Extra 3.1

In the past two years, Xiao Wu has helped Su Xiaoxiao buy several small courtyards, one after another. The wish of each child in the family to have their own courtyard was finally realized, but they still hadn’t found a suitable siheyuan (a traditional Chinese courtyard). Until one day, Xiao Wu mentioned that there were two siheyuans for sale in an alley behind Peking University, and they were well-maintained, though a bit expensive.

Su Xiaoxiao decided to go see them first.

As the college entrance exam approached, Fantuan wasn’t particularly anxious. As a student with excellent academic performance, the college entrance exam was relatively easy for him. During his middle and high school years, he also participated in numerous competitions and won many awards. He could have been directly admitted to Peking University, but they refused, saying that if he were admitted directly, it would be as if all those years of studying were wasted. He insisted on taking the exam to test his academic achievements.

This made Su Xiaoxiao worried for him. Not to mention Fantuan’s usual academic performance; everyone ate the same food, and with the college entrance exam in the hot summer, there were always some students who couldn’t take the exam due to stomach issues, colds, or traffic accidents each year. It was definitely best to be directly admitted to the best university. Su Xiaoxiao understood Fantuan’s thoughts, but as a mother, she didn’t want her child to take risks, given the many uncontrollable factors.

“Fantuan, why don’t we think about it some more? Going directly to Peking University is also quite good.”

Ten years passed in the blink of an eye.

Fantuan, who was sixteen years old, was the first among all the kids to take the college entrance examination. Zhuzi, Da Bao, and Xiaobao, who were older than him, would have to wait until the following year. Their goal was to attend Peking University.

Fantuan was no longer the chubby, glutinous rice dumpling he used to be. He had grown almost as tall as Han Cheng, with delicate and well-defined facial features. He had become a very cheerful and handsome young man, playing on the basketball court every day. He was almost the kind of dream lover that every girl just beginning to experience romantic feelings would dream of.

If it weren’t for the simple folk customs of the 1980s and the fact that girls were generally shy and reserved, it was estimated that the love letters he received every day wouldn’t even fit into his school bag.

The delicate boy smiled brightly, showing a mouthful of white and neat teeth. He naturally put his arm around Su Xiaoxiao’s shoulders and rested his head on her shoulder. “Mom, are you worried that your eldest son won’t be able to get into Peking University?”

Since Fantuan was five, Su Xiaoxiao has treated him as a friend. No one knew better than Su Xiaoxiao how strong his mental resilience was. She patted her child’s head and shook her head, saying, “It’s not that I’m worried about your academic performance; it’s just that I’m worried about accidents.”

Fantuan rubbed his head against his mother’s: “Mom, don’t worry. Our home is right across from the school. You don’t have to worry about being late for the exam due to traffic. Even if it rains heavily, you and Dad can drive me there. With you and Dad as my personal alarm clocks, there’s no need to worry about not waking up. The food we eat is either made by you or Uncle Yang. Unlike Xiao Roubao, who eats recklessly, it’s hard for me to get a stomach upset, and getting sick is even less likely. We exercise every day, so catching a cold or fever is rare.

In summary, the chance of me encountering problems is at least lower than that of 80% of other students. They aren’t worried, so why should I be? What are you worried about, Mom? Think about it: you were the top scorer in our province’s college entrance exam, and Dad was the top scorer in the graduate entrance exam. As your eldest son, how could I not aim to be the top scorer as well? As the big brother in the family, how could I not win without a fight? Really, Mom, don’t worry anymore. If you keep worrying, you’ll get white hair.”

Su Xiaoxiao: “Is that how you use ‘winning without fighting’?

The children were all grown up, had their own ideas, and had plenty to say. She couldn’t even win over Xiao Roubao now, let alone Fantuan. She thought to herself that Fantuan had already mapped out his life. He knew what path he would take and the kind of person he would become in the future.

“Big brother, I heard you talking bad about me. When did I ever eat and drink too much? I barely eat now, and my godmother said I lost weight today,” Xiao Roubao protested after hearing his big brother’s remarks when he came back from playing.

At nine years old, Xiao Roubao was only as tall as Fantuan’s shoulders. He exercised a lot and was no longer the short and chubby figure he was as a child. Now, he was a sturdier and more handsome version of himself.

Fantuan ruffled his hair and teased, “Yes, yes, our little meat dumpling used to eat five bowls of rice when he was young, and he still only eats five bowls now, just a little bit, not much at all.”

Xiao Roubao was covered in sweat. Su Xiaoxiao quickly took a towel to wipe the sweat from his forehead. “You’re all sweaty. Change your clothes first, and after you cool down, go take a shower. Did you go to your godfather’s place again?”

