Chapter 717 - 370: Hulu Isn’t as Smart as Me

Chapter 717: Chapter 370: Hulu Isn’t as Smart as Me

The moment Hulu saw his aunt feeding the baby girl, he hurried over for a look. But as soon as he turned to leave, Banli, lying in the bed, could no longer see his profile and immediately started to fuss, waving his arms and wailing.

Juhua quickly said to Hulu, "Hulu, sweetie, go play with your little brother, or he’s going to cry. Once your sister is done eating, I’ll put her on the bed for you to see."

Liu Yunlan got up, took the cup from Mrs. Wang’s hand, and set it on the table with her own. She turned, bent down, and said to her son, "Hulu, go stand by your little brother’s bed. He likes you so much, you know. He misses you the moment you’re out of sight. See? He’s about to start crying!"

Pu Pao came over, took Hulu’s hand, and pulled him toward the bed. "Banli misses his big brother! Come on, big brother, go cheer him up!"

Little Hulu desperately wanted to see the baby girl, but everyone was telling him to go pacify his little brother. Having no choice, he returned to the bedside, and the moment Banli saw him, the baby broke into a smile.

Hulu must have found it amusing too. He leaned over the railing of the small bed and reached out his little hand to touch the baby’s face. The tiny tot immediately laughed louder, gurgling nonstop. He tried to grab Hulu’s hand, but he was wearing so many winter layers that his little arms couldn’t lift properly and just waved about futilely.

This was clearly a familiar scene, and no one batted an eye.

Juhua said with a sigh, "How is Banli nothing like me or his father? Look at all this energy. He should’ve been named Huangdou."

Mrs. Wang looked up at her with a kind, gentle smile. "What do you mean he’s not like you? His eyebrows and eyes are the spitting image of Huai Zi’s, and his nose and mouth are just like yours. As for his temperament, that’s similar too. He’s just especially fond of Hulu. He doesn’t laugh like this when other people play with him. Babies know who’s who. He adores Hulu, so he always wants to see him."

Liu Yunlan was making a small, padded cotton vest for Hulu. Having laid out the cotton filling, she was stitching it carefully. She looked up and remarked, "It’s always little kids who like other little kids the best. Take that Li Jingwen. He loves coming to our house to play with Hulu, and my Hulu loves playing with him, too."

The words were barely out of her mouth when a child’s voice called from outside, "Hulu, I’m here!"

Mrs. Wang chuckled. "Speak of the devil. You had just mentioned him, and here he is. He’s such a likable little boy, straightforward just like his mother, Meizi."

Li Jingwen was dressed head to toe in blue—a practical color that didn’t show dirt, which was why Meizi always chose it for her active son. Bundled up like a little ball and wearing a small red hat, he ran in with a grin, his cheeks flushed from the cold wind and his breath puffing out in little white clouds.

The moment he saw Hulu, he launched into a chattering monologue. "I went to your house, but nobody was home. Then I saw your dad over by Banli’s place, so I came looking for you here. Hulu, aren’t you scared of the pig butchering? Wow, there were so many bowls of blood! And they scraped all the hair off—the black pig turned white! It looked way better, but it couldn’t run anymore. I heard it squealing from my house, and it sounded so pitiful. But pork is delicious, and if you don’t kill pigs, who else can you kill? It can’t be helped." He finished with a dramatic sigh.

Juhua and Liu Yunlan were taken aback for a moment before bursting into laughter. Mrs. Wang grinned at the little boy, and Pu Pao couldn’t stop giggling into her hand.

Hulu, still too young to understand so many words, remained silent. His face was alight with excitement as he stared toward the door, the concept of fear completely foreign to him.

Li Jingwen was clearly used to Hulu’s quietness and didn’t expect a reply. He leaned over the small bed beside him, continuing to chatter away at Hulu while also playing with Banli.

Seeing two little figures now gathered at his bedside, Banli was even more thrilled. He babbled nonstop until drool started to dribble down his chin. Pu Pao quickly lifted the cloth tucked into his collar to wipe it away.

Juhua listened in amusement to the "conversation" between the two little boys, a novel stream of "My cat caught a mouse," and "My little brother can crawl now, he’s way ahead of Banli."

She deliberately teased Li Jingwen, "Jingwen, our Banli is still just a baby. When he gets a little older, he’ll be much more capable than your brother."

Li Jingwen quickly retorted, "That’s not true! My third granduncle says the Li Family’s kids are just more capable than the Zhang family’s!" He glanced at little Hulu and added, "And smarter than the Zheng Family’s, too. My third granduncle says Hulu can’t even talk, that you couldn’t... couldn’t beat a peep out of him with a stick. He says he’s hopeless."

Liu Yunlan’s expression changed at his words. She stopped sewing, but seeing what a tiny child Li Jingwen was, she didn’t know what to say. She just muttered something under her breath before lowering her head and resuming her work. ’She’s probably cursing that old man Li Mingtang,’ Juhua guessed.

Mrs. Wang smiled serenely. "Yunlan, don’t take it to heart. Can one man’s words determine a child’s future? You know perfectly well whether our Hulu is clever or not, so who cares what other people say? If he weren’t clever, all the praise in the world couldn’t make him so. And if he is, then no amount of insults will matter—he’ll still grow up to be somebody. As for a man who teaches a child such things... if the boy turns out poorly, he’ll have only himself to blame."