Hearing Zhang Jingwu’s words, Yu Chengci’s anger flared up. “Zhang Jingwu, how can you talk like that? What’s wrong with being from the countryside?”

They knew the three siblings were likely from the countryside because they called their mother “Mom,” but they hadn’t said anything.

They understood that some people from the countryside were sensitive about such remarks, and Zhang Jingwu’s comments were especially hurtful.

Before Zhang Jingwu could respond, Erbao spoke up, “Yes, I am from the countryside. We call our mothers ‘Mom’ there.” He said it innocently, not realizing Zhang Jingwu was mocking him.

Or maybe he was pretending well?

Then Yibao added, “My mother says that anyone from three generations ago is from the countryside. If three generations aren’t enough, then go back five generations. In five generations, everyone’s family are all come from the countryside.”

As if to provide more information, Yibao continued, “City people and countryside people are all just common folks. My mother also says that in the eyes of the law, everyone is the same. If a city person commits a crime, they are punished the same as a countryside person.”

In the past, people had mocked them for calling their mother “Mom,” but the three siblings were used to it.

They didn’t care about others’ opinions, especially since their mother had always told them this.

The three siblings were very comfortable with their background and didn’t let such comments affect them.

They seemed to ignore Zhang Jingwu’s taunts completely.

Zhang Jingwu, taken aback, didn’t know how to respond to their confident retorts.

He was caught off guard by how well the seemingly naive Erbao and Yibao argued back.

Yu Chengci, seeing their reaction, was impressed. “You’ve got quite a sharp tongue,” he said to Yibao.

Erbao and Sanbao remained silent.

Yibao’s reputation for being a master debater was well-known among their friends.

If someone wanted to win an argument against him, they’d have to bring their A-game.

Yibao continued, “You’re really pitiful. You don’t understand these things. My mother is amazing. She cooks well and makes beautiful clothes.” He counted off his mother’s qualities with pride.

Zhang Jingwu retorted, “Your mother might be a high school graduate, but that doesn’t mean she’s always right. High school graduates make mistakes too.”

Yibao replied, “What about college graduates? Do they make mistakes?”

Zhang Jingwu considered this.

He knew that college graduates were highly respected, even though he was still in elementary school. “Well, college graduates are usually right, but your mother is only a high school graduate.”

Yibao responded with confidence, “But my father is a college graduate. He says that what my mother says is correct, so it must be right.”

Zhang Jingwu was stunned, feeling like he had been outwitted. “Fine, whatever. Let’s get back to the bet. If we win, we take the food. If you win, what do you want to bet with? You don’t even have the food.”

Zhang Jingwu’s confidence was unwavering; he was certain they would win, given their track record of catching more fish in previous competitions.

Seeing Zhang Jingwu remain silent, Er Bao expressed his dissatisfaction: “No way, no way! You’re not trying to take our stuff if you win and refuse to give anything if you lose, are you? That’s just taking advantage of us!”

Zhang Jingwu wouldn’t do that, right?

That would be embarrassing for him.

His grandfather was Zhang Chenggong, one of the early contributors to the founding of the country. “Wait a moment.”

Zhang Jingwu called his team aside: “We don’t have any treats, but we could bet money. If we lose, we pay them. If we win, they give us their snacks. What do you think?”

Several boys hesitated when they heard about using money.

Zhang Jingwu continued, “Don’t you want to eat those snacks? Cane and grapes, I haven’t had them in ages. We don’t have much fruit at home.”

Hearing this, the boys’ mouths watered.

At their age, with the youngest being nine and the oldest around thirteen or fourteen, they were easily tempted by food.

“Alright, I have twenty cents.”

“I have thirty cents.”

“I didn’t bring any money today.”

“I only have five cents.”

“I have…”

The boys pulled out their pocket money, and despite their usual bravado, their pockets were emptier than their faces.

Zhang Jingwu counted the money—they had a total of one yuan and eighty-six cents.

He approached the three brothers: “If we lose, we’ll pay you a total of one yuan and eighty-six cents. Is that okay?”

Er Bao’s eyes lit up when he saw the money, and all his dissatisfaction vanished immediately.

