C6 Taking Advantage of Your Weakness

Seeing Heming's muddy hands reaching out, Qiaoqiao turned pale and shouted, "Don't touch me!"

Bai Rui quickly jumped in and pushed Heming aside, saying, "Your hands are dirty, don't touch my sister!"

Heming was shoved away by Bai Rui, and Qiaoqiao breathed a sigh of relief. She had a bit of a cleanliness obsession, and if those muddy hands touched her, she might just faint. Not to mention, in her eyes, Heming was like a little octopus.

Feeling a bit defiant after being pushed, Heming said, "What's the big deal about a little pinch? If you say I can't, I want to even more." With that, he lunged forward again, aiming to pinch Qiaoqiao's cheek.

Qiaoqiao screamed in fright and ducked behind Bai Rui. Bai Rui got angry and pushed Heming with all his might, "I said no pinching! She's my sister, go ask your mom to have another kid if you want to pinch someone!"

And just like that, the two boys started fighting!

Qiaoqiao was stunned. How did it escalate to a fight so quickly? But she didn't just stand there. After watching for a moment, she quickly scooped up a handful of wet mud from the ground and, stumbling a bit, ran over to smear it on Heming's face while he was distracted.

"Wow!" Heming stood there, stomping his feet and trying to wipe off the mud, yelling, "Bai Rui! Just you wait, I'm not playing with you anymore!"

Qiaoqiao ran over and grabbed the stunned Bai Rui, saying, "Come on, let's go! We don't need to bother with him!"

As they ran, Bai Rui asked, "Qiaoqiao, aren't you afraid of getting dirty?"

It was then that Qiaoqiao realized her obsession with cleanliness had been with her since childhood—even little Bai Rui knew about it!

"Mud is cleaner than him!" she retorted as they kept running.

Once they got back home, she quickly urged Bai Rui to wash his hands. Bai Rui, always obedient, promptly scrubbed himself clean.

"Look, no more dirt," he said, showing his hands to his sister.

Qiaoqiao placed a piece of candy in his palm. Bai Rui paused, then asked, "Do you want me to unwrap it for you?"

"It's for you!" Qiaoqiao exclaimed. "I saved it for you!"

In truth, there was only that one piece, given by a guest. But she knew if she didn't eat it, her brother wouldn't either.

Bai Rui, delighted, unwrapped the candy and popped it into his mouth, a sweet smile spreading across his face. Seeing his goofy expression, Qiaoqiao laughed too, though she sighed inwardly.

In the past, the Bai family, despite being wealthy and kind-hearted, always seemed to run into swindlers and troublemakers. Her dad was taken advantage of by relatives, and her five cousins also had their share of misfortune, as if they were all lined up to be deceived.

For instance, take Bai Rui. In Bai Qiaoqiao's memory, he was always that quintessential tall, rich, and handsome guy that every girl wanted to marry (or con). True to form, he picked the queen of all gold diggers as his wife and ended up getting scammed into jail.

Bai Qiaoqiao suddenly realized that her big brother was still a blank slate! She secretly vowed that she would teach him everything she knew about spotting a con artist in this lifetime.

...

Shen Jian pulled Mao Jinlan back and showed her the money. After hearing about Bai Qiaoqiao's shoe-selling success, she counted the money and beamed with pride.

Mao Jinlan said, "When I was pregnant with our second child, I thought it was a girl because he was so well-behaved."

She always envied the Bai family's little girl. If her husband hadn't dragged her away in a hurry today, she would have picked her up for a hug and a pinch.

She was surprised to see that the little girl wasn't just pretty but also so capable. She felt as proud as if it were her own daughter who had achieved something great.

Shen Jian patted his head, saying, "Yeah, our boy is still out there playing in the mud..."

Just then, Shen Heming came back, covered in mud. He looked annoyed and didn't greet his parents. Instead, he went straight for the water dipper with his dirty hands, intending to get a drink.

Mao Jinlan shouted, "Heming! Don't touch that with your dirty hands!"

Shen Heming jumped at the sound, turning around in confusion.

Mao Jinlan rushed over, grabbing him by the arm. "Where did you get all this mud on you?"

Shen Heming squirmed a bit, replying, "Bai Qiaoqiao smeared it on me!"

Mao Jinlan retorted, "That's nonsense! If you weren't bothering her, why would she do that to you?"

Already upset, Shen Heming was even more annoyed at being scolded by his mom. He protested, "She did! I was fighting with Bai Rui, and she came over and smeared mud on my face!"

Does that make it clear?

But Mao Jinlan got even angrier. "You were picking on Bai Rui? Don't you know he just lost his parents? How could you bully him?"

As a typical rural woman, she was set in her ways. Whether her fiery temper was good for raising kids was debatable, but in her mind, with Bai Rui's parents recently gone, if Shen Heming fought with Bai Rui, it had to be Shen Heming's fault!

Shen Heming insisted, "I wasn't bullying him, I wasn't!"

Shen Jian gestured to his wife to hold off on the scolding and asked his younger son, "Why were you fighting with Bai Rui?"

"Because I wanted to play with Bai Qiaoqiao, and he wouldn't let me!" Shen Heming declared defiantly. "Why can't I play with her? Just because he has a sister doesn't make him special."

Shen Jian: "Is Qiaoqiao unwilling?"

Shen Heming replied, "Why would she be? Everyone loves to tease her!"

"You little brat..." Mao Jinlan was about to start scolding.

Shen Jian stopped his wife, "No need to scold."

Then he added, "He needs a good spanking."

Scolding wasn't enough.

Shen Heming: "???"

Mao Jinlan agreed he needed a spanking, so without another word, she gave her youngest son a good thrashing, making him yelp and holler.

Later, Shen Heming ran out, holding up his pants.

Mao Jinlan didn't care and shouted, "If you've got the guts, don't come back for dinner!"

Kids in the countryside were always running around, and they'd come back when they were hungry.

...

In the afternoon, Shen Jian and his wife brought some egg custard to apologize to the Bai family.

The Bai family had just finished lunch and quickly invited them to sit down.

Mao Jinlan hurriedly said, "We've already eaten."

In those days, no one had extra food, and they weren't there to mooch a meal.

The Bai family had sweet potato threads for lunch, made by shredding sweet potatoes as fine as hair, then drying them into a staple food.

White rice was a rare treat back then, and sweet potato threads were the main staple in the rural areas nearby. Every household had a small granary that could store thousands of pounds.

Lin Yuefen was a skilled cook, and her sweet potato threads always came out crispy and fragrant.

Kids these days absolutely love this kind of crispy rice. When it's mealtime and they hear the sound of someone scraping the pot, they all come running home without needing to be called.

Mao Jinlan placed a cup of egg custard between Qiaoqiao and Rui, smiling warmly. "You two share it equally, okay?"

Qiaoqiao was indifferent, but Rui was thrilled. He quickly grabbed the cup, sniffing it eagerly as he said, "Thank you, Mrs. Mao."

Mao Jinlan smiled, her eyes showing a soft affection for the child.