C3 Kiddo Lined up in a Row

Five years later —

In Mansfield, Rhelaweth.

Ye Jianjia had just slipped off her shoes when a chorus of adorable voices called out:

"Mommy!"

"Mommy!"

"Mommy!"

"Mommy!"

"Mommy!"

"Mommy!"

Two little kiddos bounded out of the children's room, their chubby cheeks flushed with excitement. They scampered toward Ye Jianjia on their stubby legs, eager for a hug, like a pair of pint-sized cannonballs.

But there was only one mommy and she had just two arms; she couldn't possibly hug them all at once.

Luckily, Ye Jianjia was no novice when it came to handling her kiddos. She had a secret up her sleeve. Surrounded by her eager children, she furrowed her brow and let out a long sigh, "Oh dear, mommy is so tired from working hard to provide for you kiddos... I'm just too exhausted to lift you all. If you want hugs and kisses, line up quickly!"

Clearly, this wasn't their first rodeo. The kiddos promptly dashed to the front, lining up neatly and taking their places with practiced discipline.

The sextuplets consisted of three boys and three girls. The boys were the older brothers, and the girls were identical triplets, the sisters, who looked so much alike that outsiders often struggled to tell them apart.

With so many children in the house, the naming needed to be systematic for ease of memory.

The three brothers' names followed a pattern in their pronunciation: the eldest with the first tone... the third with the third tone.

The three sisters' names were homophones: Si (thought), Wu (dance), Lu (land).

Lu is the capitalization of the number six, but Ye Jianjia thought it wasn't quite suitable for a girl's name, so she chose the homophone "Lu" instead.

At that moment, from left to right, from the eldest to the youngest: Ye Yige, Ye Yichen, Ye Yiye, Ye Yisi, Ye Yiwu, and Ye Yilu.

The kiddos stood in line, their little cherubic faces lifted, waiting obediently and cutely for their mommy's hugs and kisses.

"Fantastic! You all are Mommy's little angels!" Ye Jianjia gazed at the adorable kiddos, her heart softened, feeling the day's fatigue melt away instantly. She bent down with a smile and planted a kiss on each of their little cheeks, "Smooch, smooch... smooch!"

"They've been smothered in kisses again!" Zhang Zhe wheeled the small dining cart out of the kitchen, eyeing the kiddos lined up for their turn and feigned annoyance, "I'm with them all day, playing and taking care of them. How come you still end up being the favorite?"

Ye Jianjia chuckled, "Auntie, I've worked hard carrying them, giving birth to them, and these past few years, raising them has taken a lot of effort. It's only natural they love me the most."

Zhang Zhe snorted, not holding back his teasing, "Hard work, yes, but let's not exaggerate! You didn't put much thought into naming the kids. The others are fine, but the eldest's name... Yige? Good thing he's not a girl, or what? Would you have named him 'Big Sister'?"

Ye Jianjia laughed, "Because he's a boy, the name Yige is so cool! Haha!" After kissing all the kiddos, she reached out to ruffle the eldest's hair affectionately.

Big blinked, his handsome face as stoic as ever, rarely showing a smile, giving him a cool demeanor. Yet, he stood there obediently, allowing his mother to pat his head.

"Okay, kiddos, come get your bottles!" Zhang Zhe called out, pushing the small dining cart towards the restaurant area.

At his words, the six kiddos acted in concert, toddling towards the dining room with their little legs.

"Line up for your milk!" Zhang Zhe instructed.

The kiddos shuffled their short legs and lined up neatly in the not-so-large dining space. Big and Second stood in one row, Third and Fourth in another, and Fifth and Sixth in the last.

Zhang Zhe handed out the prepared bottles of milk, perfectly warmed, to each of the kiddos.

"Time to eat!" Ms. Liu, the hired cook, announced as she wheeled out another dining cart, calling out, "Jianjia, come and help."

Zhang Zhe carefully lifted each kiddo, already clutching their own bottles, into their seats at the dining table. Meanwhile, Jianjia returned to her room to change clothes and quickly went to the kitchen to retrieve six sets of tableware that had been washed and stored in the sterilizer.

The dining room was a narrow rectangle, so to accommodate all the kiddos comfortably, the table was also designed in a rectangular shape.

The kiddos took their seats on either side of the table, facing each other. Jianjia followed the symbols on the tableware and placed each kiddo's unique set in front of them, one by one.