“Mom, here’s mine for you.” Erbao also took off his backpack, his bright black eyes filled with joy for being able to give his mom a gift.

Sanbao looked at Yibao, then at Erbao’s pot, and then clumsily took off his People’s Liberation Army backpack and handed it to his mom with great generosity. “Mom, for you.”

Ning Shu looked at the three childrens Liberation Army backpacks in front of her.

She accepted them all equally.

“Thank you, thank you Yibao, Erbao, Sanbao.”

She squatted down and kissed each of their faces.

“I really like your gifts. This is the first gift you’ve given Mom, and you’ve earned it through your own efforts. Mom will definitely cherish it.”

Nowadays, having a People’s Liberation Army backpack is something to boast about, and she has three of them.

It’ll probably last her several years.

Even if they wear out, she’ll keep them as mementos for the future.

The three children touched their blushing faces where Mom kissed them, their little faces glowing with the same radiant smile.

Lin Guodong watched the mother and her three children.

Even though he didn’t have his own gift, he didn’t feel jealous at all.

As long as the kids were good to Ningshu, he was satisfied.

He quietly went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Watching him leave, Ning Shu whispered to the three children , “Next time you have a gift, remember to give one to your dad too. He also wants to receive your gifts.”

Sanbao, still naive, didn’t understand.

Yibao and Erbao glanced at their dad’s figure.

They hadn’t thought their dad wanted a gift, but upon hearing Mom’s words, they felt sorry for him too.

So the two brothers nodded obediently.

Erbao even asked, “Can we exchange Dad’s gift with our little red flowers?”

Ning Shu replied, “As long as it’s from you, your dad will like it.”

Lin Guodong brought the food from the kitchen and, seeing the mother and her children whispering, he said, “It’s time for dinner.”

[Bark, bark, bark…]

Behind Ling Guodong, Da Mao and Tie Dan followed, barking.

They hadn’t eaten yet.

Hearing the barking, Ning Shu hurriedly said, “I forgot about our Da Mao and Tie Dan. I’ll pour out their food.” With that, she rushed to the kitchen.

Da Mao and Tie Dan, seeing this, trotted after Ning Shu.

They were quite clever, knowing that only by following their mistress would they get to eat.

Today, because of the three children, the whole family was very happy.

Unfortunately, Ning Shu didn’t know in advance, or else they would have surely celebrated.

However, “Yibao, Erbao, your birthdays are coming up. Do you have good friends at school? On your birthday, Mom will make a delicious feast for you, and you can invite your friends to celebrate with you.”

Talking about celebrating birthdays, they remembered Sanbao’s birthday last year, so both of them were looking forward to it.

Yibao smiled so much his mouth reached his ears.

Mom was going to celebrate their birthdays, which made him very happy.

Last year, when Mom celebrated Sanbao’s birthday, although they didn’t feel jealous, they were still envious.

At that time, they hoped that when it was their birthday, Mom would celebrate for them too.

As time passed, they forgot about it, but they didn’t expect Mom to still remember.

“Mom, can we really invite friends to dinner?” Erbao also looked forward to it.

Last year, they invited Haicai to Sanbao’s birthday.

Thinking about it, Erbao missed Haicai a bit. “Mom, it would be great if Haicai could come too.”

Ningshu said, “When summer vacation comes this year, we can invite Haicai to come play, okay?”

By then, she would go back to collect bamboo shoots from Xiaoshan’s family, and she could bring Haicai along.

“By then, we can also let Haicai study in the military school.” She had patience and love for Haicai second only to her son.

Besides, Haicai was also a likable child.

“Really? Can we?” Yibao was also excited.

“Naturally, if Haicai is willing, it’s possible,” Ning Shu said.

Lin Guodong raised an eyebrow.

Although he had long known that Ning Shu favored her nephew more than her other nieces and nephews, he still found it surprising to hear that she was willing to bring Haicai here to study.

“You really like Haicai,” he remarked, more than he had expected.

“Yeah,” Ning Shu nodded.

Lin Guodong didn’t say anything more.

After all, Ning Shu was the decision-maker at home.

If he dared to oppose, he figured the three sons would grab their sticks and fight him.

“When Haicai arrives, we’ll play together and go to school together,” Erbao said, feeling happy just thinking about it.

Yibao’s joy was equally evident, his eyes shining brightly.

“Now let’s think about which friends you want to invite for your birthday. Your birthday is the day after tomorrow. You can invite your friends over for lunch, and after lunch, you can all go to school together,” Ning Shu suggested.

“We got it, Mom. We’ll tell our friends this afternoon when we go to school,” Yibao said, already thinking about which friends to invite.

They were very happy to be able to invite their friends over for their birthday.

So as soon as they got to school in the afternoon, they started inviting people.

“Yang Wenjie, the day after tomorrow is our birthday. Our mom wants to celebrate with us, so she’s inviting you to our house for lunch. Will you come?”

