Shao Qihai didn’t sleep for the entire second half of the night. He had the feeling that his children had become entirely different people. He was deeply depressed after this blow.
In the future, when the children badmouthed him in front of him, he wouldn’t be able to understand them! Did he have to learn a couple of foreign languages too?
On the other hand, Shao Dong and his siblings were asleep. They hadn’t expected that Shao Qihai would be hurt so greatly by them. They were purely afraid that Shao Qihai would pretend to be asleep to find out about their scheme, so they’d cautiously conversed in a foreign language. Also, their mother usually encouraged them to speak more.
Just like that, this complicated and eventful day had passed.
The next day, when the boys woke up, the moment they saw Shao Qihai, they lost all interest and greeted him listlessly.
Shao Qihai, however, perked up. Here they went again. They were speaking in a foreign language once more.
“Ahem…” Shao Qihai coughed to attract their attention before saying, “Um, Little Dong, can you speak our language in front of me in the future?”
“You mean you won’t let us practice speaking foreign languages? We’re only doing it because Mommy encouraged us to speak more.”
Shao Xi immediately objected. “We’re going to continue speaking foreign languages. Our family will speak foreign languages in the future.”
Then, he turned around and started talking.
He was waiting for Shao Qihai to flare up at him. However, after Shao Qihai stiffened for a moment, he merely touched his nose and didn’t get angry. Instead, he said, “Since your mother asked you to speak this language, go ahead and speak it. What she says is always right. It’s my fault. It only occurred to me that I wouldn’t understand it. The fact that you kids can converse in a foreign language is a wonderful thing.”
As he spoke, Shao Qihai even sighed with emotion. “You kids are really amazing. You actually know how to speak foreign languages. You don’t only know one language, but two. My comrades would definitely be shocked if I told them.”
Shao Xi: “…”
No, something was very wrong. This shouldn’t be happening. Besides, last night they had agreed that they would pretend to be ordinary children, so he shouldn’t have spoken a foreign language out of spite.
Shao Xi finally understood what Shao Dong had meant when he’d sighed last night. He hurriedly said, “We don’t know how to speak this language. We won’t use it in the future either. Actually, we’re not speaking foreign languages at all. We’re just blabbering nonsense. We’re only so old. How can we possibly speak foreign languages?!”
Shao Qihai: “Huh?”
Was this child being difficult again?
Shao Qihai was about to ask this when Shao Xi rushed out. Shao Dong shook his head and followed him. Xiao Wu pursed his lips tightly and followed them as well.
Little Bei had just finished dressing up and combing her hair. When she saw them, she greeted them warmly as usual.
Shao Xi immediately waved his hand. “Don’t speak this language at home anymore! We can’t let him know that we can speak foreign languages.”
When Little Bei saw Shao Qihai follow them, she quickly shut her mouth and asked in sign language, “What’s wrong?”
Shao Xi quickly explained the situation in sign language, as well as the reason for doing so.
Little Bei nodded to show that she understood.
Shao Qihai, who was watching from the sidelines, was speechless. It seemed like he was being openly kept in the dark again. He couldn’t figure out what the children were saying.
However, he felt really proud. “Little Bei, Little Xi, you’re amazing. You even know how to use sign language. Little Dong, do you know how to do it too? Why did you learn so much this year?”
Shao Qihai didn’t know what Little Bei was gesturing about, but he knew what this was. He instantly felt even prouder.
Shao Xi: “!!!”
They were careless again! They had accidentally exposed their excellence once more.
Shao Xi looked at Shao Dong and tried his best to explain with his expression that he hadn’t done it on purpose! He was just used to being outstanding.
He just hadn’t expected their daily lives to be so showy.
After these successive slip-ups, Shao Xi listlessly went to wash his face. Shao Qihai’s excited, proud face formed a sharp contrast.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” Mu Jingzhe hurriedly asked.
Shao Dong shook his head. “Nothing.”
Mu Jingzhe looked at Shao Xi and asked, “Did Little Xi accidentally wet the bed again?”
Children, after all, inevitably wet the bed. When they were young, they were most afraid of dreaming about finding the bathroom. It was fine when they grew up, as they wouldn’t visit the bathroom in their dreams, but they would when they were young.
It would be over once they found the bathroom.
When Mu Jingzhe had arrived, the children, with the exception of Shao Dong, had successively wet the bed. Xiao Wu was the youngest, so he had wet the bed the most times. Little Bei had experienced the same thing before, but not so often.
Shao Xi had experienced that before too. This was also what had always annoyed him. He was already a very, very big boy, and he was about to go to junior high. However, he would still wet his bed accidentally. This was his complete dark history.
The last time Shao Xi had peed the bed, he had been so angry that he’d cried. Later on, he had felt embarrassed for a few days. Upon seeing Shao Xi like that, Mu Jingzhe had thought that he’d peed on the bed again.
“I didn’t!” Shao Xi almost dropped the basin in his hand when he heard her. “I didn’t wet the bed!”
“It’s good that you didn’t.” Mu Jingzhe quickly went over and hugged Shao Xi. “Don’t be angry. It would not be a big deal even if you peed.”
“But I really didn’t.” Shao Xi felt wronged.
When Shao Qihai saw the two of them, his gaze turned from surprise to gentleness. He looked at Shao Nan, who was beside him. “Little Nan, do you still wet your bed?”
Shao Nan was about to say that he no longer did that, but as the words were ready to come out of his mouth, they changed. “Not… often. About once a week? Xiao Wu and I only wet the bed two to three days a week combined.”
Xiao Wu turned his head in confusion. He rarely peed on the bed now. He was a little anxious and he wanted to defend himself, but Shao Dong pressed down his shoulders with a muffled smile and gave him a calm look.
Indeed, Shao Nan quickly said, “It’s unavoidable for children to urinate on the bed. It’s just that when the bed gets wet, it’s quite troublesome, especially in winter. If we don’t wash it, there will always be a smell. It’s troublesome, and the water is cold. Mommy doesn’t want us to stink so she goes to the river to wash it every time. The river water is too cold. Every time, Mommy’s hands turn red from the cold and she even gets frostbite. It hurts and itches every day.”
Shao Nan sighed, his face full of heartache. “Everyone says that girls shouldn’t touch things that are too cold. Mommy has really suffered too much for us. We might have to trouble you to wash this in the future.”
Shao Qihai nodded vigorously. “Of course. Let me wash it.”
Shao Nan felt a little better upon seeing Shao Qihai agree. He also felt regretful that winter was almost over. It was March now, and although the river water was still very cold, it was much better with the sun warming up the water in the afternoon.
What a pity.
When Mu Jingzhe returned with Shao Xi, she saw Shao Qihai looking at her with guilt and gratitude, as well as confusion.
“Come for breakfast after you’re done showering. Hurry up and go to school when you’re done. Don’t be late.” Mu Jingzhe glanced at Shao Qiyang’s room. “Your uncle has already gone to work.”
Shao Qiyang went out before dawn, and Mu Jingzhe didn’t see him when she woke up.
Shao Qihai glanced at Shao Qiyang’s room and frowned. There had been something wrong with Qiyang’s condition and reaction yesterday. He didn’t know what was wrong with him. He would have to talk to him later.
Breakfast was as simple and nutritious as ever. There was corn porridge and eggs. Finally, each of them ate a banana to ensure their nutrition.
