Chapter 13 - 5: "King of Bragging

Chapter 13: Chapter 5: "King of Bragging

Er Zai strutted over proudly, a meat bun in one hand and the other clasped behind his back like his grandpa. He didn’t rush into the crowd of children. Instead, he took a gentle bite of his bun and called out loudly to his brother, "Brother, this meat bun is so delicious!"

Da Zai chimed in, "It is! Just one bite and your mouth is filled with juicy goodness."

Meat buns...!?

Hearing those two words, all the children’s mouths began to water. They whipped their heads around in unison, and their eyes went wide at the sight of the white buns in Da Zai and Er Zai’s hands.

"Hey, twins! Where did you get meat buns?" The brigade leader’s young grandson, Tie Niu, dashed over to Da Zai and Er Zai, his face filled with envy.

’He’d eaten meat buns during the New Year. They were so, so good.’

Da Zai’s face glowed with pride, his voice twice as loud as usual. "Our mom bought them for us!"

Er Zai chimed in just as loudly, "And she bought us Warrior shoes, too!"

The younger kids had never heard of Warrior shoes. The older ones had, but they didn’t believe the twins’ mother would buy a pair for them.

Changsheng, the leader of the kids, taunted them, "You’re lying! My mom says a pair of Warrior shoes costs three or four yuan, and you can buy a lot of meat with that! Your mom doesn’t care about you; there’s no way she’d buy you Warrior shoes. King of Bragging! The twins are the Kings of Bragging!"

Er Zai was furious. He took a vicious bite of his meat bun, as if he were biting the boy who was insulting him. He huffed, "I am not the King of Bragging! My mom said she bought them for us!"

"Our mom does so care about us!" Da Zai added angrily.

"Yeah, right! My mom says your mom is a lazy hag who does nothing but eat. She says when she’s old, she’ll fall into a stinky ditch and drown." The seven- or eight-year-old brat stuck his tongue out at Da Zai and Er Zai, trying to rile them up. But his eyes kept flicking to the buns in their hands, and he couldn’t stop swallowing his own spit.

’He would never admit he was a little jealous of the twins.’

Er Zai was a hothead. Furious at Changsheng’s words, he shoved his bun into his brother’s hand and charged at the other boy. Caught off guard, Changsheng went crashing to the ground.

But he wasn’t finished. Er Zai raised his little fists, tight as sandbags, and started pummeling him.

"That’s for insulting my mom! And that’s for insulting my mom!" he shouted furiously with every punch.

A young man who was passing by saw the kids fighting. Finding it rather amusing, he stopped to watch.

Little kids fighting was a funny sight. They looked so fierce, all bared teeth and scrunched-up faces, as if they wanted to tear each other to shreds. In reality, there was no real power behind their blows. They’d been going at it for a while, and neither one even had a red mark on his face.

When he saw the two kids start trying to bite each other, the man stepped forward, grabbed each boy by the collar, and forcefully pulled them apart.

"Alright, that’s enough. If you get your face all bitten up, you’ll never find a wife."

"Especially you," the young man said, looking at Changsheng. "You’re not much of a looker to begin with. If you get a chunk of flesh bitten out of your face, you’ll be a hopeless case for sure."

Changsheng looked angry enough to bite him. He stomped his foot and yelled, "Uncle!"

The man ignored him and was about to leave when he saw Lin Zhao walking towards them.

Noticing the tense atmosphere—Da Zai’s face was stiff, and Er Zai’s was practically burning with anger—Lin Zhao asked in surprise, "What’s going on?"

’Weren’t they perfectly fine when we left the house?’

Having just been in a fight with an older kid, Er Zai felt a pang of guilt when he saw his mother. He grabbed Da Zai’s arm and gave him a pleading look, begging his brother not to tell their mom he’d been fighting.

Da Zai didn’t want to tell on him, either. Fighting wasn’t a good thing, after all.

Unfortunately, there were other kids nearby.

Tie Niu had a big mouth. "Er Zai was fighting with Brother Changsheng!" he blurted out.

Er Zai was furious. He glared at the boy. "Tie Niu, you’re a tattletale!"

Tie Niu looked completely bewildered. "I’m not!" he said innocently. "Your mom asked."

"Why were you fighting?" Lin Zhao asked curiously. She didn’t think it was a big deal for kids to get into scuffles. ’It’s best to let children resolve their own problems,’ she thought. ’Things get complicated when adults get involved.’

Er Zai looked down without a word, his hands clenched into tight little fists, his expression defiant.

Da Zai looked frantic. He wanted to explain but didn’t know how, so distressed that the color drained from his lips.

Seeing that neither of her boys was talking, Lin Zhao didn’t press them. "Fine, don’t tell me," she said. "I’m going to the old family house to talk about building our new home. Do you want to come?"

Da Zai stared at her, stunned. "Mom, you’re not mad at us?"

"Why would I be mad at you?" Lin Zhao said gently. "What kid doesn’t get into fights? I know you’re good boys. You wouldn’t start a fight unless someone provoked you."

’Mom said we’re good boys.’

The gloom in Da Zai and Er Zai’s hearts lifted, and a light returned to their eyes. Their two little faces shone like the morning sun.

"We’ll go!" Er Zai took the half-eaten bun from his brother, sidled up to Lin Zhao with a wide grin, and took her hand. When his mom didn’t pull away, he bloomed with happiness.

"Let’s go! To the old family house we go!" Er Zai’s voice overflowed with pure joy.