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Chapter 4: Don't Dislike Each Other
Do you even know your own weight?
─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───
The two little brothers subconsciously nodded. When they realized their adoptive father was still there, they quickly turned to him.
Qin Feng raised an eyebrow. “Am I someone with a soft ear?”
〚 soft ear [耳根子軟] idiom is used to describe a person who is easily swayed or influenced by others' opinions, requests, or persuasive words.〛
The two brothers weren’t sure.
Qin Feng couldn’t help but laugh in anger.
Gu Er subconsciously explained, "We were afraid you'd be blinded by lust.”
Qin Feng immediately wanted to hit the child.
Seeing this, Madam Zhou quickly took over the conversation, “I’m not worried!”
Qin Feng couldn’t help but smile, “It’s still my own mother.”
The two brothers felt like their grandmother didn’t mean that.
Madam Zhou said, “Your father and I are only in our fifties. If you lose your mind, it's no deal for us to support them.”
Qin Feng’s expression became hard to describe.
The two brothers couldn’t help but show a just as expected expression.
As soon as their adoptive father turned to them, they immediately went to help Grandma find clothes.
While searching, they found a tiger-themed hat and put it on the little monk.
The smooth little head became a little tiger head, which made Madam Zhou feel at ease.
“Miaomiao, how about Grandma changes your clothes?” Madam Zhou reached out her hand toward the child.
The child’s first reaction was to look at his father.
Qin Feng sat down with him and said, “I’ll change him.”
The red cotton pants that the old monk bought for the little monk fit, but the pant legs had to be rolled up.
Madam Zhou handed him the cotton pants. “Do you want me to sew up the hem?”
Qin Feng replied, "No need, that would look terrible."
Gu Er handed his own little cotton jacket to him.
The pale yellow cotton jacket paired with the red cotton pants would look awkward on a man and would only suit a woman with a good figure and fair skin. But on the little monk, it only looked festive and cute.
Qin Feng adjusted the little monk's tiger-themed hat, leaned back to look at the child, and nodded in satisfaction. “Not bad.”
Madam Zhou peeked over and met the child’s dark, bright eyes, which looked like purple grapes, and her heart filled with joy. “Miaomiao, Dad has to go to work now. How about Grandma carries you?”
The child turned toward Qin Feng.
Qin Feng glanced at the wall clock—it was just past one o'clock, and his colleagues should be arriving soon. “You’ll see Dad again when the sun goes down.”
The child immediately slid off him, neither clinging nor throwing a tantrum.
Old Gu couldn't help but say, “This child is really sensible."
The Gu brothers also couldn’t help but nod. If they hadn’t had memories from another life, they weren’t sure they would have been as well-behaved at this age.
Thinking about this, the brothers looked at each other. The child wouldn’t be like us, would he?
Then they dismissed this unsupportable speculation.
Based on the fact that the child had cried loudly when their uncle got hit earlier, it was clear that he was an actual child.
Unlike us, who are old cucumbers painted green—pretending to be young.
〚 old cucumbers painted green [老黃瓜刷綠漆] metaphor to describe people who try to appear younger than they actually are〛
The older of the Gu brothers walked over, took the child’s hand, and decided to find an opportunity to test him. “It’s fine if you don’t want to stay with Grandma and your brother. When your brother goes to school, you can stay with Grandma.”
The child looked at his father.
Qin Feng asked, “Didn’t your master tell you that Brother and us are family?”
The child was young and easily forgetful, but once reminded, he remembered and nodded vigorously.
Qin Feng said, “Then go ahead and play. You can play with anyone, no need to ask Dad. Just don’t forget to come home.”
The child shook his head, and the straps of his tiger-themed hat swung along with him, hitting his face. He awkwardly brushed them aside.
Qin Feng pulled the child closer and tied the straps properly.
Madam Zhou and Old Gu exchanged a look. Their son really did look like a father.
Qin Feng straighten up his crooked hat, “Tomorrow, Dad will go to the city and buy you a knitted hat.”
