The fish varied in size, but with the combined catch of the six children, making two bowls of fish soup was no problem.

Ning Shu, considering their kindness towards her three children and the fact that they would be living here for a long time, decided to invite them to stay for dinner. “Auntie won’t be polite then. Since you’ve given us your fish, you should stay for dinner. I’ll make you fish fillet porridge.”

When Erbao heard about the fish fillet porridge, he said, “Mom, I’ll wash the fish.”

It was their habit to handle the washing of vegetables and fish when their mother was cooking.

“I’ll help too.”

“Is fish fillet porridge good?”

“We’ve never had fish fillet porridge before.”

The other children were also curious and volunteered to help wash the fish.

It was rare for them to be invited to stay for a meal, especially by the auntie who had given them popsicles and oranges.

They were all as well-behaved as little lambs, though at home they were more like little tigers.

Normally, Ning Shu would have let her children wash the fish, but since they had guests today, she asked them to entertain the guests instead.

She poured all the fish into a bucket and went outside.

Seeing this, the three siblings took the children to their room.

Upon entering the room, the children were thrilled by the decoration.

“Your room is really nice.” The bedding and covers were made by Ning Shu herself, featuring different small animals embroidered on them, which was quite different from the style of the time and very whimsical.

At their age, the children still had a sense of wonder, and they loved the playful and childlike style of the room.

“I really like this bed.”

“There’s a writing desk under the bed.”

No boy could resist such a setup.

Most boys naturally enjoy lively environments and thus liked dormitory life.

Ning Shu’s room arrangement catered to their love for excitement while providing individual spaces—separate beds, desks, and wardrobes.

“These were all arranged by my mom. The bed and desk were custom-made by her. She’s amazing,” Erbao began to boast.

“Wow, Auntie is really amazing.”

“Did Auntie make the popsicles too?”

“Yes, my mom makes popsicles in different flavors. Back when we were in the staff quarters, many friends would come and exchange popsicles with us. They would give us vegetables or other snacks, and we would give them popsicles. We all enjoyed exchanging them.

Later, a family bought a refrigerator and started making popsicles like my mom, so the exchanges became less frequent.

But the popsicles they made weren’t as good as my mom’s, and they didn’t have as many flavors. So, the exchanges picked up again.

My mom said making popsicles and exchanging them wasn’t about making money, but about fair trade, letting everyone enjoy them and experience different pleasures.” Erbao didn’t quite understand everything, but as long as he enjoyed it, that was enough for him.

“Auntie is really impressive. We have a refrigerator at home too, but my mom doesn’t make popsicles, and she doesn’t cook either. It’s all done by the nanny.”

“Yeah, our nanny does all the cooking too.”

“We don’t have a nanny at home. My mom cooks everything, but her cooking isn’t very good. My mom says it’s hard to support the family on my dad’s salary, so they need to save money.” Another child spoke up.

His father was a company commander, and his salary wasn’t as high as others, so they didn’t have a nanny like other families.

“We don’t have a nanny at home, but we do housework together with Dad. He says that Mom works hard cooking for us, so as boys, we should learn to share the burden and help the women in the family.

We only have one woman in the house, but four men. Men should stand in front of women and share the housework.

But Dad doesn’t let us wash Mom’s clothes. He says Mom is his wife, and as long as he can help her, we don’t need to.

If he can’t manage, then we’ll help with her clothes,” Er Bao began sharing what he had learned from his father’s example.

“Wow, your dad is really great.”

“My dad wouldn’t wash clothes for my mom.”

“Yes, at our house, my mom still has to wash my dad’s clothes.”

“When we lived in the family compound, my mom was the best. All our friends wanted to come to our house for meals,” Er Bao continued to praise his mother.

Though Yi Bao and San Bao didn’t speak, they were pleased to hear Er Bao’s praise of their mother and see the admiration in the eyes of the six new friends.

They also felt proud that their mother was the best.

Soon, a discussion began among the children, comparing their mothers and talking about the renowned little nanny in the big compound, which was Han Hongling’s stepmother.

In the lively conversation, the three children learned a lot about the families in the big compound.

Don’t underestimate the gossip skills of children—they can be as sharp as, or even sharper than, those of nannies.

After all, parents might avoid discussing certain things with nannies, but rarely with their own children.

Listening to these stories, the three brothers were delighted.

They enjoyed gossip just as much as the next child.

“By the way, for tomorrow’s competition, Zhang Jingwu and his group wanted sugarcane and grapes, but we don’t have those. If they bring something, we’ll pay for it. Remember to tell Auntie, so she can calculate the amount we owe. We’ll bring it tomorrow,” Zhang Mingcheng mentioned.

