Gateway to Happiness - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Going To Town

“Chi,” Miao Cui Lan laughed and took a glance at her husband with a smug. She scooped a spoonful of steamed eggs for Lu Xiao Shu, and said, “My precious daughter is such a good girl!”

Lu Qi also raised his head from his rice bowl and said, “My second sister is so awesome! I’ve long wanted to beat Xiao Yu up since she kept bullying my first sister! But I am a guy so it’ll be difficult for me to lay a finger on her.”

Lu Zhong looked very helpless, his wife was not a pushover, his son was mischievous, and the daughter who was adopted seemed to have taken after his wife’s character. A small little girl like her was already showing that she was not a pushover, really — those who don’t belong together don’t live together!

“Shush!” Miao Cui Lan glared at her son, and angrily scolded, “You are a student, and a student needs to be gentle, like your uncle. In the future, you need to become at least a scholar, so don’t go around saying such things like beating up others. Is this what Mr Wu has taught you? Did he teach you to hit others?”

Upon listening, Lu Zhong nodded and wanted to add on by saying: Did you hear what your mother said?

Who knew, Miao Cui Lan went on, “You need to first reason out with others. If things can’t be reasoned out then you can go ahead and beat them up!”

Lu Zhong almost bit his own tongue as he listened to his wife. “Did you hear what I say?”

His son nodded excitedly, “I heard it, Mother!” Lu Qi clearly agreed that “if things could not be reasoned out, then he could beat them up”.

Lu Xiao Shu also took it seriously and echoed, “I heard it too, Mother!”

“Me too.” In fact, Xiao Xue did not really understand, but upon hearing her brother and sister replies, naturally she could not hold back.

“Very good!” Miao Cui Lan was satisfied, “Hurry up and eat, I will clean up after you all have finished eating!”

Lu Zhong felt powerless and silently ate his meal. In any case, it was useless for him to add on so it was better for him to be discreet.

Who knew on the second day, Xiao Yu came running over to play. Lu Xiao Shu and Xiao Xue were lying on the grass patch and playing with the bristle grass. Xiao Yu stood by the side and watched.

When she saw Lu Xiao Shu and Xiao Xue getting up, she suddenly dashed over. She used both her hands to grab Lu Xiao Shu’s arm and wanted to bite her.

How dare this lass make a sneak attack! Lu Xiao Shu was shocked. Without hesitation, she opened her palm and pushed hard towards Xiao Yu’s face which pressed her eyes and nose. Xiao Yu suddenly lost her sight. She could not breathe properly too and she panicked. Her movements slowed and she ended up letting go. Lu Xiao Shu immediately reached out and grabbed Xiao Yu’s hair which she then pulled harshly. “Wah,” Xiao Yu cried out in pain and bursted into tears.

Lu Xiao Shu was furious and in her heart and she thought: how was making others suffer alright but it was not alright when others made you suffer? Did you really think that you are some princess or the emperor! Hmph! Say no more, a brawl lass like you definitely won’t be able to seek revenge on my sister, it must’ve been your shameless mother’s idea! Both you and your mother really deserve a beating!

“Aiyo, what’s happening again?” Aunt Li was obviously waiting outside. Upon hearing her daughter’s pitiful cries, she had a great shock and came dashing in.

With her back facing Aunt Li, Lu Xiao Shu gently bit her wrist to leave some teeth marks and started crying louder than Xiao Yu.

When Xiao Yu suddenly dashed over to grab Lu Xiao Shu and was about to bite down, Xiao Xue was stunned by whatever was going on and she did not know what to do. Upon seeing her little sister cry, she also started crying.

“What’s happening? What’s happening?” Miao Cui Lan rushed out of the house.

“Take a look at your family’s wild lass!” Aunt Li roared angrily when she saw her daughter’s messy hair that seemed like it had been pulled.

“Mother! My hand hurts!” Lu Xiao Shu ran towards Miao Cui Lan and threw herself onto her. She raised her small arm, that was like a lotus root, to show her the marks as she cried in grief.

Miao Cui Lan looked down and saw the teeth marks on her daughter’s wrist. Even though those marks were shallow, they were still teeth marks! She could not help but to feel distressed. She became annoyed and said, “Sister Li, don’t just keep criticizing my Xiao Shu, my Xiao Shu has teeth marks on her wrist! Sister Li, what can you say about this? What’s more, Xiao Yu is two years older than my Xiao Shu!”

Hearing that, Aunt Li could not help but to feel guilty. Her daughter was indeed two years older than Lu Xiao Shu. Because Lu Xiao Shu bit so deeply yesterday, presumably her daughter must have bitten back even deeper. How would she be shameless enough to take a look? After thinking and weighing the situation, she felt more at ease in her heart as she felt like her daughter had gotten her revenge. Even though her daughter’s hair had been pulled, it was a trivial matter. She then pretended to hit her daughter’s butt and scolded, “You’re really mischievous. I only took one glance away from you and you start making a scene! If you are to fight with her everyday, then don’t play together! We’ll go home now, and I’ll teach you a lesson.” After her words, she quickly bade goodbye to Miao Cui Lan and dragged Xiao Yu away.

In fact, Xiao Yu did not gain anything from the scene she had caused. Her face and hair were hurting, furthermore, she was scolded by her own mother — what would a child know about pretending? Being scolded means being scolded! She could not help but to feel wronged, and she cried even more loudly as she was pulled away by her mother.

