Chapter 22: Disliked by Lele

While the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were still chatting about An An and Lele’s speaking and walking progress, Lei Qingyun had already climbed into the bamboo mat and sat down in front of the twins.

“An An, Lele, I’m your Second Brother~” Lei Qingyun said, blinking his big eyes as he looked at his little brothers expectantly.

Lele thought Second Brother wanted to play with toys. Then, under his expectant gaze, he lifted the toy in his hand.

“Ah…” Here you go, play with it.

Although Lei Qingyun didn’t hear his little brother call him “brother.” seeing him offer the toy still made his eyes squint with joy.

“Did little brother give this to big brother to play with? Thank you, Lele.”

An An, sitting to the side, watched his silly Second Brother and stretched out his chubby little hand to pat his second brother’s thigh.

When Lei Qingyun looked over, An An grinned and shouted: “Guh…”

Lei Qingyun’s eyes widened, and then he burst into laughter: “Hahaha… Little brother called me ‘brother’! You’re amazing, little brother!”

An An looked at the suddenly laughing Second Brother in confusion, his big eyes full of blankness. The helpless baby looked toward his mother for help.

“Mm~mah…”

“There, there, An An, don’t be afraid. Second Brother’s just really happy.”

Lele tilted his head and looked at Si Yueyue. “Ah…”

“Eh!”

“Tszz.”

“……” The rest of the words weren’t clear, but he was clearly focused on eating. Did he just unleash his primal power for food?

Grandma Zhao heard her little grandson and suddenly burst out laughing: “Hahaha… Lele must be hungry, huh? Let’s eat right now.”

Si Yueyue looked at Lele with amusement. “Mom, I’ll go bring out the food. You stay here with An An and Lele. You haven’t seen them all morning; they missed you so much.”

Grandma Zhao was even more delighted upon hearing this: “Alright, alright, I’ll keep them company properly so they’ll know their grandma is their absolute favorite.”

The people just stepping into the main room: …

They let their guard down.

As soon as the younger ones entered, they hurried to the two babies, crouched down in front of them, and stared at the little dumplings with excitement.

“Little brothers, I’m Big Brother~ Call me big brother!”

“……”

An An and Lele looked at the big face in front of them. Hmm. A familiar person.

“Ah… mm… guh.”

“Guh… pfft…” To everyone’s surprise, while calling out “brother.” Lele reached out his chubby little hand and gave the big face in front of him a push.

Lei Yu laughed heartily at his little nephew’s action: “Hahaha… Shanzi, looks like Lele’s not that into you!”

“I am not!” Lei Qingshan’s ears turned red, clearly embarrassed that his little brother disliked him.

Seeing his reaction, everyone burst into laughter: “Hahahaha…”

The two little dumplings, infected by everyone’s laughter, also giggled uncontrollably.

A moment later, the adults were pulled back to the moment by the babies’ happy laughter.

Lei Jun, having finished laughing, said to his nephews: “An An, Lele, I’m your Uncle.”

Lei Yu also leaned in: “An An, Lele, call me Little Uncle.”

“And me, and me—little brothers, call me Big Sister…”

Although Lei Dashu really wanted to interact with his grandsons, he didn’t express it as directly as the others.

A father’s love was always more reserved.

Zhang Guihua, when Lei Yu stepped forward, had already left the main room and gone to the kitchen to help Si Yueyue bring out the dishes.

As she entered the kitchen, a rich and unique aroma immediately dominated her senses.

Zhang Guihua’s nose twitched. Sniff~ big sniff~ as if she were sniffing something addictive.

“Yueyue, what are you cooking today? This smells amazing!”

Si Yueyue smiled and looked at Zhang Guihua. “Hehe~ Right? Today’s meal will definitely leave everyone wanting more.”

“Every meal you make leaves everyone wanting more. We eat one and look forward to the next.”

“Hahaha… If everyone likes it, then I must not be too bad at cooking.”

“Not just ‘not bad’—you’re amazing, okay? Every time we eat your food, it’s like we want to swallow our tongues!”

“Hahaha… Sister-in-law, that’s a bit of an exaggeration.”

“Not an exaggeration, not at all.” Zhang Guihua said firmly. “Alright, let’s bring the food out now. Everyone’s waiting, and we still have to work this afternoon.”

“Okay.”

The two sisters-in-law each carried a dish and made two trips to get all the food out.

