As the cartoon ended, the children were reluctant to leave.
"Wow, why are the twins so mean? Dabao and Erbao are so much nicer!" Wang Xing exclaimed indignantly.
"At least the water deer used magic to teach them a lesson!"
"Are you all feeling angry?" Professor Wen gently asked the children, who nodded in unison.
"The water deer is amazing!" the children chimed in.
"Well, since the water deer is so powerful, shouldn’t you try to be like it too?" Professor Wen patiently guided the children, while Yang Yufen listened in bewilderment. Could they really learn things from a cartoon?
And wasn’t this supposed to be about learning a foreign language? Why were they even talking about setting traps? It all seemed so random.
Yang Yufen didn’t understand, but she kept quiet, simply listening—though she soon grew drowsy. Clearly, she couldn’t keep up with the kids’ energy.
The children chattered excitedly, their lively discussion continuing until seven o’clock, when the evening news began. They all watched attentively.
Strangely, Yang Yufen wasn’t sleepy anymore during the news broadcast.
After the half-hour program ended, she assumed the day’s activities were over, but Professor Wen called the children to go outside.
"Come on, let’s take the little one for a walk."
The kids sprang up without a hint of exhaustion.
"Did you see the soldiers in the news? Weren’t they incredible, rescuing people during the disaster?"
As they walked, Professor Wen continued quizzing the children about the news.
Somewhere along the way, foreign words Yang Yufen couldn’t understand were mixed into their conversation. Before she knew it, over half an hour had passed as they circled back.
Zhou Ang and Dean Hu had already returned from work.
Yang Yufen took the twins home, and along the way, the two children eagerly pointed at houses and trees, repeating the words Professor Wen had taught them.
"So… learning this ‘bird language’ isn’t as hard as I thought?" Yang Yufen murmured to herself, feeling as if she had memorized some of it too.
That night, she even dreamed of arguing with a foreigner while selling goods, waking up in a fluster.
Splashing cold water on her face, Yang Yufen cooked breakfast before heading to the backyard to feed the chickens and water the vegetables.
"Godmother, here are the practice questions I prepared. Have the kids study them well. There’s an exam this week—if she passes, she can enroll," Little Fang said.
"Ah, thank you, Little Fang. You’ve worked hard."
Yang Yufen quickly took the papers.
"Not at all. I’ll head to school now."
"Alright, be careful on the way."
Wang Xing’s father dropped his child off at Yang Yufen’s doorstep on his bicycle, and the kid confidently walked inside.
"Granny Yang, I’m here!"
"Good timing, let’s eat."
Time flew by. While the nursery remained open, the elementary school children were on break.
Perhaps because of the holiday, the noodle shop’s business boomed, with many families coming in for dinner.
A large bowl of noodles, paid for with extra ration coupons, meant a full meal for the whole family—no dishes to wash afterward.
Though the profit per bowl was smaller, the increased sales kept daily earnings steady.
Just as Ershun’s father had suggested, the family wasn’t afraid of hard work. He even started making sesame-covered flatbreads, which sold well in the mornings and paired perfectly with noodles at lunch. The freshly baked flatbreads, crispy outside and soft inside, became a crowd favorite.
Yang Yufen didn’t take a single cent from the flatbread sales—after all, it wasn’t her idea, and it didn’t take up her space. Plus, the combo boosted the shop’s overall business.
For children, holidays were supposed to be joyful—unless they kept sneaking off to play in the water.
Yang Yufen whipped out a rattan stick and gave Dabao and Erbao a good spanking.
Her heart had nearly stopped when someone came running to tell her the news.
"Aunt Yang! Quick, come with me! The kids fell into the water—a whole group of them, including your Dabao and Erbao! One child is drowning!"
Yang Yufen sprinted all the way, her eyes immediately locking onto Dabao, who was being carried by Army Commander Liao.
Dabao was set down, and Erbao was there too—just too short to spot in the crowd of kids.
Yang Yfen took one look—bare-bottomed, dripping wet—and then scanned the water. No one was left submerged; one child lay on the ground as someone performed CPR.
Without hesitation, she yanked the twins over, skipping the scolding and going straight to the rattan stick.
Whack! Whack! Whack!
The strikes came too fast for the kids to even cry out.
Dabao wailed first, and Erbao’s turn came right after.
"Waaah! Waaah!"
Their cries set off a chain reaction—other parents snapped into action, pulling off belts or delivering slaps. The riverbank echoed with the sounds of discipline.
"He’s alive! He’s alive!"
The child on the ground suddenly coughed up water, and the adults collectively exhaled in relief.
Yang Yufen’s shoulders relaxed.
Whack! Whack!
Better late than never—the child’s mother, who had been kneeling beside him in tears, hugged him tightly before delivering two solid smacks to his backside.
Another ear-splitting wail joined the chorus.
The younger ones got spanked, while the older kids—ranging from three to thirteen—stood with bowed heads. Nearly half the neighborhood had gathered.
Professor Wen arrived in a rush, panting as she carried the youngest child.
"Slow down—here, let me take him."
Yang Yufen quickly reached for the baby.
"Alright, but hand me that rattan stick."
Professor Wen passed the child over but kept her eyes on the switch in Yang Yufen’s hand.
Yang Yufen surrendered it.
Hu Zhenghao, who had just been disciplined by his grandmother, didn’t dare cry.
"Go home and write a reflection—no fewer than 800 words."
At that, Hu Zhenghao burst into tears. His grandmother had never hit him before—she’d always been so gentle! Now, thanks to Granny Yang’s influence, not only had she spanked him, but she was also making him write an essay! Eight hundred words!
Professor Wen, though rarely this furious, ignored the red marks on the children’s skin despite her heartache.
"Yes, Grandma. I know I was wrong."
Sniffling, Hu Zhenghao fetched clothes for Dabao and Erbao and helped them dress.
Wang Xing was the only child who escaped punishment—he had a fear of water after nearly drowning as a child, so he’d stayed onshore. He was also the first to notice the drowning child.
But when the other kids had recklessly swum toward the deep end like a chain of "gourd brothers trying to save their grandpa," it was Wang Xing who ran for help in time.
The incident caused quite a stir, and Yang Yufen didn’t return to the noodle shop for three days.
"The children were wrong, but so were the adults. When it’s hot, everyone wants to cool off—kids and grown-ups alike. Maybe we should build a pool," Army Commander Liao suggested to Dean Hu that night.
Instead of just warning kids to stay away from dangerous waters, they needed a safe place to swim—after all, it was good exercise. They couldn’t just ban it outright.