Zhang Mingcheng was meticulous, his attention to detail rivaling that of Yi Bao.

But while Yi Bao’s meticulousness came from the responsibility of being the eldest sibling, Zhang Mingcheng’s was a natural trait.

Regarding this, Er Bao didn’t speak and looked towards Yi Bao.

“Hmm,” Yi Bao agreed.

“Hey, what do you think Zhang Jingwu and his group will prepare to compete with us?” one of the kids asked.

They began discussing this topic eagerly.

Yi Bao said, “It shouldn’t be worse than ours. If it’s worse, they’ll be at a disadvantage. I eat meat and vegetables, but I won’t be at a loss.”

“But we have sugarcane and grapes, which are hard to find right now. What if they don’t have them?” Yu Chengci said.

“If they don’t have enough, we’ll make up the difference with money. If we win, we can use the money to buy more food,” Er Bao replied.

He then remembered the old woman and said to Yu Chengci, “This morning, didn’t we tell you about the old woman who might be a human trafficker?”

“Yeah,” Yu Chengci nodded, a bit eager, “So? Did you catch her accomplices?”

The children in the compound had a stronger aversion to human traffickers than ordinary kids, as their parents worked in government positions and were strongly against criminal activities.

“Then this morning, when we went to the market, we ran into her…” Erbao recounted the events, “She didn’t want tickets for the meat buns, but she wouldn’t say anything.”

“I thought it was something serious. I know where that meat bun place is,” Yu Chengci said.

He knew not just about the meat bun place but also about the black market points.

“Ah?” Erbao was surprised.

But Yibao seemed to recall something and quickly stood up, saying, “I need to go downstairs for a moment,” and ran out of the room.

In the afternoon, Ning Shu was still killing fish. “Mom, leave a fish alive,” Yibao said hastily, fearing that his mother might finish killing all the fish.

Hearing this, Ning Shu stopped and turned to look at Yibao. “What’s the matter? Do you want to keep the fish?” If they wanted to keep the fish, they could go fishing again tomorrow. But if they wanted to keep them now, it was possible.

“No, no.” Yibao ran over, “This morning at the market, the pig stall was given to us by an uncle who said we didn’t need to pay. If we catch any fish, we should give him one. I want to save it and take it to the market tomorrow.” Although he could tell the uncle was joking, since they had taken the pig stall without paying, he felt it was right to give a fish in return.

“I see…” Ning Shu poured all the fish together, unsure which fish the three siblings had caught.

She picked two medium-sized fish from the lot. “Then these two, put them aside. You can take them to him tomorrow.”

She chose two fish of similar size because the fish they caught weren’t very big, and one fish wouldn’t be enough for a bowl.

“Okay.” After explaining, Yibao didn’t go upstairs immediately but squatted beside Ning Shu, helping her wash the fish she had already killed.

Ning Shu looked at him with gentle eyes. “Why aren’t you chatting with your friends?”

Yibao replied, “Erbao and Sanbao are upstairs with them. The fish here are so big; I’ll help Mom wash them.”

Ning Shu didn’t refuse; it was quite considerate. “How did it go with the friends today? Did you have fun?”

“They’re all nice, and it was quite enjoyable to hang out with them,” Yibao said.

Even if he wasn’t happy, he wouldn’t say so to avoid worrying his mother, but he did enjoy their time together. “We did have a conflict with another group while fishing today…” He recounted the conflict, “Mom, you’ll prepare the sugarcane and grapes for tomorrow, right?”

“Why not…” Ning Shu said, “Yibao, although we shouldn’t do bad things or initiate conflicts, we need to have some spirit. Since they challenged us, we should resolve it in a civilized manner, but we can’t let them think we’re easy targets.

Even if we lose the fishing competition, it’s important that we face the challenge with courage. Winning or losing doesn’t matter as much as having the determination and bravery to accept the challenge.”

“Hmm.” Yibao was happy to hear his mother’s support, and he smiled brightly, looking just like a child his age.

“By the way, Zhang Mingcheng and the others asked how we would handle the competition food. They said it wouldn’t be fair if we were the only ones providing the food, but they don’t have those items either. I told them… Do you think that’s okay?”

“That’s fine; it’s very fair. I’ll calculate the cost of the food, then divide it among everyone according to the number of people,” Ning Shu agreed.

After hearing Yibao’s words, she had a good impression of the children, especially Zhang Mingcheng.

It was evident that his character was commendable as he raised the issue of fairness.

“Okay.” Yibao flashed a radiant smile, appearing very much like a child his age.