As Bao Sheng was about to fall, Jiang Lin quickly picked her up and lifted her high, making Bao Sheng giggle with delight.

“Papa, Papa!”

Jiang Lin smiled, gave her little face a kiss, greeted the neighbors, and then went home with Yan Runzhi.

The hallway was dimly lit and cluttered with furniture, so they had to be careful not to bump into cabinets or other people’s stoves and pots.

Today was the Dragon Boat Festival.

They ate zongzi (rice dumplings), carried calabashes, avoided the five poisons, and drank realgar wine.

Yan Runzhi and Cheng Yunzhi had made several varieties of zongzi in the morning, and now Cheng Yunzhi was cooking them in the hallway, filling the whole building with the aroma of zongzi.

Bao Sheng, smelling the delicious aroma, happily kept calling for Papa.

Jiang Lin gently said, “Zongzi.”

Bao Sheng responded with “Papa.”

When they got home, Da Bao and Xiao Bao soon returned for dinner.

After moving, Da Bao and Xiao Bao switched to a nearby elementary school and were now in the second semester of third grade.

Despite changing schools mid-year, their grades were unaffected.

Da Bao was still the top student in his class, while Xiao Bao, due to his more restless and careless nature, was slightly behind him by a couple of places.

As soon as they got upstairs, they headed straight for Jiang Lin and Bao Sheng. “Sister.”

Bao Sheng, seeing them come back, immediately clapped her hands happily and said, “Papa~.”

Xiao Bao said, “Call your brother.”

Bao Sheng replied, “Papa~.”

Xiao Bao was a bit worried and sighed, “Grandma, did Da Bao talk very late when he was little?”

Yan Runzhi, who was making seaweed rib soup, smiled and said, “Boys generally start talking later than girls. When you were this age, you could only call me ‘Mom.'”

Xiao Bao felt a bit dissatisfied.

Was he really that slow?

But looking around the courtyard, he saw that other kids his age couldn’t say “Papa” as clearly as Bao Sheng.

Although some kids could already say “Mama,” “Papa,” and “Grandpa” at this age.

He picked up Bao Sheng to play and tried hard to teach her to say “Mama” and “Brother,” but Bao Sheng was more interested in reaching for the mugwort and calamus hanging on the doorframe.

Da Bao took a roll of money out of his pocket and handed it to Jiang Lin.

Jiang Lin looked at him in surprise, “Da Bao, why so much money?”

Although Da Bao didn’t show off, there was pride in his eyes and expression. “I submitted a story under a different pen name.”

“Lin Shi” was a pen name he and Xiao Bao used together to write children’s and adventure stories.

Currently, they were serializing “The Adventures of Dong Sheng and Lin Lin.” Feeling one story wasn’t enough, he submitted another under a different pen name, which the editor knew.

Jiang Lin quickly asked what pen name and where he submitted it, saying she wanted to buy a copy to read.

Da Bao looked a bit shy, “What’s so good about that? I have the original manuscript; do you want to see it?”

Jiang Lin said, “Keep the original manuscript safe. Don’t lose it. It will be very meaningful when you become a famous writer.”

She counted the money and found it was nearly sixty yuan.

Her eldest son was really good at making money.

She handed half of it back to Da Bao, “Da Bao, now that you have a new identity, keep half of the money you earn. Save it to buy books or toys.”

Da Bao asked, “What’s a new identity?”

He only took five yuan and refused the rest. “I have money.”

His joy was in writing stories, not spending money.

He bought books, but his parents always got him the ones he wanted, so he didn’t need his own money.

Most of his money went to buying snacks for Xiao Bao and later for Bao Sheng, the little foodie, so he kept some for them.

Jiang Lin usually gave the two brothers some pocket money.

While other kids might get only two or three cents a week, Jiang Lin gave them one or two yuan.

But this was never enough for Xiao Bao, especially now that life was better, and there were more vendors and more types of snacks to tempt him.

Things like sour plum powder, spicy strips, Tang Monk meat, seaweed strips, preserved plums, various candies, and so on.

No matter whether he likes the food or not, as long as someone is selling it, he must buy it.

If he doesn’t buy it, he feels uncomfortable.

If someone is selling ten items, he has to buy all ten; missing even one item makes him uneasy.

Even if he doesn’t like everything he buys, he ends up giving it all to other classmates.

Xiaobao, holding Baosheng, heard Jiang Lin say that Dabao had a new alias.

He laughed and said, “Mom described it very vividly; Dabao has an extra pen name, an extra alias. Haha. But why is it called an alias?”

Jiang Lin then told them a joke about an old tiger catching a snake, but ending up grabbing a turtle by the water and using the alias as a disguise to try and escape.

“Ha ha, do you think I won’t recognize you just because you have an alias?” Xiaobao laughed exaggeratedly. “I also want to have an alias.”

Baosheng wriggled, trying to get Xiaobao to put him down.

Xiaobao said, “Baosheng, you want an alias too? You’re still young and can’t even talk yet. You’ll have to wait until you can read before you get an alias.”

Baosheng got off the ground, started to waddle, took some steps, and made little noises with his mouth.

Xiaobao was still talking about aliases and didn’t notice it, but Dabao was stunned, “Baomei, you can walk now!”

Xiaobao said, “Wow, it’s true. You’re walking steadily.”

Yan Runzhi smiled and said, “Baomei learned to walk much earlier than both of you. She was steady. Dabao could only stand at 11 months and walk at a year old, but once Dabao started walking, he was very steady.”

Xiaobao, impatient, asked, “What about me?”

Yan Runzhi replied, “You, well, you learned to stand and walk with Dabao. You were eager, so when you lifted your foot, you ran, and when you ran, you bumped your head. Your forehead was always bruised.”

Xiaobao looked incredulous and said, “Really? Was I that clumsy? Didn’t everyone say I was very cute and well-behaved when I was young?”

Dabao said, “You were only well-behaved when you were around Mom.”

“How do you know?” Xiaobao reached out to him. “I want some milk tablets.”

Da Bao initially wanted to refuse but eventually threw his small pouch to Xiao Bao, letting him have the snacks.

As the meal was being prepared, Wen Sheng returned home.

He was still with the provincial theater troupe, which was a ten-minute walk from the provincial government compound.

Now, he didn’t need Cheng Yunzhi to accompany him every day.

Upon entering the building, Wen Sheng saw Bao Sheng slowly taking steps in the hallway, moving calmly and steadily.

He exclaimed, “Bao Sheng, you’re so good at walking!” He then struck a pose and started walking with theatrical steps around Bao Sheng.

Bao Sheng found it amusing and tried to imitate him, raising her hand and foot.

Unfortunately, her little legs weren’t strong enough.

When she lifted one foot, the other couldn’t support her, and she began to wobble and slowly fall to one side.

Wen Sheng quickly extended his long leg, letting Bao Sheng sit on his foot, preventing her from falling.

Bao Sheng thought he was playing with her and giggled, continuously calling out “Papa.”

“Time to eat, everyone. We have to get back to class in the afternoon,” Jiang Lin called out.