When the others heard that Erbao had caught a turtle, they all curiously gathered around to see.

“We often fish here and have seen turtles being caught before, but we’ve never caught one ourselves,” one of the friends remarked.

“This turtle is pretty cute, so small! How many centimeters is it?” another friend gently poked the turtle’s shell.

At that moment, the tiny turtle was clinging tightly to the bait on Erbao’s hook.

It was very small and light, otherwise, the hook wouldn’t have been able to catch it.

Erbao quickly removed the hook to avoid hurting the turtle’s mouth.

Once the hook was removed, the little turtle grabbed the bait and frantically crawled around, probably searching for a safe spot to eat.

The kids didn’t stop it but followed along.

The little turtle crawled to a withered tree, quickly ate the small piece of bait, and then started digging in the soil beside the tree.

It buried itself in the soil.

The kids watched, amused.

It was so cute and interesting.

“Hee hee…” Erbao dug the turtle out of the soil and said to Yibao, “Brother, I’m not fishing anymore. I want to take this turtle home and give it a bath first.”

Being clean was a habit the three siblings developed from a young age.

The turtle was caught from the river, so it was a bit dirty and needed a wash.

Yibao said, “Put it in the bucket for now. We’ll head home after we’re done fishing. We still need to make fish soup for dinner.”

Hearing about the fish soup, Erbao licked his lips and said, “Alright then.”

He placed the turtle in the bucket.

Although fish soup was delicious, Erbao was more focused on the turtle, gazing at it and smiling to himself.

The joy of seeing the turtle was different from raising Da Mao and Tie Dan.

Da Mao and Tie Dan were very sensible, almost like adults to Erbao.

But the tiny turtle was so mini and had such a clueless appearance that it was simply fascinating.

However, once in the bucket, the turtle remained motionless.

Erbao occasionally poked it, but it didn’t move.

Worried, he picked it up to examine it closely, noticing that the turtle’s tiny tail was slightly moving.

So, the turtle wasn’t dead.

Despite this, because the turtle was so quiet and unresponsive, Erbao’s attention was a bit distracted from fishing.

By the time it was past three o’clock, and many of the kids had caught a good number of fish, they ended their fishing trip.

However, Erbao’s bucket was empty except for the little turtle.

“Brother, Sanbao, let’s hurry home. I’m worried the turtle might die; it’s not moving,” Erbao urged.

Yu Chengci said, “Maybe it’s just scared?”

Erbao asked, “Do turtles get scared?”

Yu Chengci replied, “I don’t know, but people and other animals can be scared. Turtles might be too.”

Erbao said, “I’ll ask my mom when we get home. She’ll know for sure.”

With that, they carried their buckets and fishing rods and happily headed back.

Upon entering the courtyard, instead of going straight home, they went to the Lin family’s place as everyone wanted to see Erbao’s turtle.

Ning Shu was in the living room preparing food, starting with pickled radishes.

The radishes from the family compound’s vegetable garden were plentiful.

Though radishes keep well, she decided to make some delicious pickled radishes.

She used soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar to pickle them, letting them sit in the refrigerator for a day.

The next day, they would be a perfect accompaniment to any meal.

Ideally, she would have added preserved plums for extra flavor, but they didn’t have any at home.

After making the pickled radishes, she began making fruit juice.

With a surplus of fruits smuggled from the APP, she couldn’t store them all. So she turned them into juice and froze it.

When it’s time to drink, she simply defrosts a portion. It’s refreshing in the summer and enjoyable in the winter once thawed, akin to a soda.

This time, she was preparing orange juice from oranges saved for when the kids came back.

Orange juice is easy to squeeze, so she poured it directly into molds and froze it.

Their freezer mostly holds these kinds of treats, with few vegetables.

As Ning Shu was happily working, she heard Er Bao’s voice outside.

“Mom… Mom, I caught a little turtle,” Er Bao rushed in, “Mom, is my little turtle dying? It’s not moving.”

Behind Er Bao, several other kids followed, their eyes drawn to the orange juice Ning Shu was making.

In this era, kids often confused oranges with tangerines, assuming any orange they saw was a tangerine.

Ning Shu was surprised to see so many children but quickly focused on Er Bao’s question. “A turtle should be hibernating now. How did you catch a turtle? Could it be a soft-shelled turtle?”

