Chapter 20 - 8: Coaxing

Chapter 20: Chapter 8: Coaxing

Lin Zhao smiled and asked, "Hungry?"

"I’m hungry!" Er Zai shouted his reply.

"If you’re hungry, I’ll start the dumplings. It’ll just be a few minutes." The fire in the stove was roaring, and she was just waiting for the water to boil to drop them in.

"Mom, how long is a few minutes?" Er Zai asked with a wide grin, clinging to the doorframe.

’My head hurts,’ Lin Zhao thought. ’Little kids who haven’t started school ask so many questions.’

"Do you know how to count?"

"I do." Er Zai’s face beamed with pride. "I can count all the way to one hundred."

"My big brother can, too."

At the mention of his brother, Da Zai looked even prouder.

"That’s amazing." Lin Zhao praised them as she worked, finding a moment to ask, "Who taught you?"

"My uncle," Er Zai said.

Er Zai’s uncle was Gu Qingzhou, who was in junior high school.

Gu Qingzhou was a quiet, down-to-earth teenager. He was respectful toward his elders and very kind to his nieces and nephews, a complete opposite of Gu Xing’er.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lin Zhao saw Tie Chui with Da Zai, helping the younger boy-and-girl twins wash their hands. She smiled and called out, "Tie Chui, stay and eat with us."

Little kids don’t stand on ceremony. Seeing the gentle smile on her face, Tie Chui happily accepted.

"I’ll go tell my mom."

With that, he bolted outside.

Er Zai shouted, "Tie Chui, I’ll go with you!"

Seeing him about to run off, Lin Zhao poked her head out of the kitchen and said, "Er Zai, tell your grandma she doesn’t need to cook for you boys anymore."

"Got it!"

The two boys ran off together toward the main family house.

When they reached the main house, Er Zai’s booming voice announced their arrival before they even stepped inside.

"Grandma! My mom said Tie Chui can eat at our house!"

They were just about to start cooking at the main house when Mother Gu heard Er Zai’s voice and hurried outside.

"Your mom is cooking?" Her voice was filled with surprise.

"My mom’s making dumplings today!" Er Zai announced happily, his voice loud enough to draw everyone out of the house.

"...Making dumplings?" Tie Dan was so envious he was practically drooling. "What kind are they?"

"Pork and scallion." Even though he hadn’t tasted them yet, Er Zai was already convinced his mom’s dumplings were the best in the world.

"Oh, right! Mom also said you don’t need to cook for us anymore."

Hearing this, Mother Gu recalled that when her third daughter-in-law had first married into the family, she really had known how to cook. Her skills were quite good. Even with simple ingredients, whatever she made always turned out exceptionally fragrant.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before she became pregnant with Da Zai and Er Zai, and she hadn’t set foot in the kitchen since.

"Alright, I understand," Mother Gu agreed.

Still worried, she added, "If you don’t get enough to eat, just come find me."

Hearing this, the delighted smiles on Sister In Law Gu and Second Sister In Law Gu’s faces froze.

’Who goes looking for trouble like that!’

Er Zai agreed without a hint of politeness. "Okay!"

After he spoke, Little Tiechui added, "Grandma, Auntie said I could eat at her house."

Sister In Law Gu’s expression instantly brightened.

"Grandma, Tie Chui and I are going back now!" Er Zai called out, then grabbed Tie Chui and took off, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

The other children of the Gu Family were dying of envy.

’Why couldn’t they be the same age as Da Zai and Er Zai?’

Just as Er Zai and Tie Chui got back to the door, they were hit by an even richer aroma.

The two hungry boys quickened their pace and rushed into the house.

"Mom, are the dumplings ready?" Er Zai demanded impatiently.

Lin Zhao noticed his racket but paid him no mind. She was busy scooping dumplings with a slotted spoon. Five bowls sat on the stove. She put eight dumplings in each bowl for the five-year-olds, and two each for the boy-and-girl twins just to give them a taste. ’They’re too little,’ she thought, ’they can just drink malted milk.’

"The dumplings are ready, everyone come..."

The words had barely left her mouth when she remembered the boys hadn’t washed their hands. She grabbed Er Zai’s hand as it reached for a bowl. "Did you wash your hands?"

Er Zai really had forgotten. Facing his mother’s stern expression, he gave a sheepish grin. "I forgot. I’ll go wash them now."

Lin Zhao carried the dumplings out. Seeing the children obediently washing their hands, she said, "Our hands are covered in germs. From now on, before you handle anything that goes in your mouth, you have to wash your hands. Got it?"

"What are germs?" Er Zai asked, his face full of confusion.

"Germs are very small living things, called microorganisms, that we can’t see with our eyes. If you eat germs, worms can grow in your belly," Lin Zhao explained in a gentle voice.

Er Zai’s head snapped up to look at Lin Zhao, his eyes wide with shock. "Worms in your belly! Is that why Yuanbao pooped out a worm? Because worms grew in his belly?"

An unpleasant image flashed through Lin Zhao’s mind, and she suddenly wanted to clamp a hand over Er Zai’s mouth.

’We’re just about to eat, and he’s blurting out things like that.’

"Mm-hmm," she answered vaguely, not wanting to talk about it anymore.

’I’ll have to buy some deworming medicine soon,’ Lin Zhao thought.

But of course, Er Zai wasn’t finished. "Mom, what about the bugs on our heads? Are those germs, too?"

"!!"

"You have bugs on your heads?" Lin Zhao took a small step away from them, her usually calm and unhurried voice instantly jumping several octaves.

That single step backward broke Da Zai’s and Er Zai’s hearts.

The exact same wounded expression appeared on their identical faces.