NOVPUBThe four kids were brimming with excitement.
"Why don’t you each take a stove and have a competition, and the loser must be punished!" said Xu Qingfan, suddenly coming up with a brilliant idea, as there were just four stoves in the kitchen.
"Then what about the winner?" Xia Xiaoxiao asked in return.
"What kind of punishment?" Lin Wanning also asked at the same time.
Thinking for a moment with his head tilted, Xu Qingfan responded, "The winner gets to kiss me, and the loser gets kissed by me as a punishment."
"Pfft~ Shameless!"
"Brother Fan, you really have some nerve!"
"Brother Qing Fan, you’re cheating!"
"Rascal!"
All four kids united in their outrage, collectively accusing Xu Qingfan of shameless behavior.
"Hahaha~ Fanfan, when did you become so slick? No wonder you brought four young female students to see grandma!" Lai Man Yao, who had been eagerly watching her well-behaved grandson and the girls playing together, chuckled and joined in.
After a round of scolding from everyone, Xu Qingfan’s face could hardly maintain its composure, so he tactically coughed and retorted, "Cough, cough, cough... So, what should the punishment be?"
"Being kissed by Brother Qing Fan is clearly a reward, Brother Qing Fan, you were cheating just now!" said little Wanning, pointing at Xu Qingfan.
"Hahahahahahaha!" The grandmother couldn’t hold it in any longer, bending over and clutching her belly, laughing unstoppably.
The infectious laughter spread to everyone, except Lin Wanning, who stood there scratching her head in confusion while everyone else had smiles on their faces.
"Did Ningning say something wrong?" Seeing Lin Wanning looking puzzled and innocently adorable, everyone laughed even louder, with someone like Xiao Ruawen, who had a low threshold for laughter, collapsing on the floor in fits of giggles, "Hahaha~" Eventually, even the young girl couldn’t resist joining in the laughter, despite not knowing what everyone was laughing about, and Lin Wanning also started laughing.
"Alright, alright, everyone calm down, stop laughing!" Xu Qingfan helplessly helped Xiao Ruawen, who was curled up on the ground laughing convulsively, to her feet.
"So, what exactly are the reward and punishment?" Xiao Ruawen asked, fighting hard not to continue laughing.
"Seriously, the first prize is a small wish, and the last place punishment is to help my grandma feed the ducks later!"
"Can it be any wish?" Xia Xiaoxiao followed up.
"Of course, it has to be something I can do. If you ask me to pluck a star from the sky, where am I supposed to get it from!"
"Where are the ducks, Ningning wants to see the ducks!"
"We’ll talk about that after the competition." Xu Qingfan said, chuckling as he ruffled Lin Wanning’s hair.
"Then let’s get started!"
"Start, start!"
"You guys choose your kindling first, let me know when you’re ready." Xu Qingfan said as he extinguished the lit kindling he had just ignited in his stove, speaking to the others.
"Ready!"
"On your marks~ three, two, one, start!"
As soon as Xu Qingfan’s words fell, they quickly spread straw at the bottom, placed small twigs in the middle, and then layered more straw on top.
"Brother Qing Fan, Ningning wants that blower thing!"
"Here."
"Thank you, Brother Qing Fan, ha hoo~ cough cough cough~ cough cough cough..." The black smoke inhaled suddenly turned Lin Wanning into a sooty mess, leaving the little girl looking back at him, confused and aggrieved.
"Hahahaha, you’re supposed to blow, not inhale!"
"Brother Fan, why can’t I light the straw underneath?"
"Let me see... you’ve added too much, stuffing up the vent so it can’t get any air, of course it won’t light. Don’t put so much straw in."
"My twigs won’t light up!" Xia Xiaoxiao had added straw three or four times, but the dry twigs inside still wouldn’t catch fire. Reluctantly, she reached out for help from the little rascal beside her.
"Your twig is not dry, pick some dry ones!" Just by seeing the small section of twig sticking out from the stove, Xu Qingfan could tell what was going on at Xia Xiaoxiao’s side.
"It’s lit, it’s lit!" Xia Xiaoxiao still wanted to argue a few words, but Zhang Yiyi sitting beside her suddenly shouted excitedly.
"Yiyi is in first place! The rest of you better hurry up, the last one feeds the ducks!" Xu Qingfan knelt down to check, and indeed, a few dry twigs were lit. Patting Zhang Yiyi’s head encouragingly, he said.
Deflated, Xia Xiaoxiao slumped, her desire to continue the competition gone in an instant.
"Yiyi is the best!" Lin Wanning abandoned her dying stove and, cheek to cheek, moved closer to watch Zhang Yiyi.
"Get back to the competition, or are you disregarding me, the judge?" Xu Qingfan tapped little Wanning’s head gently.
"Ningning surrenders; I’m chocked to death! ┗(`・∧・´)┛" Lin Wanning playfully raised her hands up, cutely begging for mercy.
"Then I’ll give up too, I’ll go feed the ducks with Wan Ningyi!" Xiao Ruawen announced, setting down her box of matches.