Xiao Roubao shook his head. “No, Godmother came to our set today. Old Chen wanted her to play a beautiful dancer. It seems like she agreed.”

Su Xiaoxiao: “…………”

Su Xiaoxiao still found it quite surreal that Jiang Xue had become Xiao Roubao’s godmother. The world was unpredictable.

Xiao Roubao shook his head and said, “I don’t know. Brother Xiao Du told me she’s not working now and spends every day at home with my godfather. Maybe she’s looking for something to do to pass the time. What about Second Brother and Xiao Tangyuan?”

“Your Second brother is helping classmates with tutoring at school, and Xiao Tangyuan and Sweet are playing at the store,” Su Xiaoxiao replied.

Twelve-year-old Xiao Doubao was already in his first year of high school. Despite being younger than most of his peers, he had excellent grades. Unlike his eldest brother, Fantuan, who had earned his position through hard work and determination, Xiao Doubao simply sat quietly in class without speaking loudly. Yet, his classmates naturally followed his lead and enjoyed being around him. Occasionally, when classroom discipline was lacking, a simple frown and a soft “quiet” from Xiao Doubao would immediately restore order, as if his peers were afraid of disturbing him. Even the teachers were secretly amazed.

The teachers had asked Xiao Doubao to help with after-school tutoring for some classmates who needed extra assistance, and he had agreed. Consequently, almost all the students attended his lessons on weekends, so he spent his weekends tutoring at school.

As for the family’s little sweetheart, Xiao Tangyuan was still the sheltered, naive girl protected by her family. She had a strong sense of justice, and whenever she found something unfair that Xiao Roubao couldn’t handle, she would go to her older brothers, who would always take care of it. All the classmates in elementary school knew that Xiao Tangyuan was someone you couldn’t mess with, as her brothers would defend her fiercely, regardless of her academic performance or physical strength. 

Her childhood was truly blissful, apart from the occasional nuisance from the annoying Horan, who sometimes released “toxic gas” (AKA fart). Overall, she was very happy.

During the hot summer, Su Xiaoxiao worried about the children’s appetites, so she made sour plum soup and hawthorn water once or twice a week. Since the children didn’t like drinking soup in the summer, she made refreshing brown sugar waters like lotus seed, lily, tremella soup, mung bean, tangerine peel, and kelp soup. Unfortunately, there was no refrigerator then, so she had to cool the pot in the well before serving.

The children loved drinking these, especially Xiao Roubao, who could drink several bowls at a time.

The children had become accustomed to Uncle Yang’s cooking, so Su Xiaoxiao only cooked one or two additional dishes. For example, Xiao Doubao liked sweet and sour ribs, and Xiao Tangyuan loved Swiss chicken wings, which she made once a week. Fantuan and Xiao Roubao liked everything, so she would make it for them if they particularly craved something. On a daily basis, she would also include some milk and fruits to balance their nutrition. There was no special need to cater specifically to the college entrance exam student; everyone in the family, including the old man, ate the same way and was healthy.

In high school, Zhuzi needed extra tutoring this week. After classes, he would go to “Three Meals and Four Seasons,” where Xiao Tangyuan would play with sweet and cotton candy. Xiao Tangyuan was very pretty, and last time, when Xiao Roubao took an afternoon off for filming, a male classmate followed her home, claiming that since Xiao Roubao was not around, they had to take her back.

The little girl naively let them escort her home and even invited them to stay and play with cotton candy. Zhuzi didn’t like male classmates being too close to his sister and always felt they had ulterior motives. He would check on his sister every day after school to feel at ease. Now, he had taken a trip to the store to do his homework. As long as he saw his sister playing with Sweet and Cotton Candy, he didn’t mind, but if any boys tried to get close, Zhuzi would stop his work and drive them away.

Today, the annoying Haoran was at the store again. Xiao Tangyuan disliked him, but he claimed to be a good friend of Tiantian and was there to play with her. Tiantian, having a soft personality and a willingness to make friends, didn’t chase Haoran away.

Xiao Tangyuan ignored him and went to the side with a comb to brush Cotton Candy’s fur.

The plump and fluffy cotton candy lay on the ground like a white cloud, allowing Xiao Tangyuan to fuss over it. When it felt slightly uncomfortable, it couldn’t help but let out a soft “whimper” to remind its little owner.

As Zhuzi entered the yard, he saw Haoran sneaking up behind Xiao Tangyuan, who was completely unaware as she was focused on brushing Cotton Candy. Zhuzi frowned and quickly walked over, grabbing Haoran by the collar and pulling him back. “What are you sneaking around here for?”