Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Yu Xiaoyu walked ahead, with the twins trailing behind him. Zhi Lan and Zhi Fang flanked the twins, keeping an eye on them. Along with their respective attendants and the big white cat, the procession resembled a string of Calabash Brothers (a reference to a popular Chinese cartoon).

Given their large number and the fact that Yu Xiaoyu and the two young ladies were leading, the matron guarding the Chui Gong Gate didn't stop them, letting them pass directly to the guest house courtyard to find Lu Maomao.

Lu Maomao was currently reading.

Yu Changan had gone to his fiancée's family home to visit her, the Patriarch was resting after the long journey, and there was no sign of Xiaoyu. As it was his first time in the capital and it wasn't wise to wander about, he took out his books to review.

The small courtyard his eldest aunt had arranged for him had two main rooms, with one side room in each of the east and west wings. Though small, it had everything he needed. A stone table with several stools sat in the courtyard for use. Lu Maomao used one room for resting and another as a study, and had Yu Maizi and Yu Guzi stay in the east wing room.

He'd let Yu Guzi go home to spend some time with his family. He'd give Yu Maizi his turn once Yu Guzi got back.

"Maomao, Maomao."

As soon as Yu Xiaoyu reached the entrance to Lu Maomao's courtyard, he couldn't wait to call out inside.

"Xiaoyu came to find me?"

Hearing the voice, Lu Maomao quickly put down his book and stepped out of the room. He had thought he would have to wait until the old master had rested well, everyone had shaken off the fatigue of the journey, and daily routines resumed before he could see Xiaoyu.

He hadn't expected Xiaoyu to come find him before he even went looking.

*Aww*, Xiaoyu was thinking of him too.

However, why had Xiaoyu brought so many people? Two little boys, their eyes damp, looked like they'd been crying. Back in Anping, he was always the one comforting Xiaoyu. Now that they were home, Xiaoyu even had to comfort other people's children. *Ah, well*, considering they looked pretty cute, he'd let it slide for now.

And those two, his friend's sisters, why were they tagging along so boldly to the front courtyard? It wouldn't do if they bumped into unexpected guests.

He'd have to remind Xiaoyu sometime not to bring them out to play so much.

It wasn't that he had double standards, thinking Xiaoyu could come but they couldn't. However unproductive or outlandish their usual idle antics were, wasting time was their own business. Dragging others into it was another story.

"Maomao, got any more music boxes?"

Yu Xiaoyu's voice pulled Lu Maomao's attention back. The twins looked at him with expectant eyes, but the reality was, "Just this one. There aren't any more."

All the toys came from special seeds you plant during festivals. Some were extremely rare, like this music box. Others were plentiful, like those several boxes of wind-up birds and water birds.

Hearing this, the twins' eyes immediately reddened, about to burst into tears and throw a fit any second.

Seeing this, Yu Xiaoyu headed them off, "No crying."

"I want this box." The boy, Yuanyuan, sniffled, pointing at the music box in Yu Xiaoyu's arms. Yu Xiaoyu had wound it once in the morning, and it was still playing.

"Me too," Tuantuan said, his voice thick.

"Maomao, go buy two more." Yu Xiaoyu put in a good word for the twins to Lu Maomao.

Lu Maomao thought: *He* wanted to buy them too, but there was nowhere to buy them. This past spring, to give this box to Xiaoyu, he had gone to great lengths to stage that whole act. He really didn't want to do another one.

"There really aren't any more music boxes. But if you want to hear sounds, there are other fun toys." Lu Maomao crouched down to look the twins in the eye.

"Are they as fun as Uncle Xiaoyu's?" Yuanyuan and Tuantuan asked.

"Hold on, I'll go get them. You'll see in a second."

Lu Maomao stood up to go into the room to find toys for the twins, but the two children couldn't wait another second. As soon as Lu Maomao stood, they ran into the room ahead of him. Zhi Lan and Zhi Fang didn't feel it was proper to enter Lu Maomao's room, so they could only watch helplessly as the twins ran off.

