Zhou Guoqiang looked at Zhou Xiaoyun, who was standing in front of him with a serious expression. He looked left and right but didn't see anything unusual: "Xiaoyun, you've been speaking less and less these days, and you don't even make a sound all day long. Your brother said that recently you haven't even acknowledged him. What's going on?"

  He's really a tattletale, Zhou Xiaoyun glared at Xiao Bao with dissatisfaction, then reluctantly explained: "I lost my front teeth, I speak with a lisp, I don't want to talk."

  "This sounds familiar to Zhao Yu Zhen: "What's wrong with speaking carelessly, which child doesn't do that when they're teething? Hai Zi is also teething and I see him talking more than anyone every day. This isn't a reason, have you been unhappy about something lately or has someone bullied you and you didn't dare tell us? Da Bao, have you bullied your little sister?"

  "On the other side, watching the commotion, Big Treasure felt the fire burning on his own body and thought he was very innocent: 'Mom, except for eating and sleeping, I'm always playing outside, I don't even have time to bully Little Sister. Besides, when did I ever bully her? She's my sister! Even if I were to bully others, I wouldn't bully her!'"

  What's the point of bullying others but not her, this sentence sounds awkward. Zhou Guoqiang scolded: "Other kids can't be bullied either, do you think you're a landlord and a tyrant who can bully whoever you want? You've been playing outside all day and haven't come home yet, almost becoming a wild child. From now on, go out less often, did you hear that?"

  Isn't this criticizing Dabao? Why is he scolding himself now? Dabao feels wronged, touches his nose and walks away to avoid the commotion. If he stays any longer, it will become a criticism meeting for himself.

  Zhou Guoqiang's fierce expression had passed, and he turned to his daughter with a softened face, his voice also becoming much gentler: "Dà yā, if you're not feeling well or happy about something, you must tell Daddy and Mommy. We're all worried about you, do you know that?"

  Zhou Xiaoyun couldn't resist her father's rare gentleness, and revealed the truth: "I just think it's really ugly when I talk and my black teeth show, so I don't want to speak."

  The naive reason made the parents present burst out laughing.

  Xiao Bao also understood what her sister said, and suddenly realized: "Oh, I see! So, sis, you're embarrassed about your teeth and that's why you don't want to talk to me? I thought you were mad at me and didn't want to talk to me. But sis, I don't think your two crooked teeth are ugly. I think they're quite cute!"

  What do you know about being ugly and cute, you little brat!

  Zhou Xiaoyun's silent gaze swept towards Xiao Bao, but her younger brother was still quite obedient and considerate. These words made Zhou Xiaoyun feel inexplicably comfortable in her heart. She began to reflect on whether she had been too cold to Xiao Bao recently. Xiao Bao followed behind her and spoke to her, but she ignored him, not even acknowledging his presence, with a pitiful expression on his face. Today, he probably came to tattle to their parents because he truly felt wronged.

  Zhao Yuzhen saw that Zhou Xiaoyun was just being a little temperamental and completely relaxed, she reminded Zhou Xiaoyun to speak properly in the future and not pretend to be mute, Zhou Xiaoyun finally overcame her psychological barrier and returned to "normal".

  Of course, this is normal only for her own siblings and parents, if there are companions who come to find her, she still tries to speak as little as possible.

  Zhou Xiaoyun spent the entire summer vacation at home, rarely going out. At home, there were Dabao, Xiaobao and Er Ya, so she wasn't lonely at all. When she had nothing to do, she would help her mother cook and feed the chickens, and even took out her second-grade textbooks to preview them in advance. Every day, she would play the harmonica and practice calligraphy with a brush pen, filling up her schedule completely.

  After the start of school, Zhou Xiaoyun was surprised to find that many classmates were losing their teeth. As the saying goes, "seven teeth and eight teeth", children at the age of seven or eight are in the process of losing their teeth, and she didn't stand out at all, only then did Zhou Xiaoyun completely put her mind at ease, and finally restored her laughter with a group of little friends.

  Wang Jingjing complained that Zhou Xiaoyun didn't play with them together during the summer vacation, and Zhou Xiaoyun had to speak kindly for half a day to dissipate her good friend's resentment.

  I heard that Zhou Xiaoyun lost two front teeth. Wang Jingjing insisted on taking a look, and Zhou Xiaoyun had no choice but to open her mouth for her to admire.

  Wang Jingjing burst out laughing: "Zhou Xiaoyun, your toothless grin is really ridiculous. I've already replaced eight teeth, and my front teeth were replaced long ago. How come you're just starting to lose teeth? And it's been over a month since the tooth fell out, but no new tooth has grown in yet, it looks really silly." She couldn't stop laughing.

  "See, I knew it would make people laugh," Zhou Xiaoyun said irritably. "You're a year older than me and your teeth came in earlier, of course. I also want my front teeth to grow faster, but they just won't. What can I do?"

  Zhou Xiaoyun decided it was better to keep her mouth shut.

  It's really strange, she's been secretly looking in the mirror every day for a month, and no matter how hard she looks at her gums, there's not even a hint of change or any sign of new teeth coming in. Zhou Xiaoyun is getting anxious. But apart from drinking more bone broth to supplement her calcium, she can't think of anything else to do.

  Zhou Xiaoyun, who used to love raising her hand to read aloud in language class, had been doing so less often, which struck Fang Wenchao as strange. Occasionally, when he called on Zhou Xiaoyun to read the lesson, she would lower her head and speak in a much softer voice, with some unusual pronunciation.

  Fang Wen-chao asked in surprise: "Zhou Xiaoyun, why don't you look up when reading?"

  Zhou Xiaoyun wailed in her heart: Don't, Teacher Fang, at least let me maintain some image in front of you! But since the teacher called, she couldn't not do it, so Zhou Xiaoyun reluctantly lifted her head to read.

  It was only then that Fang Wenchao noticed that Zhou Xiaoyun's two front teeth were gone, and he finally understood the unusual reason behind it.

  But Zhou Xiaoyun looks even more lovely like this...

  Fang Wentao suppressed his smile and couldn't bear to hurt the child's young and fragile heart, letting Zhou Xiaoyun sit down.

  Zhou Xiaoyun couldn't help but notice the smile in Fang Wenchao's eyes, and she just hoped that her new teeth would grow out quickly.

  It's possible that her sincere prayers finally moved heaven, and several weeks after the start of school, Zhou Xiaoyun's front teeth finally grew out a bit. Zhou Xiaoyun looked at those small white teeth and was overjoyed. She brushed her teeth three times a day, determined to make them grow strong and beautiful.

  Brush brush brush! I brush brush brush! I brush again!

  Zhou Xiaoyun's diligent tooth-brushing habits resulted in the toothpaste at home being used up in just a few days, prompting Zhao Yuzhen to advise against such "wasteful" behavior, suggesting that brushing once in the morning was sufficient and there was no need to brush after every meal.

  Zhou Xiaoyun agreed on the surface but did as she pleased behind people's backs, and Zhao Yuzhen had no choice but to turn a blind eye.