When Guaizai woke up, he felt the bed beneath him was hard, and there was an old cabinet in the room. The cabinet at home was newly bought and not shabby. He immediately realized this wasn't his familiar home.
"...Daddy, Daddy..."
He called out, his voice tearful.
The old door creaked as Aunt Liu pushed it open and came in.
"Oh my dear, you're awake!"
Seeing a familiar person, Guaizai employed his unique skill: his tears 'whooshed' back in, and he instantly smiled, calling out sweetly: "...Grandma Liu!"
"Yes!" Aunt Liu responded.
It was still early. She asked Guaizai if he wanted to sleep a little more. Guaizai shook his head, so she carried him off the bed. Guaizai put on his shoes by himself, looked around, and asked: "Where are Guaizai's daddy and father?"
"They went to town," Aunt Liu said.
"Oh~ Father and Daddy must have gone to earn big money. Guaizai will wait for them obediently at home."
Aunt Liu stroked his messy big head and smiled: "Yes! Our Guaizai is so good, so sensible."
Guaizai went to the window and saw Liuliu and Zhou Ger were still sleeping, so he quietly sat by himself under the eaves, holding a tree branch and writing characters on the ground.
After Liuliu got up, Aunt Liu steamed a bowl of eggs for them and baked two sweet potatoes for their breakfast.
Zhou Ger was going to deliver vegetables to Zuixiao Restaurant. Aunt Liu took the two little ones to the vegetable patch to weed and water.
The vegetable plot was only so big, and they depended on it for food. The Liu family tended to it diligently, weeding every day, so the weeds didn't even have time to sprout before being hoed out.
The two children couldn't handle the watering. Hearing laughter coming from the direction of the threshing ground, they told Aunt Liu they wanted to go play.
In the village, there wasn't much to fear. Aunt Liu waved her hand, letting them go.
There were several groups of children playing on the threshing ground.
Zhou Dazuo, Zhou Xiaoyou, and Ma Xiaoshun and his gang were also there. Usually, if they saw Guaizai, they would definitely call him over to be their horse, but now they kept their distance, not daring to provoke him.
They were playing in separate groups. Guaizai and Liuliu stopped near another group of playing children. They didn't get close, just squatted to the side, watching from a distance, like two small lumps.
Liu Dali was making mud pies. Seeing them, he tilted his head and thought for a moment, then walked over.
Guaizai pulled Liuliu back two steps, looking at Liu Dali timidly.
Guaizai wasn't very afraid of Liu Dali. In the past, Liu Dali had never bullied him.
Five other children also came over. They were all quite young—the oldest, Liu Dali, was stout and six years old. Among them were two brothers, thin as bamboo poles, about five years old. The other three were boys, dark and skinny, probably around the same age as Liu Dali.
These six children all came from quite poor families, lived close by, and were naturally closer.
Whether adults or children, class status was distinct.
The other little girls and gers found them shabby, without toys or snacks, and weren't very willing to play with them.
The other group of children occasionally had tops or grass-folded grasshoppers to play with, and also had malt sugar to eat.
"What are you looking at?" Liu Dali asked.
Guaizai shook his head, mustering his courage, and asked: "I... can I play with you?"
Liu Dali answered without hesitation: "Sure!"
Guaizai became excited. From childhood until now, he only had Liuliu as a companion. Seeing groups of children playing together, noisy and lively, he was both envious and yearning.
But back then, he was too scared from being beaten by Ma Xiaoshun and the others, and also 'busy'. When he saw other children, he would run far away in fear or hide and watch them play.
Now, after being with Fang Zichen for so long, his courage had grown immensely.
If he was bullied, he wasn't afraid anymore.
His Father said, with him around, no one could bully him.
Last time Ma Xiaoshun bullied him, his father got revenge for him. Zhou Dazuo and Zhou Xiaoyou were also scolded by his father... Now, these three were now avoiding him!
Guaizai puffed out his chest, his two small nostrils almost pointing to the sky. If anyone bullied him, he would run back and tell his father, and his father would get revenge for him.
Guaizai was loyal. He asked: "Can Liuliu play too?"
"Sure!" Liu Dali said.
Fang Zichen was a famous person in the village, everyone knew him.
Previously, Ma Wen was the most promising person in the village, traveling north and south with cargo ships, earning several hundred copper coins a month. The adults in the village would always tell their children, "You should be like Ma Wen when you grow up, that's what it means to be promising."
But now, during meals, when educating their children, or during casual chats at the dinner table, families no longer talked about how Ma Wen was doing, but were all chatting about Fang Zichen.
They talked about how he was this and that, without a single bad word.
During the county exams, these families also talked about it over meals, but didn't say anything about him being overconfident or anything like that, only said he had guts.
Although the children were young and didn't understand much, they were still sensitive to money.
How could several hundred copper coins compare to three taels?
Moreover, Fang Zichen knew how to read, a first in the village, he was so impressive.
Guaizai was his son, so he must be impressive too.
And... they had all seen Guaizai before and thought he was pink and soft, pretty and cute. But back then, he was always following Zhao Ger and would run away when he saw them, so they never had a chance to talk.
Now that Guaizai asked if he could play with them, everyone was very willing.
"What are you playing?" Guaizai asked.
"We're cooking!" Liu Dali beckoned to them: "Come on, I'll teach you how to cook!"
Guaizai pulled Liuliu over.
They went down from the threshing ground and stopped at a paddy field.
After the crops were harvested, the water in the fields had been drained, but the soil inside was still soft.
The village children didn't have many toys. For 'playing house', they used whatever materials were at hand.
The 'sweet rice balls' were made from rolled mud.
The so-called 'dishes' were wild grass leaves and small wildflowers.
The legendary 'kitchen knife' was a thin stone.
'Salt' was dust and soil crumbs.
After the 'sweet rice balls' were cooked, Guaizai paid his 'silver' and asked for two.
The brother who cooked the rice balls asked him: "Are the rice balls tasty?"
"Hmm..." Guaizai, channeling his inner actor, pretended to take a bite, moved his little mouth, stretched his neck as if swallowing, and said seriously, imitating Fang Zichen: "It's okay... just not glutinous enough, and not sweet enough!"
He made it seem real.
Just as he was about to stand up, a piece of candy fell out of his small pocket.
A little boy picked it up.
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