"You two, don't mess with my things." Lu Maomao hurried after them with a sigh.

"Let's sit here and wait."

Yu Xiaoyu waved his two younger sisters over to sit at the stone table in the courtyard.

"Yuanyuan and Tuantuan are becoming such little troublemakers." Zhi Lan said.

Zhi Fang: "They're still young. In another year or two, they won't be like this."

Being all too familiar with that stage of growth, Yu Xiaoyu wholeheartedly agreed with Zhi Fang. The year before last and last year, he was less sensible than his two little nephews. This year, he had already become much more sensible.

Soon, the twins came out, each holding a transparent glass water bird, followed by Lu Maomao carrying a small box.

"These are bird whistles. The sound is just like a bird's call." Yuanyuan and Tuantuan ran to Yu Xiaoyu and their two aunts to show off and immediately started blowing into them.

A chorus of clear, lively bird calls filled the courtyard.

"It really sounds exactly like bird calls." Zhi Lan was an early riser. In the mornings, the trees in the courtyard often echoed with the calls of little birds, one after another, singing in harmony. The sounds the two little ones made were like dozens of birds chirping together.

"How lovely!" Zhi Fang chimed in, "Yuanyuan, Tuantuan, you're so good."

Suckers for praise, the two children blew even more vigorously, and were out of breath soon enough.

"You two, give it a rest." Lu Maomao interrupted the twins, taking two water birds from the box and handing them to Zhi Lan and Zhi Fang. "Here, you two can play with these."

"Add water inside, and they'll make different tones."

Zhi Lan and Zhi Fang took them and thanked Lu Maomao.

But the twins weren't having it. Yuanyuan shouted at Lu Maomao, "The water! You didn't get us water."

"Yeah, you said you'd get it for us."

Tuantuan remembered Lu Maomao promising to add water to their little birds when he coaxed them outside.

"I didn't forget, what's the hurry?"

Lu Maomao brought out the cooled drinking water from his study and added a little to each of theirs. The sound immediately deepened. Adding a bit more changed the pitch again.

The twins played with relentless enthusiasm, and even Zhi Lan and Zhi Fang couldn't help joining in.

Yu Xiaoyu had played with these before, so he didn't join the bird-call brigade. He picked up Lu Maomao's small box to check if Maomao had hidden any toys from him.

"You've seen all of these before."

Yu Xiaoyu nodded. Indeed they were, including some he and Maomao had had made together.

Lu Maomao was also worried the twins might get dizzy from blowing too much. Feeling it was enough, he put his foot down and stopped them from continuing.

But the twins were hooked.

"I want to play more."

"Want to play."

"If you only play with this, don't you want to try the others? We still have a whole box of toys." Lu Maomao nodded toward the box.

The twins' attention was diverted. The nursemaids minding them collected the water birds. The two boys then ran to Yu Xiaoyu, hugged his legs and started climbing up, intending to see what other fun things were in the box.

Lu Maomao pulled the two unceremonious little rascals away from Yu Xiaoyu, placed the box on the ground, and squatted beside them to help pick out toys, while Yu Xiaoyu squatted on the other side to join in.

"These are small tops. The big tops I brought for you need to be spun with a whip, but these small ones you spin with your hands."

Lu Maomao took out a pile of colorful small tops, gave one a twist and sent it spinning on the ground. Soon, several little tops were spinning simultaneously on the floor.

There were many small tops in various colors. As Lu Maomao played with them, the twins enjoyed themselves for a while and didn't fight over who was the older brother again. Kids are good at sizing people up; they quickly realized that this very playful Uncle Maomao was willing to play with them but wouldn't indulge them.

The small tops would stop spinning after a while, requiring another twist to continue. The twins soon lost interest and went to rummage for new toys. They pulled out two yo-yos made of peach wood. Lu Maomao couldn't resist showing off a bit, capturing everyone's attention.

