The expressions of everyone at the table changed.
Little Linlin added another question, "Are dirt buns delicious?"
The little girl had only ever heard of meat buns; this was the first time in her life she had heard the term "dirt bun" (country bumpkin), and she didn't even realize it was an insult directed at her.
Lin Zhilan smiled and said, "Dirt buns aren't delicious. It's not a nice word, so we don't say it."
Little Linlin nodded in innocent confusion, "Baby eats meat buns. Baby isn't a dirt bun, baby is a meat bun."
"Hahaha..." Jiang Chengzhou was amused by his little sister.
A potential storm vanished into thin air. Regardless of what the adults were thinking, at the very least, Linlin remained unaffected.
Outside the door, Su Lei was still crying.
Su Ming tried to coax him for a moment before impatiently walking to the side and kicking the snow on the threshold.
His parents always said Grandpa and Grandma were biased, but in reality, his parents were biased too.
He hated his younger brother.
Su Lei cried outside until his throat went hoarse, yet Su Ding and Fan Biyun still hadn't appeared.
Lin Zhilan had already noticed the gloomy and anxious expressions on her parents-in-law's faces.
She kicked Su Lang's foot under the table and gave him a look.
Su Lang understood. "Dad, Mom, I'll go out and take a look."
Su Bingcheng and Xu Yueyun silently agreed.
When it came to their grandchildren, the two elders inevitably had soft hearts.
Su Lang opened the door and stepped out, a blast of cold wind hitting his face.
Su Lei was squatting in the snow, crying until he was out of breath. His little face was frozen red, and the snot running from his nose had formed ice crystals.
Su Ming stood nearby, impatiently kicking the snow on the threshold. Seeing Su Lang come out, his body stiffened. "Third Uncle..."
Su Lang didn't reply. He took large strides over to Su Lei and squatted down.
Su Lei and Jiang Chengzhou were about the same age.
But there was already a clear difference in their character and behavior.
As the saying goes, a child's future can be seen at age three. A bad bamboo shooting up a good sprout is always just a rare exception. If this nephew didn't have a strict elder to discipline him, he would be ruined in the future.
"Shut up!"
Su Lei, who was sobbing uncontrollably, was startled. He instinctively stopped crying, though his body was still trembling.
Su Lang secretly cursed his eldest brother in his heart.
The couple lacked responsibility and didn't know how to teach their children. What a useless pair!
He grabbed one child in each hand and hauled them into the house.
Hit by the warm air inside, Su Lei shivered, and his nose started running again.
Su Lang deposited him next to the radiator. "Stand here and don't move!"
Su Ming was also dragged over to stand next to his brother.
The two children stood in front of the radiator, one still sniffling, the other keeping his head down in silence.
Linlin didn't understand. Pointing at Su Lei, she asked, "Mom, what's wrong with him? Isn't his mom coming to pick him up?"
These words undoubtedly twisted the knife in Su Lei's heart, and he burst into loud wails again.
Jiang Chengzhou picked up a soup dumpling for his sister. "Eat your food, ignore them."
Auntie Yu arrived at this moment. Looking at the two children in front of the radiator, she paused, unsure of the situation.
"Auntie Yu," Lin Zhilan stood up, "Do we have ginger at home?"
"Yes, yes, yes," Auntie Yu put down her things, "There's some in the kitchen."
Lin Zhilan followed her into the kitchen, took a few pieces of old ginger, washed them clean, and without peeling them, sliced them thinly, threw them into a pot, poured in water, and turned on the stove.
After a while, Jiang Chengzhou slipped into the kitchen. He stood beside her, watching the ginger slices boil in the pot.
"Aunt."
"Hmm?"
Jiang Chengzhou glanced at Auntie Yu, a hint of displeasure on his face, and whispered, "They just called us dirt buns, why are you still making ginger soup for them?"
Lin Zhilan didn't stop her hands, looking down at him.
Jiang Chengzhou pursed his lips, a small flame burning in his eyes.
