08 "Coax"

Lin Zhao smiled and asked playfully, “Hungry?”

“Yes!” Er Zai answered loudly.

“Alright, the dumplings will be ready soon. Just wait a few minutes.” The stove fire blazed, and as soon as the water boiled, the dumplings could be dropped in.

“Mom, how long is a few minutes?” Er Zai leaned against the doorframe with a cheeky grin.

Lin Zhao felt a headache coming on—kids who hadn’t gone to school asked so many questions.

“Can you count?”

“Yes!” Er Zai beamed proudly. “I can count to a hundred.”

“My big brother can too,” he added, even prouder.

“That’s wonderful.” Lin Zhao kept busy with her hands but didn’t forget to praise them and asked in a spare moment, “Who taught you?”

“My uncle,” Er Zai said.

Er Zai’s uncle was Gu Qingzhou, a middle school student.

Gu Qingzhou was a quiet and steady boy, respectful to elders and very kind to his nephews and nieces—quite different from Gu Xing’er’s temperament.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lin Zhao spotted Tie Chui washing hands with the twins and smiled, saying, “Tie Chui, stay and eat with us.”

Children don’t understand manners well; seeing their aunt’s gentle smile, Tie Chui happily agreed.

“I’ll tell my mom,” he said as he dashed outside.

Er Zai shouted after him, “Tie Chui, I’ll go with you!”

Seeing them about to run off, Lin Zhao poked her head out of the kitchen and said, “Er Zai, tell your grandmother she doesn’t need to cook for you anymore.”

“Got it!” the two children shouted as they ran toward the old house.

Before entering, Er Zai’s loud voice echoed inside.

“Grandma, my mom said Tie Chui can eat at our house!”

The Gu matriarch was just about to prepare the meal and hurried out when she heard Er Zai.

“Your mom is cooking?” she asked in surprise.

“Yes! She’s making dumplings today!” Er Zai shouted so everyone inside could hear.

“Dumplings?” Tiedan’s mouth watered with envy. “What kind?”

“Pork and scallion.” Er Zai was already convinced his mother’s dumplings were the best in the world.

“Oh, and she said she won’t have to cook for us anymore,” Er Zai added.

Hearing this, the Gu matriarch recalled that when the third daughter-in-law first married in, she was good at cooking. Even with simple ingredients, her dishes always smelled especially fragrant.

Unfortunately, soon after she became pregnant with Da Zai and Er Zai, she never entered the kitchen again.

“All right, I understand,” the matriarch replied, then cautiously added, “If you’re still hungry, come find me.”

Hearing this, Gu Dajiao and Gu Erjiao’s smiles stiffened—never seen someone invite trouble on themselves so actively!

Er Zai accepted the offer without hesitation. “Okay.”

After he spoke, little Tie Chui added, “Grandma, Auntie San said I could eat there.”

Gu Dajiao’s expression immediately brightened.

“Grandma, Tie Chui and I are going back now!” Er Zai said, pulling Tie Chui along as they sped away, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

The other children in the Gu family were green with envy.

Why weren’t they the same age as Da Zai and Er Zai?

Just as Er Zai and Tie Chui returned to the doorway, a stronger aroma wafted through.

The two greedy children quickened their pace and rushed inside.

“Mom, are the dumplings ready?” Er Zai asked excitedly.

Lin Zhao noticed the commotion but didn’t respond; she was scooping dumplings with a slotted spoon. Five bowls sat on the stove, each five-year-old’s bowl holding eight dumplings, and the twins had two each to try—they were still too young and better off drinking malted milk powder.

“The dumplings are ready, come and—”

She stopped mid-sentence, noticing that Da Zai hadn’t washed his hands and grabbed Er Zai’s hand reaching for a bowl.

“Did you wash your hands?”

Er Zai had indeed forgotten and, facing his mother’s stern look, grinned sheepishly. “Forgot, I’ll go wash now.”

Lin Zhao carried the dumplings out, seeing the children obediently washing their hands.

“Our hands have germs, so whenever you’re about to eat, you must wash them. Got it?”

“What are germs?” Er Zai looked puzzled.

“Germs are tiny microorganisms we can’t see with our eyes. If we swallow germs, they can cause worms in our stomach,” Lin Zhao explained gently.

Er Zai looked up sharply, shocked. “Worms in the stomach! Is that why Yuanbao pulled worms out? Because his stomach had worms?”

A mental image flashed through Lin Zhao’s mind, and she wanted to shut Er Zai’s mouth.

They were about to eat, and he was blurting out everything.

“Uh-huh,” she answered vaguely, not wanting to continue the topic.

