In the end, Ning Shu asked, “Er Guo, why did you say there are younger brothers and sisters in mother’s belly? Who told you that?”

Er Guo proudly said, “No one told me, I just knew it myself.” That smug expression, completely unaware that this would make his father angry.

“How did you know then?” Ning Shu asked again. She felt that Er Guo was not only rebellious but also a bit of a joker.

Er Guo said, “When I see aunties in the village with younger brothers and sisters in their bellies, they always tell us kids not to bump into their bellies. Just now, he didn’t let me bump into mother’s arms, so doesn’t that mean there are younger brothers and sisters in mother’s belly?”

Ning Shu: “…” He argued so reasonably that she felt embarrassed to refute him.

The first treasure: “…” This silly little brother absolutely can’t admit it.

Sanbao: “ Little brother, Sanbao.”

Lin Guodong: “Er Guo, I didn’t let you bump into your mother’s arms because she just left the hospital and her body isn’t well. You might knock her over.”

When he was in the health clinic, he asked the doctor and learned that when female comrades have their periods, they not only bleed a lot but also need to use hot water, can’t be exhausted, and need to be taken care of properly.

“And…” His tone became stern, “What ‘he he’s, I’m your father.”

Although he loved his children, he also had to correct impolite behavior.

Er Guo pouted.

Ning Shu didn’t interfere in the father-son matter. She didn’t like to educate children, so having someone else do it was exactly what she wanted. Besides,

Lin Guodong was a sensible person, so she was very reassured.

Yibao, seeing this, pulled Erbao and whispered in his ear, “Don’t make him angry. If mother gets sick and he doesn’t carry her to the clinic, what will we do? We can’t carry mother.”

Lin Guodong: “…” He had to admit, his eldest son was really smart.

Ning Shu: “…”

You could have whispered a little louder, she heard that. However, it seemed that children liked to whisper when they were young.

Sure enough, Er Bao, who listened to his older brother, immediately lowered his head. “I’m sorry, you are my father, I was wrong.”

The attitude of admitting mistakes felt a bit strange, especially the part about “you are my father,” why did it sound a bit off?

Lin Guodong felt a bit headache, but fortunately, Er Bao listened to Yibao.

“Third aunt, are you feeling better?” Lin Haicai stood on the side.

When Yibao and Erbao ran over, he followed the Sanbao.

Ning Shu’s gaze shifted from Sanbao to Lin Haicai.

In the plot, Haicai lost his legs to save Sanbao, but he never blamed the Sanbao. It was just that he was young and didn’t know how to comfort his mother’s hatred for Yibao and Erbao.

Later on, as he grew up, his relationship with the Yibao and Erbao remained unbroken.

Although Qian Aifen hated Yibao and Erbao, apart from visiting Sanbao’s grave, neither of the two brothers would return to the village, so there was no other entanglement between them.

Later in the plot, Yibao and Erbao also passed away. Lin Guodong moved Ning Shu’s grave from her old home to the brigade, so his wife and children were buried together.

During the days he spent guarding the graves, only Haicai would often come to see him.

“Third aunt is better, thanks for Haicai’s concern.” Ning Shu had a good impression of Haicai anyway.

Even though she knew that the Haicai in the plot was just a plot device, and this world was no longer controlled by the plot, in her eyes, Haicai still had a filter. “Haicai, your third uncle just came back. Come to the third aunt’s house for lunch at noon.”

“Ahh. Okay.” Lin Hai readily agreed, feeling pleased inside at the thought of having Aunt San’s delicious food for lunch again.

“Mom, what are we having for lunch?” asked Er Bao, the first one to bring up food.

“We’re having chicken. We’ll be stewing chestnut chicken soup for lunch today. Let’s go, time to slaughter the chicken,” said Ning Shu, taking San Bao’s hand.

“Let’s go slaughter the chicken!” Er Bao, who didn’t need anyone to lead him, ran ahead.

“I can pluck the chicken feathers!” Yi Bao followed his younger brother.

“I can pluck chicken feathers too.” Lin Hai followed suit.

Seeing this, San Bao pulled his hand back from his mom and said, “Mom, Bao can do it,” while wobbling on his short legs, trying to catch up.

However, he was lifted up by Lin Guodong, who then sat him on his shoulders. “Call me Dad, and I’ll help you catch up with them.”

San Bao: “…”

No one had ever taught San Bao to call his father “Dad,” so he could only speak in short sentences, but he still couldn’t call him “Dad.”

“Come on, say it with me, Dad,” Lin Guodong patiently coached his son.

San Bao smiled mischievously. “…Ah.”

Lin Guodong: “…”

“Hahaha…” Ning Shu laughed heartily. “San Bao, you’re amazing.”

Hearing his mom’s praise, San Bao gave her an adorable smile. “Mom…”

That lilting tone at the end of his word softened Ning Shu’s bones.

As the Two brothers and Hai Cai ran ahead, they met Zhuang Xiao Pang and a few others. Zhuang Xiao Pang stopped them. “Yi Bao, want to play ‘eagle catching chicks’?”

Yi Bao shook his head. Just as he was about to say he didn’t want to, Er Bao boasted proudly, “My mom said my dad just came back, and we’re going to slaughter the chicken and we’re gonna pluck its feathers for lunch today.”

