“The three brothers… have you finished eating?”

The three siblings were having lunch when they heard Yu Chengci’s voice outside.

Yu Chengci realized he had forgotten to ask their names but was glad they lived next door.

“Not yet,” Erbao said, holding a bowl of dumpling soup at the door. “We’re still eating. Are you going fishing?”

Yu Chengci, who was thirteen this year, knew the three siblings a bit and had called out a few times before entering.

He walked to the door and met Erbao.

A strong aroma wafted towards him, making his nose twitch.

Looking at the bowl Erbao was holding, he saw steam rising from it and noticed dumplings, preserved meat, cabbage, eggs… and something else he didn’t recognize.

Actually, it was dried bamboo shoots.

Dried bamboo shoots make the dumpling soup taste especially good.

Yu Chengci, seeing the delicious-looking food in Erbao’s bowl, suddenly asked, “Is your mom your real mom?”

Erbao blinked, not understanding at first. “Of course, our mom is our real mom. Isn’t your mom your real mom? Oh, it’s okay. We had stepmoms in the military compound where we used to live. We had a friend back home whose mom was a stepmom, but she was really nice and treated his step-daughter well.”

Erbao was referring to Meihua’s mother.

“No, my mom is my real mom too. Yesterday, when we passed by your house and saw someone washing clothes in the yard, some friends said that maybe your mom is a stepmom because only stepmoms make the older children do chores,” Yu Chengci explained.

“Oh, I see. But in our old compound, kids always helped with chores—washing dishes, cleaning, and so on. The school even praised us and gave us rewards. We also had a vegetable garden, and we could sell the vegetables to the cafeteria uncles. We made several yuan each year,” Erbao talked about their old compound.

Yu Chengci was amazed.

He had never encountered such things before.

In his compound and other places, boys were usually considered too precious to do chores or garden.

Hearing that the vegetables sold for several dollars made Yu Chengci quite envious.

In those days, when pocket money was just a few cents or dimes, a few yuan were a big deal, even for kids.

“Wow, that compound sounds really nice,” Yu Chengci thought.

If he had lived there, he might have earned several dollars in pocket money and bought a bunch of White Rabbit candy that Yu Xiaoxian would surely like.

“It was nice, but my dad’s job got transferred here, so we moved,” Erbao said with a hint of regret.

Yu Chengci smiled, “This place is fun too.”

“Have you had lunch? If not, come and eat with us,” Yibao said, coming over and passing on their mom’s invitation.

“Oh?” Yu Chengci glanced at the fragrant dumpling soup in Erbao’s bowl and fought the urge to accept. “No, I’ve already eaten. I just came to talk about fishing this afternoon. Have you prepared the bait?”

Yibao replied, “It’s all set. We can leave as soon as we finish eating. Just come and call us when you’re ready.”

“Alright, I’ll head back now. I need to check with other friends and will come to get you later,” Yu Chengci said, turning to run.

He was worried he wouldn’t resist the temptation of the dumplings if he stayed.

Yu Chengci ran out of the Lin family’s courtyard, glanced back to see Er Bao still watching him at the door, waved, and then dashed off.

Next, Yu Chengci went to Zhang Mingcheng’s house.

As soon as he arrived, he started recounting what he had seen and heard at noon: “Mingcheng, I asked the three brothers. Their mother is their real mom, not a stepmother. The dumplings they had for lunch were delicious. They used to live in a military family compound where…”

Zhang Mingcheng nodded, “So, in their old compound, all kids, whether boys or girls, would help with housework and get rewarded for it.”

“Yeah, it sounds like a great compound. Why don’t we have that in our compound?” Yu Chengci sighed.

Zhang Mingcheng scoffed, “Our compound has nannies.”

Yu Chengci suddenly realized, “Oh right, our compound does have nannies. But didn’t the old compound have nannies too?”

Zhang Mingcheng shrugged, “I don’t know. I never lived in a military family compound.”

“Alright…” Yu Chengci didn’t linger, “I’ll go find the others now.” As a vice director’s grandson, Yu Chengci was among the top in the mixed residential compound of various government departments.

Yu’s family didn’t originally live there.

The compound was newly built because the original one was overcrowded due to the increasing number of people coming to the capital.

Although the Yu family were genuine locals, they only moved into the new compound after Yu’s father became a vice director and used his connections to secure a spot there.

“Go ahead,” Zhang Mingcheng said, preparing his fishing gear.

