The children examined the IOU very seriously, but if Ning Shu were here, he would probably laugh inwardly because the IOU was mostly written in pinyin, and some of the pinyin were even wrong.

But Xu Duomei, being a first-grade elementary student, had very limited knowledge of characters.

“You’ve made a mistake here in this pinyin; it should be written like this,” Yi Bao corrected Xu Duomei’s errors in pinyin.

There were several mistakes in the IOU.

After correcting it, Xu Duomei, Yi Bao, Er Bao, Sanbao and Yang Wenjie each wrote their names on it.

Then, right in front of Yang Wenjie, Yi Bao gave Xu Duomei two dollars.

Xu Duomei’s hands trembled as she took the money. “Thank you… thank you all… um, should I go now?”

Yi Bao said, “Yes, you can go. We’re also leaving to have dinner.”

“I’ll go too,” Yang Wenjie waved goodbye.

Today’s events had opened a new world for him, something quite novel.

Soon, the children all left separately.

Back at home, the Three Brother saw their father sitting under the eaves peeling bamboo shoots.

“Dad, you’ve dug up so many bamboo shoots.”

“Dad…”

“Dad…”

When the Three Children spoke together, the house became lively.

“Yeah,” Lin Guodong responded.

He didn’t have much time to dig bamboo shoots regularly; he only had one day off each week.

If something came up, he wouldn’t even have that time off.

So whenever he had a chance, he would go dig bamboo shoots.

After all, his wife made delicious bamboo shoots.

“Welcome back. Is everything sorted out?” Ning Shu asked.

Ning Shu’s words made the Three Brothers feel particularly accomplished. “Is it sorted out?”

felt like something not usually said to children, treating them more like older kids, which made them very happy.

It was as if their mother was acknowledging them in a special way.

“It’s sorted out,” Er Bao started, “Xu Duomei wrote the IOU, but she had some pinyin mistakes. Big brother helped her correct them. We also got Yang Wenjie to be our witness, and he promised not to tell anyone.”

“The IOU? Let me see.” Ning Shu was particularly interested in the IOU written by a first-grade elementary student, especially after hearing from Er Bao that Yi Bao had helped the little girl correct the typos on the IOU.

This made her even more curious.

Everyone knows that elementary school students’ writing is often very interesting, so IOUs written by elementary school students should be even more interesting, right?

Yi Bao took out the IOU hidden in his pocket and handed it to her, looking up at her with eager eyes.

Ning Shu took the IOU and opened it, then burst out laughing.

She laughed so hard that tears welled up in her eyes.

It wasn’t the content of the IOU that was funny—she already knew that from Yi Bao’s earlier description—it was the way it was written.

All those dense pinyin letters, some of them wrong, were circled with corrections written beside them.

Was this like correcting homework?

“Mom?”

Seeing her laugh so joyously, Yi Bao became nervous. “Mom, what’s wrong with the IOU? I wrote it just like we talked about before. Did I mess up somewhere?” Yi Bao was very worried.

“No, no, it’s fine. It’s very well written, and you’ve corrected the mistakes in the pinyin very well. It’s great,” Ning Shu managed to hold back more laughter.

San Bao hesitated and asked, “Then, Mom, why were you laughing?”

Ning Shu jokingly fibbed with her eyes wide open, “I’m just happy to see you corrected all those pinyin mistakes. Since I’m happy, of course, I had to laugh, don’t you agree?”

The Three Brothers thought about it and found their mother’s reasoning sound.

Realizing she was praising their good corrections in pinyin, all three of them smiled.

Lin Guodong glanced at his wife and then at his children.

With a single look, he knew his wife was teasing the three kids again.

He set down his knife and the bamboo shoots, wiped his hands on his clothes to clean off the dirt, and then extended his hand, saying, “Let me see the IOU.”

Ning Shu handed him the IOU.

Lin Guodong furrowed his brows when he saw the IOU; the string of pinyin looked like ants crawling.

Yet, when he looked at the IOU’s content, he couldn’t help but smile. It was indeed interestingly written—using pinyin alone was one thing, but with corrections attached, it was another.

Lin Guodong handed the IOU back to Yi Bao.

Yi Bao blinked, not hearing what his dad had said, so he just tucked the IOU away.

This was evidence to get back his two dollars; he couldn’t afford to lose it.

He returned to his room, placing the IOU in the drawer of his writing desk.

After a moment’s thought, he felt uneasy and retrieved the IOU, placing it instead in a tin box where he kept his money. Now he felt secure.

As their earnings grew, their money pouches could no longer contain everything, so Ning Shu prepared a tin box for them.

The Three Brothers now aimed to fill the tin box.

They didn’t know how much money it would hold, but every time they looked at it, they felt happy.

Dinner at Ning Shu’s home was simple; the bamboo shoots Lin Guodong had just dug up were braised, complemented by an egg drop soup and two stir-fried vegetarian dishes.

The family enjoyed their meal together.

Meanwhile, at the foot of the mountain, Xu Duomei was gathering firewood.

As the sky darkened, visibility decreased, and she wasn’t able to gather as much firewood as before.