“Cheng Yingyong, the day after tomorrow is our birthday. Our mom wants to celebrate with us, so she’s inviting you to our house for lunch. Will you come?”

Yibao and Erbao first approached Yang Wenjie and Cheng Yingyong, who worked with them in the fields and had also shared snacks with them, making their relationship quite good.

Upon hearing their words, Yang Wenjie and Cheng Yingyong were somewhat surprised and honored.

As kids, it was their first time being invited to someone else’s house, so they were excited and thrilled.

Both boys vigorously nodded.

Yang Wenjie said, “Twins, don’t worry, I’ll definitely come.”

Cheng Yingyong also assured, patting his chest, “Twins, count me in too.”

They grinned happily.

He Jiaxing, who was nearby, overheard and widened his eyes. “Twins, are you inviting other people to your birthday too?”

Erbao explained, “My mom said birthdays are more fun with more people, so she wants to invite our good friends to join us for lunch. My mom’s cooking is really delicious.”

Yibao also chimed in, “Yang Wenjie and Cheng Yingyong are our good friends. Birthdays are meant to be celebrated with good friends.”

He Jiaxing listened with some envy. “Can I come too?”

He also wanted to celebrate his birthday with the twins.

Erbao, surprised, widened his eyes. “But you’re not our good friend, and you even talked back to our mom.”

He Jiaxing, feeling embarrassed after Erbao’s words, tried to justify himself, “I know I was wrong, and I already apologized. My teacher says apologizing makes you a good kid.”

Erbao looked to Yibao for guidance. “Big brother?”

When facing big decisions, he always looked to his brother.

Yibao thought for a moment. “Then, on the day after tomorrow at noon, you can come to our house for lunch too.”

Mom had said they should get along well with their classmates at school.

If someone didn’t hit them, they couldn’t hit back.

Although He Jiaxing had talked back to their mom, he had apologized, so they didn’t dislike him.

“That’s great!” He Jiaxing happily jumped up.

“Twins, can we come too?”

“Twins, I also want to go. Is that okay?”

“Twins, and me too, can I come?”

Other kids, upon hearing this, all began asking as well.

It wasn’t that they wanted to go to someone else’s house for a meal, but they liked the idea of everyone being together, and each of them admired others.

Yibao, seeing so many people asking, felt a bit uncertain. “I need to ask my mom. We need her approval.”

“Then after school, ask your mom” someone suggested.

“Okay.”

So after school, during dinner, Yibao asked Ningshu, “Mom, many kids want to come for lunch the day after tomorrow. Is that okay?”

“Of course, it’s fine,” Ningshu replied.

The more people came for lunch, the happier she was.

It meant the three children were getting along well with their classmates at school. “Anyone who wants to come is welcome, but there are a few kids you need to tell me about.”

“Okay, I’ll count them again tomorrow.”

The Next Day

Yibao and Erbao went to school and shared the good news with their friends.

Then they counted the number of people interested and found out there were eight kids.

Meanwhile, Ning Shu had to prepare birthday gifts for the twins in addition to organizing the birthday lunch.

So this morning, she went to the county town.

At the department store, Ningshu looked around at children’s items.

After browsing, she made a decision and decided to choose three things: a tricycle toy, a leather ball, and a tin frog.

The leather ball and the tin frog didn’t require coupons, but the tricycle toy required five industrial coupons.

Ning Shu only had one industrial coupon on hand, which she had saved up recently.

She needed four more, so she planned to ask around in the residential area to see if Yang Shuzi, Sun Li, or others could help her out.

If they could, she would buy these three items.

Previously, she had given the three children a cloth ball, which was now worn out.

At that time, she had also given Yibao and Erbao building blocks.

Now that it was Yibao and Erbao’s birthday, she naturally needed to give a gift to Sanbao as well.

Yibao and Erbao would receive the tricycle toy and the leather ball, while the tin frog would be for Sanbao.

After making her plans, Ning Shu first bought the leather ball and the tin frog, and then went to see Sun Yulan to chat and strengthen their relationship.

Sun Yulan yawned, feeling bored.

There weren’t many people in the department store, so she was also idle. J

ust then, she saw Ningshu approaching.

“Comrade Ning…” Sun Yulan had a good impression of Ning Shu.

Although she hadn’t managed to get sewing machine tickets from her, Ningshu had sent her eggs, which made Sun Yulan feel that Ningshu was someone worth getting to know better. “Comrade Ning, what are you buying today?”

“In a couple of days, it’s my sons’ birthdays, so I’m here to buy them birthday gifts,” Ning Shu said as she took six apples out of her basket and handed them to Sun Yulan.

These apples, bought from an app for 29.9 yuan for ten kilograms, were quite suitable as gifts.

Speaking of which, the item that appeared most frequently on the app was apples.

Whenever it appeared, Ning Shu would buy them since they were cheap and nutritious.

This time in the city, she naturally wouldn’t forget to maintain her relationship with Sun Yulan!