Chapter 12 – Sister-in-law Had Many Tricks

Chu An looked down at the little brats bowing to her, utterly baffled.

She turned her gaze toward Huo Ran and Huo Mian. One cub was looking up at the sky, the other down at the ground, both hiding their skills and achievements well.

Fortunately, it was mealtime. At their parents’ calls, the little brats reluctantly said goodbye to Huo Ran and Huo Mian, already planning to come find them to play again after lunch.

Once they sat down at a canteen table, Chu An arched a brow and asked: “Impressive—gone for just a short while and you’ve already gathered a gang of little brothers?”

If she was not mistaken, wasn’t that coal ball who had fought with Huo Ran last time also among them?

Huo Ran did not think recruiting a bunch of silly little followers was anything impressive. He shook his head repeatedly. “That was just an accident.”

Huo Mian, spooning rice for herself, hummed softly and recounted what had happened that morning.

Chu An listened with great interest and gave high praise for their firm refusal to go to dangerous areas. The two little ones preened under the compliments, their ears red as they shoveled food into their mouths in big bites.

Chu An glanced at their trays, then glanced again, suddenly noticing something was off.

“Ran Ran, Mian Mian, didn’t you order any vegetables?”

Both cubs’ trays held steamed pork with rice flour and twice-cooked pork. Aside from a small bowl of clam soup, the entire trays were covered in reds and yellows, with no trace of green vegetables.

“Vegetables taste bad.” Huo Mian explained in her soft, sticky child’s voice.

In the past, the bad sister-in-law would never give them meat when big brother wasn’t home, only tossing a few vegetables into hot water. The green vegetables had no flavor at all and tasted awful.

But now the sister-in-law was a good sister-in-law, letting her and big brother choose whatever dishes they liked. So when Huo Ran and Huo Mian were getting their meals, they had both naturally avoided the hated vegetables.

Chu An realized the problem. “So these past few days, you two haven’t eaten a single green vegetable?”

Huo Ran nodded honestly.

Chu An thought for a moment, then deliberately drew in a sharp breath. “That’s terrible!”

Huo Mian looked up nervously. “Why… terrible?”

“Vegetables have lots of nutrients and dietary fiber. Children need to eat not only meat but also plenty of vegetables, otherwise, over time, they’ll get sick!”

Huo Mian hesitated, setting down her chopsticks. “Really? Sistah-in-law, you’re not lying?”

“I’m not lying.” Chu An half-tricked, half-warned them. “If you don’t eat vegetables, your body will lack minerals and vitamins. You could get stomachaches, abdominal pain, poor eyesight, and in severe cases, you might never grow tall in your whole life—you’d be stuck as a little shorty!”

Compared to her sly sister-in-law, Huo Mian’s life experience was still too shallow.

Her lips quivered, and she looked as if she were about to cry. “I—I don’t want to be a little shorty! What do I do? I haven’t eaten vegetables for so many days!”

“It’s okay. From now on, you can just eat more vegetables.” Chu An smiled as she placed some water spinach on the girl’s plate. “Here, try it. Vegetables aren’t that bad, right?”

The green water spinach had been chopped into short pieces and stir-fried in the canteen’s big iron wok. It certainly didn’t taste as bad as the original owner’s half-hearted boiled greens.

But—

After chewing for a while, Huo Mian gave a serious evaluation. “Still… not as tasty as meat.”

How could green vegetables compare to fragrant, juicy meat?

But to avoid becoming a little shorty, Huo Mian still screwed up her bun-like face and forced herself to eat all the water spinach.

“Mian Mian doesn’t pick food—good job!” Chu An gave her a thumbs-up, then turned her gaze to the other cub.

Huo Ran rolled his eyes. “Mian Mian and I were good today—we didn’t go into the water with coal ball.”

Chu An didn’t understand what he was getting at but nodded hesitantly.

Huo Ran continued: “We even bravely threw the bugs back! And we didn’t use the fighting moves big brother taught us—we didn’t fight with other kids!”

