Chapter 28: Brother～Brother～

The days passed by one after another. Summer had arrived, and the weather was starting to heat up.

An An and Lele lay on the bamboo mat, sticking out their tongues from the heat. Si Yueyue quickly gave the little ones some water to keep them hydrated.

“Mommy～”

“Mommy～”

“Hey, An An and Lele, do you still want some water?”

The two little ones shook their heads and continued with what they were doing. Their mother sat beside them, fanning them with a palm-leaf fan.

Watching her two sons squint their big eyes in enjoyment as the breeze blew over them, Si Yueyue suddenly felt a little dazed.

She hadn’t expected it, but it had almost been a year since she arrived here. Time truly flew by.

In just a few days, it would be An An and Lele’s first birthday. She planned to make it special, though she still needed to find an excuse to take out some supplies from the space.

“Mommy～Brother～”

Si Yueyue had looked away for a second, and in that moment, little Lele tried to run outside. It was An An who warned her in time—otherwise, who knew where the mischievous boy would’ve run off to.

“Lele, where do you think you’re going?”

Hearing his mother call him, Lele turned to look at her. His chubby little hand pointed outward. “Mommy～ah…”

“You can’t go out now. Grandpa and Grandma will be back from work soon. Mommy needs to make dinner. After we eat, if Grandma has time, she’ll take you to have a look, okay?”

“Brother?”

“Mm, Brother will go with Lele.”

The little guy was still somewhat upset that he couldn’t go out, looking a bit down.

“How about we go back and play with building blocks with your brother first? He’s all alone at home—it’s probably very lonely for him.”

Lele, thinking about his lonely brother, nodded his little head. “Mm.”

Si Yueyue held her younger son’s hand and walked back, sighing in her heart. Ah～when he couldn’t walk, things were easier. Now that he could walk, she had to chase this little rascal around all day.

“An An, Mommy and your little brother are back.”

“Mommy～Brother～”

“Brother～”

Lele let go of his mother’s hand and ran toward An An. His short legs were still unsteady, yet he insisted on running.

Plop…

Lele stumbled and knelt on the ground, his big eyes full of confusion.

Before their mother could say anything, An An had already walked over. He tilted his head as he looked at Lele on the ground and called out.

“Brother～”

The tears that had been welling up in Lele’s eyes instantly disappeared at the sound of his brother’s voice.

“Brother～”

“Mm…” An An helped his brother up. Once Lele was standing, An An patted the dust off his pants.

Seeing his brother’s red-rimmed eyes, An An held his hand and led him back to sit on the bamboo mat, then stuffed a toy into his hand.

Lele looked at the toy—his favorite—and grinned widely at his dear brother.

“Brother～”

“Eh～”

“Brother～”

“Mm…”

“Brother～”

An An reached out his tiny hand and covered his little brother’s chattering mouth, then gave him another one of his favorite toys.

Lele instantly beamed, all teeth and no eyes from smiling so hard.

Si Yueyue watched all this from the side without saying a word. When her younger son had fallen, she hadn’t intended to help. She wanted him to try standing up on his own.

After all, when children fall and no one responds, they often don’t cry. But once someone comes over, the tears immediately follow from the feeling of being wronged.

However, her older son’s actions had taken her by surprise. Watching it all unfold, she became even more certain that An An would definitely be a good big brother in the future.

“An An, Lele, time to drink water～”

“Mommy～” Lele drank his water while handing his toy to Mommy.

An An, on the other hand, quietly sipped his water the entire time.

“Lele, are you giving Mommy your toy to play with?”

“Mommy～mm.”

“Okay, thank you, Lele.”

Seeing this, An An also handed over the block structure he had stacked to Si Yueyue.

Their mother looked at the blocks on the bamboo mat in surprise. Was her child really this clever?

“An An, are you giving this to Mommy too?”

“Mm…”

“Thank you, An An. An An and Lele are both Mommy’s good boys.”

“Ah… mm, Mommy～”

“Mommy～mm.”

“Cluck cluck cluck…”

“Cluck cluck cluck…”

The mother and her two sons burst into a fit of laughter, which ended with Si Yueyue giving each of them a kiss.

“All right! An An and Lele, be good and play here. Mommy’s going to cook.”

The two little ones nodded at her words. Si Yueyue didn’t worry about An An—he was reliable. As for Lele, with An An watching over him, she felt reassured.

That evening, Si Yueyue planned to use up some of the grain stores at home. She would go to town the next day and take the opportunity to bring out more supplies from the space.