She thought to herself, “I’ll buy some deworming medicine next time.”

Er Zai, however, was talkative. “Mom, do we have worms on our heads too? Are those germs too?”

“!!”

“You have worms on your head?” Lin Zhao’s usually calm voice suddenly rose in pitch as she took a step back.

That step saddened both Da Zai and Er Zai.

Their identical faces mirrored the same hurt expression.

Er Zai complained, “Mom, you dislike us.”

She didn’t dislike them but felt goosebumps all over.

Lin Zhao changed the subject. “Eat your dumplings; if you keep talking, they’ll get cold.”

She had already decided that when the barber came again, she would shave their heads clean.

Da Zai and Er Zai felt a chill on their foreheads but were too eager to eat to notice their mother had successfully diverted their attention.

“Time to eat dumplings!” Er Zai happily sat down.

The twins, hungry too, reached for the food, but Tie Chui wrapped his arms around them, gently holding them back as they struggled toward the dumplings, making exerted “hmm” sounds.

“Tie Chui, don’t mind the twins; let them eat on their own,” Lin Zhao said, breaking up the dumplings in their small wooden bowls and beckoning the twins over.

Tie Chui immediately released his hold.

The twins wobbled toward Lin Zhao, reaching with clean hands to grab the dumplings, stuffing them into their mouths.

Before long, Er Zai had eaten half a dumpling, his eyes shining like the sun.

“So delicious! Lots of meat! Mom, big brother, Tie Chui, you all eat quickly!” he exclaimed.

Lin Zhao, seeing how fast he was eating, warned, “Don’t rush, eat slowly, be careful not to choke. If you like them, I’ll make dumplings again in a few days.”

Er Zai, mouth full, swallowed hastily and said, “Okay! Mom, I love dumplings!”

Lin Zhao noticed the twins were messy with food all over their faces and thought it best to make cloth bibs for them; otherwise, washing clothes would be exhausting.

“Comrade Er Zai, may I ask, is there anything you don’t like to eat?”

Children like to act grown-up; hearing this title, Er Zai’s smile widened, and he excitedly said, “No, I like everything!”

Da Zai chimed in, “Mom, I’m not picky either.”

When the two older brothers spoke, the twins couldn’t hold back. Holding their little wooden spoons, they flailed their hands and pouted, “Wah, pfft...” trying to say they weren’t picky either but ended up spitting food everywhere, becoming little messy rascals.

Lin Zhao paid them no mind; children were like that.

In these times, just having enough to eat was hard. No one needed coaxing to eat, and with Lin Zhao’s good cooking, the children finished their meal in no time.

“Are you full? If not, there’s more,” Lin Zhao said.

Da Zai helped his mother clear the bowls, smiling broadly.

“We’re full, Mom. Let us wash the dishes; you rest.”

Tie Chui and Er Zai also rubbed their round bellies and helped clear the dishes.

“Be careful,” Lin Zhao said, not refusing help but reminding them.

Er Zai grinned, “Don’t worry, Mom. Big brother and I can wash dishes.”

Since they turned five, they’d been washing the family’s dishes; their mother was quite lazy.

However…

If Mom cooked, he’d be happy to wash dishes every day, even do all the chores.

Er Zai looked at his mother, who was tidying up the twins, a growing smile on his face.

“Er Zai, what are you smiling at?” Tie Chui asked curiously.

Er Zai smiled happily, acting mysterious. “You wouldn’t understand.”

Tie Chui scratched his head—of course he didn’t understand if Er Zai didn’t explain.

Lin Zhao washed the twins’ hands and faces, rubbed some moisturizing cream on them, and noticed the task bar on the right side of the big wheel flashing again.

Task completed.

“Children ate delicious dumplings and gained both physical and mental satisfaction. Congratulations on completing the task. You’ve earned 5 points.”

Five?

Wasn’t it a 4-point task?

She glanced at the parentheses behind the task list and saw Tie Chui’s name added.

So it was counted by headcount. If only she had invited more children.

Lin Zhao felt regretful.

Just after finishing applying the cream on the twins, Er Zai’s dark little face popped up in front of her.

“Mom~~” Er Zai’s voice curled up like a small wave.

“What’s wrong?”

“I never had any cream applied.” He didn’t directly ask for some but tried to gain sympathy by complaining indirectly.

Da Zai watched Lin Zhao with expectant eyes but said nothing.

Lin Zhao sighed, both helpless and touched, and said, “Go wash up.”

As soon as she spoke, she saw the task bar on the right side of the big wheel update again.

“It automatically added Tie Chui to the task,” she thought.

“Tie Chui should go too,” Lin Zhao said.

