Chapter 6

“This… Grandma didn’t want me to be your mom?” Ning Shu’s playful demeanor subsided, replaced by a serious inquiry.

Her memory of Lin’s mother wasn’t vivid, so Ning Shu couldn’t judge what kind of person she was.

But anyone who could say such things made Ning Shu’s senses feel off. She wasn’t adamant about being tied to Lin Guodong, but she wouldn’t allow herself to be kicked out of the Lin family because of it.

Plus, how could an elder say such things to a child?

“Well…” “No,” interrupted Erbao, the second youngest, “Grandma only said Dad likes us the most. When Dad comes back, he’ll buy us meat to eat. She didn’t say Mom couldn’t be our mom.”

“Then who taught you this? Did you think of it yourselves?” Ning Shu softened her tone, not wanting to scare them.

Could children as young as five come up with such words themselves? Ning Shu felt it was unlikely, so the probability of someone else saying it was higher.

“It was Auntie Er,” Erbao proudly confessed, thinking he had succeeded in his words.

Ahchoo… Zhang Qinfang, who was working, sneezed. She thought to herself: Who’s thinking about her?

Auntie Er? That’s Lin Guodong’s second sister-in-law? In her memory, this second sister-in-law always said some sour words whenever she saw the original owner, and the original owner never hesitated to retort.

But regardless of how adults behaved, saying such things to juniors was crossing the line.

Ning Shu hadn’t thought about how to educate them, but since this situation arose, she naturally couldn’t ignore it.

She said, “In the future, don’t listen to Auntie Er.”

“Why shouldn’t we listen? Are you scared?” Erbao thought she was scared. “If you’re scared, then give us two pieces of meat to eat.”

Ning Shu rolled her eyes. “Because if you keep listening to Auntie Er, I won’t even give you one piece of meat to eat.” Such spineless kids, threatening her just to get an extra piece of meat.

Er Bao’s mouth hung open in disbelief. Could adults really do this? Now they wouldn’t even get one piece of meat to eat?

“Then… can we still drink the meat soup?” The thought of not being able to drink the meat soup made his eyes turn red.

If they couldn’t have the meat soup, they wouldn’t have anything to compare with their little friends.

Er Bao pouted, his eyes growing redder, tears swirling in his eyes but stubbornly refusing to fall.

Da Bao’s mood was also gloomy. How could this happen? Could he still secretly tell Dad? Would he also have no meat to eat if he told Dad?

Ning Shu was initially displeased by the cheap words Auntie Er said to the two boys.

But now, seeing the two boys looking so pitiful, her mood improved.

She seemed to understand Mama Bao’s feelings a bit. Whether it was seeing them acting stubbornly or holding back tears, it provided some emotional value. Simply put… it was a bit cute.

“I can give you lots of pieces of meat to eat and let you drink meat soup, but you have to listen to me and do what I ask,” Ning Shu began to lure the two boys with promises, but these promises could only be fulfilled if they followed her instructions.

When they heard they could eat lots of pieces of meat and drink meat soup, Da Bao looked at Ning Shu in astonishment, a big question mark hovering over his small head.

Er Bao’s eyes instantly lit up, wrinkles forming around his eyes, and his little mouth kept moving, “Really? We can eat lots of pieces of meat if we listen to you? And drink meat soup too? You’re not lying to us kids, right?”

Da Bao pulled Er Bao again. He had figured out the answer. Mom was lying; Mom didn’t want them to tell Dad, so she was lying to them.

They couldn’t say it even if Mom was lying. Er Bao was such a fool.

“Of course, but the condition is that you have to meet my requirements,” Ning Shu said.

“What are your requirements?” Er Bao asked eagerly, already forgetting about his suspicion that Mom was lying.

Ning Shu said, “You wash yourselves clean, wash your hands clean for one piece of meat, wash your feet clean for an extra piece of meat, wash your arms clean for another piece of meat, wash your legs clean, wash your body clean, wash your bottom clean, wash your face clean, wash your head clean. In total, that’s nine pieces of meat, which equals nine wontons.”

“Nine? Er Bao, who hadn’t been to school, didn’t know what that meant, but they could tell there were a lot of pieces of meat.”

Da Bao’s ears twitched. Unsure if it was true or not, he… he decided to give it a try.

Er Bao’s mouth moved faster. “Then we’ll wash, but you can’t lie. If you lie, when Dad comes back, I’ll tell him you’re a bad mom who lies to kids.”