The fields hadn’t been too busy lately, so Zhang Guihua and Grandma Zhao had been coming home earlier to help her with cooking. Today it was Grandma Zhao’s turn, and Si Yueyue could already hear her calling from the courtyard.

“An An, Lele, Grandma’s back.” Grandma Zhao called out as she cleaned herself off.

“Grandma～”

“Grandma～”

The two little ones responded in unison.

“Eh, don’t rush. Grandma’s coming.”

At that moment, Lei Qingshan and Lei Qingyao returned from school.

“An An, Lele, your brother and sister are back.”

“Brother, Sister!!!”

If that wasn’t the mark of a family, what was? Everyone who came home greeted the two little ones first—it was their signature style.

Grandma Zhao entered the house and showered her grandsons with affectionate kisses. Only after the older grandchildren came in did she head to the kitchen to help Si Yueyue.

“Mom, I just checked the jar. There was only a little rice left, so I went ahead and used it all.”

Seeing Grandma Zhao’s deadly stare shoot her way, she hurriedly added: “Uh, I mean… it’s just a bit thicker than congee.”

“All right, got it.” What was done was done—was she supposed to scoop it back out?

“Oh right, Mom. Earlier Lele wanted to go out and play, but it was almost time to cook, so I didn’t let him. But I told him once you got back, if you had time, we could take them out for a walk.”

The moment her two little grandsons were mentioned, Grandma Zhao perked up. “Sure, once I’m free, I’ll take An An and Lele outside for a bit.”

She hadn’t been out for a proper chat in a while anyway. Today seemed like a good day for it.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law worked together to finish cooking. The weather was hot, so Si Yueyue had prepared a cold shredded potato dish, long beans with eggplant, and blanched leafy greens.

An An and Lele’s meals had been prepared earlier and were kept warm. Since there wasn’t much left to do, Grandma Zhao brought the children’s food out first so the little brothers could eat. That way, no one would have to take turns watching them later.

The little rascals sat in their usual spots, each with a small spoon in hand, eating slowly on their own. Grandma Zhao stayed close, just in case one of them choked without anyone noticing.

As the rest of the family returned home one by one, An An and Lele had almost finished eating.

With the little ones fed, the adults began their dinner.

Lele, remembering that Mommy had said Grandma would take him and his brother out once she had time, kept sneaking glances at Grandma Zhao during the meal.

Noticing his eager gaze, Grandma Zhao smiled and said: “Lele, wait a little, okay? Once Grandma finishes eating, I’ll take you out to play.”

“Mm… Grandma～”

Lei Dashu looked at his wife in confusion, silently asking what that was about.

“An An and Lele wanted to go out and play. There’s no one home during the day, and Yueyue has trouble taking both by herself, so she said they’d wait for me to come back.” Grandma Zhao explained with a smile.

Lei Dashu nodded in understanding. He’d go with them too—one adult could carry one child. Perfect.

Lei Jun, who was shoveling food into his mouth: …

There went another chance to bond lovingly with his nephews—robbed again.

After putting down her bowl and chopsticks, Si Yueyue looked at the family’s elders. “Dad, Mom, I’d like to go to town tomorrow. An An and Lele’s birthday is coming up, and I want to buy some things for their celebration. Also, I haven’t received any royalties for a while, so I’d like to check on that.”

Lei Dashu nodded. The twins’ first birthday was indeed coming up. “Will you be okay going by yourself? Why not let Eldest go for you?”

“It’s all right, Dad. There’s an ox cart heading into town tomorrow. I’m not planning to buy much.”

She was definitely not sending Eldest Uncle. How would she sneak supplies out of the space if he came along?

Besides, she was also planning to visit the Waste Recycling Station. How would she explain that?

“Okay then, as long as you have a plan. If anything comes up, just go find Zhenzhen at the textile factory.”

“I will, Dad.”

With everything settled, Lei Dashu waved his hand grandly and took a few of the older kids and his wife—each of them carrying one of the little ones—and headed out.

Zhang Guihua stayed behind with Si Yueyue to clean up. After tidying the kitchen, the two sisters-in-law returned to their rooms to study.

Si Yueyue found herself impressed with her sister-in-law. Not because she was highly educated, but because at her age, she could still settle down and commit to learning.

Zhang Guihua pointed at the textbook and asked: “Yueyue, is it written like this here?”

“That’s right, that’s how it’s written. Though this one could also be expressed another way…”