After Daozi finished greeting everyone, seeing that his son was not afraid of strangers, Xiao Yeyang did not immediately send him away but instead took him around to meet everyone one by one.
"Hello, Grandfather Yu!"
"Hello, Grandfather Shi!"
"..."
With each introduction from Xiao Yeyang, Daozi greeted each person admirably, with a voice that was both crisp and loud.
The little guy was endearing, and since he was Xiao Yeyang’s son, everyone inevitably had to give him a meeting gift.
After making the rounds, Daozi’s pockets were bulging.
This made Daozi incredibly happy. His mother had said that these were all his dowry savings; the more he accumulated, the more wives he could marry when he grew up.
Although he didn’t know what a wife was, since his dad cherished it, it must be something good.
After meeting the guests, just as Xiao Yeyang was about to call a maid to take his son back to the backyard, he saw the little guy climb nimbly onto his lap and settle down: "Dad, I’m thirsty. I want to eat some melon."
Xiao Yeyang had Defu cut a small piece of watermelon for his son.
Daozi immediately said, "Cut a bigger piece, I’m really thirsty."
Xiao Yeyang directly refuted, "No, your mother said that children can’t eat too much watermelon; otherwise, you’ll have a stomachache."
Daozi then remembered the reason he came to find his dad and pouted, "Dad, you need to manage your wife."
Xiao Yeyang had a headache and flicked his son’s forehead lightly: "What are you saying? Who is my wife?"
Daozi, holding his forehead, muttered, "My mom, of course." Saying this, he tugged at Xiao Yeyang’s clothes, with a serious expression on his bun-like face, "Dad, I’m asking you, are you on my side or mom’s side?"
This scene caused everyone in the pavilion to find it amusing, and they all looked on curiously at the father and son interacting.
Xiao Yeyang’s expression turned a bit stiff. As his son grew older, what he feared most were his questions, which always managed to stump him.
After a while, Xiao Yeyang squeezed out a response: "You’re asking whose side I am on?"
Everyone turned their attention to Daozi, eager to know how he would answer.
Daozi, with his little chubby hands supporting his chin, began to ponder.
Dad was very good to him, but he was even nicer to mom. Whenever mom got angry, dad would apologize. Sometimes even if he cried, dad might not comfort him.
So, is dad on his side or mom’s side?
Daozi looked at Xiao Yeyang with uncertainty, "You’re called Xiao Yeyang, and I’m called Xiao Moxi; we share a surname, so does that mean we are on the same side?"
"Ha ha ha~"
As soon as the answer came out, Su Hongxin couldn’t help laughing, and the others covered their mouths and giggled.
Daozi glanced at everyone, then continued to tilt his head looking at Xiao Yeyang, waiting for his reply.
Xiao Yeyang also hadn’t expected his son to answer like this, but he had to admit, the answer was... flawless: "You rascal, quite shrewd." He actually managed to rope in his own father through their last name.
Seeing Xiao Yeyang smile, Daozi felt he had answered correctly and quickly said, "Dad, since you’re on my side, you really need to take good care of mom. She often bullies your son."
He made an appearance as if asking Xiao Yeyang to make a decision for him.
Seeing his son look like an aggrieved party, Xiao Yeyang also felt like laughing: "Tell me, what did you do to upset your mom this time?"
Daozi crossed his arms, put on a stern face, and defended himself, "I didn’t upset her; she bullied me. I wanted to ride Dog Xiaoyi, and she wouldn’t let me. She even had Xiaoyi, Xiao’er, and Xiaowu taken away, not letting me play with them. Tell me, isn’t she too much?"
Xiao Yeyang rubbed his forehead, "Your mother is worried about you getting hurt. The other day when you were walking Dog Xiao’er, it ran too fast and tripped you, remember? At that time, I don’t know who was crying their eyes out."
Daozi’s demeanor weakened, and he said with false bravado, "I can run slower, though."
Xiao Yeyang continued to persuade, "Hunting dogs are too big, and you’re too little. It’s easy to get hurt if you’re not careful. Listen to your mother, don’t play with the dogs."
Xiao Yeyang got up and put Daozi on the ground, signaling him to go over.
Daozi clung to Xiao Yeyang’s robe, somewhat hesitant. Despite his mom’s smiling face, he couldn’t help thinking about the punishment that might await him, he thought for a moment and said: "I can go back to the backyard with Mom, but you have to promise not to punish me when we get back."
Watching his son negotiating in public, Daohua’s smile remained unchanged but the corner of her mouth twitched slightly: "Mom won’t punish you."
Xiao Yeyang couldn’t help but clench his fist and cover his mouth, trying to hide his laughter.
Daozi heard Daohua agree, his face lit up with joy, and he got cheekier: "Then I also want to ride Dog Xiaoyi."
Daohua’s smile faded slightly: "That’s not possible." After saying this, she reached out her hand, "Come to Mom’s side quickly, uncles are going to have lunch too, we can’t let them go hungry because of you."
Daozi knew it was futile to argue with his mom, he looked at Xiao Yeyang for help: "Dad, I want to play with the dogs."
Daohua didn’t want to dawdle with her son in public, nor did she want to pamper him, she directly said: "Your dad manages the external affairs, the backyard matters are for Mom to manage, come along with Mom now."
Saying this, she walked over, ready to lead her son away.
Daozi dared not dodge, and huffed: "Mom, if you bully me like this, I won’t play with you anymore."
Daohua glanced at her son: "Then I shall thank you very much." Not wanting to waste words with the little guy, she again apologized to the crowd with a nod of her head and led her son out.
Daozi looked reluctant: "Mom, you’re so strict with me, later I’m going to find Grandpa Chu and agree to start martial arts training with him."
After finishing, he provocatively raised his eyebrows at Daohua.
Grandpa Chu had previously said he wanted to train him in martial arts, but his mom disagreed, saying he was too young and needed to wait. Now he was going to train with Grandpa Chu, his mom should be worried, right?
"Fine, Mom agrees. Starting tomorrow, you can train in martial arts with your Grandpa Chu." She didn’t want to deal with this little devil anymore.
Seeing that Daohua agreed so readily, Daozi was a bit dumbfounded; this wasn’t what he had imagined. Wasn’t his mom against his training in martial arts?
Xiao Yeyang inside the pavilion was at a loss for words watching his silly son; his mother had taken great pains to fight for him an extra year of playtime, yet he just squandered it.
Hopefully, he won’t regret it when he grows up!
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