“What’s a soft-shelled turtle?” Er Bao asked, puzzled.

Ning Shu replied, “It’s something you can eat, and it looks a lot like a turtle.” In truth, she wasn’t entirely sure what a soft-shelled turtle looked like; she had only seen one at a banquet but hadn’t paid much attention since she didn’t like eating them.

Seeing the little creature in Er Bao’s bucket, Ning Shu observed, “It really is a turtle. Turtles hibernate in the winter. Maybe it woke up to wander around and got caught by your bait.”

Though Ning Shu had never raised a turtle, she knew a bit about them from seeing various pet videos online.

She knew that when the weather dropped below 20°C, turtles began hibernating.

They hibernate in dark, damp places and typically wake up around March.

However, some turtles might wake briefly during hibernation to drink water before going back to sleep.

Realizing this, Ning Shu quickly said, “We need to prepare for its hibernation. Turtles hibernate for four months.”

“How long?” The children were surprised by the length of time.

“So turtles hibernate just like snakes,” Yu Chengci exclaimed in astonishment.

Er Bao asked, “Mom, how do turtles hibernate?”

Er Bao nodded, eager to learn more.

“Mom, let’s put the little turtle into hibernation quickly. I don’t want it to die,” Erbao said, having developed a special attachment to the turtle he caught.

Ning Shu didn’t delay but realized she wasn’t very familiar with how to hibernate turtles.

She remembered seeing something about it on Xiaohongshu but had forgotten the specifics.

Was it supposed to be a dark and damp environment?

She thought for a moment and then said, “Yibao, go get a wooden basin. Erbao, find a small, worn-out cotton jacket. Sanbao, bring a bowl with some water.”

“Okay.”

Upon hearing their mother’s instructions, the three siblings immediately went to get the items with excitement.

Once they left, Ning Shu turned her attention to the other kids present.

She quickly put on a bright smile and said, “Hello, everyone. Thank you for spending time with our kids today. We’re new to the capital and don’t know much about it yet. It’s wonderful that you’re here to play with them.”

Yu Chengci and the other kids were taken aback by such a sincere thank you.

Especially since this auntie was kind and gentle, and had even prepared treats for them.

They were all as obedient as the little turtle about to hibernate.

“Auntie, you don’t need to thank us.”

“Thank you, Auntie, for the treats.”

“Auntie, we’ll bring Lin Haizhi and the others to play with us in the future.”

Everyone expressed their gratitude.

Ning Shu was very friendly to everyone who treated her children well and was happy to host them.

Besides the food, she didn’t know what else to provide.

After thinking for a moment, she gave each child an orange.

The oranges weren’t of high quality—similar to those bought in bulk for about 30 yuan for a box of ten pounds.

“Here, have an orange. Oh, and do you want some popsicles?” Seeing the kids’ flushed faces, she guessed they had been out in the sun all afternoon.

A popsicle would be a nice treat.

“Do you have popsicles in winter?” One child was astonished.

They had only had popsicles in the summer.

“Yes, we make them ourselves.” Ning Shu opened the fridge and took out six popsicles of different flavors. “The light red one is watermelon flavor, the dark red one is bayberry, and the yellow one is orange flavor. You can choose for yourselves.” She handed the popsicles to one of the children.

At this moment, the three siblings returned with the items.

Ning Shu first placed the old cotton jacket into the wooden basin, then put the bowl of water inside, and finally placed the little turtle in. This way, if the turtle was thirsty or needed water, it could crawl over to the bowl.

She could only do this much.

Then, she moved the basin to a corner of the living room so it would be easy to check on the turtle.

“Alright, the turtle is set for hibernation. You all go and play with your friends now,” Ning Shu said, and continued to make orange juice.

Seeing the other kids enjoying the popsicles, Erbao also grabbed three, sharing them with Yibao and Sanbao.

Yibao then asked the kids, “Would you like to see our room?”

The kids, originally only interested in the turtle, were now enchanted by the treats and the warm hospitality, not wanting to go home so soon.

They eagerly responded, “Let’s go see.”

Yu Chengci, being quick-witted, said, “Auntie, thank you for the treats. We’ll give you these fish.”

Seeing Yu Chengci’s gesture, the other children also offered their fish.

“Auntie, I have fish too, for you.”

“Auntie, my fish is small. Use it for the soup.”

“…”