"You must be good at home, listen to your father and mother, and remember to study. When your little aunt comes back, she'll bring you lots and lots of tasty treats."
"Little aunt... do you really have to go to North City? Are you going to your little uncle's house to help take care of his younger brothers and sisters?"
Maomao's eyes brimmed with tears, and seeing Kang Li nod, she couldn't help but pout and say, "I don't want little aunt to leave!"
Doudou's eyes were also red, and trying not to cry, he said in a babyish voice, "I also don't want little aunt to leave, but little aunt really has to go, right?"
Kang Li gathered the two little ones into her arms. "Be good, little aunt isn't saying she won't come back. Behave, let's not cry, okay!" After kissing the faces of the two little ones, Kang Li withdrew her hands and stood up. "If you miss little aunt, you can write letters to her."
With a sob in her voice, Maomao asked, "Then will little aunt reply to our letters?"
Kang Li laughed and said, "Do you even have to ask? Not only will little aunt reply to your letters, but she will also get her little brothers and sisters at her house to write to you."
"Does little aunt want me and my brother to be pen pals with little uncle's kids and become friends?"
Maomao was a clever child. As soon as he said this, Kang Li immediately gave a thumbs-up and praised, "Wow! Our Maomao is so smart! Great job!"
"Little aunt, I'm smart too! I will write letters to little uncle's younger brothers and sisters too!"
He wasn't afraid of not knowing how to write; he could draw pictures after all!
Doudou thought proudly to himself.
"Doudou and your brother are both awesome! Little aunt is waiting for your letters~"
After giving the children a thumbs-up as well, Shu Ying turned to Kang Guoan and said, "Little brother, once we've given the braised pork to the fourth sister-in-law, let's go."
Kang Guoan nodded lightly, then he took out an aluminum lunch box from the small cloth pocket he was holding and handed it to the Fourth Sister-in-law Kang. "Fourth sister-in-law, this braised pork was also bought by Li Bao. You take it, Li Bao and I need to get back."
Fourth Sister-in-law Kang continued to insist, "But you are leaving without even eating lunch. When your fourth brother gets off work, he might blame me."
"It's all right, with Maomao and Doudou here, fourth brother can't blame you," said Kang Guoan, looking at his two nephews. "Right?"
Maomao and Doudou nodded their little heads in unison.
Seeing this, Fourth Sister-in-law Kang laughed helplessly, shook her head, and, with her two sons, saw Kang Li and Kang Guoan out of the courtyard. They watched the two gradually walk away before turning back to the courtyard.
...
Aoli Village.
Still some distance from the front gate, Kang Li could hear the shrill voice of Mrs. Zhou, as harsh as a fishwife cursing in the street.
"Cai Xiufen, do not think that just because you are the village's women's director and your man is the village's team leader, I, Qin Daying, will be afraid of you! I'm telling you, you better call Li Bao out here right now. I need to ask her exactly what she said to my family's Weimin that caused him to sit outside all night, and now he's got a high fever this morning and hasn't woken up yet. If anything happens to my family's Weimin, Cai Xiufen, I, Qin Daying, will never let you or your family off the hook!"
"What does my Li Bao have to do with whether your family's Weimin is okay or not!"
"What do you mean, what does it have to do with it?! Educated Youth Su told me that the state my family's Weimin is in must be related to what your Li Bao said to him yesterday afternoon."
Among all her children, Mrs. Zhou was especially protective of her youngest son. Just this morning, upon opening the doors to the main room, she lifted her eyes to see her youngest son faint from where he sat, which scared her nearly out of her wits.
After calling the doctor from the village clinic to have a look, the doctor said it was a fever caused by the cold and that he had some sort of emotional blockages, leaving her utterly baffled. Now, approaching two in the afternoon, although her family's Weimin's fever had subsided, he still hadn't regained consciousness, which was driving her to the brink of despair!