Da Bao didn’t speak, but subconsciously nodded. He was being influenced by Er Bao.

“Of course,” Ning Shu said, seeing the good weather. “Go and bring out the bathtub, and I’ll fill it with water for you.”

“Okay, we’ll go now.” The two brothers stuffed the remaining pear cores into their mouths, stirring them around, then went to the utility room to carry out the wooden tub, which had a diameter of about 70 centimeters.

This large wooden tub was used by rural people for washing clothes and was convenient for children to bathe in.

Ning Shu didn’t say anything as she watched. When she was young, she used to do the same, stuffing pear cores and apple cores into her mouth.

Maybe it was because she didn’t get to taste these fruits when she was little.

It was September now, nearing noon, so the weather was still warm. Ning Shu poured the water she brought out into the large wooden tub. “You can bathe now. Use soap to scrub your body. If you want to eat more meat, you need to wash your whole body clean. Help each other wash the parts you can’t reach.”

Da Bao heard this and asked uncertainly, “Mom, can we use soap?” Didn’t his mom used to say…

“Mom, didn’t you used to say we’re little rabbits, and even if we wash clean, we have to get dirty again, wasting soap?” Er Bao asked.

Da Bao: “…” Stupid Er Bao, just think about it in your heart.

Ning Shu said, “You used to be little rabbits, but now you’re behaving well by taking care of your little brother, so you’re good kids. That’s why you’re rewarded with soap for bathing.” The original owner was so stingy? She wouldn’t even let her sons use soap.

Since she didn’t enjoy such privileges when she was young, she didn’t want her sons to enjoy them either.

After a moment of thought, Ning Shu continued, “If you continue to behave well in the future, I’ll give you even more rewards.”

Er Bao: “Mom, then we don’t want the soap reward for bathing. Reward us with…”

“Reward us with… the three fruits we just ate, okay?” Da Bao hastily interrupted his brother.

“Yes, yes, reward us with the fruits we just ate. One for each of us, Mom, okay?” Er Bao echoed his brother’s words. Indeed, his brother was clever; he hadn’t even thought of that.

Ning Shu crossed her arms. “First, wash yourselves clean with soap. I’ll reward you next time when you’ve done something well. If you keep delaying, the wontons will spoil, and then you won’t want to eat meat anymore.”

“I want to eat meat. I’ll go get the soap.” Er Bao took off his shoes and ran into the utility room to get the soap.

Da Bao didn’t say anything but instead brought over San Bao, who had already finished gnawing on the pear and was still licking his hands. “San Bao, let big brother give you a bath. After you’re clean, you can eat meat, okay?” he cooed to his younger brother.

“Eat meat,” San Bao blinked his mouth and was helped by his older brother to climb into the large wooden tub.

After San Bao climbed into the tub, Da Bao stripped him of his clothes, then poured a ladle of water over San Bao’s body.

He had touched the water already; it was warm but not scalding, just the right temperature.

“Giggle…” Like many children who enjoyed playing with water, San Bao also liked it. Seeing his brother pour water over him, he reached out his hands to splash the water, creating little splashes.

“Bro, use the soap.” Er Bao came out with the soap and handed it to Da Bao. He himself stripped naked and started splashing water on his body.

Seeing this, Ning Shu went to fetch water several times more. With three boys needing to bathe, two pots of water wouldn’t be enough.

After she put down the water, she checked on the three boys again. They were all wet, covered in foam, but clearly not clean. Ning Shu frowned; at this rate, they might not even finish bathing by the afternoon.

“Do you guys even know how to bathe?” Ning Shu asked. She couldn’t recall ever seeing the three boys bathe on their own; it was always Lin’s mother who bathed her grandsons.

“We do.” No matter how old the child, they wouldn’t admit they didn’t know how or couldn’t do something. So Da Bao and Er Bao answered loudly.

Ning Shu sighed. “…I’ll bathe San Bao. You two wash yourselves first.” She didn’t want to deal with this, but the boys were too dirty.

Just using soap wouldn’t clean them properly. With that in mind, Ning Shu went back to the kitchen and fetched two new sections of luffa gourd.

This luffa gourd was used for washing dishes. In rural areas, it was called “tianluo,” which was a type of luffa gourd.

After the luffa gourd matured and dried, the outer skin would break, revealing the fibers inside. These fibers were then cut into sections, just like steel wire balls used for dishwashing. However, the fibers of this tianluo were softer than those of steel wire balls, so they wouldn’t harm the hands or damage the tableware.

