Chapter 565: Chapter 565: Family Night Talk

"What are we talking about?" Si Niang was very eager.

Da Lang and Sanlang also stopped what they were doing, curiously looking at their parents.

Only Liu Erlang asked a little guiltily, "You’re not here to scold me, are you?"

Qin Yao waved her hand with amusement, "No, but it does have something to do with you."

Liu Erlang instantly became nervous, sitting up straight.

However, the expected scolding from both parents did not come. Instead, they only heard their mother’s gentle voice:

"I know you’ve been having some doubts and troubles lately and don’t know how to solve them, so now you can speak up boldly. Maybe your father and I can help you think of some solutions."

The conversation began very naturally, and the children were enthusiastic, sharing the little troubles and worries they had recently encountered.

Liu Ji could see that the children really liked this segment. When they shared their troubles, they wore distressed expressions.

But when they talked about happy things, they became animated, and their lively demeanor made him feel an indescribable emotion.

It seemed that at this moment, he finally felt that he was a father and truly had four children, three boys and a girl, each with different personalities but similar faces.

Liu Ji propped his chin with one hand, listening to the children’s worries, his emotions involuntarily aroused with their anger, and in the end, he became more excited and engaged than the kids.

"What kind of classmates do you have, always targeting people’s sore spots? So young yet with such sharp tongues, actually calling me a freeloader! I’m a dignified scholar, do I need to be a freeloader?"

He always did freeload with integrity! Didn’t he?

Liu Ji angrily said, "Da Lang, Liu Erlang, next time take care of those brats for me!"

"And you, Sanlang, you fool, you just do whatever they tell you. Can’t you use your brain sometimes?"

"As for you, Si Niang..." faced with his daughter’s blinking big eyes, Liu Ji changed his tone, "Never mind, it’s good enough that you don’t get bullied hanging around a bunch of boys. Occasionally bullying others a bit isn’t a big deal either."

After his empathetic rant, Liu Ji took a deep breath, admiringly looking at Qin Yao, "Wife, it has to be you. If all schools understood the balance of yin and yang, and gave more convenience to girls, our Si Niang wouldn’t have to brawl with a bunch of boys every day; she could be a gentle little girl."

Hearing her father talk about her, Si Niang proudly added, "Father, don’t worry, Sister Jin Hua helps me. Our sisterhood is strong. None of the boys in the courtyard are our match!"

Seeing his little girl’s smug look, Liu Ji playfully tapped her upturned nose, "Stop talking nonsense, we’re gentle little ladies. Gentlemen speak with words, not fists, got it?"

Si Niang suddenly had a realization, "Then next time Sister Jinhua and I will just scold them!"

Liu Ji: "..."

Qin Yao covered her mouth with her fist, hiding the smile at the corner of her mouth, coughed lightly, and drew the attention of the father and the four siblings.

Qin Yao told the four siblings that at home, it could be that the mother is fierce and the father is gentle, or the mother is gentle and the father is fierce.

Whether it’s the man in charge outside or the woman, whether a man is the village head or a woman, it’s all normal, nothing strange about it.

They didn’t need to refute those different voices from the outside world, even if they sounded harsh, because those people simply didn’t know what they were doing.

"Aren’t those people so pitiful then?" Si Niang lamented.

The little girl thought that if someone didn’t even know why they were doing something, just blindly following, without any personal reflection, that person was genuinely pitiful.

"Mother, I suddenly don’t dislike the classmates at school who argue with me anymore." Si Niang said with eyes full of compassion, "Because he really doesn’t know what he’s doing, just saw others dislike me and followed along."

Si Niang furrowed her brow deeply, for a moment, she felt that people everywhere were so pitiful.

Liu Ji quietly tugged at Qin Yao’s sleeve, is it really okay for our daughter to be like this?

With those compassionate eyes, if you didn’t know better, you’d think she’s a Bodhisattva.

Thinking of his daughter shaving her head and becoming a nun, Liu Ji was startled.

Qin Yao rolled her eyes at Liu Ji, what a pure case of overthinking!

After placing their daughter on her knee, Qin Yao stroked her hair gently and addressed the four siblings:

"Everything in this world, as long as it exists, is reasonable. Show a little more understanding to others and a little less harshness on yourself, always remain humble, because this world is vast, beyond your imagination."

Sanlang nodded half-understanding, somewhat curiously asking, "Mother, how big is the sky?"

Si Niang’s interest was also piqued, "Father, do you know why stars always appear at night?"

What? Liu Ji was a bit thrown off by the topic switch. We were just talking about the gossiping classmates at school, how did it suddenly turn to the sky?

After not getting an answer from his father for a while, Liu Erlang looked over suspiciously, "Father, do you not know either?"

"Do you know?" Liu Ji retorted full of pride.

Liu Erlang instantly deflated.

No way, he can’t not know!

"Mother, tomorrow when Little Lai Fu and the others go into town, I want to go too. Can I buy a book?" Liu Erlang asked eagerly, his eyes filled with a thirst for knowledge.

Qin Yao was just sipping the sugary water left by Si Niang to soothe her throat, and was caught off guard by such eager eyes, almost spitting out the sugar water.

Forcing down the sugar water, Qin Yao earnestly said, "Liu Erlang, if you keep going like this, you’ll put a lot of pressure on those around you."

Da Lang, Sanlang, and Si Niang nodded fervently, exactly!

However, despite saying that, Qin Yao still agreed to Liu Erlang’s request to go into town tomorrow.

To be fair, the four siblings would take time off together to go into town, each given two taels of silver to buy a book they liked.

Before the couple left, Liu Erlang suddenly sat up from bed and asked, "Mother, do you know how big the sky is?"

Qin Yao thought seriously for a moment and replied, "I don’t know." She only knew the size of the Earth.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t Earth.

After blowing out the candle and closing the door to the children’s room, Qin Yao and Liu Ji exchanged a glance at the door. Tonight’s ’family night talk’ was a success, and they each returned to their rooms to sleep.

Before falling asleep, a thought flashed through Qin Yao’s mind. Maybe someday in the future, with Liu Erlang’s relentless research, she might find out where exactly they were.

With that thought, she drifted into a deep sleep.

A night of good dreams.

When Qin Yao woke up, Ah Wang had already driven Da Lang and his siblings along with Mrs. Li and Little Lai Fu into town.

Liu Ji also wanted to go, but early in the morning, he spotted Zhen Yubai heading to the Lotus Courtyard, which set off alarms in his mind, prompting him to rush over with his book box right after breakfast.