Tie Chui, feeling pampered, thanked her, then was dragged by Er Zai to wash hands and face.

After quickly washing, the children lined up in front of Lin Zhao.

“Mom, I’m ready. Put some on me first,” Er Zai said with a big smile, eyes fixed on the cream on the table.

Lin Zhao scooped a small amount of cream and spread it evenly on Er Zai’s face, not forgetting his little hands.

“Thanks, Mom! It smells so good.” Er Zai sniffed his hands, pushed the twins aside, and sat next to his mother.

The twins thought Er Guoguo was playing with them and squeezed him with their little bottoms on each side, giggling happily.

Next was Da Zai.

He was happy and excited, blushing shyly, his eyes shining brightly like pearls.

“Thank you, Mom,” Da Zai said shyly, then quickly moved to one side.

Out of Lin Zhao’s sight, he raised his hand to smell it gently.

It really smelled nice.

Tie Chui’s face was even redder than Da Zai’s. After Lin Zhao finished applying cream to him, the children left together.

At the same time:

“...Congratulations on completing the task. You’ve earned 5 points.”

A total of 12 points now.

Lin Zhao didn’t rush to spin the wheel; a lottery needed some ceremony, so she’d do it before bed.

Just then, Gu Xing’er came in carrying two bundles of firewood. The fragrant aroma filled the yard, and her heart felt sour as if soaked in a jar of pickled cabbage. She looked at Lin Zhao with hatred and jealousy.

She hadn’t eaten since yesterday, her stomach empty and limbs weak. With a gloomy face, she dropped the wood and ran off.

Er Zai pouted. “Little aunt is so careless, she didn’t stack the wood neatly.”

He walked over and dragged the wood to the corner.

Da Zai and Tie Chui helped too.

The twins wanted to join in, but Lin Zhao quickly pulled them into her arms, smiling, “You two better not make a mess.”

Er Zai had a bit of obsessive-compulsive on him; he arranged the wood one by one neatly and even broke the too-long pieces to fit.

It was 1966; there were no daytime entertainments or evening activities.

Lin Zhao’s family, like others in the village, went to bed early.

Before going inside, she suddenly said, “The twins will sleep with me.”

The twins, clinging to Lin Zhao’s legs, looked up with puzzled expressions when called.

Lin Zhao’s heart melted. She gently touched her daughter’s face and softly said, “The twins and big brother will sleep with Mom tonight, okay?”

“Yes, sleep,” the younger twin said in a babyish voice.

The older twin nodded.

Er Zai looked on with envy.

“Mom, did I ever sleep with you when I was little?” he asked expectantly.

Lin Zhao’s heart tightened because… in her memory, it seemed she hadn’t.

At that time, her heart was heavy like a stone; she was listless and unmotivated. The noisy, demanding baby naturally wasn’t something she wanted to care for.

Seeing her silence, Er Zai smiled and said, “There must have been. Grandma said newborn babies can’t leave their moms. When me and my big brother were little, we must have shared a room with Mom. Mom must have comforted us to sleep. It has to be like that.”

Da Zai imagined the scene his mother comforting them to sleep, his eyes shining bright like stars.

Was it really?

Lin Zhao felt guilty and evasive, avoiding his gaze. “You’re big kids now. Mom can still comfort you to sleep…”

Before she finished, Er Zai, who always climbed everywhere, looked at Lin Zhao and said, “Mom, I want to sleep with you tonight.”

Da Zai wanted to too but didn’t say anything, nervously and expectantly watching their mother.

“All right,” Lin Zhao agreed, “Since you’ve bathed and are nice and clean.”

At her words, Da Zai’s eyes lit up as if stars had fallen into them.

He was so happy.

Er Zai grinned and pulled his brother back to the room, saying, “Mom, let’s go get pillows.”

Once inside, Er Zai’s smile never faded as he said to Da Zai, “Big brother, Mom is really nice today. I like her. What about you?”

Da Zai’s long dark lashes fluttered gently, his eyes full of shyness. He bit his lip and finally said, “I like her too.”

“Hehe, I knew you liked her too.”

Hearing his little brother’s laughter, Da Zai’s already warm ears turned even redder.

The Harvest Brigade had no electricity; every household used kerosene lamps. Candles were expensive, and no one could afford them. The dim light cast a warm glow on everyone.

Lin Zhao was making the bed.

The mattress was hard and stiff; the outer cover needed washing and airing, and the cotton inside had to be refilled—otherwise, winter would be unbearable. Fortunately, it was still midsummer with time to prepare. By then, the new house should be finished, with two kang beds built. She would tidy the rooms and buy new clothes for the children. Life would improve.