Lin Lan forced Sanwang to light the fire for Maisui. Sanwang, like Dawang, didn’t like to do housework, so lighting the fire was sort of a punishment for him.
As a result, the boy couldn’t sit still when he was lighting the fire. He used a fire stick to paint the stove with a bearded old lady that had a gaping tooth and a bun. Lin Lan then forced him to wipe it clean and had him wash his clothes.
Erwang, “Mother! Don’t let him touch the soap!”
The soap at home was precious. That one time when Sanwang did the laundry, the clothes ended up becoming grey and the soap was played to the point where it practically disappeared.
Lin Lan remembered the incident and asked Sanwang, “You, go and shovel the chicken and duck manure under the shed. Then, pile up the fertiliser to plant vegetables.”
Sanwang went away, making everyone jump around and avoid him.
Xiaowang was playing the harmonica, practising the tunes that Huo Yuan taught him. He played skillfully and emotionally, so everyone enjoyed listening to it.
With sharp ears, Xiaowang heard the sound of a bicycle and ran over, “Mother, your boyfriend is back.”
Lin Lan, “…kid, that’s your father. Say that your father is back from now on, got it? Don’t follow your Third Brother’s lead.”
When Xiaowang heard what Lin Lan said, he nodded, “Mother, I’ll remember. My father is back.”
Han Qingsong was at the ploughing field and also ended up being covered in mud. He took off his shoes and coat before coming in directly.
Lin Lan poured some water for him to wash his face and gave him his own hand towel.
After Han Qingsong finished using it, he washed it in the basin and hung it to dry on the rope.
After dinner, the children did their homework and read some books. Sanwang was also grounded at home and was not allowed to go out.
Sanwang couldn’t take Xiaowang out to go crazy. Xiaowang played the harmonica to the chickens, ducks and Wangwang to comfort them because they were frightened by Sanwang’s torment a while ago.
Lin Lan dragged Han Qingsong to the west room to tell him about Sanwang.
This little kid was getting wilder and wilder lately. She’s not afraid of him being wild. After all, all boys were a bit wild in a way and the old ladies in the countryside love to say that good boys come from naughty boys. Even so, it seemed like it was a little more concerning in Sanwang’s case.
From Lin Lan’s point of view, when Sanwang was naughty, he looked like a 7 or 8-year-old child. If Dawang hadn’t been keeping an eye on him, he might have caused a large ruckus long ago.
At any rate, the twins, Sanwang and even Dawang added together— in fact no matter which child you add into the mix— it wasn’t enough to stop Sanwang.
He and Dawang were not very naughty. Dawang would usually head out to handle mature situations and didn’t possess the playful temperament of a child.
Sanwang was different. He was just a naughty boy, but he was street smarter than the others, so he had more naughty tricks up his sleeves.
It wasn’t obvious last year, but after the Chinese New Year this year, signs were starting to show.
Scribbling over Maisui’s books, letting out bugs and throwing mud were all minor incidents.
The day before yesterday, Lin Lan watched him trick Xiaowang into imitating his behaviour and sinking his face in the water to wash it. This kid was holding his breath for a long time, remaining underwater without taking it out. Then, he fluttered his hands and feet, pretending to drown. Xiaowang was so frightened that he cried.
A few days ago, he made a random kite and said he would take Xiaowang to fly it. In the end, he covered Xiaowang and a few other kids with mud before putting flower crowns on them, claiming to play some sort of wedding act game. Because of this, Lin Lan whipped him twice with a broom to try to be a bit more obedient, but he could only do so for two days. After that, he would be back to his old ways.
The key point was that he was not as sensible as Dawang. If you hit him, he would either cry out in pain or laugh about it, but he would forget it after that.
So physical pain wasn’t as effective as they would like on him.
What she was worried about was the fact that Dawang and Sanwang were almost similar in the sense that they were willing to go an extra mile to prove a point.