At the beginning, he took his seven younger siblings to join Yi Zhonghai.

"Dingya, come here and help me clean the bucket. While it's still warm, I'll give these little guys a bath first."

"Let's wash them inside. It's cold outside, we don't want them to get cold."

"In a little while, you and your older brother will go to the public bathhouse for a soak, and then find a masseur to scrape off the grime from your skin. It'll feel great."

Seeing that the two had left, Tan Xiulian couldn't wait to speak.

Yi Zhongding looked at the smile on her face that seemed to never disappear.

My heart couldn't help but feel warm.

It seems that this time the family reunion was the right one.

Yi Zhonghai and his sister-in-law are truly remarkable.

"Sister-in-law, let me lend a hand. The older ones are fine, but these two little ones are so noisy when they take a bath."

"Xiao Qi doesn't like water and just cries and fusses, while Xiao Ba likes to play in the water and keeps splashing and kicking it."

"Giving the two little ones a bath is like going to war, all chaotic and disorganized."

Yi Zhongding said with a smile as he went to find tools to wash the buckets and basins.

"Haha, it's alright, good riddance, good riddance. Your sister-in-law and brother have been married for over ten years, and it's always been so quiet and lonely. Now that you two are here, she's just hoping you'll make a scene."

Tan Xiulian's smile remained bright, but her eyes were filled with glistening tears.

"As long as you don't mind, it's fine. They're not used to the environment yet. Once they are, you'll see. The second brother, Yaomei, and Miaomei are all at the age where everyone and even dogs hate them."

Yi Zhongding happily scrubbed the wooden tub.

"It's alright, my sister-in-law likes them, she loves them."

Tan Xiulian gently patted the heads of the little ones, her maternal love radiating from within.

The two were talking.

A loud voice came from outside.

"Sister-in-law, hurry up and wash the little ones first. The weather is nice now, so they can come out and play after they're washed without getting cold."

As Yi Zhonghai spoke, he pushed open the door.

Tan Xiulian and Yi Zhongding looked at each other and smiled.

"Do I need to tell you? I'm already preparing it. Go to the kitchen and bring in the water."

"Scrub that bucket clean. The child is delicate; don't let the dirt hurt her skin."

Tan Xiulian said with a laugh.

"Hey, it's his sister-in-law. She's very thoughtful. Okay, I'll listen to her."

Yi Zhonghai smiled, gave a thumbs up, and then turned and left.

Not long after.

Yi Zhongding cleaned both the bucket and the basin thoroughly.

Yi Zhonghai also came in carrying two buckets of boiling water, shouting like a waiter in a restaurant, "Hot water is here, make way, watch your step."

Upon entering, I noticed that several little children had all instinctively hidden behind Yi Zhongding.

He laughed again, "Hey, they're all from the Yi family, every single one of them is incredibly smart."

Yi Zhongding was speechless.

No little kid would willingly go up to that thing.

"Keep your voice down, pour the water into the bucket, wash the older ones first, these two babies are asleep."

"Big brother, look how well he's sleeping! His little mouth is still sucking on his lips."

Tan Xiulian came out of the house to greet them.

"I need to take a look."

Yi Zhonghai put down the bucket and tiptoed quickly into the house.

The two whispered to each other in the room, their laughter occasionally breaking the silence.

Yi Zhongding didn't wait for them to come out; he went outside to the tap and filled a bucket with cold water.

At this moment, a greasy-looking young man walked out of the main house of the central courtyard.

I was stunned when I saw him.

He then smiled and said, "You must be the younger brother that Uncle Yi brought over. My name is Shazhu, and I live in the main house. Come visit me when you have time."

"Yes, Brother Zhu, my name is Yi Zhongding."

They had only just met, and Yi Zhongding didn't intend to put on any airs of seniority. The two families didn't even share the same surname, so they could be discussed separately.

