The Zhou Dingwen brothers were provoked by Han Ye’s attitude.
Zhou Dingwen said helplessly, “Han Ye, do you have to go this far? Qiao’an isn’t even your real brother—are you really going to act like you’re his big brother?”
Qin Qiao’an didn’t like hearing that and shot back, “He IS my big brother! You two are so annoying, why are you always picking on him?”
Han Ye might not have the best temper, but Qin Qiao’an wasn’t much better.
After all, Qin Yuanzheng was the regional commander, and here in the military compound, every officer treated their family with respect.
Qin Qiao’an had grown up spoiled and uncontrollable.
The Zhou Dingwen brothers had known them since childhood, so they were well aware of their personalities. Now they just couldn’t be bothered to argue—it was getting late, and they all had to head home for dinner.
Besides, now that they were in Wencheng, they didn’t dare get into fistfights as easily as they had back in Longcheng.
For one thing, they were older now—in middle school—not clueless little kids anymore.
And for another, Qin Yuanzheng was way too strict. They’d gotten into one fight before, and Qin Yuanzheng had his guards drag them to the military base, where Han Ye, Zhou Dingwen, and Zhou Dingwu were forced to train all day. Eight hours later, all three of them were so exhausted they threw up, standing right outside the training ground, spitting out sour bile.
Ever since then, they’d wisely stuck to verbal insults instead of throwing punches.
The Zhou Dingwen brothers turned and walked away. “Come on, Dingwu, let’s go. Ignore them.”
Qin Qiao’an still wasn’t done yelling. “If you’ve got guts, don’t run! Let’s settle this at the back hill—whoever doesn’t show is a coward!”
The Zhou Dingwen brothers’ faces darkened, but they held back.
Han Ye covered Qin Qiao’an’s mouth and whispered, “An’an, stop it. Don’t let your mom find out.”
Qiao Lanshu had been a high school teacher for years, and all the elementary and middle school teachers here knew each other. If one of them reported this to her, what then?
Han Ye still shuddered at the memory of that last training session.
It was only because Qin Qiao’an was still young—barely past the stage of hitting sandbags—that he didn’t know how ruthless his father could be!
Han Ye then glanced at Xiaxia. “Qin Qiaoxia, what are you staring at them for? Let’s go.”
With that, he stepped in front of Xiaxia, placed his hand on her head, and pushed her along.
Qin Qiaoxia had been watching the Zhou Dingwen brothers walk away. Now, being guided by Han Ye, she finally looked back and asked, puzzled, “Brother Ye, why do you always fight with them? Uncle Zhou is really nice—he comes to our house for tea all the time.”
Xiaxia wasn’t very close to Han Ye; she hadn’t grown up with him like An’an had. She only claimed An’an as her real brother. She called Han Ye “Brother Han Ye” or “Brother Ye.”
At first, that upset Han Ye—it stung a little.
But Xiaxia was too adorable, tilting her head and looking at him with big eyes, and Han Ye just couldn’t stay mad.
Qin Qiao’an cut in, “Xia’er, don’t you know? There’s old grudges between us—ancient feuds!”
Xiaxia asked, “Brother, how old are you? How can you have old grudges? Last time Uncle Zhou came to our house for New Year’s with Zhou Dingwen, you drank plenty of the soda they brought.”
Qin Qiao’an was left speechless.
He said a bit awkwardly, "That, that was bought by Uncle Zhou, not by Zhou Dingwen. I'm drinking something that belongs to Uncle Zhou..."
Xiaxia sighed like a little adult.
Hearing this, Han Ye suddenly became unhappy and asked, "That Zhou Dingwen, did he come to your house to pay New Year's visits too?"
An'an nodded: "Yeah, he came for the Mid-Autumn Festival this year too, and brought a lot of things."
Han Ye was furious: "All those officers in the military compound, how come none of them come to pay New Year's visits? Why does Zhou Dingwen's family have to come?"
Just now, Zhou Dingwen had asked if Xiaxia was his sister. Hah, he was clearly asking something he already knew, just trying to strike up a conversation with Xiaxia.
Thinking about this, Han Ye looked down at Xiaxia.
Xiaxia was seven years old now, with fair skin and delicate features; even at such a young age, she was already a little beauty.
She was humming a tune lightheartedly, hopping around every now and then, looking carefree.
Han Ye was in middle school now and understood many things. The two Zhou brothers—one in eighth grade, the other in seventh—weren't little kids either.
Qin Qiao'an was still talking: "Big Brother, that's nothing really. Besides them, some other officers do come to pay New Year's visits to my dad too. After all, they're comrades-in-arms, they have good relationships. The military doesn't ban officers from visiting each other for New Year's. But I don't like them either, so when they come to our house, I don't pour them tea!"
He had poured tea for Uncle Zhou, but not for Zhou Dingwen—he deliberately didn't.
Big Brother's enemies were his enemies!
Han Ye said with deep disappointment, "You're wrong. You should've just not let him in the door."
