The three children were playing with the cloth ball. Because Ning Qin was pregnant, she didn’t dare to get too close.

She could only stand at her own door and call out, “Kids… kids…”

The three children were playing a triangular game.

They stood in a triangle, and Yi Bao threw to Er Bao, Er Bao threw to San Bao, and San Bao threw back to Yi Bao.

Among them, Yi Bao had his back to Ning Qin, Er Bao was facing Ning Qin, and San Bao was facing sideways to Ning Qin.

When Ning Qin and Zhang Qian came out, Er Bao naturally saw them.

Now that he heard Ning Qin’s call, Er Bao asked, “Auntie, are you calling us?”

Ning Qin nodded. “Yes, don’t play the game for now. I want to ask you something.”

Ning Qin was not stupid.

When she was in the Ning family, her reputation outside was pretty good, and she was good at disguising herself.

Moreover, this was the family courtyard.

The lowest-ranking officer in this housing was a company commander.

In other words, any child’s parent here could have a higher position than Zhang Xian.

So, Ning Qin wouldn’t be foolish enough to rush up and accuse someone else’s child.

Over the years, Ning Qin had learned the most about reading people’s intentions.

Yi Bao turned around. “What do you want to ask?”

Er Bao and San Bao approached, standing beside Yi Bao.

The three of them looked at Ning Qin and Zhang Qian somewhat confusedly.

Ning Qin smiled and asked, “My daughter said you asked her to play a game, and if she lost, she would get spanked. Is that true?”

“Yes,” Er Bao answered as a matter of course. “The loser has to be punished, and we punish by spanking.”

Hearing him admit it, Ning Qin was reassured.

She continued to smile and asked, “Do you know if a boy spanking a girl is called bullying?”

“We don’t know,” Er Bao replied. “We’ve never spanked a girl.”

Ning Qin: “…”

Naturally, Ning Qin wouldn’t jump to the extreme conclusion that such young children were bullying Zhang Qian.

Hearing Er Bao’s answer, she said, “Now you know, right? When you play games with girls in the future, you can’t spank them. It’s not good, it’s wrong.”

Er Bao’s eyes darted around. “We’ve never played with girls. I’ll ask my mom.”

“Okay,” Yi Bao nodded. “Thank you, Auntie. If our moms say no, then it’s no.”

The three children were obedient but only listened to their own mothers.

They had to consider their father’s opinions, let alone a stranger like Ning Qin.

Ning Qin wasn’t angry with them. “Then go ask now.”

“But we don’t want to ask now, we just want to play the game,” Er Bao said.

Ning Qin frowned slightly, feeling impatient.

Why wouldn’t this child listen? But she didn’t want to get angry at the child, so she asked again, “Are your parents here?”

It was better to communicate with the children’s parents.

Ning Qin also felt that she was doing this for the good of these children.

If these children made the same request to other girls and the girls agreed, but then ended up getting spanked if they lost, wouldn’t that ruin the girls’ reputation?

“They’re here…” Er Bao shouted towards the door, “Mom, there’s a lady looking for you.”

Ning Shu had already put the rice in the sand pot and was steaming it on the stove, making the rice especially fragrant.

The vegetables were also prepared and ready to be cooked when the time came.

When she heard Er Bao’s shout, someone was looking for her? In this family courtyard, she only knew three people: Lu Hong, Sun Li, and Auntie Yang.

As Ning Shu thought about this, she walked to the courtyard gate.

Then…

Ning Shu’s heart skipped a beat when she saw Ning Qin standing at the gate with a little girl and the three children.

Ning Shu hadn’t expected to see Ning Qin when she came out, so she was unprepared.

She looked a bit stunned.

However, Ning Qin now was not much different from five years ago. If anything, her face lacked the fullness of collagen from five years ago, and her skin was not as tender and moist as before.

Overall, she didn’t have the vitality of five years ago.

Now, Ning Qin’s skin was still white, but it lacked the luster of 18 years old.

However, after years of experience, she had lost some sharp edges and gained a bit more gentle temperament.

It could be said that she had become more adept at disguising herself.

Before Ning Shu came out, Ning Qin saw Er Bao shouting at the door and knew that this was the family of Lin Guodong Camp leader who had just moved in.

This Lin Guodong was from the countryside, so Ning Qin thought that the family of this Officer Lin should also be from the countryside? She didn’t pay much attention to this Lin Camp leader’s family.

The rural folk were a mystery to her.

After five years in the countryside, she hadn’t seen much. But when she saw Ning Shu, reality hit her hard.