“And then?”

“I… I even gave you four White Rabbit milk candies!”

“So?”

“So…” Huo Ran hugged his tray, eyes sly. “Can I not eat vegetables?”

Chu An: “…”

Ah, so there it was! He’d brought up all that just to avoid eating vegetables!

She smiled. “Aren’t you afraid of becoming a little shorty?”

“I still won’t eat vegetables!” Huo Ran’s stance was rock solid.

Chu An took a deep breath, maintaining a deathly smile. “You already have no front teeth. Without enough nutrition, they could grow in crooked or deformed.”

Huo Mian quickly urged her big brother: “Big Brother, you should eat a little. No front teeth… looks so ugly!”

Huo Ran licked his empty gums, hesitated for a moment, then said firmly: “Crooked teeth must be a trick for kids. I won’t eat vegetables! I hate vegetables!”

“Fine.” Chu An decided not to argue with this stubborn child—yet. “You can skip them today.”

Too inexperienced, Huo Ran didn’t notice the “today” in her words. He looked up happily. “Really?”

“Mm.” Chu An said: “But this afternoon, you have to clear the weeds from the backyard for me and then lay down some small stones.”

After thinking seriously, Huo Ran nodded. “Deal!”

Chu An almost laughed in exasperation.

This kid would rather do chores than eat vegetables.

But he might escape today—tomorrow, those greens were still going down his throat.

In the afternoon, Huo Ran, with his sister wanting to help, set about pulling up the weeds.

The cool kid looked at the weeds taller than himself and glanced around.

Huo Mian asked softly: “Big Brother, what are you looking for?”

“I…” Huo Ran stood on tiptoe and saw his grudge notebook on the windowsill.

The worn, yellow-edged notebook was neatly placed in a metal box, and someone had even carefully covered it with a book wrap.

Huo Ran’s face turned slightly red. “…”

Sister-in-law not only didn’t toss his grudge notebook aside but had even helped him cover it neatly.

If the future, smooth-sailing Huo Ran had to describe it, it was like having a dark history being treated like a cultural relic.

At the moment, the cool kid only knew that his face felt hot. Avoiding his sister’s puzzled gaze, he urged: “Let’s hurry and pull the weeds.”

“Oh.” Huo Mian’s attention was quickly diverted.

She walked to a clump of weeds taller than herself, grabbed the stem with her gloved little hands, and pulled hard—

It didn’t budge.

Chu An pushed a wheelbarrow she had borrowed from Li Xia into the backyard. Lifting her eyes, she saw Huo Mian puffing her cheeks, tugging hard at a weed, her small arms and legs straining as she leaned back with all her strength.

With a plop, the stubborn weed was finally yanked out, roots and all.

Huo Mian landed squarely on her bottom. She rubbed her sore rear but showed no sign of crying. Instead, she happily held the weed up for Chu An to see.

“Sistah-in-law! I pulled it out!”

“Amazing!” Chu An praised without holding back. “The roots were so deep, yet Mian Mian managed to get it out in one go!”

As soon as she spoke, a few weeds were suddenly shoved under her nose.

Looking closely, she saw Huo Ran holding them up, silently watching her.

Chu An thought for a moment—then understood. “Ran Ran is amazing too!”

Receiving her praise, the siblings were satisfied and quickly set about removing the rest of the weeds. Chu An was in charge of piling them onto the wheelbarrow and hauling them off for composting.

When Mei Qiukuai, Miao Zhengfu, and the others came trotting over, what they saw was a lively scene of work.

Miao Zhengfu, wiping his runny nose, climbed onto the low wall of the backyard and asked in a small voice: “Huo Ran, Huo Mian, what are you doing?”

Since the Huo siblings didn’t like being called “Big Brother” or “Big Sister.” the mischievous kids could only call them by name.

Huo Mian thought the question was a bit silly, but still answered: “We are… pulling weeds.”