"Hey, Brother Zhu, this is something new. Just for calling you Brother Zhu, I'll consider you my brother. Feel free to come to me if you need anything."

Sha Zhu grinned broadly, patting his chest as he spoke.

Before he could even enjoy his happiness for long...

A large black rat darted out of the backyard.

Oh.

wrong.

A person who's almost like a mouse.

Yi Zhongding looked at him, who stood there like a skinny bamboo pole, braving the wind.

The wind blows.

It seems as if it can flutter in the wind.

"Come on, you idiot Zhu, you're such a moron. He's Uncle Yi's brother. He calls you 'brother' because he's being polite and well-mannered."

"You should call him 'uncle,' and you've even taken him on as your brother. Calling you 'Silly Zhu' is really silly; you're from a different generation."

The skinny guy wasn't good-looking, but he was quick-witted and started making sarcastic remarks.

"Hey, Xu Damao, you're such a foul-mouthed bastard, we men need to teach you a lesson."

Sha Zhu's "old face" turned bright red, and he rubbed his fists together, ready to make a move.

"Silly Zhu, don't be ungrateful. I'm correcting you because I'm helping you. Otherwise, when Uncle Yi comes out and hears you calling this guy 'brother,' he'll beat you up."

Xu Damao ran back to the backyard in a flash, leaving only this sentence in the air.

Sha Zhu didn't really intend to hit him; he just pretended to stomp the ground a few times and then stopped.

Yi Zhongding watched the smile that bloom on his face in that instant.

I inexplicably sensed a hint of doting affection.

No wonder I was reading books in my past life.

Many fans of Daniel Wu say that if these two were a man and a woman...

They're guaranteed to be a perfect match, a pair of bickering lovers.

"Well...you can come over to my house sometime. I live in the main room here."

Sha Zhu turned his head and glanced at Yi Zhongding's still somewhat youthful face. He couldn't bring himself to call him "Uncle," so he smiled awkwardly and turned to go home.

Yi Zhongding shook his head and smiled, then carried the full bucket of water home.

"That silly Zhu and Xu Damao in the backyard must have been making a scene again just now."

Yi Zhonghai came out of the house and said with a smile.

"Yes, the two of them are bickering."

Yi Zhongding nodded and said.

"These two grew up in the yard since they were little, and they are about the same age. Xu Damao from the backyard, on the other hand, has a mouth that loves to stir up trouble. The two have been fighting since they were little."

"Don't pay any more attention to them from now on. Just focus on your studies."

Yi Zhonghai nodded, offering no comment on either of them, as if he were giving them both equal blame.

"Okay, the water temperature is right. Yaomei, Miaomei, why don't you two take a shower first?"

Yi Zhongding nodded, tested the water temperature, and asked the two cute girls.

"Okay, brother will wash."

Yao Mei glanced at Yi Zhonghai and said timidly.

"How about letting your sister-in-law wash you?"

Yi Zhongding squatted down, embraced his two younger sisters who approached, and asked softly.

At this moment, Tan Xiulian also came out of the house, looking at the two of them with nervous yet expectant eyes.

The two sisters exchanged a glance, then looked back and forth between their older brother and their unfamiliar sister-in-law.

"Big brother isn't leaving."

Miao Mei wrapped her arms around his, her voice tinged with timidity.

"Okay, big brother won't leave. He'll stay by the door and watch over the two little ones."

"Your sister-in-law will wash you all very clean, and after your bath, you'll become fragrant little darlings."

Yi Zhongding tenderly kissed them on the forehead.

Tan Xiulian then stepped forward with a smile and said, "Dingya, go find them some clothes, I'll wash them, I promise they'll be sparkling clean."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work, sister-in-law."

Yi Zhonghai stood up with a smile.

"It's not hard work at all; I'm actually quite happy."

Tan Xiulian smiled and took the hands of the two little ones.

Yi Zhongding turned around and went back into the house to get clothes for the little ones.