Step by step, a gentle breeze leads to a smooth path

"Zheng Ruidong, why are you running so fast with Tingnan in the dark? Aren't you afraid she'll fall? Did you run into that guy on the way?" Zheng Xiangqian also has his underlings, and he's very well-informed.

"Yes, you bastard, you deserve a beating!" Zheng Ruidong's anger flared up again.

"He deserves a beating! He deserves a beating! Listen to Nan!" Zheng stepped forward and grabbed Ting Nan. "Ting Nan, shouldn't we martial artists strike when the time is right?"

"Ahem, it's not that it's impossible, but if I leave, will it cause you trouble?" Ting Nan avoided her older brother's gleaming eyes, a little worried.

"No, no, listen to Nan, I'll take care of preparing the sacks!" Zheng Ruidong's tacit understanding was evident, and he even flaunted his newly learned English.

“Okay, it’s decided then. I’ll take Tingnan to catch loaches. Dongzi, you quietly go back and prepare a sack, and hide from people. Many people saw you come to the fields before, so even if you have a motive, you won’t have the time to do it, and no one will suspect you. Remember not to alert Mom. When you get to that camphor tree with the sack, make two bird calls.” Zheng Xiangqian had thought things through thoroughly, even using a code.

How did someone who didn't even graduate from elementary school learn all this?

When his uncle Zheng Yuejin and his grandmother passed away at the same time, Zheng Xiangqian, who was in fifth grade at the time, voluntarily dropped out of school. He came back to help earn work points and support Song Xiuying.

Zheng Xiangqian, the eldest brother, forced Zheng Zhibei, who was in the third grade at the time, to continue his primary school education.

He said that as the eldest brother, he was like a father to his sister, and having already lost one sister, he couldn't let down the other sister who was still by his side.

Later, Zheng Zhibei was chosen by Yang Qingzhou's parents, which was also largely due to her graduating from elementary school.

Back then, very few girls went to school, let alone finished primary school; those were extremely rare.

Xiao Fu's parents believed that going to school would give him knowledge, insight, understanding, and a broad mind, which would benefit the family and future generations, thus continuing the Yang family's good fortune. It must be said that the Yang family parents were truly wise, and Zheng Zhibei certainly lived up to their expectations.

Therefore, Zheng Zhibei is always grateful to his older brother for his happy marriage.

Zheng Ruidong acted immediately, thus missing Song Tingnan's lightning-fast catching of the loach.

When they met again, seeing that the bucket was almost full of loaches in such a short time, and after learning what had happened, Zheng Ruidong glared at Zheng Xiangqian with great resentment, "Brother, why didn't you go get the sack? I could have helped Tingnan carry the flashlight and the bucket."

"Hehehe, I just know you usually hate catching loaches, right?" Under his younger brother's glare, Zheng Xiangqian, who hadn't really tried to catch any loaches tonight, immediately admitted his mistake, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! After we're done, I'll take the sack back, and you can go catch some loaches with Tingnan."

Even a burlap sack costs two cents; we can't let that scoundrel get it for free.

The darkness concealed much ugliness and made it easier for the three siblings, Tingnan, to act.

Zheng Xiangqian knew the man's whereabouts, so he and his younger siblings waited for him on his way to harass the widow.

Before long, that scoundrel arrived. Then, it was Ting Nan who put the sack over his head, and it was also Ting Nan who took down the man with lightning speed. After beating him up enough, Zheng Xiangqian and Zheng Ruidong finally reacted and rushed forward to kick him a few times to vent their anger!

Then, Zheng Xiangqian threw the man far away, making sure no one suspected the widow. Because his own mother was also a widow, Zheng Xiangqian never looked down on widows; on the contrary, he sympathized with them.

Then, following his elder brother's instructions, Zheng Ruidong dragged Tingnan to catch loaches. They waited for Zheng Xiangqian to return before heading home together, laughing and joking.

That night, not only was it fruitful, but the three siblings also fought side by side. Zheng Xiangqian and his brother witnessed their little sister's fighting prowess firsthand and vowed to train hard so that they wouldn't have to wait until the war was over to realize their mistakes—that would be dragging their sister down!

When they got home, Song Xiuying was waiting for the three of them, but she didn't say anything. Seeing the siblings chatting and laughing made her happy too.

After washing up, Song Xiuying asked Tingnan to sleep with her. Tingnan didn't refuse, after all, this was also Tingnan's childhood dream.

"Sleep, sleep, my little baby, sleep, sleep, little cat and dog, don't make a fuss, my baby is going to sleep..." Song Xiuying unconsciously hummed a lullaby.

After a day and night of traveling and fighting, she was quite tired, and soon Tingnan drifted off into a sweet dream.