Madam Zhou couldn’t help but say, “Buy what.”
This son was really lazy.
If something could be solved with money, he never thought to do it himself.
“I'll weigh a few pounds of wool and ask your sister knit a hat for each of them, and also knit two sweaters.”
Gu Er couldn’t help but ask, “And ours?”
Madam Zhou looked at him, confused. “Why wouldn’t you have one?” Then, seeing Miaomiao, she suddenly understood. “You and Miaomiao are both now your uncle’s children, so of course, I’ll buy for you all.”
Gu Er opened his mouth, wanting to explain that they were different from Miaomiao, who was Uncle Qin’s biological child.
But the words got stuck in his throat, and he didn’t want to say it.
Qin Feng saw the child’s expression and said, “Don’t overthink it. Even though I never thought about adopting you before, since you’re already on my household registry, you’re my children now. I can’t buy you branded stuff, but I can still get you sweaters.”
Old Gu couldn’t help but say, “Do you even know your own weight*?”
〚 *metaphorically to mean "knowing your own worth, abilities, or limits."〛
Qin Feng immediately stood up to leave, but at the door, he remembered that the two kids hadn’t done their homework yet. “Mom, make sure they finish their homework before letting them go play.”
The two brothers spoke in unison, “We know.”
“Know what?” Qin Feng shot them a glance, as if he hadn’t been a child himself.
It would be a miracle a kid this age can be honest for ten minutes.
Gu Da opened his mouth, wanting to explain that they really did know.
But he was only ten, who would believe him?
“If you don’t believe us, have Grandma watch us.”
Madam Zhou indeed kept an eye on them.
But she didn’t forget about Miaomiao, having him sit beside her.
Due to the lack of new arrivals at the temple over the past ten years, the youngest besides Miaomiao was already in their forties. People of such an age weren't interested in playing with children, so the child played by himself.
I'm used to being alone, and I'm not lonely staring at my two older brothers writing their homework.
Madam Zhou saw that he wasn’t crying or making a fuss, and couldn’t help but feel heartbroken. What a good child ah.
How could that cold-hearted mother bear to abandon him?
Even if she regretted it, even though Qin Feng was abroad at the time and she had returned to the country, she could have given him to them. What was the point of abandoning him in the temple?
Fortunately, he had met a kind monk. If no one had found him, he might have been eaten by the wild beasts on the mountain.
Thinking of this, Madam Zhou couldn’t stand it and picked up the child.
The child widened his eyes, looking at her curiously.
Madam Zhou asked, "Are you tired? Want to rest in Grandma’s arms for a while? Your brothers will finish their homework soon."
"Just one more line," Gu Da said.
Madam Zhou hurriedly said, "Write slowly. If you write carelessly, I won't help you if Qin Feng beats you up later.”
Gu Da really wanted to say that he actually hoped Uncle Qin would hit him over his studies.
That would mean Uncle Qin wanted them to succeed, not to raise them to be useless and monopolize the money and possessions left by their grandfather.
"Don’t worry, I won’t be careless," Gu Da wrote the last word, closed his notebook, and asked, "Does Grandpa not have any classes this afternoon?"
Madam Zhou shook her head. "I don’t know, I didn’t hear that old geezer say anything."
The old geezer referred to none other than Qin Feng’s father.
Qin Feng’s mother was at least half a head taller than his father.
When the old couple had been introduced to each other, Madam Zhou hadn’t thought much of Old Qin
The Zhou family had advised her, "Marry a man, marrying a man—food and clothing are covered." She was tall and strong, capable of handling the farmwork, while Qin Feng’s father was weaker. But he was talented in many areas. Besides being a teacher earning a modest salary, he was also a member of the Cultural Affairs Troupe. If he had been taller, it will not be Madam Zhou's turn.
Madam Zhou thought about it and agreed with that reasoning.
Old Gu knew his own worth. At first, he struggled with being a teacher. During the day, he taught students, and at night, he taught himself. It wasn’t until he married Madam Zhou that he no longer had to teach himself.
