Dabao quickly finished his own branch, impatiently licking and eating one mouthful at a time, taking a big bite with a crunching sound, and then swallowing three or two mouthfuls in a row.

  After finishing the big treasure, I still want to eat more. My eyes glanced at Xiaobao's hand: "Xiaobao, give me a lick of your ice cream."

  Xiao Bao looked at his brother with a vigilant gaze, put the ice stick behind him and said: "You have one, why eat mine? I won't give it to you."

  "Mine's finished, can I have a bite of yours?"

  Xiao Bao shook his head in disagreement.

  Dabao saw that Zhao Yuzhen was not in the room, so he and Xiaobao became bolder, stretched out his hand to grab the half ice stick from Xiaobao's hand, took a big bite and then returned it to Xiaobao.

  Xiao Bao burst into tears with a loud "wow", startling Zhao Yuzhen and Zhou Xiaoyun in the house.

  Zhao Yuzhen came out and took one look, then knew it was Dabao bullying his little brother again. She scolded Dabao a couple of times before coming to coax Xiaobao.

  Xiao Bao was being stubborn and refused to eat the popsicle in his hand: "Brother took a big bite, leaving only this little bit, I don't want to eat it anymore."

  Zhao Yuzhen also felt helpless: "Xiaobao, just make do with what you have for now. The ice cream vendor has left, and Mom will buy some for you to eat when the vendor comes tomorrow, okay?"

  Xiao Bao is still crying nonstop.

  Zhao Yuzhen was annoyed and saw Dabao still staring at Xiaobao's hand with a small piece of ice cream, which made her even more angry. She slapped Dabao's butt: "Do you have any brotherly manners? You don't know how to let your younger brother have some, but instead you're snatching food from him!"

  This slap in the face didn't hurt or itch for Dabao, it was almost as if he hadn't been slapped at all. He even had a ready excuse: "I saw that he couldn't finish his food so I ate it for him. If he eats too much, he'll get diarrhea. My body is great, eating more won't be a problem."

  Zhao Yuzhen was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, and didn't bother with the thick-skinned Da Bao, instead going to coax Xiao Bao.

  Zhou Xiaoyun walked to Xiao Bao's side, handed over the ice stick she had only taken two bites of: "Xiao Bao, come and eat this one from sister, sister still has a lot left, look at all the red beans on top, it's delicious, take it quickly."

  Xiao Bao burst out laughing and snatched the popsicle from Zhou Xiaoyun's hand, running into the house to eat it.

  Zhou Xiaoyun took the popsicle from Xiao Bao's hand and handed it to Da Bao: "Brother, have a bite."

  Dabao first stretched out his hand, then remembered that Zhou Xiaoyun hadn't eaten much and felt a bit embarrassed, so he withdrew his hand: "You eat, I've already had one."

  Dabao actually had a shy moment, Zhou Xiaoyun saw it and thought it was rare. She stuffed the popsicle into Dabao's mouth: "You eat, I don't feel like eating today."

  Everyone is happy in the end. The elder child took the ice pop and went out to play happily, while the younger child ate at home with a smile on his face.

  Zhao Yuzhen felt relieved in her heart, Da Ya not only knew how to pamper his younger brother but also understood how to yield to his older brother, really good. Even a small child who understands things makes people's hearts ache, and he hasn't even eaten two mouthfuls yet. Next time, she must make it up to Da Ya.

  From then on, the children of the Zhou family never quarreled over ice pops again.

  The next day, as soon as the hawker's cry sounded, Zhao Yuzhen went out and bought a stick of popsicle and three red bean ice bars back.

  That one inflated ice cream cone was naturally given to Zhou Xiaoyun who behaved well, and the other three children each had a red bean popsicle.

  Xiaobao and Er Ya had no objection to such an allocation, while Dabao, who should have had an opinion, was still feeling guilty about what happened the day before and didn't say a word.

  Zhou Xiaoyun knew that the puffed ice cream was Dabao's favorite, so she actively offered to exchange it with him. Dabao declined at first but eventually agreed, and in his heart, he grew more and more fond of his younger sister.

  Zhao Yuzhen was delighted to see the four children getting along so well.

  Zhou's father came back and saw the kids eating ice pops, which was a bit strange. Zhao Yuzhen rarely did such generous things. After listening to what Zhao Yuzhen said about the past two days, he was also delighted: "His mom, our kids are more sensible than before."

  Zhao Yuzhen smiled and nodded: "Dabao has been mischievous since he was a child, but there are not many boys who are honest. Xiaobao has been sick less often recently and doesn't pick at his food like before. Erliao is three years younger than Dabao but seems more like Dabao's older sister, she's much more sensible than Dabao. I think our family's Erliao will be just like her sister when she grows up."

  Zhou's father nodded in agreement, and the two of them started talking about the start of school again.

  "Damn it, there are only two days left before school starts. The tuition fees for both Dabao and Daly add up to over 30,000 yuan, will our family have enough money?"

  Zhao Yuzhen calculated in her heart: "There are still 26 yuan in cash at home, and the chicken eggs and duck eggs at home will be taken to the market tomorrow to sell, estimated to be sold for 4 or 5 yuan. Calculating it, there is still a shortage of several yuan."

  "Why don't I go ask your elder brother for some money first and then return it to him in a few days when we have some?" suggested Father Zhou.

  Zhao Yuzhen disagreed: "We borrowed ten yuan from his family last time and haven't returned it yet, how can we go borrow again? Or I'll pack a bag of wheat from home to the grain station tomorrow and sell it, which will be enough."

  "Then sell a bag of wheat. Tomorrow early in the morning, I'll get up and go with you."