With a pretty little sister at home, you had to keep a close watch; all the men around were nothing but wolves in sheep's clothing.
Han Ye bought a carton of soy milk each for his younger siblings, along with some dried plums, and they ate as they walked home.
Qiao Lanshu also got off work around this time. She was now a high school Chinese teacher. Over the past two years, she had been continuing her studies, preparing to take the graduate school entrance exam.
Earlier, she had been delayed in reviewing because Sister Shi had gone back home to take care of her grandson, leaving Qiao Lanshu to worry about the two children.
Now that both kids were in elementary school and Han Ye could help her pick them up and drop them off, it had eased a lot of her burden.
She didn't have to cook lunch for the kids anymore either, because Han Ye would take his younger siblings to eat at the public security bureau's cafeteria.
After all, Han Wenlin was the bureau chief. As long as he gave the word and paid a little extra, the kids could eat at the public security bureau cafeteria every day for lunch. After eating, they could even go rest and play in the chief's office.
After getting off work, Qiao Lanshu left the school with her colleagues, then rode her bike to the nearby market to buy groceries. After shopping, she went home to cook for the kids.
On the way, she ran into a colleague—a young math teacher in his twenties.
The math teacher was also on a bike and greeted her: "What a coincidence, Teacher Qiao. Out shopping for groceries again?"
Qiao Lanshu smiled and nodded: "Yeah, you too are buying groceries?"
The young Teacher Zhao nodded, pushing his bike, and naturally came up beside her to walk together: "I got off work early today. I wanted to see if there was any fresh fish to buy."
Although Qiao Lanshu thought Teacher Zhao was young, in reality, he was only one year younger than her.
Qiao Lanshu was 27 this year. She had been married to Qin Yuanzheng for nine years, and her child was already in third grade.
However, she looked young for her age. She was naturally a beautiful woman, and after giving birth, she followed the doctor’s advice and did postpartum recovery exercises, so she kept her figure well. People who didn’t know the truth would see her and assume she was an unmarried young girl.
Back in college, she had many suitors, but after she started working, once people learned that she had two children, the number of pursuers dwindled.
Qiao Lanshu never discussed her family situation with others. Qin Yuanzheng was the commander of the military district, and such a status wasn’t something she could casually promote. She never told anyone about her husband. Apart from a few close relatives and friends, she had now been working for over three years, yet her office colleagues had never seen her man. Some even thought she was a widow.
But Qiao Lanshu had long since explained the situation. However, Teacher Zhao was new here—he had been working for less than three months. He didn’t know her marital status and was too embarrassed to ask, so he kept creating opportunities to run into her.
Qiao Lanshu didn’t think much of it. The two chatted for a while, then entered the market and shopped separately.
On their way back, they naturally bumped into each other again. The faculty dormitory wasn’t far from the military district dormitory. Teacher Zhao rode his bicycle alongside her for a stretch, and when they reached a fork in the road, Qiao Lanshu parted ways with him.
Teacher Zhao stopped at the intersection, staring at Qiao Lanshu’s retreating figure for a long time before finally turning around and riding home on his bicycle.
What he didn’t notice was that a car had just passed by on the roadside—someone had already seen his actions.
From a distance, Qiao Lanshu spotted the three children standing at the street corner, eating popsicles.
When Xiaxia saw her, her eyes lit up, and she ran over happily, shouting, “Mom! Mom!”
An’an also ran toward her. Qiao Lanshu’s bicycle basket was filled with groceries. She stopped with a smile, pinched Xiaxia’s rosy cheeks, and asked them, “Why are you all standing here? Go home quickly.”
Xiaxia held up her popsicle. “Brother Ye treated us to popsicles and soda.”
Han Ye quickly ran over too, glanced at the basket, and asked, “Mom, did you buy my favorite roast chicken?”
As he spoke, he reached out to rummage through the basket.
Qiao Lanshu smacked his hand and scolded him, “Roast chicken has to be bought from the restaurant. I didn’t go there today. I’ll get it for you tomorrow.”
Han Ye looked disappointed. “Ah, Aunt Qiao, don’t you love me anymore? I said yesterday that I wanted roast chicken.”
This little rascal—when he wanted to be sweet, he called her “Mom”; when he was unhappy, he called her “Aunt Qiao.”
As if he could get away with it.
Qiao Lanshu gave him a light tap and said, “If you want it so badly, buy it yourself. Don’t you have money?”
Honestly, that Han Wenlin really spoiled his son too much.
He doted on Han Ye to the point of letting him run wild.
Whatever Han Ye asked for, he got. He handed out pocket money in ten-yuan bills.
When factory workers earned only a few dozen yuan a month, Han Ye could casually pull several big banknotes from his pocket.
Luckily, Han Ye hadn’t gone astray. Over six years of elementary school, his personality had become a bit more mischievous, but he still knew to study hard, not to bully the weak, and occasionally even did some good deeds.
He was still hot-tempered, rebellious, and headstrong, though.
