"Grandma!" Tian Lai Bao pulled on Tian San's sleeve, with a pleading expression. Tian San didn't want to scold her grandson, but she didn't believe he had really fallen and wasn't willing to let Xia Zhi off so easily.

  "Come on, Lai Bao." Little Black Fish was very clever and called out to Tian Lai Bao, "Want to play with me?"

  Tian Lai Bao opened his eyes wide, took a quick glance at Xia Zhi, then nodded towards Xiao Hei Yu Er. Because Xiao Hei Yu Er stretched out his hand to him, he also walked over and shook hands with Xiao Hei Yu Er.

  "Come on, I'll take you out to play." Little Black Fish pulled Tian Lai Bao outside. The little guy understood in his heart that as long as Tian Lai Bao left, Grandma Tian San wouldn't be able to hold onto Xia Zhi anymore.

  Tianlai Bao followed Xiao Hei Yu to go out, and glanced at Xia Zhi, meaning why Xia Zhi was standing still and not going with them to have fun?

  Looking at her grandson like this, Tian San's face was extremely complicated. At this time, there were footsteps and voices in the courtyard, Xia Zhi heard Tian Lai Bao call out "Big Brother-in-law", and soon a sturdy middle-aged man walked in from outside.

  A middle-aged man entered the house, very politely greeting Old Man Xia and Old Lady Xia, addressing them as "Uncle" and "Aunt", then went to Tian San's mother and called out "Mother".

  This is Tian San Niang's eldest son, Tian Lai Bao's brother-in-law, and the old Tian family's Tian Fu Gui under the big oak tree.

  "Mom, I just came back from outside. I guessed you'd be around here." Tian Fugui's voice was very pleasant. "I see, Come Treasure and Little Dragon are getting along well."

  Xiao Hei Yu and Tian Lai Bao walked in hand in hand from outside, looking quite harmonious.

  Tian San's grandma snorted and looked at Xia Zhi, whose nose was not a nose and face was not a face.

  Tian Fugui then said to Lao Yezi, "Uncle, when Bao comes to live with his grandma, he doesn't have a suitable playmate. My mother brought him here to get acquainted with Little Dragon. Among the children of our village at this age, only Little Dragon is the most loyal and sensible. With Bao playing with Little Dragon, we can all rest assured."

  Grandma Tian wanted to say something else, but after looking at her eldest son and then at her little grandson, she didn't say anything unpleasant in the end.

  Mr. Xia was quite familiar with Tian Fugui and knew he was a straightforward person. After Tian Fugui opened up, Mr. Xia was delighted, praising Tian Lai Bao's good looks, and exchanged a few pleasantries with Tian Fugui before asking Mrs. Xia to prepare lunch, saying they would invite the three members of the Tian family to stay for dinner.

  Tian San's grandmother was still a bit unhappy and didn't want to stay for dinner. Tian Fugui also said he had something to do, so he took his mother and nephew and bid farewell. Old Man Xia didn't insist on them staying either, and saw the few members of the Tian family off all the way to the gate.

  Xia Zhi and Xiao Hei followed to see off the guests, then followed Xia Lao Ye and Xia Lao Tai back home. After returning to the house, Xia Lao Ye asked Xia Zhi: "What's going on?"

  "That's what happened..." Xia Zhi explained, "He was a big guy with more people than Lao Shu, it was clear he was bullying Lao Shu. I couldn't help but lose my temper... I also disciplined Xiao Shu like this when he made mistakes, and it didn't hurt him, the effect was quite good."

  Old Xia didn't say anything.

  Xiao Hei Yu Er was worried that Xia Lao Ye Zi would blame Xia Zhi, so he quickly took the responsibility upon himself: "Dad, we were playing happily, and when he came, I didn't say no to him playing with us. It's him who brought people to chase us away. Xia Zhi is also afraid of me getting hurt. Dad, don't blame Xia Zhi. If you want to hit someone, hit me."