When Ning Shu lived with her grandmother, they used this for dishwashing and bathing.

With the memories of the original owner, she naturally knew these were in the cupboard. So she took two new sections and came back to give the boys a scrub.

Ning Shu handed one to Da Bao. “You and Er Bao can help each other scrub. I’ll take care of San Bao.”

Qinglin Bay Production Brigade didn’t have the custom of scrubbing baths, so Da Bao was a bit puzzled. “Mom, what’s scrubbing?”

Ning Shu explained, “Look, scrubbing can clean the dirt off your body.” With that, she squatted down, wet the luffa gourd fibers, and gently rubbed them on San Bao’s back. In no time, clumps of keratin, resembling rubbery mud, were rubbed off his back. However, despite Ning Shu’s light touch, the child’s skin turned red after just a few rubs.

Facing the 11-month-old baby, she softened her voice and asked, “San Bao, does it hurt?”

Although his skin was red, San Bao didn’t feel any pain. His eyes sparkled as he looked at Ning Shu, drooling and smiling, his little head shaking, “N-no… it doesn’t hurt…” The little guy clearly seemed to be enjoying himself.

“You silly boy,” Ning Shu chuckled, unable to resist his innocence. Then she turned to Da Bao and Er Bao. “This is how you scrub. Be careful not to scrub too hard. If you can endure it, do so. You won’t clean properly without using some force.”

Da Bao and Er Bao nodded, their gaze still fixed on the clumps of keratin on San Bao’s body.

The two brothers were amazed that there was still dirt on their younger brother’s body.

Originally, they had just planned to rush through the bath to get the meat reward, but now, seeing the dirt on their brother’s body, they didn’t dare to rush.

Even if they weren’t afraid of getting dirty, they didn’t want to bring so much dirt to their beds. So, the two brothers also started scrubbing diligently.

“Bro, it hurts, it hurts, be gentle,” Er Bao shouted.

“Be gentle, there’s barely any dirt left. Look.” Da Bao showed Er Bao the luffa gourd, which was covered in dirt scraped off from Er Bao’s body.

Er Bao swallowed nervously; his dirt was even more than San Bao’s. “Bro, scrub harder. I don’t mind the pain.” So dirty… He felt disgusted with himself.

“Yeah.” Da Bao decided to exert more force to clean him thoroughly. He didn’t want to sleep next to a dirty Er Bao.

San Bao, being smaller, didn’t have as stubborn dirt on his body as Da Bao and Er Bao did. Moreover, with Ning Shu’s skilled scrubbing, it didn’t take long to wash him.

After scrubbing him clean, Ning Shu rinsed him with warm water.

When she went to get towels, she found that the towels for the three boys were also dirty.

She couldn’t bear to use dirty towels to wipe the freshly cleaned boys, so she went back to the original owner’s room and found a piece of clothing that the original owner couldn’t wear anymore.

It was too small for her, as she had become thin after giving birth. Ning Shu used this piece of clothing to dry San Bao, then carried him to the room shared by the three boys.

The yard had three tiled houses: one belonged to the original owner, one to the three boys, and the third one was vacant.

When the houses were built, knowing that the original owner was expecting twins, they built three rooms, thinking that each child would have their own room when they grew up.

The clothes for the three boys were not many; they were all modified from clothes that the original owner didn’t want.

Yes, the original owner kept many clothes that she couldn’t wear, too small for her, intending to modify them for the children to wear, as she herself had grown up wearing her older sister’s unwanted clothes.

However, in those days, it wasn’t a big issue; many families had their older children pass down clothes to the younger ones.

The problem was that the original owner kept so many clothes she didn’t wear, yet she hadn’t modified them for the children, as she didn’t know how to sew.

As a result, the clothes the children wore were all a bit short.

San Bao’s clothes were leftovers from his two older brothers, each with several small holes, making them look like little prince beggars when worn.

“Mom, wear,” San Bao obediently reached out his hand, smiling at Ning Shu, cooperating as she dressed him.

Unlike Da Bao and Er Bao, who were wary and resentful towards their mom, San Bao was still a little sweetheart, naturally relying on and trusting his mom.

Ning Shu looked at his smile, revealing six tiny milky teeth, and quickly helped him put on his clothes.

While putting on his pants, she noticed that he didn’t have any underwear, and neither did Da Bao nor Er Bao.

She thought to herself that with so many clothes the original owner couldn’t wear, she could modify some for the three boys when she had free time.