Xiaxia looked at Han Ye with disdain and said, “Exactly, exactly! You have your own money, so go buy it yourself.”
Han Ye tugged at her braid and glared at her. "You little ungrateful thing. Big Brother has bought you so much to eat, and now you won't even say a word for me?"
Xiaxia was eating the popsicle he had bought for her. She made a face at him, then turned away and ignored him.
Han Ye was so angry his teeth itched.
Qin Qiao'an walked on the other side of Qiao Lanshu. He lowered his voice and asked, "Mom, who was that uncle who just walked you home?"
Qiao Lanshu answered casually, "He's a colleague of Mom's, also a high school teacher."
Han Ye sighed. "Another young uncle. Looks like Uncle Qin has a lot of pressure on him."
Qiao Lanshu frowned and shot Han Ye a glare. "Are you asking for a beating?"
This kid—why did he have to talk in such a sarcastic tone? There was nothing going on between her and Teacher Zhao...
Thinking about it, Qiao Lanshu suddenly realized, belatedly, that she had been running into Teacher Zhao an awful lot lately.
She hesitated for a moment before Han Ye spoke again. "Aunt Qiao, this is the third time I've seen him come back with you. Does he live on this street too?"
Qiao Lanshu fell silent. She pushed her bicycle, leading the three children into the military compound. She said, "You're still a kid, and now you're trying to boss me around? If you've got nothing to do, go water the vegetable garden for me."
They entered their yard, which belonged to a ground-floor house. The yard wasn't big, and the plots on either side had been converted into vegetable gardens.
But it had been two years since Auntie Shi left, and the garden hadn't been carefully tended. There weren't as many vegetables planted as before.
Qiao Lanshu didn't know how to garden. The vegetables were all planted by Qin Yuanzheng, and they were growing fairly well, enough to feed the family.
Han Ye went inside and then headed out to water the vegetable garden. It was a chore he had been doing since he was little, so he was very used to it.
Qin Qiao'an helped him by handing him things.
Xiaxia didn't like playing with her brothers. She preferred to stick close to Mom.
Qiao Lanshu was cooking in the kitchen, and Xiaxia came to help wash vegetables, tend the fire, and peel garlic.
Qiao Lanshu asked her, "Xiaxia, how was school today?"
Xiaxia nodded. "Pretty good. The teacher even praised me for paying attention in class. But I wasn't too happy during labor class."
The school still had labor class twice a week. The labor teachers would take the students out to the fields to work—transplanting rice seedlings, planting vegetables, turning soil, and all sorts of tasks. The crops were grown on school grounds, and the harvest was distributed to the students.
Qiao Lanshu continued chopping vegetables as she asked, "Why weren't you happy in labor class?"
Qiao Lanshu noticed that Xiaxia was a bit too quiet. She wasn't very lively; she didn't like running or jumping around and preferred to just sit and read all day.
She also wasn't as loud and talkative as An'an and Han Ye, and she seemed to not enjoy talking much either.
It was truly strange—who did she take after with this personality?
Xiaxia sat on a small stool, resting her chin on her hands as she watched the flames in the stove. She said, "There were bugs in the vegetable field. I got scared and started crying, and then my classmates made fun of me."
Qiao Lanshu: "..."
She paused her movements, her expression turning serious. "Is that so?"
She asked again, "Did you tell your brother?"
Xiaxia shook her head. "No."
She thought it was pretty embarrassing and didn't feel comfortable telling her brothers about it. Han Ye loved to tease her, bully her, and pull her braid. If she told him, he would definitely laugh at her loudly.
Her biological brother Qin Qiao'an actually had a good relationship with her, but he loved sticking with Han Ye every single day, running around everywhere. If she told Qin Qiao'an, he'd just turn around and blab to Han Ye, and then the two of them would come laugh at her together.
Xiaxia rested her chin on her hand, gazing quietly at Qiao Lanshu: "Mom, I want some braised pork with pickled cabbage."
Qiao Lanshu: "..."
Qiao Lanshu kept chopping vegetables as she looked at her and said, "Look at you, kid. Your mental toughness is impressive. I was just thinking you'd be crying about not wanting to go to school tomorrow."
But instead she asked for braised pork with pickled cabbage. If she was still thinking about food at a time like this, it seemed Xiaxia wasn't really taking the classmates' teasing to heart.
Xiaxia let out a sigh and said, "I'm just scared of bugs, what's so funny about that? They're just being childish. I can't even be bothered to talk to them."
Qiao Lanshu had spoken to Xiaxia's homeroom teacher before, and the teacher had said the kids in class actually really liked Xiaxia. So why were they teasing her like this?
Qiao Lanshu decided to go find the teacher again tomorrow and ask about it.
Just then, Qin Yuanzheng came home.
He parked the car in the yard, walked into the courtyard with a grim face.
Han Ye caught his expression and quietly said to An'an, "Be good later, don't make your dad angry. His face is already green."
