"Eldest Child, you go too," Xie Yunjin said, noticing the little kid's worries. "Daddy sleeps at home for a while, and you can accompany me after you come back."
After thinking for a brief moment, the eldest child nodded, "Okay."
Xie Yunjin's eyes followed the eldest child as he walked out of the door of the east bedroom. The eldest child, who resembled him the most, was the most sensitive of the four children. He wanted to let him go out more and play with the other kids his age.
After washing the dishes, Lu Jiao took the hatchet she had borrowed earlier and led the quadruplets to the second grandma's house next door. She first returned the hatchet and spoke with the second grandma for a while before telling the second grandma about her decision to adopt a puppy.
When the second grandma heard that Lu Jiao wanted to adopt a puppy, she approved of her decision, saying, "Your family indeed needs a dog. After all, you won't be able to keep an eye on the house all day, and the four little children are unsafe at home alone. If they run into a scourge again, the little babies will have to suffer."
"I'm just wondering if the second grandma knows someone in our village who owns a dog?"
When the second grandmother heard Lu Jiao's words, she smiled and said, "Your Third Grandfather and Third Grandmother's dog recently gave birth to a litter of puppies. There were three or four puppies in that litter. It's only been a month since their birth. Have you already asked anyone else for it earlier?"
Lu Jiao's father-in-law, Old Master Xie's generation, had six children, four brothers and two sisters, but she had heard that the eldest grandfather had died of illness when he was a teenager, and one of the aunts had died as well. As of now, there are only three brothers and one sister alive.
Old Master Xie and his wife are the youngest in the family. The second grandfather and the third grandfather are his elder brothers. He has an older sister as well. However, because Mrs Ruan was mean to them, his siblings do not maintain contact with their family.
The Third Grandfather and Third Grandmother and Old Master Xie are like enemies.
She had heard that when the families were still living together, the third grandfather's and third grandma's eldest son fell ill. The third grandfather and third grandmother asked her parents-in-law for some money to pay for his treatment. Mrs Ruan was enraged and made a ruckus at home. They did not dare take the family's money without her parents-in-law's permission. Otherwise, Mrs Ruan would accuse them of stealing and make a fuss in front of the whole village, and as a result of this delay, the eldest son of the third grandfather and third grandmother died.
The Xie family split up after the death of their eldest son. The third grandfather and third grandmother's family and Old Master Xie's family were like enemies after the separation, and the two families have not interacted with each other since then.
As soon as the second grandma finished speaking, Lu Jiao laughed dryly, "It's not good for us to ask for it, is it?"
They may not want to give it to them even if they have it. Both these families are enemies, and they haven't spoken to each other in years.
The second grandmother raised her hand to pat her head after listening to Lu Jiao's words as she sighed,
"Both, your third grandfather and your third grandmother, have good personalities. It was your mother-in-law who went too far back then, and caused the death of their son, not to mention that later, your third grandfather and third grandmother gave birth to three daughters in a row, and your third grandmother didn't have an easy labor period when she was giving birth to Ping'an."
Speaking of what happened back then, the second grandmother sighed, but after a while, she said with a smile, "But that's all about the older generation. Your third grandfather and third grandma had still sympathized with you earlier. What kind of animosity do they have toward the younger generation?"
Mrs Ruan even treated her own son like this, let alone others.
The second grandmother said while thinking, "Let's go, come with me. I'll take you to their house to 'grab' a puppy."
Lu Jiao was unsure, and worriedly asked, "There won't be a problem, right?"
She didn't want to mess with the already tense relationships, it would be too embarrassing.
The second grandmother patted her chest and assured her, saying, "It's okay, this old woman promises you that there won't be any problems."
Lu Jiao wanted to refuse at first, but the four little ones all raised their heads and stared at her at the same time, their eyes full of longing, and all Lu Jiao could do now was to adopt a puppy from the third grandfather and the third grandmother's family.
In this era, when people couldn't get enough to eat for themselves, not many would adopt dogs, so in this village, it is very likely that, except for the third grandfather and third grandmother, there may not be puppies in other people's families.
