"And you three brothers, Minghua, should also study hard." Seeing Zhang Xinghua being so sensible, Zhang Liunian immediately looked at the Minghua brothers by the door.
Zhang Minghua, leaning against the door, heard his third uncle call his name and immediately straightened up and replied, "Third Uncle, I will also study hard."
The other two little tots, seeing their elder brother speak, followed suit and said, "I want to study hard too."
Seeing his nephews were all sensible, Zhang Liunian felt very comforted. Just as he was about to say something more, he was interrupted.
"Daddy!"
From the staircase behind him, Hua Bao's voice suddenly rang out. Zhang Liunian looked in the direction of the sound and saw Hua Bao coming downstairs, followed by a worried Zhao Zhijie. "Hua Bao, slow down, don't fall."
Unfortunately, Hua Bao turned a deaf ear, only wanting to go downstairs to find her father for dinner.
Seeing this, Zhang Liunian quickly got up to meet her. "Hua Bao, listen to Grandpa Zhao and walk slowly."
"Daddy, Hua Bao is hungry." Hua Bao still didn't listen, only wanting to eat quickly. She didn't even bother to walk the last few steps and lunged towards Zhang Liunian.
"Hua Bao!"
Zhao Zhijie and Zhang Liunian shouted at the same time. The latter was almost scared to death by Hua Bao's action. He quickly spread his arms and swayed them, afraid of not catching her properly and causing his daughter to fall and get hurt.
Fortunately, the outcome was good. Hua Bao landed steadily in Zhang Liunian's arms, easing his unsettled heart. Then, Zhang Liunian began to reprimand his daughter, "Do you know how dangerous it would have been if Daddy hadn't caught you? Breaking an arm or a leg would be light; you could even die from the fall. Will you dare to jump down from the steps again?"
"Daddy can definitely catch Hua Bao. Hua Bao believes in Daddy." Hua Bao's little face looked very uneasy at her father's stern lecture, and her big eyes only dared to steal glances at him.
Seeing her like this, Zhang Liunian's heart softened inexplicably. But Jiang Qingqing, who had just come out with their son after hearing the commotion, also saw the near-disaster. She rushed forward and swatted Hua Bao's behind, "You dare to jump from such a height? What would Mom do if something happened to you if you fell?"
"Slap, slap." After Jiang Qingqing finished speaking, she couldn't help but give her daughter's behind two more slaps.
This was unbearable for Hua Bao, who had never been hit before. She pouted and burst into tears. "Waa..."
Zhang Wenxue and Yu Xiaohua, who were standing nearby, had wanted to say something but remained silent.
They were just grandparents; with their son and daughter-in-law present, it wasn't their place to discipline their granddaughter.
However, they hadn't seen their grandson for a long time and missed him dearly.
"Sob, Mommy hit me, she hit me, sob..." Hua Bao felt the pain in her behind and complained aggrievedly to Zhang Liunian.
Three black lines appeared on Zhang Liunian's forehead. "Mom didn't mean to hit you; she acted because you did something very dangerous. She didn't want to upset you, but rather not see you get hurt. As long as you remember this lesson and promise never to jump from high places again, Mom will definitely forgive you."
Zhang Liunian naturally wouldn't speak ill of his wife, but he also had to comfort his daughter.
"Hua Bao, you are Mom's precious child. If anything happened to you, Mom wouldn't want to live either." Jiang Qingqing, hearing her husband defend her, said with red eyes.
Hua Bao, seeing her usually stoic mother about to cry, immediately comforted her. "Mommy, Hua Bao was wrong."
She didn't want to see Daddy angry or Mommy cry.
"What was wrong?" Jiang Qingqing controlled her emotions and asked patiently. If her daughter knew where she went wrong, she wouldn't hit her anymore; this was Jiang Qingqing's true thought.
Hua Bao was stunned and started to rack her brain. After a moment, she looked at Jiang Qingqing obediently and said, "Mommy, Hua Bao shouldn't have jumped down from the stairs and made Daddy and Mommy worry. Hua Bao will never jump from up there again. Please don't be angry with Hua Bao anymore, okay?"
"Okay..." Jiang Qingqing's eyes welled up with tears seeing her daughter being so sensible. Just as she was about to reach out to hug her daughter, she realized she still had her son in her arms.
Seeing this, Yu Xiaohua appropriately appeared beside her with a smiling face. "Grandma hasn't seen our little Ye Hua for a long time. Qingqing, can you let us hold him?"
This time, Yu Xiaohua's attitude towards Jiang Qingqing was very good, and she respected Jiang Qingqing's wishes, seeing if she would let them hold their grandson. If she refused, it seemed she could accept it.
Jiang Qingqing looked at Yu Xiaohua in confusion upon hearing her words. Seeing her slightly unnatural expression, she still handed her son over to her. "Of course, you are Ye Hua's paternal grandmother."
Yu Xiaohua didn't know how to respond, so she just smiled and took her grandson to the side to dote on him. Seeing his wife carrying their grandson away, Zhang Wenxue also followed to look at him.
Zhao Zhijie, who had come down from upstairs, went to wander alone in the courtyard. It was almost time for dinner, so he couldn't go too far, otherwise, his god-nephew would have to look for him everywhere.
"It's not just jumping down stairs, but also jumping from the second floor, or even higher places. You can't jump from any of these places because it's very dangerous. Mom doesn't want to never see Hua Bao again." With her son taken away by others, Jiang Qingqing hugged her daughter and continued her lecture.
Zhang Liunian sat beside his wife and daughter, watching his wife speak and his daughter nod.
Hua Bao knew she had scared her mother, so she reached out and hugged her mother's neck, acting spoiled. "Hua Bao doesn't want to not see Mommy either. Hua Bao will protect herself well from now on."
"Hua Bao is so good." Jiang Qingqing was greatly relieved seeing her daughter so well-behaved and understanding, and she stopped speaking, holding her daughter.
At this moment, the voices of Zhang Wenxue and his wife doting on their grandson came from behind.
"Ye Hua, look, this is your Grandpa. Quick, call Grandpa."
"What are you talking about, old woman? Ye Hua is so young, how can he call Grandpa already?"
"What do you know? I'm teaching him now, so he'll call early. You're getting the benefits and still complaining."
"Look, our Ye Hua is laughing at you, old woman."
"He's laughing at you, old man."
"..."
Hearing her in-laws' conversation, Jiang Qingqing turned to look at Zhang Liunian. He smiled at her. "Let's go eat at Big Brother's place later for dinner."
Jiang Qingqing was stunned for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, but we'll spend New Year here."
"That's for sure. But Big Brother, Little Sister, I want to invite Mom and Dad over to celebrate the New Year together and make this new home lively."
Jiang Qingqing nodded again, understanding that her husband had let go of past grievances. It made sense; the only conflict with her in-laws was about ingredients last time. Before that, there weren't any major issues. Moreover, her mother-in-law had saved her husband's life not long ago. It was hard not to mend the relationship between mother and son.
In the evening, Zhang Liunian took his entire family to his elder brother's house for dinner.
Zhang Liushui continuously poured wine for Zhang Liunian. "Third Brother, if it weren't for you, I really don't know if these three brats of mine would have come back safely. Big Brother toasts you."
After speaking, Zhang Liushui drank the wine himself.