Yang Ruxin began to consider the likelihood of the younger ones in her family becoming ladies.
Erni was originally introverted, and it was only with difficulty that she became less wooden. If she were to learn to be a lady, what if that made her revert to her old ways?
Sanni was born with a rebellious streak. She simply wasn’t lady material. She was like a carefree woman that couldn’t be changed.
Sini, now displayed the demeanor of a big sister and was even quite proud of it. Seeing her protect Xiaobao and Erya behind her, one could tell she was willing to look after others, so it wasn’t appropriate to dampen her enthusiasm for now.
As for Zhou Ying, she wouldn’t live on this side for too long. After all, she had a father and a home. Even if Zhou Xiao didn’t want to go back now, if her father was truly a remarkable person, he would eventually find them one day, so there was no opportunity to train her.
So, the next most likely to become the lady she envisioned was only Erya.
Of course, Yang Ruxin’s plan to cultivate a lady was one-sided; as a democratic parent, she naturally needed to seek the children’s opinions.
Therefore, that night, before telling everyone a story, Yang Ruxin called a family meeting to announce that she would cultivate Erya into a model of domesticity, or in other words, a lady.
"What’s a lady?" Erya, only three years old, didn’t quite understand.
"A lady is..."
"A lady is a lady." Before Yang Ruxin could speak, Sanni had already blurted out, "It means when we run, you can’t run; you have to walk slowly." She got up and exaggeratedly minced a few steps, "When we laugh out loud, you have to cover your mouth with a handkerchief to giggle, not to mention climbing trees or going down to the river. When eating, you must take small bites..."
Watching Sanni’s exaggerated imitation, the corners of Yang Ruxin’s mouth twitched.
"I don’t want to," Erya suddenly stood up and refused loudly, "I don’t want to be like that."
Yang Ruxin was taken aback. "Why not?"
"It’s too fake." Erya’s voice was crisp, and her rejection absolute, "I want to climb trees, dig for birds, and catch fish in the river like Sister Mengmeng. I want to hunt for treasure in the mountains..." She paused, "Right, I want to eat heartily. If I nibble little by little, the old master will snatch it all, and I’ll be left hungry..."
"When did I ever snatch your food?" Dao Xuzi couldn’t accept that.
"You did!" Zhou Ying put her hands on her hips, "Last time you secretly took a piece of braised pork from each of our bowls, which left us with only two pieces each, while you ate more than a dozen..."
"I saw it too." Sini stood up in support.
"You even took my candy," Erya chimed in, delivering the coup de grâce.
"I..." Dao Xuzi suddenly felt embarrassed and hung his head, feigning death.
Yang Ruxin touched her nose.
Gu Qingheng couldn’t help but snort with laughter.
"You’re laughing." Yang Ruxin couldn’t help but give him a gentle smack.
"Let nature take its course," Gu Qingheng said, suppressing his laughter, "How wonderful is it that they are free-spirited like you? If you force them to become ladies, it will be exhausting for them..."
"Ah!" Yang Ruxin sighed, "I just thought that among so many girls, there should be at least one who is a bit more demure, but..."
"Aren’t you the one who said ’As the twig is bent, so grows the tree’?" Gu Yao remarked disdainfully, puckering his lips, "You yourself are like a female bandit. How can you expect your younger sisters to be demure? Dream on..."
"You..." Yang Ruxin was momentarily left speechless.