The woman had a slender, full figure with long, jet-black hair tied back in a simple ponytail.

She wore a white V-neck sweater with wide-leg black pants.

Her sleeves were rolled up to her wrists, revealing fair, half-exposed forearms.

She wasn’t the rustic country bumpkin she had imagined, but a fashionable, fresh-faced young person with skin as radiant as water.

“Hello, I’m Ning Qin from the neighboring Zhang family. This is my daughter, Zhang Qian. How are yoy?” Ning Qin greeted her with the gentle demeanor she always feigned.

Ning Shu was taken aback by her words. When she finally processed them, she couldn’t help but laugh inside.

Ning Qin hadn’t recognized her and spoke to her with a tone she had never used in the 18 years they’d known each other.

It was truly hilarious.

However, Ning Shu wasn’t too surprised that Ning Qin didn’t recognize her.

She had changed drastically in the past five years.

She had been barely over five feet tall back then, but now she was well over five feet six.

Thankfully, she had hit a growth spurt when she came to the countryside and had a good diet, so she grew taller quickly.

She had been skinny back then, just 16 years old, barely 70 pounds. Now, she was over 100 pounds.

She was clearly a different person now, so it was strange that Ning Qin could recognize her at all.

Ning Shu raised an eyebrow and asked coldly, “Do you need something?”

Ning Qin was taken aback by Ning Shu’s attitude.

She was always polite and courteous, so she never expected Ning Shu to respond like this.

She thought to herself, was it because she was the camp leader’s wife and from the city, so she looked down on her? But wasn’t she also from the city? Although she thought this way, Ning Qin didn’t dare to argue with Ning Shu.

She was good at adapting to the situation. When she met someone with a higher status, she never argued.

“Sister-in-law, today when my daughter came back from school, she saw the kids from your family playing games. She wanted to join, but she heard your kids saying that the loser would be punished by getting spanked.

I think I should talk to the kids and their parents about this. It’s okay to have punishments for winning or losing games, but I…

Since their family consists of girls, spanking as a punishment for losing a game is not appropriate for them.

Children are young and may not understand, so I came to remind you.

If this gets to difficult parents, they might think the kids are being naughty.”

Ning Qin tried to speak in a gentle tone, wanting to portray a compassionate image and make Ning Shu grateful to her.

However… Ning Shu chuckled lightly and asked bluntly, “Got it, anything else?”

Huh? That’s it?

Ning Qin expected Ning Shu to thank her for her kind attitude, but all she got was a simple response? “No, that’s all.”

What else could she say?

Ning Shu then ignored Ning Qin and Zhang Qian, turning to the three kids. ” Yibao , Erbao and Sanbao, you can play with girls in the future, but there must be no physical contact.

Understand? Whether it’s touching hands or any other part, it’s not allowed.

Otherwise, the girls’ parents may come looking for us, and we might have to pay them money. If we lose money, we won’t be able to afford eggs or chicken. Got it?”

It’s indeed necessary to talk to them about common sense between boys and girls, but they might not understand knowledge-related common sense.

This was the only way to tell them.

Yibao and Erbao, who already realized the importance of money, deeply remembered this lesson and made a promise.

“Mom, don’t worry, I won’t touch the girls in the future. I don’t want to pay them money,” Er Bao assured. Paying money was like losing meat in Er Bao’s eyes.

Yi Bao also chimed in, “Mom, I won’t get close to the girls. I won’t even approach them.” As if to prove his point, Yi Bao took a few steps back from Ning Qin and Zhang Qian, in case they accused him of something.

Ning Qin: “…”

She clearly didn’t mean that.

Zhang Qian: “…”

What’s going on now? Why don’t they understand?

Seeing Yi Bao’s actions, Ning Shu praised him, “Yi Bao did great. I’ll make you an extra fried egg tonight.”

Er Bao heard this and immediately asked, “Mom, what about me? Can I have an extra fried egg too?”

Ning Shu pretended to think and didn’t immediately answer.

“Mom…” Er Bao was anxious, “How about half? Can I have half? I don’t want a whole one.” Sniff… Would he get nothing, not even half?

San Bao didn’t understand what Mom and Big Brother were talking about, but he understood “egg” and he liked eggs. So he quickly chimed in, “Mom, Bao eat, egg.”

Seeing that Mom seemed reluctant to give his two younfer brothers fried eggs, Yi Bao comforted his younger brothers, “It’s okay, we can share my fried egg when we eat.”

Hearing this, Er Bao and San Bao were happy again.