The remaining firewood in the stove still gave off warmth.
Under the energy-saving lamp, Jiang Ning peeled shrimp shells and savored them leisurely. Tongtong and Chen Siyu were like evenly matched opponents, discussing the world at large.
"When I was young, I heard about gifted children from other families who became first in their class at seven and could find no rivals."
Chen Siyu asked, "What happened after that?"
Tongtong said, "Then I made a slight move, and from then on, first place was mine."
Chen Siyu clicked her tongue. "Didn't that make you one of those legendary children from other families?"
Chen Siqing said, "Being your opponent must have been pretty miserable."
Xue Chuchu suddenly spoke up. "Not miserable."
Chen Siyu rejected that outright. "Impossible. My parents always use children from other families to motivate me. I hate people like that!"
She had a hundred reasons to refute Chuchu's statement! Xue Chuchu said, "I was the first defeated child from another family."
The twins fell silent.
"Chuchu, have some shrimp." Tongtong's conscience suddenly stirred, and she peeled one for her.
Chen Siyu ate a steamed bun and praised it again. "It's so good."
Then she asked, "Do you know what you can eat for more than ten years without oil or salt and still never get enough of?"
Chen Siqing thought, Sister, are you showing off your experience?
Xue Yuantong was unimpressed. "What's so hard about that? Steamed buns."
Chen Siyu shook her head. "You really are impervious to reason."
By the time dinner was over, it was already past eight.
They wandered around the open space in front of the house for a while. Unfortunately, Black Slave Dongdong had started school, and little black slave Xingxing had started school too. There were no more oxen and horses to