In terms of height, he and Madam Zhou were like a toad and a swan, so he naturally didn’t dare to complain about her illiteracy.
Neither of them could afford to look down on the other, so they tolerated and compromised, which is why, after decades of marriage, they had never had a major argument.
The Gu brothers, at first, were adamant about staying with Qin Feng, refusing to be with their aunt or with the childless people from the factory. In reality, they were attracted to the warm family atmosphere of the Qin family—where the father beat the son, but the son didn’t hold a grudge, and where the wife scolded the husband, but the husband didn’t mind. It fulfilled all their fantasies about a warm family.
Hearing Madam Zhou refer to Qin Feng’s father as the "old geezer," Gu Da couldn’t help but think of the old couple’s tit-for-tat fights one moment, but the next moment they were cooking together. He found it both boring and amusing.
Gu Da also couldn’t help but tease, "If Grandpa knew, he’d call you ‘dead old woman’ again."
"Has he ever not called me that?" Madam Zhou glanced at Xiao'er, who had finished his homework. “Bring over your homework ."
Xiao'er instinctively handed over the notebook but then realized something was off. "Why are you looking at mine and not at my brother’s?"
"Qin Feng said your homework is more careless than your brother’s."
Xiao'er was curious. "Can you read it?"
Madam Zhou replied, "Don’t think I can’t read just because I’m illiterate. I can still tell if it’s neat or not."
The little child nestled in her arms asked curiously, "Grandma, is it neat?"
Madam Zhou shook her head in disdain, pointing to the child’s homework. "Look, this line of words is all over the place—some are big, some are small, some are straight, some are crooked." She glanced at Gu Er, "What were you thinking while doing your homework?"
Gu Xiao’er was thinking that he had returned to the past. Not only had he shrunk physically, but he also had to be a primary school student again. It was simply a dog's life.
〚Gu Xiao’er [顾小二] means “little second Gu”〛
But he would never dare say his kind of truth. Otherwise, this tough old lady would probably beat him half to death for talking nonsense.
"I know all these words now. I don’t think I need to write them. It’s just wasting ink and paper."
Madam Zhou replied, "Qin Feng isn't short of this little money."
Gu Er was momentarily silenced.
Gu Da couldn’t help but add, "It’s mostly wasting time."
"Wasting playtime?" Madam Zhou glanced at him. "You two are ten and nine. If you’re not studying and doing your homework properly, what else can you do?"
Nothing.
If they dared to go out, those who favored sons over daughters would try to take them to their homes, scolding and beating them into behaving like little dogs.
Madam Zhou handed the homework back to Gu Er. "If you’re not doing anything, rewrite it. Otherwise, when your uncle comes back and sees how sloppy you’ve written, he’ll make you practice writing."
Gu Er couldn’t help but pout.
Gu Da offered his homework. "Mine doesn’t need to be checked, right?"
Madam Zhou glanced at it. "Yours is neater than Er Xiaozi's. With his as a comparison, yours should stand out."
Gu Xiao’er snatched the homework back, seeing that his brother's was indeed neater, and couldn’t help but complain, "Sneaky!"
His brother grabbed it back and stuffed it into his bag. "Grandma, we’re going to school. Are you staying here, or are you going home?"
"Going home." Madam Zhou stood up with her grandson in her arms. "I need to take Miaomiao around the whole village so that some people don’t think they’re the only ones with grandchildren. They always jump at the chance to criticize my children, saying that the daughter doesn’t have a son, and the son’s already grown but hasn’t gotten married."
Gu Da almost laughed.
He realized that since joining the Qin family, he had laughed more in half a month than in his entire life before. "When people ask where Miaomiao came from, what are you going to say?"
"Do I even need to say anything when the two of them look so alike?" Madam Zhou glanced at her grandson’s little face. "If I say too much, people will just get jealous. I’ll just let them think I’m showing off, even though I am showing off. Miaomiao, let’s go, let’s show off with Grandma!"
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