Once everything was set on the table, Zhang Guihua shouted to the others: “Time to eat—!”

As soon as Lele heard the word “eat.” his little bottom began bouncing up and down on the bamboo mat in an attempt to stand up. Realizing he couldn’t manage it on his own, he raised his arms toward Grandma Zhao.

“Nah… tszz…”

“Oh my, our little grandson is starting to talk now? And the word he says the most is ‘eat’?”

Lei Dashu nodded upon hearing that. “Isn’t that great? Being able to eat is a blessing.”

“Alright, let’s eat first. We still have work to do this afternoon, can’t waste time.” someone chimed in.

Hearing that, Grandma Zhao picked up Lele, who had been reaching for her, then turned and looked at the old man, signaling him to carry An An.

Receiving the look from his wife, Lei Dashu crouched down and clapped his hands toward his grandson.

“An An, Grandpa will carry you—let’s go eat.”

An An looked at the grandfather in front of him and slowly raised his arms. Seeing his grandson’s cute reaction, the old man’s lips curled into a gentle smile.

Once An An was settled in Lei Dashu’s arms, he looked up at the old man with his chubby little face and gave a soft, sweet smile.

“Ah… yeh…”

Lei Dashu’s smile grew even bigger when he heard An An’s babbling. This little one really was fond of him.

“Alright then, Grandpa’s taking An An to eat.”

“Mm…”

Grandma Zhao, holding Lele beside him, looked at her husband and shook her head helplessly. Then she bounced Lele lightly in her arms.

“Let’s go, time to eat.”

The others had already been sent ahead to the table by Grandma Zhao when Zhang Guihua called out.

Though everyone was already seated and staring hungrily at the delicious, fragrant dishes, they still waited properly for the two elders before starting.

Si Yueyue saw her mother-in-law and father-in-law each carrying a little milk dumpling and quickly stepped up to help. She addressed Lei Dashu.

“Dad, let me carry An An. You go ahead and eat first. After you finish, take a quick break—you still have to work this afternoon.”

Lei Dashu nodded and handed An An over to Si Yueyue.

Zhang Guihua stepped forward to take Lele and feed him some steamed egg custard, but Grandma Zhao declined.

Hmph—if I don’t feed him myself, how will Lele stay closest to me?

This little guy would follow anyone as long as there was food. That’s why, before he could walk, she had to secure her position in his heart!

Once Lei Dashu and Grandma Zhao sat down and looked at the large bowls in front of them, their eyes nearly popped out.

What was this? Why did it smell so incredibly good?

Whoa—was that cured pork?

And egg?

Grandma Zhao looked at the overflowing bowl in front of her, and her heart felt strangely blocked—like she wanted to scold someone but couldn’t quite get angry.

Then, Grandma Zhao turned to her second daughter-in-law with a calm face and asked: “Yueyue, are you planning to stop living frugally and just empty the household?”

Everyone else, though eager to dig in, quietly put down their spoons when they heard Mom—Grandma Zhao—speak.

Si Yueyue looked at her and replied: “Mom, I’m not going that far. Last time I brought back plenty of grain and meat. Even if we eat like this for ten days or half a month, it won’t be a problem.”

Grandma Zhao shot her a glance. “So you do know that’s only enough for ten days to half a month? In the countryside, that kind of food should last a year or two, and you’ll go through it in ten days?”

“Mom, it’s the busy spring planting season. How can we go a day without proper meals? If people can’t take it and get sick, won’t they have to go to the clinic?”

“Going to the clinic costs way more than this. At least eating fills your belly, but going to the clinic is just throwing money out the window.”

“You and your twisted logic… fine, eat already.” Deep down, she wanted everyone to eat meat every day too—but the reality just didn’t allow it.

She had noticed that after having a baby, Yueyue’s mouth had only gotten sharper.

Lei Dashu picked up his chopsticks, cradled the bowl, and started eating.

The children in the family, seeing that the head elders had begun to eat, also picked up their spoons one by one.

Lei Jun and Zhang Guihua eagerly grabbed their chopsticks, sniffed deeply at the aroma, and asked excitedly,

“Second Sister-in-law, what is this? Why does it smell so insanely good? Is this cured pork? And is that potato…”

Si Yueyue nodded. “Yep, today I made clay pot cured pork rice. It’s got cured meat, potatoes, shiitake mushrooms, and green peas. Eldest Uncle, go ahead and try it—see how it tastes?”