Usually, when Lin Guodong comes home from work, he always sees the three kids sitting on the doorstep, chatting away and making a lot of noise.

But today, when he reached the gate, he didn’t see them anywhere. Instead, he saw his wife standing at the dining room door.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Are the kids not here?”

Before Ning Shu could answer, Erbao called out loudly from the dining room, “Dad, we’re here! We’re inside.”

He came running out excitedly and said, “Dad, Mom bought a fridge. We cooled some water for you. Do you want to drink it?”

“Sure,” Lin Guodong said, a bit surprised. “The fridge arrived so quickly?”

Hearing his dad agree, Erbao went to get the water.

But when he stood in front of the fridge, he got a bit nervous and asked Ning Shu, “Mom, can I just open the door to take out the cooled water?”

Ning Shu replied, “Yes, you can just open the door.”

“Okay,” Erbao took a deep breath and rubbed his hands together.

Seeing this, Yibao said, “If you can’t open it, I’ll do it.”

Erbao laughed and said, “I’ll do it, I’ll do it.”

He then carefully opened the fridge door.

As soon as the door opened, a blast of cold air hit him. “Feels so nice,” he said as he took out the cooled water.

He carefully closed the fridge door, treating it like a precious treasure.

Turning around, Erbao handed the cooled water to his dad, “Dad, drink this. It’s very cold and refreshing.”

Lin Guodong took it and drank.

Since it hadn’t been in the fridge for long, the bowl was just a bit cold, and the water was slightly cool.

But on a hot summer day, even slightly cool water was refreshing.

“Is it good, Dad?” the third child asked, looking up at him.

“It just tastes like cool boiled water, but it’s nice and cool,” Lin Guodong said as he put down the bowl and took a piece of watermelon from the table.

“Dad, Mom said this fridge can make popsicles. She wants you to make molds for us. Can you do that?” the second child asked.

He had been thinking about making popsicles all afternoon.

Lin Guodong thought for a moment, “I’ve never made molds before, but I’ll give it a try after dinner.”

Erbao was delighted, “Dad, you’re the best.”

Ning Shu brought the dishes from the kitchen and overheard this.

She laughed and said, “Having a fridge is like having a mom,” referring to how happy the kids were.

Erbao heard this but didn’t understand what his mom meant.

During dinner, Ning Shu mentioned something about a TV,

“I found out today that we can buy a TV with industrial coupons too. It takes 20 coupons. I’ll ask around later to see if we can exchange for some industrial coupons. If we can gather enough, we can buy a TV too.”

“Sure,” Lin Guodong had no objections. “How many industrial coupons and how much did the fridge cost?” he asked casually.

Ning Shu replied, “18 industrial coupons and 1,300 yuan.”

Lin Guodong was stunned.

He knew a fridge would be more expensive than a bicycle, sewing machine, or electric fan, but he hadn’t expected such a big difference.

However, he was willing to buy anything for his wife and children if he could afford it.

It was his responsibility to make sure they lived well and were happy.

The three kids’ mouths dropped open.

Although they had never seen 1,300 yuan, they knew it was a lot of money.

Suddenly, Erbao had an idea.

He whispered to Erbao, “Brother… do you think it’s possible?”

He spoke so softly that even though Ning Shu was sitting at the same table, she couldn’t hear.

But she didn’t mind them having secrets. Little boys always have their little secrets, like their first crush…

Yibao thought the second child’s idea was feasible. “We’ll try it when the time comes.”

“Okay.” Erbao felt proud and excited about his plan.

After lunch, Ning Shu brought over a basket from the kitchen.

Inside were six washed peaches and half a chilled watermelon from the refrigerator.

She said to the Yibao, “Yibao, take this to the guard uncle to thank him for helping us move the refrigerator today.”

“Okay.” Yibao picked up the basket and left.

Erbao shouted from behind, “Brother, we’ll wait for you by the well.”

“I know,” replied Yibao.

Yibao ran to the guard booth where one of the guards was eating.

The guard who had helped them move the refrigerator was on duty.

The Yibao walked up to him and said, “Uncle, my mom said thank you for helping us move the refrigerator today. These peaches and watermelon are for you.”

The guard hurriedly said, “No need, no need. Take these back and enjoy them yourself. Uncle is an adult; I shouldn’t be eating these. Thank you, and thank your mom too.”

Even though the basket with the tempting red watermelon made him hungry, he knew these were meant for the kids.

Yibao said, “We have more at home, Uncle, please accept these. Our teacher taught us to be grateful. You helped us move things, so we want to thank you. I’ll leave it here; I’ll come back for the basket later.” With that, he put down the basket and ran off.

The guard watched his retreating figure, smiling and shaking his head.

What a child…

“What did they bring?” The guard who was eating saw the commotion outside, finished his meal quickly, and curiously came out, thinking the eldest brother had brought lunch.

Instead, he saw the watermelon and peaches. “Looks very delicious. Sister Lin’s family is really polite.”