Mei Qiukuai said indignantly: “My grandma was right—your sister-in-law is a bad woman who only makes you do chores!”

Before he could finish, Mei Qiukuai was met with a glare from Huo Ran.

He quickly covered his mouth, remembering how the siblings had forbidden them from speaking ill of their sister-in-law, even demanding they treat that “bad woman” with the respect due a leader.

Mei Qiukuai didn’t quite understand why the Huo siblings would defend someone who made them work.

His own grandma never made him do chores. She said girls should do more housework so that when they married, they wouldn’t be disliked by their in-laws. Boys, she claimed, should grow up to support the family and stand tall, so when they were young, they should just play happily.

In Mei Qiukuai’s eyes, doing housework was tiring and undignified.

Although he had quickly shut his mouth, Chu An had still heard his words of doubt.

Her lips curved upward. “Ran Ran and Mian Mian are part of the family. Doing chores shows they are responsible and hardworking. Besides—”

“Pulling weeds isn’t something just anyone can do.”

The mischievous boys scoffed. “Who can’t pull weeds?”

Chu An smiled faintly. “Pulling weeds requires not only great strength but also tests how well you use the muscles in your waist, abdomen, and arms. It’s a challenging task.”

Huo Ran and Huo Mian perked their ears at her words, their spines straightening unconsciously.

Exactly—pulling weeds was a difficult task! Mei Qiukuai and the others definitely couldn’t do it!

Mei Qiukuai noticed the look of disdain from the Huo siblings and felt his competitive spirit stir.

But he still spoke stubbornly. “You make it sound so mysterious—who’d believe that?”

Chu An was unfazed. “Ran Ran and Mian Mian still have to arrange the little courtyard afterward. Our courtyard needs the most beautiful, round stones, laid neatly into the path, without the slightest mistake. Even I might not be able to do it—it takes children as meticulous as Ran Ran and Mian Mian to manage.”

Huo Mian instantly felt a huge sense of responsibility. She patted her chest twice and declared loudly: “Sistah-in-law, don’t worry! Big Brother and I will definitely make the courtyard perfect!”

Huo Ran nodded proudly and said to Mei Qiukuai: “You guys should go back. Mian Mian and I have important work to do.”

He clearly no longer cared to play childish games with them.

The mischievous boys exchanged glances, ready to leave, but none of them felt quite right about it.

One boy kicked a pebble gloomily. “Is fixing up a courtyard really that hard?”

Miao Zhengfu sniffled. “Seems… harder than hide-and-seek or catching crabs.”

Suddenly, Mei Qiukuai popped his head over the backyard wall. “Hey, boss, I can help with the work too!”

He no longer wanted to play hide-and-seek or catch crabs either—he wanted to join the Huo siblings’ courtyard project!

The other boys, seeing him jump ahead, hurried to stick their heads over too. “No way, if Mei Qiukuai can work, we can work too!”

They couldn’t let him outdo them.

Huo Ran was displeased. “You? You can pull weeds? You can lay cobblestones?”

Chu An also put on a doubtful look. “Hmm… fixing up a courtyard is hard. Maybe you really can’t do it…”

“I can! I can!” Miao Zhengfu volunteered eagerly. “I’m really strong!”

The other boys chimed in one after another:

“I know where to find beautiful stones!”

“And me! I can push the wheelbarrow!”

…

If these kids had read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, they would have realized they had just fallen into Chu An’s trap.

Unfortunately, the fun-loving little brats had no idea.

Chu An pretended to think for a moment, then passed the decision to Huo Ran and Huo Mian. “What do you two think?”

Miao Zhengfu seized the chance to plead pitifully: “Please?”

Huo Ran, feeling unhappy about them trying to steal his work, caught their pleading looks and could only swallow his refusal. “Fine, but you’re not allowed to make trouble.”

The mischievous boys nodded quickly, each wearing the proud glow of being entrusted with an important task.