This child was very protective of his own.
Lin Zhilan squatted down and whispered in his ear, "Then take a sip and see if it tastes good."
Jiang Chengzhou was stunned for a moment.
Lin Zhilan took a small spoon, scooped a little ginger soup from the pot, blew on it, and brought it to his lips.
Jiang Chengzhou took a sip.
The next second, his face scrunched up.
Spicy!
Too spicy!
Lin Zhilan held back a laugh as she looked at him.
The last time he and Yan Yuan fell into the sea, Lin Zhilan had also made ginger soup for them.
But that had brown sugar added to it, and it tasted much better than this.
Jiang Chengzhou rinsed his mouth with water and suddenly revealed a mischievous smile, his eyes sparkling.
"Aunt," he walked up to Lin Zhilan's ear and lowered his voice, "Put in two more pieces of ginger."
Lin Zhilan almost burst out laughing.
Biting her lip, she nodded and tossed two more pieces of ginger into the pot.
Satisfied, Jiang Chengzhou looked at Auntie Yu.
Auntie Yu lowered her eyes.
Lin Zhilan poked his forehead. "You care about your brothers, but you're afraid to let people know?"
Auntie Yu: "..."
Jiang Chengzhou grinned.
When it came to being wicked, his aunt was the best.
Jiang Chengzhou slipped out of the kitchen with his hands behind his back, returned to the living room, and sat down next to his sister, looking as if nothing had happened.
Lin Zhilan chuckled secretly in the kitchen for a while. Once the ginger soup was ready, she and Auntie Yu carried it out, serving one bowl to each.
Su Ming took his bowl, took a sip, and his expression changed immediately. He shot a glance at his younger brother.
Su Lei still had tear stains on his face. Feeling cold and sore, he saw the ginger soup was hot and brought the bowl to his mouth to drink.
As soon as it entered his mouth, a sharp, spicy flavor shot straight up his nasal cavity.
He opened his mouth, wanting to spit the ginger soup out.
"Try spitting it out, I dare you," Su Lang's voice came from the side, neither light nor heavy.
Su Lei shivered, tears welling up again, but in the end, he didn't dare to spit it out, forcing himself to swallow the mouthful of ginger soup.
Sniffling, he looked tearfully at the remaining ginger soup in the bowl, his face scrunched up.
Linlin threw her hands up and said to her grandparents, "If you're naughty, you have to drink spicy soup."
Xu Yueyun smiled and pinched her cheek. "Our good girl is right."
Su Bingcheng's face burned hotly.
He knew Su Lang had little fondness for his eldest brother now, but when he had called his youngest son earlier, he had praised Su Ming and Su Lei to Su Lang.
He figured that even if the sons' generation couldn't get along, it would be fine if the grandchildren had a good relationship.
With this morning's commotion, that idea was completely ruined!
He didn't realize that with his patriarchal mindset, unless someone exactly like him appeared in the next generation, his ideas would be very difficult to realize.
Clearly, Su Lang was not that kind of person.
Although he had taken in his nephew to raise, he did it out of affection for his eldest sister, not because of some so-called family responsibility.
Over there, the two brothers were dawdling, refusing to drink.
Su Lang said coldly, "Drink everything in your bowls!"
Su Lei was afraid of this rarely seen but very fierce Third Uncle. He forced himself to hold the bowl and finish the hot, spicy ginger soup.
By the time he set the bowl down, his lips were swollen from the spice.
Covered in tears and snot, he just wiped his face with his sleeve.
Su Ming fared a bit better. He drank it silently, placed his bowl on the table, and leaned against the radiator again, keeping his head down without speaking.
Su Lang said, "Mom, Dad, I'll take them back, and while I'm at it, I'll take Zhilan and the kids out for a walk."
Lin Zhilan looked out the window.
The snow had stopped, and the sun had come out, shining on the snow and making everything look bright and clear.
The group headed out the door.