Today, waiting for Lin Haizhi to bring the money and then writing the IOU had taken up a lot of her time, leaving her less time for gathering firewood.

Despite the darkening sky, Xu Duomei wasn’t afraid.

Back in her hometown, she was used to this.

Now, right next to her is the military family housing area.

There are soldiers guarding the entrance, so she feels even safer.

But now, she’s not in the mood to collect firewood anymore.

She’s worried about losing the two dollars in her pocket, and she doesn’t know how her mother is doing.

Her anxiety grows.

Because of this, she’s even less focused on gathering firewood.

Xu Duomei ties the firewood together and heads home.

Passing by the back gate, the soldier on duty smiles and gives her a few words of advice: “Be careful on the road at night, don’t fall.”

They see this young girl picking up firewood almost every day.

By the time she heads back, it’s getting dark.

Nobody knows whose child she is from the housing area.

They allow such a young child to come pick firewood, and it’s quite late.

One wonders what the adults in her family are thinking.

Thankfully, there are no wild animals around; they’ve been driven away. Otherwise, it would be very dangerous for such a young child.

“Okay, I’ll watch out. Thank you, uncles.” Xu Duomei faces the two soldiers on duty without showing any fear.

Every time she returns with firewood, they show kindness towards her.

After a while, she stops feeling afraid.

Carrying the firewood on her back, Xu Duomei walks towards home.

By now, it’s dark, but because every house in the family housing area has its lights on, the paths outside are well lit.

However, when Xu Duomei is almost home, she notices that their house lights are off. She’s used to this.

In the family housing area, they have to pay for their own electricity. Her grandmother saves electricity; if she’s not home at night, the lights stay off.

Thinking this, she breathes a sigh of relief. Her grandmother isn’t home.

“Duomei…”

A weak voice of a woman comes from ahead—it’s Xu Duomei’s mother.

“Mom…” Hearing her voice, Xu Duomei quickens her pace.

A few steps forward, under the light from someone else’s house, she sees her mother standing at the yard gate. “Mom, why are you outside? You’re not well. Hurry, go lie down inside.”

Xu Duomei’s mother was very worried when she saw her daughter hadn’t returned by this late hour, much later than usual.

She wanted to go check on her daughter, but she hadn’t been feeling well these past few days and didn’t have the strength.

She was afraid that if she went out and fainted, it would be bad.

When Xu Duomei’s mother was well, she was always busy at home.

In theory, in their family housing area, it was just Captain Xu, Xu Duomei’s mother, Xu Duomei, and Grandma Xu, along with two other women—so the household should have been quite relaxed.

But that wasn’t the case; Xu Duomei’s mother was always busy.

Before dawn, she’d start doing chores and cooking.

After everyone had eaten, she’d tidy up and then go up the mountain to collect firewood, gather wild vegetables, and so on.

She’d come back near noon, go back down, and return again when it was time to cook dinner.

So when Xu Duomei went to collect firewood after school, her mother would be at home cooking.

They never went out together to collect firewood in the evening, so the soldiers on duty at the back gate of the family housing area never saw them.

Despite there being only four people in the house, one might think that with fewer people, there’d be less housework.

But Grandma Xu was a bustling person—she cleaned every day, and when the weather was clear, she insisted on airing the bedding every day.

Whenever Xu Duomei’s mother had a bit of free time, Grandma Xu would keep her busy.

“I was worried because you came back unusually late today,” Xu Duomei’s mother said, “Why did you take so long? Did something happen?”

Xu Duomei shook her head and glanced inside.

Understanding her daughter’s concern, Xu Duomei’s mother whispered, “Your grandmother isn’t here; she went out for a stroll.”

Hearing this, Xu Duomei hurriedly said, “Mom, today I borrowed money from a classmate…” She explained what happened. “Mom, your health has been bad, please go to the clinic to get checked. I’m worried.”

Xu Duomei’s mother was surprised to hear her daughter had borrowed money, but realizing it was out of filial concern, she felt self-blame as a mother for making her ten-year-old daughter worry.

But she hesitated to go to the clinic because she didn’t want to spend money. “Mom is fine, resting will be enough.”

“Mom…” Xu Duomei was a bit upset.

She couldn’t hold back and said, “Mom, Grandma is just waiting for you to die so Dad can remarry.”

Normally timid, but facing her own mother, she wasn’t afraid and wouldn’t back down. “Mom, Grandma wants you to die from illness, but what will I do if you die? What about my sister? Please, go see a doctor.”

Xu Duomei hadn’t mentioned this before, not wanting to worsen her mother’s illness due to anger.

But now that her mother had some money and still refused to see a doctor, she couldn’t hold it in.

She didn’t want her mother to die or her father to remarry.

Xu Duomei’s mother knew her mother-in-law blamed her for not having children.

Her own body wasn’t cooperative in that regard.

So she always endured quietly, making sure there was food at home for Duomei, who was now attending school, while she did some chores.

But she never expected her mother-in-law to think this way.

Whether her mother-in-law was just casually complaining or not, it hit her hard.

What if her mother-in-law really thought that? If she died, what would happen to Duomei?

What about her eldest daughter still in the countryside?

“Duomei, Mom will go to the clinic, Mom will get treatment.”