  Saying so, Xiao Hei Yu tightly pursed his small mouth and stood up with both hands supporting the edge of the kang.

  This is the standard pose for getting beaten up.

  Actually, Old Man Xia really wanted to give Xiao Hei a good scolding. Although he already knew what had happened and that Xiao Hei and Xia Zhi weren't the ones who started it, he was stricter with his own children after all. Since something had happened, punishing his own child wasn't about giving others an explanation, but rather to teach them a lesson so they wouldn't become more reckless in the future and get into trouble easily.

  The little black fish has put on a showy display, and if he wants to fight again, it seems like he can't bring himself to do it.

  "Grandpa, you have to be reasonable." Xia Zhi hurriedly protected Xiao Hei, "If you really want to hit someone, it should be me."

  How could Old Man Xia lay hands on his little granddaughter who had already moved out! He looked at the two children, both angry and amused: "You two!"

  That means they won't be punished anymore.

  Little black fish let out a cheer and jumped beside Old Lady Xia, shouting "Mother!"

  Old Lady Xia smiled all over her face and poked the little black fish's forehead with her finger.

  Xia Lao Ye Zi also smiled, calling Xia Zhi and Xiao Hei Yu Er to his side: "You two uncle and nephew have a good relationship, knowing how to take care of each other, this is a good thing. However, from now on, you are not allowed to fight again, everything should be done with harmony as the priority... You two rely on your cleverness to bully others' children, do they not notice?! Next time, it's not allowed!"

  Xia Zhi and Xiao Hei both nodded, indicating that they had learned a lesson. Xia Zhi saw that Old Man Xia's expression had eased up and he was no longer angry, so she said to him again: "Grandpa, is the one who came, Bao, from the city? So spoiled and arrogant, it really was lucky that I and Uncle were there, or else we wouldn't know which child in our village would have been bullied by them!"

  Old Xia did not comment on this sentence.

  Xia Zhi looked at the time and it wasn't early, so he came out from the backyard to prepare lunch. Xiao Hei also went out to play, leaving only Xia Lao Ye and Xia Lao Tai in the house.

  "Thanks to Sixteen today," said Old Lady Xia to Old Man Xia. "What that child Sixteen says is also right."

  Old Man Xia lightly murmured in agreement and didn't say anything else.

  Xia Zhi returned home, and Xia Qiao had already come back from the ground. He saw the red-painted book and pen in Xia Zhi's hand, and his gaze stopped.

  "It was given by Grandma in the backyard." Xia Zhi then told Xia Qiao about what happened after following Xiao Hei Yu and Xia Lao Ye Zi to learn characters and write.

  Xiaqiao nodded and said, "Sixteen, if you want to learn, I can teach you."

  "Alright." Xia Zhi replied crisply, and the teacher didn't seem to mind at all.

  After a while, she cooked and served the meal, then called Xiaoshu back. The three siblings had their meal together, and Xiaqiao voluntarily helped Xia Zhi with the chores.

  "Brother, take a rest, it's tiring working in the fields. I'll do these tasks myself." Xia Zhi said to Xia Qiao.

  "It doesn't matter, I'm idle anyway." Xia Qiao continued to help Xia Zhi with her work.

  It's said that Tian's preference for boys over girls made Xiaoshu a bit biased, but not Xiaqiao. In Xia Zhi's eyes, this young man was unassuming and plain, with a subtle air of bookishness in his words and deeds.

  "Big brother, have you ever thought about continuing your studies?" Xia Zhi suddenly said.

  Xiaqiao's hand paused. He had once told Xia Xiuzai and Tian Shi that he didn't want to read books. But now, alone with his sister, he couldn't bring himself to say such insincere words. The young man's face revealed a bitter smile: "Sixteen, our family's circumstances... I'm old, wasted a few years, reading books is useless now."

  Recommended weak Yan complete works Tianwen "Reborn Small Landlord"