Chapter 241: Upsetting Xiao Mo

After dinner, Xu An went to the compound where the educated youths stayed to share some news with a few of the young men.

Meanwhile, Xiao Mo was playing a game with Niu Pi Tang.

In the kitchen, the couple was washing dishes together. Lu Xiaotang was going to leave in a few days, so whenever they had free time, they stuck close to each other.

Xiao Mo glanced toward the kitchen and sighed softly. Luckily, he came back; otherwise, what would happen to Niu Pi Tang? Neither of their parents could be relied on.

While the couple was happily enjoying their time in the kitchen, they were unaware that Xiao Mo was secretly criticizing them.

Xu Ning put away the dishes that Lu Xiaotang had just washed and said to him, “I’ve organized some more review materials. Let’s mail them to my brother and Sister Xiaoran tomorrow, and also send a copy to Mingyu.”

“Alright. I’ll go send them off tomorrow morning. In the afternoon, I’ll head up the mountain to see if I can hunt some game, so there’ll be more for you all to eat.”

Xu Ning stood behind Lu Xiaotang, resting her face against his back. “We still have plenty of meat. There’s no need to go. Besides, with my parents not around, we can’t eat that much.”

“I promised Xiao Mo I’d take him up the mountain. If I don’t go soon, he’s going to get upset with me,” Lu Xiaotang said just as he finished speaking, four little heads appeared at the kitchen door, with Xiao Mo’s head sticking out the furthest.

He excitedly asked, “Brother-in-law, are you really taking me up the mountain tomorrow afternoon?”

Xu Ning quickly moved away from leaning on Lu Xiaotang and glared at the four little ones standing at the door.

Pi Pi grinned and said, “Mommy was just hugging Daddy.”

Niu Niu chimed in, “I saw it too! Mommy even pressed her face against Daddy’s back.” Then he asked Tang Tang, “Isn’t that right, little sister?”

Tang Tang glanced at her mother’s expression and then said to her brother, “I didn’t see anything.”

After saying that, she ran over to hug her mother’s leg, sweetly adding, “Mommy, I didn’t see you hugging Daddy!”

Lu Xiaotang couldn’t help but laugh at his daughter’s words. She was so adorable, already trying to butter people up at such a young age—though, admittedly, she hadn’t quite mastered it yet.

Xu Ning gave her daughter a helpless look. Was this little girl trying to comfort her, or was she just making things worse?

Lu Xiaotang turned to Xiao Mo and asked, “Xiao Mo, tomorrow is Monday. Don’t you have school?”

Xiao Mo huffed proudly and replied with a smug grin, “Brother-in-law, I knew you would ask that! But I’m telling you, the fall harvest starts tomorrow, and our school’s already on break. Now you don’t have any excuses to not take me, do you? Hmph.”

Lu Xiaotang hadn’t known that the school was on break. He had only used that as an excuse earlier to keep Xu Ning from stopping him. It seemed this time, he couldn’t shake the kid off.

Niu Niu and Pi Pi walked over and asked, “Daddy, Uncle Mo, what are you doing tomorrow? We want to go too!”

Before Lu Xiaotang could answer, Xiao Mo quickly coaxed, “We’re not going anywhere. We’ll just stay home and play. After lunch tomorrow, we’ll have a nap contest—whoever falls asleep first will get a treat.”

“Uncle, you’re lying! You just told Daddy you were going up the mountain, not taking a nap. We heard everything!” Niu Niu said, then turned to Lu Xiaotang and added, “Daddy, we want to go up the mountain too.”

Pi Pi hugged Lu Xiaotang’s leg, joining in the protest. “Daddy, my brother and I want to go too!”

Lu Xiaotang and Xiao Mo exchanged helpless looks and sighed.

Xu Ning watched them with amusement. Now, it seemed none of them were going anywhere. She couldn’t help but chuckle to herself.

The next day, after lunch, Xiao Mo tried to coax Niu Niu and Pi Pi to take a nap. But for some reason, no matter how hard he tried, the two refused to sleep.

This frustrated Xiao Mo so much that, in the end, he lay down on the kang himself and fell asleep.

Seeing that their little uncle hadn’t moved for a long time and feeling tired from playing, Niu Niu and Pi Pi eventually lay down next to him and drifted off to sleep as well.

Lu Xiaotang, noticing the three boys sprawled out in disarray on the kang, carefully adjusted their positions before picking up his basket and heading up the mountain alone.

When Xiao Mo woke up, it was already past 2 p.m. Beside him, the triplets were still sound asleep, and his sister was sitting nearby, reading a book.

Realizing that his brother-in-law had gone up the mountain without him, Xiao Mo pouted in frustration, lying back down on the kang without saying a word.

Xu Ning smiled and coaxed him, “Xiao Mo, your brother-in-law said he’s going to catch a few rabbits today and make your favorite braised rabbit meat for dinner. How about I personally cook it for you?”

“Hmph! Why didn’t he call me when he left? I bet he didn’t want to take me at all. Tonight, he’d better make that rabbit for me, or else I won’t be on good terms with him anymore.”

“Alright, alright. When he gets back, we’ll make him cook it for you himself. You can tell him exactly what you want to eat, and we’ll punish him by making him cook something special just for you. Does that sound good?”

Only then did Xiao Mo climb off the kang. “Sister, where’s my second brother? I haven’t seen him around.”

Xu Ning glanced at him but didn’t dare say anything.

Xiao Mo immediately figured it out—his second brother must have gone up the mountain with his brother-in-law. This made him even more upset.

He put on his shoes and stormed out, determined to spend the night at Grandpa Qi’s place and ignore everyone else.