Chapter 290: The Three Little Ones Go to the City

Laicai whispered, “Big Brother, can you take us into the city for a few days? If not, my dad is going to beat us to death.”

They never expected things to get this serious. They were just roasting a rat—how did it turn into such a mess?

Zhou Yimin shook his head. “If it were a normal day and you just wanted to go into the city, I’d take you. But if you’re just trying to run away from your problems, then I won’t.”

He didn’t want his younger siblings to become the kind of people who ran at the first sign of trouble. He wanted them to stand tall and face things head-on.

Hearing Zhou Yimin’s words, the hope that had just begun to rise in Laifu and Laicai instantly crumbled.

The team leader helped support Zhou Anxu, and Zhou Yimin led the four boys back into the village.

News of Zhou Anxu getting injured quickly spread through the village, along with the “glorious” deeds of the four boys.

Laifu and Laicai were taken home by their third aunt, who gave them a serious scolding.

Originally, the two of them had planned to hide at Zhou Yimin’s house. Who knew they’d get intercepted by Third Aunt halfway there?

“Big Brother, how about you come home with us!” Laicai wasn’t ready to give up.

If their big brother came along, maybe their mom would show some mercy for his sake and not beat them.

“I’ve got to go back and take care of Brother Xu, so I can’t,” Zhou Yimin said, then quickly walked off, afraid that if he lingered, he’d be dragged into it.

Besides, those two needed to learn a lesson—and it had to stick.

Watching Zhou Yimin walk away, Laifu and Laicai could only hang their heads and follow their mom home.

Before they even got to the house, they saw Laifang and Zhou Xuqing standing at the doorway—and Zhou Xuqing was holding a rattan whip.

Laifang whispered, “Big Brother, Second Brother, you’re doomed. You ate roasted rat and didn’t even invite me.”

Then she stepped aside to give their dad space to go all out.

Zhou Xuqing grabbed one in each hand and dragged them inside, swinging the rattan down hard. “Let’s see if you dare next time!”

Before Laifu and Laicai could even react, they were already being whipped and quickly begged for mercy, “Dad! We won’t do it again! Please stop!”

If they didn’t admit their mistake now, the beating would only get worse. This was the hard-earned wisdom from countless past beatings.

Zhou Xuqing gave them a few more hard lashes before finally putting the rattan down.

After disciplining them, he fetched a bottle of bulk baijiu from home and headed toward Zhou Anxu’s house.

Even though it was just loose baijiu, he usually wouldn’t drink it himself—yet now he was bringing it as a gift. It made his heart ache.

But there was no helping it. Zhou Anxu had gotten hurt saving his two sons. No matter how you looked at it, he owed him.

After thinking it over, the baijiu was the only thing he could really give.

As for the other two little rascals, they weren’t off the hook either. They got a beating at home too. The only real punishment the village handed out was that the families of the four boys had to rebuild the guard shelter. No further consequences were given.

Zhou Yimin returned home and saw Xu Xiangbei already seated at the table. Judging by the look of things, the food was ready and waiting on him. Zhou Yimin said, “Sorry, something came up. I got back late.”

“Let’s eat,” the old man said when he saw Zhou Yimin return, not asking for details.

This meal was quite the feast—there were two meat dishes alone: stir-fried pork belly with chili and abalone stew with duck.

Every time Xu Xiangbei ate at Zhou Yimin’s, he ended up stuffed. The food was always top-notch.

“Brother Xu, how long until the reservoir’s done?” Zhou Yimin asked.

Xu Xiangbei thought for a moment and replied, “At the current pace, at least two to three months.”

If it weren’t for the fact that the Zhou Family Village had plenty of manpower and everyone worked hard, it would take even longer.

Zhou Yimin nodded—looked like the timeline wasn’t too far off from what he’d expected.

After a bit more small talk, Xu Xiangbei got ready to leave. As an engineer, he still had plenty on his plate, so it wasn’t easy for him to make this trip in the first place.

Zhou Yimin packed up a few things and said, “Brother Xu, here’s some dried seafood—hope you don’t mind!”

There were two dried sea fish, along with some dried abalone and scallops.

Xu Xiangbei wanted to decline at first, but couldn’t win the argument in the end and accepted them.

Only after he accepted did Zhou Yimin feel satisfied. He waved. “Brother Xu, safe travels.”

Xu Xiangbei waved back and rode off on his bicycle.

After a full meal, Zhou Yimin started to feel sleepy and thought about taking a nap to recharge.

Right then, three small figures ran straight in.

Zhou Yimin saw Laifu and Laicai’s bodies covered in red marks—clearly they’d been beaten pretty badly. He pulled a few candies from his pocket. “Come here and have some sweets.”

At the mention of candy, they forgot about the pain and rushed over, especially Laicai, who immediately began flattering him.

Zhou Yimin handed out three White Rabbit candies to each of them, then asked, “Wanna go into the city?”

Ever since he transmigrated back, he realized he hadn’t taken the three of them into the city. This seemed like a good opportunity to give them a treat.

“Big Brother, are you serious?” Laicai exclaimed excitedly.

Going into the city for fun? No kid in the village had ever done that!

Laifu hesitated. “But Big Brother, didn’t you say you wouldn’t take us into the city?”

Zhou Yimin explained, “Just now I didn’t want to take you because I didn’t want you to run away from problems. But now I’m taking you because—” He gave up midway. “Are you going or not?”

“Yes! Of course we’re going! Thank you, Big Brother!”

They were afraid that if they didn’t answer fast enough, he’d change his mind.

Laifu and Laifang were just as thrilled.

“Alright, I’ll go let your mom know, then we’ll head to the city,” said Zhou Yimin.

He rolled out his bike, and the three little ones hurried after him.

At Third Aunt’s house, Zhou Yimin explained the situation.

Third Aunt warned them sternly, “You better not cause trouble for your big brother, got it? Otherwise, you’ll regret it when you come back.”

The three little ones were clearly intimidated. Whatever mischievous thoughts they had instantly vanished.

And so, Zhou Yimin took the three little ones into the city.

Laifu held Laifang on the back seat. Luckily, the bike’s back seat was wide enough to hold two kids. Laicai sat on the iron bar in front.

Everywhere they went, the three little ones bragged that their big brother was taking them into the city to play, drawing envious looks from all the other kids.

(End of Chapter)