Bab 49: Mother-Thief
Lu Jiao turned around and found that none of the four little ones on the bed were asleep. Instead, all of them were staring at her eagerly.
Lu Jiao immediately thought of what the youngest child had just said. She is afraid that because the four little ones just saw that she had given Xie Erzhu candies, now they also want to eat candy. But it is nighttime now, and it won't be good for their teeth to eat candy right now.
However, Lu Jiao couldn't bear to refuse the four little boys who were staring at her with puppy eyes, so she gave each of them a candy, before saying gently,
"In the future, I will give you two candies every day, but you are not allowed to eat candy at night, because if you do so, your teeth will be eaten by worms, and your teeth will hurt, do you understand?"
The four little ones were startled when they heard what Lu Jiao said and lowered their heads to look at the candies in their hands with a distressed look on their faces.
They were in a dilemma. They wanted to eat it, but were afraid of worms eating away their teeth.
Lu Jiao said with a smile, "It's fine to eat it just this once, but next time you're not allowed to eat candy at night."
When Lu Jiao was telling them all this, she realised that there are no toothpaste or toothbrushes in this era, which is really not a good thing, so she wondered if she should try to make some toothpaste and toothbrushes in her free time for the family to use.
The second child, the third child and the fourth child excitedly peeled the candy and put it into their mouths after listening to Lu Jiao's words.
On the other hand, the eldest child was not in a hurry to eat it.
"Daddy, eat it, this is for you," he said as he peeled the candy and brought it in front of Xie Yunjin's mouth.
When the second child, the third child and the youngest child heard this, they looked at each other, as they felt guilty since they had already put their candy in their mouths. What to do now?
The three little boys subconsciously wanted to spit out the candy in their mouths.
Lu Jiao was afraid that they might actually do so, so she hurriedly said, "Okay, your father doesn't eat candy. You can eat it yourself."
Xie Yunjin immediately followed suit, "Daddy doesn't like candy. You can eat it by yourself."
The four little ones obviously didn't believe it. How could Daddy not like to eat such delicious candy? The four little guys turned their heads to look at Lu Jiao. Although they didn't speak, their eyes were clearly asking her to give Xie Yunjin a piece of candy.
Helpless, Lu Jiao took out a candy from her sleeve and peeled it before bringing it in front of Xie Yunjin's mouth.
Xie Yunjin really doesn't like candy. In fact, he doesn't like to eat things that are too sweet. But when he saw the four little eyes staring at him with so much anticipation brimming in their eyes, he realised that they wouldn't back off until he had eaten it. Xie Yunjin had no choice but to eat the candy in Lu Jiao's hand.
"Okay, hurry up and finish the candy and go to bed, it's getting late," Lu Jiao said as she turned to face the four little ones.
The four little guys laid down again on the bed, happily sucking the candy and talking as they sucked.
"This candy is so sweet."
"Mother said that, in the future, we would get two of them per day."
"I'm going to eat just one and keep one for the future."
Lu Jiao didn't pay any mind to the chit-chat going on among the four little ones as she laid down to sleep. After all, she had to walk all the way to her parents' house the next morning, which was quite far. But she had just laid down when Xie Yunjin's voice came from the bed.
"You can sleep in the west bedroom."
He had been feeling quite better for the past two days. In addition to that, the Second Brother had already taken care of his toilet movements in the evening, so Lu Jiao didn't have to sleep on the ground at night. Plus it isn't healthy to sleep on the ground every night.
Lu Jiao turned over and sat up happily when she heard Xie Yunjin's words.
This muddy ground is too humid, and people who sleep on the ground for a long period of time are much more prone to getting sick, so if she could help it, why would she be willing to continue sleeping here.
Although the hard bed in the west bedroom is not that comfortable, it is certainly better than sleeping on the ground.
Lu Jiao got up quickly, rolled up the mat, and planned to sleep in the west bedroom. On the bed, the Youngest Child got up and exclaimed, "Mother, I'll sleep with you."
The eldest child, the second child and the third child all stared at him, this Mother Thief!
Lu Jiao didn't mind, but she thought that Xie Yunjin may not agree with this. So she turned to look at Xie Yunjin.
However, Xie Yunjin did not object and said, "Then you can take him to the west bedroom with you to sleep."