"I’ll feed the ducks." Xia Xiaoxiao declared, getting to her feet and clapping her hands. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
"Hahaha~ No need for you girls to feed them, the duck pen is filthy; let Fanfan do it!" suggested the grandmother, timing her comment perfectly.
"Let Xu Qingfan feed them!"
"I’ll follow grandma’s lead, let Brother Fan do it!"
"Brother Qing Fan will feed the ducks!"
"Ducks, feed!"
Pleased with grandma’s idea, the four kids all clapped their hands and in unison demanded that Xu Qingfan be the one to feed the ducks.
"I’m the judge though!"
No one paid him any attention, as they linked arms and left the kitchen together.
"Alright, the rice bran is over there, and there’s some leftover food in the fridge that you can also pour in!" Lai Man Yao instructed, pointing to a urea bag in the corner and speaking to him with a smile.
Xu Qingfan: ...
"So love can shift, right?"
...
It was after eleven when Grandfather and the others returned home, sweating profusely.
"How is Grandpa doing?" Xu Qingfan, who was playing "Tank" poker in the living room, looked up and asked.
"Play your cards, why should a child be nosy?"
Yao Shulun raised her hand and gave her daughter a knock on the head, "That’s how you talk to my grandson," she then turned her head and said with a smile to Xu Qingfan, "Your grandpa still has some clout, many people agreed to vote for me this afternoon."
"Dad!"
Xu Qingfan covered his mouth and snickered, [No wonder he loves to knock on my head so much, it’s inherited from here.]
"Now that you’re back, help me wash the vegetables, you who couldn’t pass the high school entrance exam!" Grandma’s voice came from the kitchen.
Yao Jiping:...
"Brother Fan, hurry up, I have two 8s, do you want them?" Xiao Ruawen nudged Xu Qingfan’s arm and asked.
"You have two 8s?" Xu Qingfan shifted his focus back to his hand, pulled out two random cards, a 5 and a 9, and said, "I’ll raise you two 8s!"
It was Xia Xiaoxiao’s turn; the little girl looked at Xu Qingfan doubtfully, but after being tricked once, she didn’t dare to start outright, "Then I’ll raise an 8 too!"
"Ningning doesn’t have an 8, Ningning passes!"
"Pass!" Zhang Yiyi also knocked on the table twice and said.
When it was Xiao Ruawen’s turn again, she revealed a sly smile and placed a card facedown on the table, "Heehee, got you, this is the real 8, I’ll add one more!"
"I’m raising two!" Xu Qingfan drew two real cards this time and placed them on top of the pile.
"Hiss~" Xia Xiaoxiao took in a sharp breath, "I’m adding one too!"
"How come you all have so many 8s, it’s already eight cards!" Lin Wanning counted the cards covered on the table, puzzled.
"Xiao Xiao, that one’s definitely not an 8, Ningning, open hers!" Xu Qingfan incited.
"Hmph, Brother Qing Fan, you’re trying to fool people again, Ningning won’t fall for it, Ningning passes!"
"Pass!" Zhang Yiyi also said.
The pressure returned to Xiao Ruawen once more, and she said with a laugh, "None of you are honest, this card is actually the real 8, I’ll add one more!"
"I don’t believe it; I already have two 8s in my hand, how can you bring out three more? I’ll open!" Xu Qingfan reached out to flip over the card on the table.
"Damn!" The card Xiao Ruawen put down was indeed the 8 of diamonds.
"Hahahahaha~ Brother Fan is a big dumb pig!"
"Stupid!" The others clapped their hands and applauded.
"Don’t cheat like this, especially you, Xiao Xiao, a 3 and a 6, where’s your 8?" Xu Qingfan collected the cards, speechless.
"Humph, I learned from you, here’s my 8!" Xia Xiaoxiao flipped over her 8 of clubs proudly to show Xu Qingfan.
"You all wait! I’m playing seriously now."
"Three 8s!"
"I’ll add one!"
"Ningning passes!"
"Pass!"
"I’m opening!" When it was Xu Qingfan’s turn again, he decisively opened the cards, and indeed there were neatly four 8s on the table.
"Hahahahahaha~ Brother Fan, you’re so lame, go on, take the cards!"
"Little puppy!"
"Brother Qing Fan, you have the most cards now!"
"Four 8s!"
"Pass!"×4
Xu Qingfan moved the passed cards to the side and continued, "Still four 8s!"
Xia Xiaoxiao looked at Xu Qingfan skeptically, "Pass!"
Once again everyone passed, and Xu Qingfan exposed his true colors, "Hahahahaha, this time they’re real, four 8s!"
"Hiss~" The four young ones leaned back to look at Xu Qingfan, trying to discern the truth from his expression.
"Pass!"×4
"Hahahaha~ you still want to compete with me? These are the real four 8s!" Xu Qingfan, after depleting all his random cards, covered the actual four 8s on the table.
"I’m opening!" Xia Xiaoxiao, unable to stand it anymore, flipped over the poker cards.
"Hahaha~ take it away!"
"Four 8s!"
"Open!"
"I also have four 8s!"
"Open!"
...
Due to Xu Qingfan’s cunning and numerous tricks, the trust between players was completely lost, and the originally orderly "Tank" game gradually evolved into "Where have the 8s gone?"
