If it were his son crying like that, Captain Zhao would have scolded him long ago.
But now it was his grandson.
And he was fussing about wanting to go home.
Mrs. Zhao, leading the two little ones, headed to Laosan’s house.
It was getting dark, and the collective farm members were no longer working in the fields. Some families only ate two meals a day to save on kerosene lamps; they had dinner before it was fully dark.
And they went to bed early as well, before nightfall.
This meant that when Mrs. Zhao took Da Bao and Xiao Bao home, there were hardly any people to see them.
Da Bao had a key hanging around his neck, the key to the courtyard gate.
Both Da Bao and Xiao Bao shook their heads. The two brothers sat on a small stool at the entrance of the hall, staring at the courtyard gate, waiting for their parents to come back.
Mrs. Zhao picked up the enamel cup from the table and started to mix the milk powder.
"Come and drink your milk."
"Grandma, I’m not hungry."
"I’m not hungry either."
Mrs. Zhao raised her voice, "Come and drink your milk."
The two little ones hurried over to drink the milk, glancing at their grandmother, wondering why she was so stern.
Meanwhile, on Yun Xiaoxiao’s end.
They were returning to the town from the county, and halfway there, the bus had a flat tire, delaying them quite a bit.
After reaching the town, where would they find a bullock cart at that time?
Zhao Tianlei borrowed a bicycle because otherwise, their return would have been even later.
After Da Bao and Xiao Bao finished their milk powder, they went back to wait at the entrance of the hall again. At the first sign of any noise, they rushed out to see their parents finally arriving.
Yun Xiaoxiao saw the two little ones running towards them, smiled, and patted their heads, "Let’s go inside first."
Mrs. Zhao, seeing the couple finally back, breathed a sigh of relief; she had truly feared they might not return for the night.
Now that they were home, the two little ones didn’t have to sit at the gate waiting for their parents anymore.
"Since you’re back, I’ll head home now; your father is waiting for me to have dinner."
Seeing her mother-in-law about to leave, Yun Xiaoxiao immediately took out a bag of malted milk, "Mother, take this for yourself to drink."
Mrs. Zhao didn’t decline, "Alright, I’ll head back now, no need to see me out."
Suddenly, only the family of four was left in the house.
"Wife, rest a bit, I’ll go cook."
Although they had eaten at the restaurant at noon, it was time for dinner now.
Yun Xiaoxiao intended to put away the money in her purse.
She had made a good sum from the sale of the watches today.
She also knew that it was because of the upcoming New Year’s demand that they sold out so quickly.
"Here are some snacks I bought for you. You eat while Mommy puts things away."
"Okay." Da Bao and Xiao Bao obediently agreed.
They ate the egg cakes that their mother handed to them.
Yun Xiaoxiao put the money in her clothes pocket and the cloth bag in the chest, then came out of the room.
As night fell, they lit the kerosene lamp at home.
Since it was late, Zhao Tianlei decided to make noodles, keeping it simple for the evening.
Their home had meat, including mutton, which was good for the health.
He cooked a plate of shredded pork noodles.
The family of four sat around the table eating noodles together.
Both Da Bao and Xiao Bao noticed the meat on top of the noodles, their eyes gleaming.
There wasn’t a child who didn’t love eating meat.
"Go ahead and eat....."
Yun Xiaoxiao saw a big bowl of meat, she scooped a generous portion for the three of them, and there was little left for him.
"You eat too." Yun Xiaoxiao gave him a chopstick full of meat and added some noodles to his bowl; she couldn’t finish all of hers.