The children crept up to Qiao Mei and stuck their heads out to look at her.
“Elder sister is so beautiful…” Zhang Miao whispered to Zhang Qin who was beside her.
“Shh!” Zhang Chao quickly gestured for Zhang Miao to stop talking.
Zhang Wei was about to cover Qiao Mei with a blanket when Qiao Mei suddenly sat up from the recliner and made a face.
“Wa!” Qiao Mei said scarily.
“Ah!” “Ah!” “Ah!” “Ah!”
The four children jumped back in unison and yelled out in fear. Zhang Wei stood rooted to the ground with the blanket in his hands as he looked at Qiao Mei.
“Hahahahaha, you guys are so cute!” Qiao Mei lay back on the chair and laughed loudly. Zhang Wei, Zhang Chao and Zhang Qin had yet to react when the youngest Zhang Miao started laughing for some reason. The other children also laughed along when they saw Zhang Miao’s reaction.
Li Gui looked at the children in the courtyard who were all smiling and full of vigor. She had a gratified smile on her face to finally see the children so happy.
“Alright, alright, I won’t scare you anymore. Guess what I brought you today?” Qiao Mei deliberately covered the big black cloth bag to prevent the children from seeing what was inside.
“It’s… it’s watermelon!” Zhang Miao raised her hand and said excitedly.
“You only know how to eat, fourth sister. I’m guessing it must be the latest sandbag!” Zhang Chao said.
“I guess elder sister has got some rice!” Zhang Wei said after some thought.
For a long while, only Zhang Qin did not make a guess on what was in the cloth bag. Zhang Qin was usually introverted. She was a very kind girl but she did not like to talk, therefore she would often be bullied or overlooked by others.
Qiao Mei looked at Zhang Qin and asked, “Qin Qin, what do you think?”
Given that Qiao Mei had posed the question to her, Zhang Qin thought for a long time and said, “I… I guess it should be big steamed buns…”
“You’re all wrong! Open it and take a look. Everyone has a share so there is no need to fight.” Qiao Mei handed the cloth bag to Zhang Wei and let the older Zhang Wei do the distribution.
When he opened the bag, he saw four sets of clothes and four cloth bags. The children took them out lovingly and could not bear to put them down. The boys were not so particular, and Zhang Chao immediately put on his new clothes and carried his school bag before running to the water vat to check out his reflection in the water.
“Elder sister! It looks so good!” Zhang Chao grinned so widely that his smile almost reached his ears.
Zhang Qin and Zhang Miao only carried their bags and carefully rubbed the names on the bags. Zhang Wei stood at the side and looked at the clothes embroidered with the image of big trees as if it was a treasure.
“Elder sister, what is this word?” Zhang Miao asked.
“Idiot, didn’t elder sister teach you before? That’s your name, Miao!” Zhang Chao ran over and said.
“I’m not stupid! Stupid brother!” Zhang Miao frowned and shouted at Zhang Chao.
“Lalala, come and hit me then!” Zhang Chao ran around the courtyard with Zhang Miao running behind him.
The two children chased each other around, making the courtyard very lively. Among the four children, the eldest child, Zhang Wei, and the third child, Zhang Qin, had similar personalities. They were both calm and serious children. The second child, Zhang Chao, and the fourth child, Zhang Miao, both had carefree and cheerful personalities. The fourth child, Zhang Miao, was also the troublemaker at home. Although she was young, she came up with all kinds of ideas and always caused Zhang Wei to have to help the children deal with the aftermath of the trouble they caused.
“Elder sister, you made all these for us. Isn’t it tiring for you?” Zhang Wei said as he looked at Qiao Mei.
“I’m not tired. I made these for all of you to wear to school. Do you like it?” Qiao Mei said.
“I like it!” Zhang Wei nodded.
Qiao Mei turned to look at Zhang Qin and asked, “What about you, Qin Qin? Do you like it?”
Zhang Qin nodded and said, “I like it. Thank you, elder sister.”
The boisterous laughter in the courtyard made Li Gui come out to see what was going on.
“Alright, alright, it’s time to wash your hands and eat. Stop fooling around, you two! Don’t bump into your elder sister!” Li Gui said as she pointed at Zhang Chao and Zhang Miao.
When they heard that they might hurt Qiao Mei, the two children immediately stopped what they were doing and stopped rowdily chasing each other. They walked back in an orderly manner as if they had done something wrong. In their eyes, they could do anything except things that could hurt Qiao Mei. They must protect Qiao Mei well and not let her get hurt.