When they returned home, Aunt Li helped her daughter comb her hair, cleaned her face, and comforted her. She also felt a little relished and asked whether that bite she bit on Lu Xiao Shu was big, and whether she had used enough strength? Xiao Yu was taken aback and blankly replied, “I did not, I did not bite her.”

“You did not bite her?” Aunt Li was taken aback, and she interrogated, “She bit you, so why didn’t you bite her back? If you do not bite her back, she will keep bullying you in the future! Eh, no. If you did not bite her arm, then why were there teeth marks on her arm?” Miao Cui Lan would not lie about it, and Aunt Li was sure about it.

Xiao Yu was also taken aback. How would she know where the teeth marks on Lu Xiao Shu’s arm came from?

Under her mother’s interrogation, Xiao Yu could not handle it and she could only nod and said she had bitten. At first, she was clear whether or not she had bitten Lu Xiao Shu, but now, she was made confused by her mother’s words!

At that moment, Aunt Li was very discouraged hence she took her daughter’s flipping statements and considered that she must have bitten but did not bite hard enough!

“Nevermind, let’s wait for an opportunity for you to bite back next time! Hmph, she is only a year old, and you are three years old, you don’t have to be afraid of her!” Aunt Li said in anger.

When Xiao Yu heard what her mother had said, her eyes were filled with timidity and fear. Her small face also turned slightly pale. Would she dare to bite her again? She would not dare, really, she would not dare do it again! Not just Lu Xiao Shu, but Lu Xiao Xue as well. She did not dare to bully them anymore.

“She, she is very scary…” Xiao Yu softly mumbled.

“Useless!” Aunt Li was annoyed to see her daughter’s spirit extinguished under someone else’s might. But when she saw her daughter pitiful cries after hearing her words, her heart softened. She let out a gentle sigh and quickly comforted, and she put a hold on that matter.

It was going to be another day at the market the next day, and that would be the first day the Lu family had to go to the market after Lu Qi started attending school. Looking at the inseparable sisters, Lu Zhong and Miao Cui Lan had a little trouble.

If they were to leave both of the kids at home, it would be worrying.

“Father! Mother! How about I take a leave from Mr Wu and stay home to look after my sisters?” Lu Qi volunteered.

“Dream on! You better be good and go to school!” Miao Cui Lan stared at him with no room for negotiation, which extinguished the small eager flame in his heart.

“Forget it! Tomorrow, we should bring both Xiao Xue and Xiao Shu! If not, where can we leave them at?” Miao Cui Lan sighed at her husband.

Lu Zhong nodded, “Sure. The two sisters have grown up. We can let them play by themselves at the side!”

When Lu Xiao Shu heard it, her eyes lit up and she ran towards her mother to hug her thighs. She happily said, “Mother, Mother. Are you bringing my sister and I to the town’s market tomorrow?

It had been a very long time since she had visited lively places, Lu Xiao Shu was really excited! Sure enough, when there was comparison there would be happiness.

“Well,” Miao Cui Lan bent over, picked her up, and carried her in her arms. She used her hand to adjust Lu Xiao Shu’s clothes and said, “There’re many people in the town, so you’ll need to be obedient and stay by your father and mother’s side with your sister. You are not allowed to run around, do you understand? It will be terrible if you were led away by kidnappers!”

“Yes, yes!” Lu Xiao Shu nodded happily, Even though she was mischievous, she still understood. Whether it was modern or ancient time, her small figure was the type to attract kidnappers. Besides, she was adorable and beautiful, she would not dare take such a risk.

Meanwhile, Lu Xiao Xue was a little confused and asked, “Mother, what are kidnappers?”

“Kidnappers are people who will take you far away. And in the future, you will not be able to return home, and you will not be able to see your father, mother, brother and your little sister anymore! You also need to be good and stay close to your father and I, do you understand?” Miao Cui Lan replied.

Lu Xiao Xue was frightened. Her small face turned a little pale, and she immediately nodded in agreement.

“Tomorrow, once the day turns bright, we will have to get up! So go to sleep now!” Lu Zhong smiled.

“That’s right!” Miao Cui Lan also nodded, and she asked her husband to fetch some hot water to clean up their two girls before putting them to bed. Seeing Lu Xiao Shu still had her big black eyes open and was playing around, Miao Cui Lan scolded, “Quickly shut your eyes and go to sleep! If you cannot wake up in the morning tomorrow, we won’t be bringing you!”

Lu Xiao Xue obediently shut her eyes, while Lu Xiao Shu found it amusing and thought in her heart: It seemed like mother was trying to coax me like a little child! However, she obediently shut her eyes as well.

Now that Lu Qi had gone to school, he no longer had to squeeze on the bed as he had his own room.

Miao Cui Lan instructed him to eat the pancakes by himself in the morning. In the afternoon, he should warm the rice, and take two salted duck eggs to steam as a side dish. She also reminded him repeatedly to lock the doors before rushing him to go back to his room to rest.

The husband and wife spent the night preparing the things to be brought to the town tomorrow. Aside from storing the hundred and fifty kilograms of beancurd skin and hard beancurd, there was a layer of straws and another layer of eggs and duck eggs which were stored in small bamboo baskets. Since several of their hens and their seven ducks which were bred to lay eggs had laid many eggs,the family could not finish eating them so they decided to pack them and sell them in town.