Chapter 224 Playing in the Mud

"Uncle, Er Meng might have his own ideas about this, and so does Sister-in-law Chun Yan. What you can think of, they can also think of themselves."

"Why don't you sit down and discuss it calmly?"

"As for being laughed at, this is a new era now. We need to change some old ways of thinking."

"If all else fails, we can ask the old village chief and Grandpa Tu to step in. There are always more solutions than difficulties. The only problem now is that you and Er Meng absolutely cannot resort to violence again."

"You've already broken heads, there's no need for father and son to do this."

It's hard for even an upright official to settle family disputes, let alone matters of marriage. If it weren't for Shen Laifu's diligent work with him in collecting fish and his coming to him for help, Chen Yang wouldn't dare to meddle.

If Shen Er Meng and Zhao Chun Yan don't have a good life in the future, he, as someone who supported them, would definitely get a bad rap.

"Yangzi, you're right. I should have asked you yesterday. I wouldn't have broken that little bastard's head."

"And ended up sleeping in the same bed as that little widow. It's all my stupid actions."

Thinking of his eldest son's blood-covered face, Shen Laifu wished he could slap himself a few times.

What a mess this is!

"Uncle, if Er Meng really goes through with this, we'll have to ask the old village chief and the others to discuss it. This is no joke."

Hearing Shen Laifu's words, Chen Yang also became serious.

This era is not like the future, where strangers can go to hotels together. If Er Meng really goes through with it, it's different.

At least in Chen Yang's view, if it's done, one must bear the responsibility of a man. If one decides on someone, it's for a lifetime.

In this era, travel was slow, communication relied on letters, and a lifetime was only enough to love one person.

"Who says not?"

"What can I do? The kid has done it all, can I refuse to acknowledge it? Although I don't approve of their relationship, I'm not so shameless as to let Er Meng be a heartless scoundrel who abandons her."

"No man from my Shen family would do such a thing."

Actually, Shen Laifu already had an answer in his heart before coming. If Shen Er Meng and Zhao Chun Yan hadn't done anything, he naturally wouldn't have agreed to their relationship.

But now, the situation is different.

That foolish boy has become the man of a little widow. He, as his father, heard it with his own ears. How could he not acknowledge it?

He didn't have the face to do so, and no man from his Shen family would do such a thing.

It's just that he felt so aggrieved in his heart. His good eldest son had inexplicably become the man of a little widow, the stepfather of her three children. And he, out of nowhere, had three bonus grandchildren.

Anyone in this situation would feel uncomfortable.

"Uncle, as long as you have a clear conscience about this matter."

"Why don't you go back and talk to Er Meng and Sister-in-law Chun Yan first? If you face any more difficulties later, you can come back to me or the old village chief. He definitely won't stand by and watch."

The old village chief goes without saying. In the village, he had everything planned out, from big matters like spring plowing, autumn harvesting, and distributing grain rations, to small matters like helping families who were struggling to survive, assigning work, and distributing work points.

If Shen Er Meng and Zhao Chun Yan faced any difficulties, he wouldn't stand idly by.

"Yangzi, thank you, Uncle. Talking to you has made me feel so much better."

"I'll go back and talk to that foolish boy."

Shen Laifu left. It had to be said, Chen Yang admired Shen Er Meng's sense of responsibility.

In this era, it took great courage to marry a widow, especially one with three children.

While he was talking with Shen Laifu, the two little ones were already playing in the mud under the osmanthus tree.

They were really playing in the mud, not pretending.

In this era of material scarcity, children rarely had toys and had to rely on themselves to use everything around them to make toys.

Not to mention now, even in the 1980s and 1990s, many children grew up playing in the mud.

In this era, no one was extravagant enough to pave their courtyards with cement; the ground was all yellow earth.

These two little ones had somehow found water and mixed the mud they had scooped from the ground into a clump.

Their four little chubby hands were kneading the mud on the ground like they were kneading dough. The posture indicated that they had learned from their grandmother. Indeed, they were kneading it quite skillfully.

However, they were still just little ones, and after a couple of tries, their faces and bodies were dotted with mud.

Well, there was no doubt that when their mother arrived later, these two little bottoms would likely get a few spankings.

Of course, he, the father who was supposed to be watching them, would also be scolded.

How did you look after the children? They're covered in mud, don't you have clothes to wash!

Chen Yang could imagine exactly what Shen Xue would say.

"Yanyan, Haohao, this is not how you play with mud. Come, Daddy will teach you."

"Look, first you roll it into small round balls, then we'll dry them in the sun. Later, Daddy will teach you how to play marbles."

Since the situation couldn't be changed, he might as well join in!

Chen Yang started by teaching the simplest thing. There were no glass marbles yet. If the ones made of mud were shaped well and dried without cracking, they could still be played with.

"Daddy, Daddy, I know how to do this."

"Daddy, look, I made it really round."

The little child, with his chubby hands, imitated Chen Yang's movements. To be honest, he had made them quite well.

Chen Yang nodded and taught the little child to place the small round balls to dry in the shade under the tree roots. These couldn't be put directly in the sun, or they would definitely crack.

"Haohao, yours is too big. You'll be bumped when playing marbles."

Looking at the fist-sized balls his son had rolled, they could even be used to hit someone.

"Come, Daddy will teach you how to make bowls."

He continued to knead the mud. A lump of yellow earth was shaped into a bowl for eating in Chen Yang's hands.

This skill was much more difficult than rolling mud balls and immediately drew admiring glances from the two little ones.

"Poof."

Then, under the admiring gaze of the two children, Chen Yang flipped the mud bowl in his hands, mouth facing down, and smashed it onto the ground with a "slap."

The once-perfect mud bowl immediately turned back into an irregular puddle of mud.

This time, it wasn't to tease the children into crying. It was purely muscle memory.

Many people, when they made mud bowls, would smash them on the ground like this. After smashing them, they would knead again, shape them, and smash them on the ground again.

It was very satisfying.

And so, before long, this traditional art form, under Chen Yang's tutelage, gained two more inheritors.

Soon, the two little ones had experienced the joy of smashing mud bowls.

However, it was obvious that the two little ones were getting more and more mud spots on them.

The father gently touched the chubby little face of one of the children, intending to wipe off the mud.

He shouldn't have touched it. As soon as he did, the yellow mud smeared, turning the little one into a calico cat.

"Daddy, don't touch my face. I don't want to become a calico cat."

Seeing his sister's smeared face under her father's hands, Chen Hao resolutely refused the big hand that Chen Yang stretched out to wipe his face.