Chen Sitian went to get the certificate issued, then came running back with rosy cheeks, bringing Lin Zhiyu with her.
"Mom, I found you a helper. My sister and I are taking the exam tomorrow, so Zhiyu can give you a hand then. We're at her house anyway, borrowing her family's sewing machine."
Mother Chen hurriedly stood up and said politely, a smile all over her face, "How could I trouble her? Honestly, child, she's a university student and has plenty to do. How can you ask her to help? I can manage on my own."
"It's all right. We're good sisters who grew up together, so of course we help each other. Right, Zhiyu?"
Lin Zhiyu smiled and nodded obediently. "That's right, Auntie, it's just a little favor. Sitian and I are close, and I have nothing else to do. I've spent plenty of time at your house growing up, too. I'm only giving you a hand."
"Good girl, I'll get you some sponge cake..."
Lin Zhiyu quickly stopped her. "No need, Auntie. I'm not a little kid anymore. Save it for the twins. It'll be mealtime soon, and if I eat now, I won't have room for dinner. I'm not a little kid with two stomachs."
Chen Haichao leaned back in his chair with his leg crossed. "It's not every day my mom offers you some, and you're turning it down? Even if you don't want it, you could take it and share it with me. I don't even get the crumbs!"
Mother Chen glared at him. "You're not old yet, but you still think you're a child?"
"As long as I'm not married, I'm a child. Even an unmarried thirty-year-old is a child!"
"When did your skin get so thick? In the old days, someone in their thirties could be a grandfather already, yet here you are calling yourself a child. People would die laughing if they heard you."
Chen Haichao didn't stoop to arguing with his mother. She was far too ignorant!
Lin Zhiyu changed the subject. "Auntie, Sitian and Sister Panpan's new names sound so lovely. Their new names will surely bring them good luck. Hearing them makes me want to change mine, too."
"You can't go changing your name on a whim. Yours sounds so lovely, and you got into university, too. That shows your name suits you. You're sure to have the good fortune to become a cadre someday..."
Chen Haichao watched the women chattering away and cutting fabric in the room. After sitting there for a while, he went outside.
The boy and girl twins had spent the whole day fussing over the little bird, carrying it everywhere to show it off, yet refusing to let people crowd around and stare for long. A whole group of children trailed after them, and the twins were quite pleased with themselves.
"The sun's going down and the wind's picking up. If you two don't take the bird inside and feed it, it'll freeze to death."
"Right away!" Chen Xiaoliu answered, while Chen Xiaoqi began shooing people away again.
The two of them pattered home with Xiao Ba in their arms.
He leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed. "What if Xiao Ba's mom and dad come looking and carry it away in their beaks?"
"Huh? Do its mom and dad still want it? Didn't they abandon it?" Chen Xiaoliu held the nest tightly.
"Maybe they lost it by accident and are looking for it now."
Chen Xiaoqi lowered his head, his eyes full of reluctance too. "Then... we'll wait until its mom and dad come and see what happens."
Suddenly, Chen Xiaoliu's face lit up with joy. "Then we can keep its mom and dad here too! That way we'll have lots of birds."
Chen Haichao was taken aback. Did her mind work that fast?
"Big Brother, where are its mom and dad?"
"How would I know?"
All those cormorants looked as if they'd come from the same mold to him. Who knew which pair they were? He didn't even know whether they were in that flock.
"Then we'll bring it out into the sun more often, and when its mom and dad come looking, they can stay at our house too, so the whole family can be together."
He tugged at the little dragonfly on her head. "In your dreams."
Chen Xiaoliu slapped his hand away and touched her hair, then murmured to the little bird, "Xiao Ba, I'll definitely find your mom and dad..."
Chen Haichao couldn't bear to watch them being so silly. Out of sight, out of mind; he went to check how dry the dried shrimp were.
Lin Zhiyu stayed at their house until just before dinner.
Seeing her pretty, fair face flushed pink and her steps so light, he couldn't resist teasing her.
"Finished working, university student? Coming back tomorrow?"
Lin Zhiyu turned and glared at him, raised a little fist and gave a soft snort. Then she turned away with a smile and ran off.
Inside, Mother Chen was speaking regretfully in a low voice. "Zhiyu is such a good girl, and you children are all close. You went to school and grew up together. What a pity our family isn't good enough for hers. Otherwise, she'd be just right as Haichao's wife."
Chen Sitian shushed her. "Mom, you can't say that. She's our village's golden phoenix."
"I was just saying."
Chen Haichao heard the conversation inside too. He stopped short instead of going in and looked at Lin Zhiyu's departing figure, feeling a little helpless. Who didn't want to eat swan meat? Who didn't have a white moonlight?
But reality was reality, and a person had to face it. Anything he said now would be empty talk. Just wait until he made his fortune!
After dinner, the twins carried the nest into his room again. By the time he came back from turning the dried shrimp at the threshing ground, they had already crawled under his quilt.
His brows were drawn tight enough to crush a fly. "Out!"
Both of them pulled their heads under the quilt too, not showing so much as a speck of themselves. Giggles came from the two lumps beneath it.
"If you don't come out, I'll fart in there. I've been eating sweet potatoes for days, so I've got plenty of gas. I'll squeeze one out as a treat for you two."
"Ah! Don't!"
"No! Stinky brother!"
The two of them cried out and hurriedly threw off the quilt.
Chen Haichao picked up Chen Xiaoliu, wrapped a padded jacket around her and carried her outside.
"No, Big Brother, I want to sleep with you!" Chen Xiaoliu clung tightly to his neck and clamped her legs around him too, like an octopus.
"No. If both of you sleep with me, I won't get any sleep."
"I'll be good and listen. I'll sleep properly, I promise."
Chen Haichao's heart was stone, and he remained unmoved.
He might as well believe he was Qin Shi Huang as believe they would sleep properly.
Even if they pretended to behave before bed, they absolutely wouldn't stay still once they were asleep!
"Big Brother~ Big Brother~"
"Calling me Grandpa won't help either."
"Grandpa is sleeping underground..."
Chen Haichao smacked her on the bottom. "No talking! Shut that little mouth!"
"No, I don't want to sleep with Dad. Dad snores..."
He knocked on his parents' door and called out. Once he was allowed in, he tucked Chen Xiaoliu into bed with them.
"Here, she's yours! Both of them can't sleep with me!"
"Then I want to sleep with Big Sister."
"Suit yourself."
When he returned to his room, Chen Xiaoqi immediately stuck his bottom up at him, going, "Pfft, pfft, pfft~"
Chen Haichao's face darkened, and he rewarded him with a smack on the bottom too. "You idiot! No wonder Xiao Liu has you completely under her thumb every day. Hurry up and sleep."
"Big Brother, can't you let me be Xiao Liu's older brother? Then she wouldn't be able to bully me."
"You dummy, still set on being sixth?"
"Yeah."
"Go to sleep. Eat more and grow taller and smarter, and you won't want to be sixth anymore."
"Why?"
He wanted to ask why, too. He was clearly their older brother, so why did he have to be like a father to them?
"There aren't so many whys. One more word out of you, and you'll be thrown out too."
With that cautionary example before him, Chen Xiaoqi obediently shut his mouth and hid under the quilt to carry on playing.