The other three children did not propose to sleep in the west bedroom with Lu Jiao.
Lu Jiao extended her hands to hug the youngest child, then took the mat and walked towards the west bedroom.
The three little ones in the back couldn't help feeling sour as the Youngest Child stretched out his little arms to wrap them around Lu Jiao's neck, smiling sweetly. They glared at his leaving back fiercely, humph, all he knows is how to be a Mother Thief!
"It's getting late, go to sleep," Xie Yunjin said after some time, staring at them fixedly.
****
In the west bedroom
This was the first time that the youngest child was going to sleep with Lu Jiao. He had never slept with his mother ever since he could remember, so the little boy was overjoyed and couldn't sleep at all.
Obviously, this bed is so hard, yet oddly enough he felt that it is really comfortable, much more so than the one in his father's room.
"Mother," he called out as he lay beside Lu Jiao, his beautiful peach blossom eyes curved at the ends like a pair of crescent moons, staring at Lu Jiao.
He burrowed into Lu Jiao's side like a puppy after calling her out, gluing his small body against hers tightly.
Lu Jiao looked at him and sighed. Even if the original owner was not good to the Youngest Child, once his "Mother" showed goodwill towards him, the little guy immediately became attached to her.
Indeed, it is true that every child holds a special place in his or her heart for their mother.
"Okay, go to sleep," Lu Jiao said as she stretched out her arms and wrapped them around the youngest child.
But the youngest child couldn't fall asleep, so he exclaimed excitedly, "Mother."
Lu Jiao hummed, and after some time, he called her out again. It was only then she realized what exactly he wanted to do. It seemed that he just wanted to keep on calling her "Mother" just like this.
Lu Jiao had a headache when she saw the little guy who was so excited that he couldn't sleep, so she quickly put her arms around him and said, "Let Mother tell you a story."
"Okay, Mother, you can start now," the little boy said, his eyes sparkling as he stared at Lu Jiao.
Lu Jiao started telling him a pretty common short bedtime story, "At the end, you have to tell me whom do you think is the more powerful one."
"There was a monkey named Houzi and a deer named Xiaolu who would argue whenever they ran into each other, boasting about just how talented they were. One day, while the two of them were arguing, a rooster named Ah Kai came over and said, "Stop arguing, both of you can compete and compare tomorrow to see who's more powerful between the two of you."
"The next day, they invited an elephant named Daxiang to be the judge, and the elephant Daxiang announced, "Do you see the river ahead? There is an apple tree on the other side of the river. Whoever crosses the river first to pick apples will win."
"The two ran to the river together, but the little monkey Houzi couldn't cross the river but the little deer Xiaolu could. However, the little deer Xiaolu, who had crossed the river couldn't climb trees to pick the apples. Seeing this, the little monkey Houzi immediately called out, "Come and take me across the river, and I'll pick the apples."
"The little deer Xiaolu came back and took the little monkey Houzi across the river. After the little monkey Houzi crossed the river, he climbed up the tree and picked a big apple. The elephant Daxiang announced that the two of them were tied in this game."
Lu Jiao's purpose in telling this story is to teach the little guy that everyone has strengths and weaknesses.
Who would have guessed that the little guy's focus was not at all on the same thing as her. He quietly put his little foot on Lu Jiao's body and swayed it, thinking that Lu Jiao didn't notice, giggling, and said casually while laughing.
"Mother, why can the little monkey Houzi and the deer Xiaolu talk? I've never seen animals talk before, and even our puppies Xiaohei and Huahua can't talk."
Lu Jiao had a black line on her face. She hurriedly said, "Okay, go to sleep."
Although the Youngest Child was still very excited, he was also getting a bit sleepy, so when he heard Lu Jiao's words, he immediately snuggled even deeper into Lu Jiao's arms and soon fell asleep next to Lu Jiao.
The people in the east bedroom were just about to sleep when the three little ones heard the voices coming from the west bedroom, and they quickly realised that Lu Jiao was telling a story to the youngest child. All three of them were taken aback, and felt even more sour in their hearts.
"As if, humph, who can't tell stories, Daddy can tell them too," the second child hummed unhappily.
The third child whined, "But it sounds good. The Fourth Brother laughed happily."
The eldest child made a final decision, "Tomorrow, let her tell us too."
The second child and the third child nodded, "Yes."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone