After lunch, Ye Yaodong hurriedly hauled the two boys back into the room and told them they absolutely must not tell anyone he liked drinking... milk.
"Why?" both children asked in unison.
"Because I'd be embarrassed!" he said irritably. "Look how old your dad is. If people found out I liked drinking milk, wouldn't they laugh at me? What if they made fun of me?"
"That's true! Like how people laugh at you for wetting the bed."
"Exactly!"
"Then we won't tell."
Ye Chengyang adorably covered his mouth too, showing that he wouldn't tell either.
"That's more like it."
"Then, Dad, when will you buy us Malt Milk?"
"We'll go around four or five this afternoon, when the sun isn't so strong."
He had to find some way to explain away that "milk"...
"Yay! I'm going to tell them we'll have Malt Milk to drink soon!" Ye Chenghu's whole face lit up with excitement as he ran off shouting, "Brother A-Hai... Brother A-Jiang... my dad said he's buying... Malt Milk..."
"Wait for me, big brother!"
Listening to his excited voice fade into the distance, Ye Yaodong shook his head. When would this boy ever stop showing off?
After washing the dishes, Lin Xiuqing pushed open the bedroom door and came in. "You're buying them Malt Milk?"
"Yeah, to keep their mouths shut. Otherwise, they'll go blabbing everywhere. You're thick-skinned enough not to be embarrassed, but I am."
"Who's thick-skinned? You're the thick-skinned one. Nobody's more shameless than you..."
"Tch, as if you didn't want it..."
His words embarrassed Lin Xiuqing so much that she turned and left. If she stayed in the room with him any longer, who knew what else he might say?
"Hey, don't go... we've barely exchanged two words. Come in and talk..."
Ye Yaodong had been