Chapter 75 - 26: Stealing the Show

Chapter 75: Chapter 26: Stealing the Show

Lin Zhao thought for a moment, then took out an aluminum lunch box and a five-foot length of corduroy fabric, planning to take them to the old family home.

’With the boys’ Father away, I’ll have to rely on the family for many things in the future. I can’t just keep taking advantage of them. They’ll put in the effort, and I’ll provide the goods. It’s not like I’m short on these things anyway.’

「In the blink of an eye, it was time to head to the old family home.」

Lin Zhao headed out with her things and said to the three children in the yard, "Let’s go, time for dinner at the old family home."

Her eyes flickered to the side, and she was surprised to see two-thirds of the soda bottle was still full. "After all this time, you still haven’t finished the soda?"

Er Zai said earnestly, "You have to savor good things. You can’t just gulp it all down at once."

Da Zai and Tie Chui nodded, clearly in agreement with Er Zai.

Lin Zhao dangled the items in her hand, teasing the boys. "Look what I have here!"

Da Zai’s eyes went wide. "Meat, eggs, and soda!!"

Tie Chui licked his lips, practically drooling. For a child who rarely ate rich, fatty foods, even the sight of raw meat was enough to make him want to take a bite.

"It’s fatty pork!!" His voice was even higher-pitched than Da Zai’s.

Er Zai took the bag from Lin Zhao’s hand and looked up at her with his big, clear eyes. "Mom, are we taking these with us?"

"That’s right. With five mouths to feed in our family, we can’t just show up empty-handed," Lin Zhao said.

Er Zai snickered, shamelessly pointing out the flaw in his mother’s statement. "My brother and I have been freeloading for years."

Lin Zhao was speechless.

She said calmly, "That was then, this is now."

Er Zai was about to say something else, but Da Zai shot him a glare, and he immediately clammed up.

After silencing his brother, Da Zai reached for the other small bag in Lin Zhao’s hands, but she pulled it back. "This is for your First Aunt and Second Aunt. I’ll carry it. You and Er Zai can carry the other bag, okay?"

"Okay," Da Zai replied obediently.

Tie Chui glanced curiously at the small bag in his Third Auntie’s hand, but he couldn’t tell what was inside.

Lin Zhao led the three children toward the old family home.

Er Zai carried a cut of meat that looked to be about two pounds, while Da Zai held a mesh bag filled with eggs and a bottle of soda.

The sight of them was quite the spectacle.

The villagers who saw what they were carrying couldn’t help but stare.

Meat was a temptation for adults, but it was an even greater one for children.

Tie Niu spotted the meat in Er Zai’s hands from a distance and rushed over, his mouth watering. "Er Zai, you have so much meat!" ’I want some pork cracklings so bad, boo hoo hoo.’

Er Zai, bursting with pride, announced loudly, "My mom’s a salesclerk at the county supply and marketing co-op now! My grandma told us to come over to their house for dinner to celebrate."

"My mom said, with five mouths to feed in our family, we can’t just show up empty-handed. She prepared all of this for my grandpa and grandma."

The villagers who overheard this found their impression of Lin Zhao changing in an instant.

She went from being lazy, difficult, and clueless in their eyes to being filial, generous, and worldly.

Afraid that people wouldn’t see what he was holding, Da Zai raised the bag high and swung it around. "And soda! There’s soda, too!!"

Little Tie Niu had never tried soda before. He stared at the orange liquid in the mesh bag, so envious his eyes started to water. "I’ve never had soda. Is it better than sugar water?"

"It’s way better than sugar water!" Tie Chui declared, his proud expression a perfect mirror of the two brothers’.

Tie Niu was the brigade leader’s grandson, the very first kid in the whole brigade to have eaten a big meat bun from the state-run restaurant. But now, Da Zai and his brothers had food and drinks he had never even tasted. The little boy felt so wronged he was on the verge of tears.

"SOB... I want to try soda, too," he whimpered.

Seeing his friend cry with envy, Da Zai looked to his mother. "Mom, can we let Tie Niu have a taste of the soda we saved?"

Lin Zhao smiled. "I’ve told you before, anything I give you is yours to share as you see fit. You’re the little masters of this house, so you have that right."

Da Zai loved it when his mom called them the little masters of the house. His heart swelled with happiness.

He turned to Er Zai and Tie Chui and asked seriously, "Do you guys want to share with Tie Niu?"

He then added his reason for wanting to share. "Tie Niu shared his bird eggs with us before."

Er Zai, who had once been a stingy child, fiercely protective of his food from having grown up without a mother’s affection, was now willing to share, knowing his mom cared for him.

"Okay, I’ll share!" he said loudly.

Tie Chui went along with whatever Da Zai and Er Zai decided. If they were okay with it, so was he.

"I’ll share, too."

Er Zai broke into a wide grin and said to Tie Niu, "We still have half a bottle of soda at home. We can all drink it together this afternoon."

Tie Niu’s crying turned into a smile. His eyelashes were still wet with tears, but his grin was huge. "I’ll share my sweet wild berries with you guys, too!"

"Okay~~"

The two short, stocky children, dressed in patched clothes and talking with such solemnity, were just unbearably cute.

In no time, word that Lin Zhao had brought a gift of meat for her in-laws spread throughout the village.