Cheng Baoguo and Wang Cuilan were staying at home, so Chen Xueniang borrowed their bicycle and rode all the way to the Lu family’s house. Feng Qingxue was searching for Lu Xibao, following the trail of mess, and managed to catch him just as he was attempting to run off from the gate.
"What happened here?" Chen Xueniang asked, looking at Xibao held captive by his mother. It was hot, so he was only wearing a red bellyband, and his shoes were on the wrong feet. His bare arms and legs looked like clean lotus root sections, but they were all covered in filth, ruining his appearance. His chubby little hands were also smeared with dirt, and he didn’t seem to mind the smell as he extended them towards Feng Qingxue.
"Mommy!" Little Fatty shouted joyfully.
"You stink, Lu Xibao, you stinky little rascal!" Feng Qingxue shouted, her eyebrows standing on end. She lifted him up and carried him into the courtyard, resigned to the task of cleaning up after him.
She took off his shoes and bellyband, both covered in dirt, and tossed them to the side.
Chen Xueniang hurriedly parked her bicycle inside the courtyard and started to help out.
"Xueniang, just help me fetch and pour out the water, you don’t want to get Xibao’s dirty filth on you." Feng Qingxue said, holding down her son who was splashing around in the wooden basin. The water, having been warmed by the sun, was just the right temperature. Xibao almost dunked his head into his bathwater, but Feng Qingxue caught him just in time, "Lu Xibao! Your bathwater is full of your dirt!"
After washing him quickly, Feng Qingxue lifted him up, "Xueniang, could you help me dump this water and fill it with fresh water?"
Chen Xueniang kept a straight face and held in her laughter as she complied.
Feng Qingxue thoroughly cleaned Lu Xibao and carried him straight into the house; once he was dried, she dropped him on the bed. Hands on her hips, she said, "Lu Xibao, do you know you did wrong? Can you play with your own poop? Didn’t you say it was smelly?"
Could you imagine how upset she was? She just turned around to grab a tissue to clean his butt, and when she came back, he was playing happily with his warm poop. Seeing her return, he thought she was going to take his poop, so he ran as fast as he could, as if she was the enemy. Should she be thankful that Little Fatty didn’t put the poop in his mouth?
Little Xibao, stark naked, sat on the bed looking like a plump, fresh lotus root, with his roll after roll of pudgy belly and chubby arms and legs. The only thing missing were two small buns on his head.
He looked up with his shining dark eyes, seeming not to understand why his mother was angry.
"Mommy!" he called, pointing excitedly at the milk bottle on the bedside table, his chubby cheeks quivering as he yelled, "Milk! Milk! Milk!"
Feng Qingxue sighed in resignation toward her son, picked up his red bellyband and began to dress him. Seeing him squirm, she snapped, "Lu Xibao, you can have milk after you’re dressed. If you don’t dress, no milk for you!"
"Mommy!" Xibao obediently let her dress him.
After fastening his bellyband and dressing him in the clothes Zhou Yulan made, with red and white flowers that accentuated his fair skin and rosy lips.
"Milk! Milk!" He yelled again, pointing at his bottle as his mother was putting his shoes on.
"Alright, alright, I’m making your formula now!"
She handed Xibao, who was clutching his bottle, to Chen Xueniang to watch, then Feng Qingxue set about cleaning the mess from the courtyard to the gate. Then she washes the bellyband and brushes the shoes, scrubbing them several times with soap before hanging them to dry.
Wang Jiao, holding Goudan, stopped by for a visit and couldn’t help but burst into laughter when she heard the whole story. "What’s the big deal? My mom said my older brother used to stuff sheep droppings into his own mouth when he was little! When my mom found out, his mouth was full of little black sheep droppings! Xibao only played with his own poop," she said.