The second grandma's house was not that far from that of the third grandfather and third grandma, and the group of two adults and four children arrived there in almost no time.
The third grandfather and third grandmother had given birth to three daughters and two sons. After the death of the eldest son, the three daughters were married. They are now living with their younger son.
The old man and the younger son were not there at home at that time. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were cleaning the yard. The third grandmother was stunned for a while when she saw the second grandmother bringing Lu Jiao and four children to the door. Her face became a little dull, but she didn't say anything.
The second grandmother glared at her immediately, "What are you doing? The child comes to the door, don't make that stinky face."
From her words and tone, it is obvious that the two of them get along well.
Although the third grandmother is very thin, she is in good spirits. She smiled bitterly and raised her head to give Lu Jiao a proper look after listening to the second grandma.
"What made Yunjin's wife come here with her kids?"
As she spoke, she moved two small stools from the side to let the second grandmother and Lu Jiao sit down, and then called out into the room, "Gousheng, come out and play with your younger brothers."
A dark-skinned, thin guy ran out of the room. He was stunned when he saw the quadruplets.
Then he happily ran up to the four little guys and asked, "I heard Datou and Maomao say that their bamboo dragonfly was made by your mother?"
The quadruplets nodded, "Yes, our mother made it."
Gousheng glanced at their hands, but he didn't see the bamboo dragonfly. With a look of disappointment on his face, he turned to look at Lu Jiao and said, "Third aunt, you make it for me too."
In this era, children didn't have any toys, so when they saw something new, which seemed pretty fun to play with, they wanted it.
As soon as Gousheng finished speaking, the third grandmother got angry, scolding, "Do you need a beating?"
Gousheng's mother rushed over to her son, warning him not to cause any trouble.
As Lu Jiao turned her head, her gaze fell on the third grandmother's youngest daughter-in-law, Jiang Zhaodi.
Jiang Zhaodi also took a glance at Lu Jiao. She also went to see what had happened at Lu Jiao's house yesterday. She was pretty shocked by Lu Jiao's tactics. Not only that, but she was so frightened that Jiang Zhaodi didn't even dare look straight at Lu Jiao for too long.
The third grandmother was a little unhappy when she saw her shrinking appearance and turned around, not looking at her.
Lu Jiao looked at the third grandmother and said with a smile, "Yesterday, Widow Li came to my house to cause trouble. The third grandma should have heard about it, right?"
The third grandmother nodded, admiring Lu Jiao's actions so much that she even thought about it the whole night after hearing about it yesterday.
If her son had been Lu Jiao's son, would Mrs Ruan dare to cause trouble? She couldn't beat her, so she shouldn't blame others. She should blame herself for being too weak and, as a result, causing the death of her son.
The third grandmother looked at Lu Jiao. She didn't believe she was being ruthless, but rather that she had done the right thing. A mother must protect her children. Even an animal knows how to protect its cubs.
"You are a good child."
Lu Jiao was taken aback when the third grandmother unexpectedly praised her, and she immediately felt more at ease.
"Although I cleaned up Widow Li yesterday, I can't stay at home all day to look after the four little boys, and Yunjin can't move now, so when I heard that the third grandmother's family's dog had given birth to a litter of puppies, I wondered if I could adopt one?"
When the third grandmother heard about this, she immediately agreed, "Oh, that's fine."
It's just that as soon as she finished speaking, her grandson Gousheng objected, "I don't agree."
Hmph, earlier he asked the third aunt to make a bamboo dragonfly for him, but his grandma even scolded him.
After hearing Gousheng's words, the Eldest Child walked over to Gousheng and asked, "Is it okay if I exchange my bamboo dragonfly with you?"
There are a total of four bamboo dragonflies in their house. Even if he gave one away, there were still three more. He can play with the bamboo dragonflies of the second brother, third brother and fourth brother.
"OK, I'll take you to pick up a puppy," Gousheng said with a smile when he heard this.
After he finished speaking, he ran to the kennel as the four little ones followed behind him.
The third grandmother looked at her grandson's leaving back speechlessly, so their puppy is worth a bamboo dragonfly, right?