliberately lost. Xing Xing squealed in delight and took a big step forward, then turned back for the next round.

In the second round, Lin Xi lost again. The little one nearly bounced with excitement, while Gu Yang stood there thinking: …It does look fun.

“Mei-mei, you can do it!”

His sudden cheer startled both players—and even Tian Yufen, who was in the house feeding the chicks, came out to take a look.

Seeing Lin Xi happily playing with the children, she smiled and went back to minding the chicks and ducklings.

Her brother’s shout had startled Xing Xing, but when she realized he was cheering her on, she nodded at him vigorously. “Mm-hmm!”

After winning three rounds in a row, the little one’s face was flushed with excitement. Thanks to the recent days of three hearty meals plus a cup of milk before bed, the siblings were visibly rounder and fairer.

And since Xing Xing wasn’t especially playful—she usually just sat quietly—she’d plumped up quickly, her cheeks now adorably chubby.

In the fourth round, Lin Xi won. The little one instinctively started to step forward, but Lin Xi reminded her:

“This time I won~”

Then she took a small step forward, closing the gap between them. In the fifth round, she won again and stepped forward until she could reach out and pat the little one’s head.