"Child, I'm your-daddy!"
"Whose daddy are you? I'll kick you to death, you little bastard!"
The sounds of arguing and scuffling came from outside the courtyard.
Inside the courtyard, Chen Xingbang turned his head and listened for a moment before saying to Li Xia, "See? Your daughter's getting more and more out of hand. When did she learn to swear like that? She was speaking perfectly good Mandarin, then suddenly out comes that line!"
"Who else would she have picked it up from but us?" Li Xia, who was loading things into the car, shot him a glare. "You think someone went out of their way to teach her to swear? Still, there's no need to be polite to those little brats! Just listen to what they're singing..."
Chen Xingbang smiled. "What's the harm? They're kids. It's normal for them to be mischievous... Speaking of which," he lowered his voice, "isn't it time we had another? Hongqin must be lonely as an only child. Look, your eldest brother has two, your second brother has two, and Xiao Long has two..."
Li Xia actually wanted another too, but she was rather busy now. She had pigs and sheep to raise, and Chen Xingbang was busy all day and hardly home. Could she manage to look after another child?
Seeing Li Xia hesitate, Chen Xingbang intended to persuade her some more. After all, not having a son had always bothered him.
But before he could speak, Hongqin came running back in a huff. He stopped himself, deciding to bring it up another day.
"What happened? Who did you fight with this time?" Li Xia asked Hongqin after finishing loading the trunk.
"Liu Zhongping, from the Liu family down the street," Hongqin complained. "We were playing just fine, then he suddenly started singing.