However, he still deferred to his older brother. “Brother?”

Yu Chengci and the others also looked at Er Bao.

They didn’t really want to make today’s snacks the prize for a contest.

They would rather bark like dogs if it meant keeping their treats.

Yi Bao said, “That’s not acceptable. These snacks are for us to share with our new friends. We can’t use them for a competition. If you want to compete, we can arrange another day and prepare different snacks.”

Normally, the three brothers would jump at the chance to make some money, but this time the treats were specially prepared by their mother for new friends, so they couldn’t use them for a contest.

“Fine…” Zhang Jingwu felt disappointed when he heard that they wanted to delay. “So when should we have this competition? Will you still have cane and grapes tomorrow?”

Yi Bao replied, “Yes. If you want to compete another day, you can prepare some snacks or use money. We can work out a deal where you use snacks and we use money. That way, you get the snacks and we get the money. It sounds like a fair arrangement.”

Yu Chengci seized the opportunity: “Let’s arrange it for another day then.” They still wanted to enjoy their treats today.

“Tomorrow then, how about that?” Zhang Jingwu suggested, wanting to keep the delay to a minimum.

Yu Chengci looked at Yi Bao, who had somehow become the decision-maker.

Er Bao asked, “What should we prepare for the competition?”

“You can prepare something similar to what we have,” Zhang Jingwu said, looking at the delicious food they had.

He wanted to eat everything.

Yibao responded, “Alright, then what are you preparing?”

Zhang Jingwu replied, “You can specify what you want to eat. What do you want?”

Erbao immediately said, “I want braised pork.”

Yibao and Sanbao looked at Erbao, bewildered.

The rest of the group was also surprised.

Zhang Jingwu thought the suggestion was ridiculous.

They were betting food, not elaborate dishes like braised pork.

Even if his family had braised pork, he wouldn’t want to waste it; it was better to eat it himself.

Yibao said, “Just prepare something comparable to ours; it can’t be worse than what we have.”

Zhang Jingwu was stumped. “We don’t have sugarcane or grapes. How about chocolates?”

Yibao responded, “I can’t decide exactly what we want right now. Let’s see what you bring tomorrow for the competition. If it’s not enough, you can also use money.”

Zhang Jingwu agreed when he heard money could be used. “Alright, then tomorrow at 1:30 PM, same as last time, each team will have five members. The losing team gives their food to the winning team.”

Yibao looked at Yu Chengci and asked, “The three of us are fine with this. What about you?”

Yu Chengci replied, “We’re fine too.”

With that, both teams agreed on the terms.

After Zhang Jingwu and his team left, the atmosphere brightened up again.

“Finally, they’re gone. Do you think we can win tomorrow?” a teammate asked anxiously.

Yu Chengci turned to Yibao. “Do you have confidence?”

Yibao replied, “Not really.”

They had faced similar uncertainty in their previous games with He Jiaxing, where the outcome was never guaranteed.

To the three siblings, this was just a game.

“What should we prepare for tomorrow? We don’t have sugarcane or grapes. We can’t let you bring all the competition food,” Zhang Mingcheng said.

Yibao noticed Zhang Mingcheng was the most composed among them.

He thought for a moment and said, “Then you should give us money for these items.”

They had just met, and even though they had shared their food, Yibao didn’t think it was fair for them to cover the entire cost of the competition food.

Zhang Mingcheng breathed a sigh of relief. “Alright, how about you guys?”

“Fine with us.”

“Sounds good.”

Although they didn’t have the specific foods, everyone could contribute some pocket money.

“Alright, let’s eat then. This sugarcane is so sweet.”

“This grape is even sweeter.”

“This fried dough twist is delicious.”

“Lin Haizhi, your mother is amazing.”

Erbao replied, “Our mother’s cooking is even better.”

The nine of them quickly finished the food, enjoying every bite.

After eating, they continued with their fishing activities.

After a while, Erbao suddenly shouted, “Ah!”

“What happened?” Yibao and Sanbao quickly looked at him.

The other teammates were also drawn to his exclamation.

Erbao excitedly said, “Look, look! I caught a turtle!”