“Alright, alright. I can see your mouth watering. You take over here; I’ll go eat. When I come back later, you can have some watermelon inside.”

“In that case, I won’t be polite.”

After leaving the guard booth, Yibao went straight to the well where he joined Erbao and they washed the dishes together.

Yibao then heard Erbao say to his father, Lin Guodong, “Dad, we have something to do. We’ll be back later.”

“Okay,” Lin Guodong nodded without paying much attention to them.

The three brothers didn’t go home but instead went to find their little friends, starting with the nearby He Jiaxing’s house.

“He Jiaxing… He Jiaxing…” as soon as they arrived at He Jiaxing’s door, Yibao shouted.

“Lin Hairui, what’s up?” He Jiaxing ran out from inside.

Erbao waved to him, “Come here, we have something to tell you.”

Seeing Erbao looking mysterious, He Jiaxing’s curiosity was piqued, “Tell me quickly.”

Erbao sounded a bit proud, “Today our mom bought a refrigerator. You know what a refrigerator is, right?”

He Jiaxing exclaimed, “I know! Your family bought a refrigerator?”

For kids in summer, the first thing that comes to mind about a refrigerator is ice pops.

Hearing that Erbao’s family bought a refrigerator made He Jiaxing envy them.

“Yeah,” Erbao continued, “Mom said with the refrigerator, we can make ice pops ourselves. He Jiaxing, if you want to eat ice pops in the future, you can come to our house to buy them.” This was what Erbao discussed with Yibao during lunch.

Mom spent 1300 yuan on the refrigerator, so they decided to sell ice pops to earn some money back.

“Great! I definitely want some. I’ll have one ice pop every day in the future. No, I’ll have two… no, I’ll have three ice pops every day! How much will three ice pops cost?” He Jiaxing, a kid with pocket money, was confident in his demand for three ice pops a day.

“I don’t know,” Erbao looked at Yibao, “Brother, how much will three ice pops cost?”

Yibao thought for a moment, “At the co-op, they sell them for 2 cent each. Since you’re our good friend, let’s say 1 cent each.” They had been to the co-op and bought ice pops there, so they knew the price.

He Jiaxing was touched, “Twins, you are really kind.” One cent each for an ice pop meant he could eat several of them every day.

“We are indeed good friends. Among friends, buying things is cheaper than outside,” Yibao said. “Now let’s go to Yang Wenjie’s house.” Having settled things with He Jiaxing, they still had other friends to talk to.

He Jiaxing said, “I’ll come too. Can I come to your house later to see the refrigerator?”

“Sure,” Erbao replied, “We’ve already chilled watermelon and cold water ready.”

“You bought watermelon too?” He Jiaxing wanted ice pops and watermelon.

Why could Aunt Ning buy so much delicious stuff while his mom couldn’t?

Yibao: “We bought the watermelon yesterday and ate it today.”

He Jiaxing: “Is watermelon expensive?”

Yibao: “I don’t know.”

Er Bao: “The refrigerator is very expensive, very expensive. My mom said it costs 1300 yuan.”

He Jiaxing sighed, “I can’t afford a refrigerator.”

He tried another approach, “Next time Aunt Ning buys watermelon, can she buy one for me too? I’ll give her the money.”

Yibao replied, “We don’t know about that. Ask our mom later.”

He Jiaxing nodded, “Okay.”

Ning Shu was still unaware that her three sons were venturing into the business of selling ice pops.

At that moment, she was discussing ice pop molds and ice crushers with Lin Guodong.

Lin Guodong suggested, “If we make molds like this, we can use sections of bamboo tubes. They’re perfectly round, and after pouring in the ingredients, we can insert small wooden sticks.”

Ning Shu liked the idea and wondered why she hadn’t thought of it before. “Bamboo tubes are round. We’ll need several other molds of different shapes and sizes. I also want molds for making small ice spheres.”

Lin Guodong agreed, “Let’s start with bamboo tubes for ice pops and see if it works. If it’s successful, we can make other molds.”

Ning Shu nodded, “Okay.”

Lin Guodong decided, “I’ll go to the mountain and find some thin and long bamboo to make bamboo tubes.”

Ning Shu reminded him, “They should be slender, not too thick.”

Lin Guodong assured her, “Got it.”

While Lin Guodong was away and the three brothers were out, Ning Shu went to wash a bowl of bayberries.

Just as she finished washing them and was about to eat, she heard He Jiaxing and the other children calling out.

“Auntie, we’re here to see the refrigerator…”

“Auntie, Lin Hairui said you bought a refrigerator…”

Ning Shu paused, realizing why the three boys hadn’t returned after washing the dishes—they were showing off the refrigerator to their friends.

The children had come to see the refrigerator, but once inside, their attention shifted to the bowl of bayberries Ning Shu was holding.

Ning Shu felt a bit caught off guard, “Um… come, let’s all have some bayberries together.” One bowl wasn’t enough, so she went to wash another bowl!