"Daddy, do I look good?"

 

　　Back home, Ling Jingxuan and his brother were busy putting away the things they bought today, while Ling Wen and Ling Wu went back to the room to try on the new clothes under his orders. Not long after, the little bun Ling Wu rushed into the kitchen excitedly and found Ling Jingxuan who was about to get something to eat. The navy blue robe was inevitably a little too big for him, making his body look thinner, but Ling Jingxuan smiled and said: "Hehe... my son is handsome, why not look good?"

 

　　While speaking, he freed one hand to pinch his cheek and looked at Ling Wen who followed with a smile. He chose navy blue robes for the two children. Although this color was really unsuitable for their age since it makes them look old-fashioned when they wear them. And they are thin, so they can't hold them up at all. But the children are still young and the navy blue color is resistant to dirt, so there's nothing old-fashioned at all.

 

　　"Daddy!"

 

　　The two buns who had never been praised before by their father brazenly blushed almost at the same time. The little bun even stomped his feet, turned around, and ran out embarrassingly.

 

　　"Hehe... This kid is still shy, but he is really handsome."

 

　　Ling Jingpeng next to him interjected at the right time. Ling Wen, who was standing still, couldn't stay any longer, blushed and whispered "I'm going to see Xiao Wu, then ran away in a hurry.

 

　　The two brothers looked at each other and smiled. The more varied the children's reactions were, the happier they were because this also proved that they were gradually getting out of the hazy life they used to be.

 

　　"Brother, why do you put so much oil in. Xiaowen should talk to you again later."

 

　　After helping to pack up the things, Ling Jingpeng turned around and saw Ling Jingxuan scooped up a large spoonful of freshly refined lard and put it into the pot. His phoenix eyes couldn't help crawling with naked distress. In the the old Ling's home, when cooking, they only drop a few drops of vegetable oil at most. How can anyone waste it like this? No wonder Xiaowen always lectured him, he really can't live!

 

　　"Hehe... It's okay, just once in a while, isn't this why we make money? It's okay to be extravagant, and it's not like we are eating like this every day."

 

　　Compared to his distress, Ling Jingxuan didn't care, and skillfully flipped the black and black scallion pancakes in the pan. Ask him why it's black. It's because his little bun thinks white noodles are too expensive, so he refuses to buy. He can only use black noodles to bake scallion pancakes.

 

　　"...These meats are also fried?"

 

　　Reluctantly, Ling Jingpeng glanced at the pork belly slices left over from the oil refinery next to him. And there were cleaned black wild vegetables in the pan not far away, which seemed to be ready to cook.

 

　　"Well, we have to go to the mountains to do rough work later. How can we do it if we don't eat something good?"

 

　　"You can save it to eat with the children at night, I will be full if I eat some wild vegetables."

 

　　He really cared about the food, and he also really cared about the children. He wanted to save it for the two children, but Ling Jingxuan turned his head and said seriously: "What do you mean by saving it for the evening? You have to eat it. Don't you eat at noon and at night? Jingpeng, you are my younger brother, so do we still need to divide between us brothers? Why is the elder brother treating you to a meal after earning money? If I have to figure everything out like you do, then when you help me sell fish, should I also pay you wages?"

 

　　"No brother, I didn't mean that. I..."

 

　　Hearing this, Ling Jingpeng waved his hands nervously to explain. But Ling Jingxuan didn't give him a chance to finish, and took the topic a little forcefully: "I know what you want to say. Jingpeng, I know our family is poor. But we are the master of our fate. What we have in our hands, as long as we are active in our minds, willing to delve into it, and work hard enough, sooner or later we will get rid of poverty and become rich. One day, I want our family to eat rice every day, drink wine and eat meat every day."

 

　　Seeing the elder brother's slender side face, Ling Jingpeng clenched his fist quietly. He was right, as long as they are willing to work hard, why don't they have a good life?

 

　　Knowing that this little brother of his was also very thoughtful, Ling Jingxuan didn't continue. He didn't need a heavy hammer to beat the drum, he would understand what he meant.

 

　　About two quarters of an hour later, Ling Jingxuan, who was sweating profusely, finally baked ten scallion pancakes and twice-cooked pork with fungus. "Okay. Jingpeng, go tell the children to wash their hands and eat. After they take a nap, we will go to the mountains..." but before he finished speaking, there was a rude knock on the door,

 

　　"Bump bump..."

 

　　Saying it was a knock is not enough, in fact, it sounds of kicking the door. The brothers looked through the door of the simple kitchen. The broken wooden door, which was not very reliable, seemed likely to fall down at any time.

 

　　"Go tell the children to wash their hands first. Don’t come out no matter what happens outside. I'll go and have a look."

 

　　Those who come are unkind and those who come don't come, look at this battle, I'm afraid someone is coming again, Ling Jingxuan gave a few cold words, wiped his hands and walked out. Ling Jingpeng looked at Ling Jingxuan’s back worriedly, thinking that his elder brother's temperament has changed, he will no longer be bullied by others, so he didn't follow. Instead, he turned around and took the two buns to the backyard.

 

　　"You! You're dead! You open the door before this old lady knocked her hand off! Is there any third aunt like me in your eyes?"

 

　　Opening the door, before Ling Jingxuan had time to see the situation outside, a rude female voice almost shattered his eardrums. At the same time, the visitor stepped forward while scolding, trying to enter the courtyard. Ling Jingxuan rolled his eyes weakly, and moved slightly in the middle to block their way: "Who is it? It turns out that it's Aunt Ling from the old scholar's family and sister Ying. What wind today that took you two here?"

 

　　The long and narrow Danfeng eyes that were full of undisguised sarcasm, stared nakedly at the mother and daughter standing in front of him. He recognized their identities almost at a glance. The original owner's third aunt, Ling Jiangshi, and her eldest daughter, Ling Xiaoying.