Hearing this, Lin Guodong’s mouth twitched upwards.

Even though this kid didn’t acknowledge him as his father to his face, he had indirectly acknowledged it behind his back.

When Ning Shu saw Zhuang Xiao Pang, her brows unconsciously furrowed.

Even though she knew that Zhuang Xiao Pang and his group pushing San Bao into the river was unintentional and part of the plot, and it hadn’t happened yet, Ning Shu couldn’t bring herself to smile at Zhuang Xiao Pang, even though he was just a child.

The moment she saw Zhuang Xiao Pang, she thought of San Bao dying in the cold river, with Yi Bao and Hai Cai jumping in to pull him out.

However, because they were still young, the water-soaked San Bao was too heavy, so they couldn’t move him at all.

But even though they couldn’t move him, they stubbornly stood in the water, unwilling to give up.

“Ning Shu,” Lin Guodong sensed that something was wrong with the way she looked at Zhuang Xiao Pang and quickly called out to her.

Ning Shu came back to her senses and said, “I’m fine. Yi Bao, Er Bao, Hai Cai, let’s go home and pluck the chicken feathers, or else there won’t be any chicken meat to eat.”

“Let’s pluck the chicken feathers!” Er Bao ran ahead again.

“Er Bao, wait for me!” Hai Cai continued to follow.

Yi Bao said to Zhuang Xiao Pang, “We’re not playing anymore. We’ll play next time,” and then followed them.

Ning Shu walked behind them, watching them run, knowing that she couldn’t keep the three kids locked up at home all the time.

So, to prevent any accidents, she had to keep a close eye on them.

She said to Lin Guodong, “I was in a coma for two days and had a dream. In the dream, the three boys and Hai Cai were playing by the river, and they got into a conflict with some other kids. San Bao was pushed into the river, Yi Bao and Hai Cai jumped in to save him, and Er Bao went home to find the adults. But because it was winter, by the time the adults arrived, San Bao had frozen to death, Hai Cai had injured his leg and had to use a wheelchair for all his life, and Yi Bao and Er Bao lived the rest of their lives in guilt. So, Lin Guodong, is there any way to prevent such things from happening? Even if it’s not the three boys, other children might go to the riverbank to play and accidents could happen.”

The children in the village all liked to play by the river, and no matter how the adults taught them, they wouldn’t listen.

No wonder she was sweating and calling out for the three boys when she was in a coma. She had such a terrible dream.

So, were the children in her dream the ones who pushed San Bao into the river? But Lin Guodong didn’t ask. She had such a frightening dream.

Dreaming of children having accidents was so helpless.

Asking too many questions would only make her relive such wounds. “I’ll go talk to brigade leader this afternoon about the riverbank.” Lin Hong Fa was the name of the team leader.

“Do you have a solution?” Ning Shu’s eyes lit up.

Lin Guodong was honest, “Only prevention. The river can’t be filled, so we can only surround it with wooden fences. The fences should be deep enough to exceed the height of an average child.

Even if they play by the river, they’ll only be outside the fence. With the fence blocking them, they won’t fall into the river.”

Seeing that she still hadn’t calmed down, Lin Guodong held her hand again. Despite the bright sunshine, her hand was so cold, as if she had been frightened by the dream again.

“Nothing will happen, don’t worry. When the weather gets better, I’ll take them swimming.”

“Okay.” Feeling the warmth from his palm, Ning Shu’s uneasy heart gradually calmed down. She didn’t open his hand, but held onto it, as if she had strength as long as he was there.

Back at home, Ning Shu saw the clothes drying in the yard, the ones she had changed out of yesterday. She asked, “Did you wash these clothes?”

“No, it should have been Mom.”

After Lin Guodong had sent her to the town’s health clinic yesterday, he had only gone home to get some things.

Worried about her being alone, he had rushed back and hadn’t had time to wash anything.

Hearing Lin Guodong’s explanation, Ning Shu thought for a moment and said, “Mom has been taking care of the three boys these past two days, and you’ve just come back. Why don’t we invite Mom and Dad to have lunch together?” Knowing that there was no original host, Ning Shu didn’t pretend to be anyone else.

“Okay.” Lin Guodong was happy when she took the initiative to invite Mom and Dad to lunch.

“Well, why don’t you go slaughter the chicken?” Ning Shu urged Lin Guodong to kill the chicken, then went to heat water. Plucking the feathers required boiling hot water to soak the whole chicken.

“I promise to complete the mission.” It was Lin Guodong’s first time killing a chicken, but it didn’t affect his performance.

After heating the water, Ning Shu took out the chestnuts that hadn’t been sold before and said, “Yi Bao, Er Bao, Hai Cai, come peel the chestnuts, peel off the shells.”

“I promise to complete the mission.” Er Bao imitated his father’s words, thinking it sounded very cool.

Ning Shu didn’t bother with them anymore.

She took things from the kitchen and put them in a basket, then carried the basket out. The vegetables in their garden weren’t ripe yet, so she planned to exchange them for some from other people’s homes.

“Mom, where are you going?” Yi Bao asked.

Ning Shu replied, “I’m going to exchange some vegetables from other people’s homes. I’ll be right back!”