Deng Jing touched his little face. "You're Li Li, right?"
"Mm," Su Li nodded. "Who are you?"
Linlin reminded her little brother, "This is Second Aunt."
"Huh?" Su Li's eyes went wide. He pointed a chubby finger at Su Jue. "You love? Him too?"
The siblings couldn't pronounce "Second" and "Aunt" properly, which made the thin-skinned Deng Jing and Su Jue blush with embarrassment.
Luckily, the kids didn't think anything of it.
Su Li's attention quickly shifted to the rice candy on the table, nearly drooling.
Deng Jing found it amusing and broke off a small piece for him.
Su Li didn't take it right away. Instead, he quickly glanced at his older brother and sister.
No one stopped him, so he snatched it up fast.
He didn't eat it right away either. Instead, he burrowed into Su Jue's arms, hiding inside his jacket, nibbling it secretly like a little mouse.
Su Jue was exasperated. He knew the little rascal was afraid of getting scolded.
Su Li was still teething, and Lin Zhilan and Su Lang rarely gave him sweets, strictly controlling his intake.
Now that he'd managed to get a piece, Su Li knew to eat it on the sly.
Lin Zhilan and Su Lang had already heard the children's voices and were just leading Su Pei and Su Yao out of the room.
Su Li's ears perked up. The moment he heard his mother's footsteps, he reacted instantly.
He took a bite first, then shoved the remaining half of the rice candy into Su Jue's mouth before anyone could blink.
Su Jue: "..."
There was even drool from the little brat on it!
Su Jue had never been one to approve of hitting kids, but even he was getting itchy hands now.
Su Li had already turned around, facing Lin Zhilan and Su Lang, and said all too obviously, "Didn't eat!"
Lin Zhilan said nothing. So he pointed at Su Jue and tattled, "He loves eating. Hit him!"
Su Jue, with the rice candy stuffed in his mouth, went from shock to helplessness.
Deng Jing, seeing him taken down a peg for once, couldn't help but quirk her lips.
Su Jue caught that smile and suddenly found the drool-covered rice candy not so hard to swallow.
Lin Zhilan didn't even need to ask to know what had happened.
But she wasn't going to deal with the little rascal right away.
"Come here," she called to Su Li.
Su Li pouted, burying his face in Su Jue's arm, pretending not to hear.
Lin Zhilan sighed. "I'm not going to hit you this time."
"Teehee." Su Li immediately broke into a grin, ran over, and hugged his mother's leg.
"These are your Big Sister Peipei and Big Sister Yaoyao from Second Aunt's side," Lin Zhilan said, pulling him over to Su Pei and Su Yao. "Now, say hello."
Su Li looked up and obediently called out, "Big Sister!"
Su Li was good-looking. When he wasn't being a little troublemaker, he seemed pretty well-behaved.
Su Pei and Su Yao smiled at him. "Hello, little brother."
Lin Zhilan nodded with satisfaction, her gaze falling on Su Li's innocent little face, then on the two gentle, well-behaved nieces beside him.
Suddenly, a line from Dream of the Red Chamber came to mind, the one where Lady Wang first meets Lin Daiyu:
"I have a little fiend, a hellion born to stir up trouble..."
Whether Jia Baoyu was a hellion or not, Lin Zhilan couldn't say. But her own son? He was definitely one.
Lin Zhilan pulled Su Pei and Su Yao into her arms. "Your little brother is very naughty. As his big sisters, you should keep him in line."
Su Pei liked her Little Aunt a lot. She pressed her lips together and smiled. "I don't know how to keep him in line."
"Let me show you!" Linlin raised her hand.
She walked over, took Su Li's hand, and slapped his palm a few times.
Lin Zhilan said to her two nieces, "That's how you do it. Learn from your little sister. Don't be afraid of him."
Deng Jing quickly stood up. "Zhilan, you shouldn't be teaching the kids like that."
Su Li, not realizing Deng Jing was defending him, wiggled his bottom and taunted his sister, "Doesn't hurt at all, doesn't hurt at all! Nyeh nyeh nyeh!"
Wow.
Lin Zhilan was utterly speechless at her son's outrageous behavior.
"Su Lang!"
Su Lang quickly grabbed Su Li by the collar and hauled him outside.
Even as he was being carried out, Su Li was still making faces at Su Pei and Su Yao.
Deng Jing was dumbfounded. Su Pei and Su Yao were stunned too.
Lin Zhilan shrugged at Deng Jing and spread her hands. "Second Sister-in-Law, now you see what kind of monster I gave birth to, right?"
Deng Jing burst out laughing.
Jiang Chengzhou had been raised by them to be well-behaved and sensible, and Linlin was a sweet, clever girl. No one had expected Zhilan's younger son to turn out like this.
And this was just the beginning.
Lunch was at Xu Yueyun's place.
Over the course of one meal, the three little girls had already warmed up to each other again, chattering away and making plans to sleep together that night.
Deng Jing naturally came along as well.
Su Jue knew the road ahead was long for him, but he followed anyway.
He wanted to get closer to his daughters and asked Su Lang for advice on how to braid a girl's hair.
Su Lang didn't refuse. He used Linlin as a model and demonstrated for his Second Uncle.
Su Pei and Su Yao still remembered their father, but he felt distant to them, and they didn't dare get close.
Kids are good at reading their parents' expressions.
When their mother kept a distance from their father, they felt distant from him too.
When Su Jue offered to braid his daughters' hair, Deng Jing didn't refuse. In fact, she encouraged them a little.
With Linlin there for company, Peipei and Yaoyao finally agreed.
Deng Jing watched from the side as Su Jue braided their hair. Su Pei and Su Yao had faint smiles on their faces, their eyes bright.
Deng Jing found herself smiling too, though a bittersweet ache rose in her chest.
"Love!"
A babyish voice interrupted her thoughts.
Deng Jing looked down. Su Li had somehow snuck over to her legs, his eyes sparkling as he looked up at her.
"What is it, Li Li?" Deng Jing curved her lips and reached out to ruffle his hair.
"A present."
Su Li hid his hands behind his back, squirming a little.
"You want to give me a present?" Deng Jing asked.
Su Li nodded obediently, his expression as sweet and innocent as could be.
He'd inherited his parents' good genes—pale skin, bright eyes, a straight nose, and delicate, soft features.
Anyone meeting him for the first time would be fooled by his looks.
After the two incidents that morning, Deng Jing still hadn't fully grasped what Su Li was really like.
When Su Li flashed her that smile, Deng Jing's heart nearly melted.
She bent down, hands on her knees, and asked with a smile, "What are you giving Second Aunt, hmm?"
Su Li showed off a row of baby teeth and held up something in both hands.
"Ribbit ribbit!"
A frog. A live one.
Deng Jing instinctively stepped back, stumbled over the threshold, and fell backward.
A hand caught her firmly around the waist.
Su Jue had somehow appeared behind her, steadying her completely.
Afraid she might pull away, he quickly let go and shielded her behind him.
"Don't be afraid. I'm here."
No one else knew, but Su Jue remembered—Deng Jing was terrified of frogs, lizards, earthworms, anything soft and wriggly.
"Su Li! Second Aunt is scared of frogs. Get rid of it right now."