After Yu Chengci had gathered everyone who was going fishing, nearly everyone knew that the three brothers’ mother was their biological mother and that she willingly did the laundry.

Their mother treated them well.

When the three brothers finished lunch, tidied up the house, and prepared their things, Yu Chengci arrived with a few friends to pick them up: “Three brothers… are you ready?”

The three brothers were already waiting in the courtyard. Er Bao called out, “We’re ready.”

So, Yi Bao carried a bucket, Er Bao had a backpack, and San Bao only brought his fishing rod.

They said goodbye to Ning Shu and headed out.

Yu Chengci had brought six people, divided into three teams of two.

The numbers were fairly balanced.

Seeing the three brothers, Yu Chengci asked, “We don’t know your names yet. I’m Yu Chengci, 13 years old, in fifth grade.”

The others introduced themselves: “I’m Zhang Mingcheng, also 13 years old, in the same class as Chengci.”

“I’m Zhou Guowei, 14 years old, in the first year of middle school.”

“I’m Zhang Shuangjiang, 12 years old, in fourth grade.”

“I’m…”

The six of them were led by Yu Chengci. After their introductions, the three brothers introduced themselves.

Yi Bao: “I’m Lin Haizhi, 12 years old, in fourth grade.”

Er Bao: “I’m Lin Hairui, 12 years old, also in fourth grade.”

San Bao: “I’m Lin Haiyang, 9 years old, in fourth grade like my brothers.”

“Oh, you’re in fourth grade at just nine years old?”

Erbao replied, “Yes, we’re in the same class. When we started kindergarten, Sanbao was only three years old.”

“That’s impressive.”

“Can you tell which one of you is the older brother and which is the younger brother?”

Yibao answered, “Our friends in the compound can tell.”

“How do you distinguish between the older and younger brothers? You all look so alike.”

“Guess,” Erbao said with a slight smile, not revealing the answer.

The kids were quite clever.

Thanks to Yu Chengci’s introduction, they knew that Ning Shu was the three siblings’ real mother, as well as Lin Guodong’s rank and his friendship with Yu He.

So, they were all very polite to the three siblings and welcomed them into their group.

In their compound, the group leader was among the top people.

Those of higher rank lived in the oldest compounds in the capital, not in the expanded compound where they lived.

As a result, the group leader’s son was someone others wanted to befriend.

The group of nine, chatting and laughing, left the compound.

They usually fished by a river connected to the sea, where there were many fish.

Due to current circumstances, adults couldn’t come fishing, so only a few kids still did.

When the children came to fish, they weren’t criticized for exploiting capitalist opportunities.

“We’re here, just ahead,” Yu Chengci pointed to the small river in front.

Since it was a city river, it had railings and was relatively safe.

However, when the water receded, some kids would mischievously climb over the railings. “Lin Haizhi, Lin Hairui, Lin Haiyang, when we fish, we’ll use rock-paper-scissors to choose teams. Each time, the teams will be different. If you want to join our game next time, you can.”

Yibao said, “Okay. We brought some food from our mom. Would you like some now?”

“What is it?”

“Your mom is so kind!”

“Let us see. If we don’t eat now, we’ll fish later.”

“Thank you, Auntie.”

The kids were excited and eager to see what Ning Shu had prepared.

Erbao took out one lunchbox after another from his backpack… then another… and another… until he had pulled out seven lunchboxes.

The kids were amazed by the sheer number of boxes.

Erbao opened each lunchbox: “This is fried dough twists made by my mom. They’re sweet and delicious. This is sugarcane we grew in the compound, but there’s no garden here. And this is grapes, super sweet. This is pear, also very sweet.”

Among the seven lunchboxes, four contained sugarcane.

Every type of food made the kids, who had just finished lunch, eager to try it.

“Your mom is amazing. Why doesn’t my mom do this?”

“Grapes are hard to find.”

“Yeah, fruits in the supply and marketing cooperative are gone quickly.”

“I’m lucky; my mom’s workplace gives out fruits, but never grapes.”

“This sugarcane is so sweet. You even grow it yourselves. That’s impressive.”

The kids, now completely absorbed in eating, didn’t pay any attention to fishing.

Seeing how much the kids enjoyed the food Ning Shu prepared, the three siblings felt happy.

Just as they were eating, a voice called out, “Yu Chengci, are we having the fishing competition today?” A teenager with a few peers approached them.