"Maomao, awesome." Yu Xiaoyu couldn't help but cheer for Lu Maomao, who was putting on such a show.

The twins jumped up and down, clapping, "Uncle Maomao is so great!"

When they tried it themselves, either the string was too long and tangled around them, or the yo-yo wouldn't spin properly. Fortunately, Lu Maomao was watching closely, preventing them from getting hit by the yo-yos.

"These are too big for you two; they're difficult to play with. When I have time, I'll get a carpenter to make two smaller ones for you."

Yuanyuan: "Keep your word."

Tuantuan: "Don't lie."

Judging by the children's words, they had probably been tricked many times despite their young age.

"Keep my word."

After all that fun, the twins threw tantrums when lunchtime came, refusing to go back. Lu Maomao picked them up and deposited them into the arms of the nannies caring for them.

Seeing them about to cry again, Lu Maomao and Yu Xiaoyu spoke simultaneously, "No crying!"

The twins looked at Lu Maomao, then at Yu Xiaoyu. "We don't want to go back."

"No, it's time for you to eat."

"Eat with you."

That was even more impossible. Playing with them was one thing, but coaxing them to eat was out of the question. He didn't have children but knew how difficult it was to feed children this age. "Kids can't eat what I eat."

"They can."

"They can't. I'll give you the box." Lu Maomao pointed to the toy box.

The brothers' eyes darted around. After a moment's thought, they found it a fair trade. Afraid Lu Maomao might change his mind, they tightly hugged their respective nannies' necks and urged, "Let's go quickly."

Zhi Lan and Zhi Fang were amused by them. "Two clever little devils."

More like two greedy little devils.

Yu Xiaoyu's music box was saved; after playing all morning, the twins had long forgotten about it. Yu Xiaoyu also didn't have lunch with Lu Maomao, having been called back by his mother.

Second Brother-in-law had spent the morning sorting out the toys Lu Maomao and Yu Xiaoyu had previously given, planning to distribute them when the two troublemakers returned home.

Before they could even play with those toys, they brought back another small box.

"Did you two go out as bandits?"

Yuanyuan and Tuantuan looked at him innocently.

"You've pretty much cleaned out everything from your Uncle Lu, haven't you?"

The twins denied it. "He still has more."

"He can have more made."

That's not just being bandits; that's being *better* than bandits! Taking once wasn't enough; they wanted to wait until he had new things to take again.

Before the kids could get too worked up about playing, Second Brother-in-law had someone put the box away. He supervised the nannies feeding them. Before they even finished eating, the two little ones were so sleepy they could barely keep their eyes open, so he had them coaxed to rest.

Only after finishing these tasks did he have time to inspect the new toys they brought back.

When Yu Changning returned in the evening, he took the water birds the children brought back to him. "These are what your two sons brought back from Xiaoyu's Lu Maomao."

"Made of glass? How could you let them take something so valuable from someone?"

"I didn't let them; they brought it back themselves. Xiaoyu and Mother both said it was fine, let them play. I thought I should tell you. Now these whistles have become your sons' most treasured possessions."

Yu Changning tried blowing one, producing a series of clear, loud bird calls. Such an interesting whistle; no wonder children liked it.

He chuckled. "Feifan really knows how to play. Chang An said Feifan helped Xiaoyu improve by playing games with him. I thought he was joking before, but now I have to believe it. He's even managed to tame our two little rascals. Getting them to return the things is impossible. Please look after Xiaoyu and Feifan more within the inner household."

Second Brother-in-law agreed. "Yuanyuan and Tuantuan were clamoring before bed to go play with their brother-in-law tomorrow."

"Let them enjoy the novelty for a few days. I've already spoken with Teacher Mei. Once Feifan has rested enough, he'll go to school with Old Sixth."

"Then I'll send him some writing materials."

"Yes, and also send him the books I used before and the homework I did."

Upon receiving a pile of study supplies and the notice to start school in three days, Lu Maomao genuinely felt his in-laws' hopes for him to better himself.

Learning never ceases, struggle never ends.