"Da Shu bullied Da Bao, tried to steal Da Bao's new clothes, and made Da Bao bleed," she said.
Zhao Tianhai hadn't returned from work yet at noon when he heard about it.
He came straight home and thrashed Da Shu, thinking about what Laosan would do when he came back and learned of this, he was furious.
Da Shu cried out in pain as he was being beaten, Da Shu's mother tried to pull him away, but she was stopped by her father-in-law, Captain Zhao.
Brother Zhao and Sister-in-law Zhao did not intervene; this couple had seen their nephew beating up their son before.
It was not just a beating for Da Shu; he didn't get lunch either and ended up crying himself to sleep on the bed.
Da Shu's mother was even more heartbroken for her son, she herself still felt some pain from being beaten by Laosan's Wife.
This beating wasn't going to be in vain, she had to retaliate.
Even her own husband was of no help, he just listened to his father and beat Da Shu.
"Brother Xiao Hai, why did you hit Da Shu so hard?"
Zhao Tianhai glanced at his wife, "You must have forgotten about Laosan."
Da Shu had once stolen Da Bao's food, and when the brother-in-law saw it, he immediately thrashed Da Shu.
At that time, she had made a scene, her brother-in-law dodged her but ended up beating her husband.
This made her gasp in shock.
She hadn't been shy about hitting her second brother.
"Who wears new clothes not during the holidays and still shows off?"
There were so few cloth tickets each year, not even enough to make a new set of clothes for the family for the entire year.
Yun Xiaoxiao was troubled over the afternoon meal.
With eggplant on hand, what delicious dish could she make?
Something simple and convenient?
Half-finished products would do.
But the two little ones asked her why she hadn't gone to town to sell meat; where did the meat come from?
Children may be young, but sometimes they're pretty clever.
Maybe stir-fry some oil-braised eggplant, then make some egg noodles.
"Brother, I'm hungry again," Xiao Bao said, sitting on the small bed, speaking to his brother who had also woken up but hadn't left the room.
He had eaten a lot for breakfast, and his mother had just given them milk powder and egg cake, but he was hungry again.
Da Bao wasn't as scared of Yun Xiaoxiao as he had been yesterday; they had eaten many delicious things from yesterday till now.
Seeing his brother get off the bed, Xiao Bao also slid off, squatted down to put on his cloth shoes, and followed behind his brother.
Yun Xiaoxiao was stirring the pot when she heard someone calling her; she turned around to see Da Bao and Xiao Bao.
"I'll help Mom with the fire," said Da Bao.
Yun Xiaoxiao felt helpless and wanted to say it wasn't necessary, but Da Bao had already skillfully started the fire.
"What do you like to eat?"
She asked the children for their preferences, otherwise, she wouldn't know what else to cook.
There were too many choices online; she could pick something that didn't require refrigeration, but they didn't have a fridge, and many items couldn't be stored for long.
"I like meat," Xiao Bao said, sitting on the long bench by the fire, much livelier than yesterday.
Children liked to eat meat, especially in an era when it required tickets, wanting meat was not an issue.
"Being full is good enough."
Just not being hungry was enough.
This request was somewhat modest.
Both were still young and couldn't eat many things.
Moreover, they were at an age where they might accidentally say something that could arouse suspicion in others.
"Da Bao, Xiao Bao, when you go out to play, you can't tell anyone that we have milk powder and egg cakes at home. What if they come to steal our food?"