Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family!-Chapter 73: The Chubby Kid Causes Trouble at the Huan Household

Chapter 73: The Chubby Kid Causes Trouble at the Huan Household

Chapter 67

The Chubby Kid Causes Trouble at the Huan Household

In the morning, Xiaolin was still sound asleep on the soft bed. Her pudgy hand reached out for the plump body pillow she cuddled every night, but she couldn’t find it, so she opened her eyes. Seeing the unfamiliar bed and room, she remembered that she wasn’t at home.

"Yawnnn~" The chubby child stretched like a spiral.

"Father, where are you? Mmm..." Xiaolin called out for her father when she didn’t see him in the room.

The little round one rolled to the edge of the bed and jumped down to the floor. She walked out to wash her face in the back of the house before returning to comb her hair and tie it into two round buns.

"Xiaolin, you’re awake?" Tianrong said as he saw his daughter walking out of the small house. He had timed his return to coincide with her waking up.

"Where did you go, Father?" Xiaolin asked, looking at her father who had been absent since the morning, raising her little arms to be carried.

"I went to check on the charcoal burning area," Tianrong replied, picking up his chubby daughter and walking to the back of the beautiful pinewood house.

Tianrong took his daughter to see the workers who were removing the charcoal from the kiln to soak it in water. Xiaolin watched but wasn’t excited, which surprised Tianrong, who had expected his daughter’s eyes to light up. Instead, she turned her attention to the kitchen area.

"Aren’t you interested in how charcoal is made?" Tianrong asked, looking down at his chubby daughter.

"Father, don’t you remember? I told you I know how to burn charcoal," the chubby-cheeked child said, looking up at her father. Tianrong thought for a moment and then remembered that before his daughter started her business, she had considered making charcoal.

"Ah, that’s right. I forgot."

"I’m more interested in the food," said the little glutton, rubbing her round belly that was starting to rumble.

"Father, can I go look at the kitchen?" Xiaolin asked, looking up at her father pleadingly, her small white hand gently shaking his hand and blinking her eyes cutely.

"Don’t disturb the cooks, dear. We’re guests here," Tianrong sighed, looking at his daughter’s big round eyes.

"Understood!"

The chubby little girl waddled her way to the small kitchen, where a middle-aged woman and a young lady were busy at the stove. A familiar young man was chopping vegetables. When he saw the chubby child walk in, he greeted her.

"Oh, it’s Little Miss Xiaolin, isn’t it?" The young man recognized the round-cheeked girl. He had delivered cane sugar to her in Jiangnan City himself.

"It’s you, big brother! Yes, I am Xiaolin. What are you all doing? Is there anything I can help with?" Xiaolin didn’t walk directly to where the three were busy but instead went to sit at a table on the other side.

"How could we let you help, young miss? You’re a guest of the master," the middle-aged woman said, looking fondly at the chubby little girl.

"I don’t want to just sit and do nothing," Xiaolin said. She knew it wasn’t polite to meddle in someone else’s house, but she was used to working every day and felt bored doing nothing.

"In that case, you can help me pick the vegetables," the young man said, bringing a basket of leafy greens to the table for her.

Xiaolin sat there picking vegetables in the kitchen. Since they had to prepare food for the workers, there were quite a lot of vegetables. She noticed the young man chopping a large basket of vegetables. They worked together for a while until mealtime, when her father came to lift her up.

After the meal, Xiaolin clung to her father, who was about to inspect the Huan family’s sugarcane fields. Huan Qingqing invited her to visit the town to see the sweet shops, but Xiaolin was torn. She wanted to eat sweets but also wanted to see the sugarcane fields. In the end, she chose to stick with her father, not wanting to be apart from him.

The two elderly members of the Huan family chuckled fondly at the sight of the little girl clinging to her father’s back. Seeing her cuteness made them eager to hold their own granddaughter soon.

Several carts headed towards the right side of the hill. Xiaolin, who had climbed down from her father’s back, clung to the edge of the cart, looking out at the serene and cool surroundings.

"Little Xiaolin, I’ll take you to see the watermelon farm," Ching Long said, moving to stand next to the little girl. Xiaolin’s eyes widened with interest.

"Is there really a watermelon farm?"

"Yes, there is. I’ll pick some for you," the boy said, patting the little girl’s head affectionately.

Xiaolin nodded vigorously, her cheeks wobbling. She turned to look at the scenery outside again, eagerly anticipating the watermelon farm.

Seeing his younger brother getting along well with the chubby child, Ching Lang walked up to stand on the other side of Xiaolin. She looked up at the tall, stoic young man with a puzzled expression.

It wasn’t long before they reached the area where the carts had to stop. Xiaolin was carried down by her father and walked alongside him, holding his hand. She saw a small barn with a vast sugarcane field beside it, extending as far as the eye could see. Some parts had already been harvested.

The little girl had been silent since she first saw the sugarcane field. She couldn’t fathom how much sugarcane was there, but the modest person who had given her only ten stalks seemed stingy in comparison.

Huan Tan, who was busy giving orders to his workers, felt a burning sensation on his back, as if someone was glaring at him. When he turned around, he saw the fiery eyes of his little friend.

"Alright, get to work," Huan Tan told his workers before walking over to the father and daughter who were waiting.

"I never imagined you would be this wealthy," Tianrong said, looking at the sugarcane field in amazement. This crop would be turned into sugar, and he couldn’t imagine how much money it would bring in.

"I asked you to stay with me, but you refused," Huan Tan said, amused by Tianrong’s awestruck expression.

"It’s good he didn’t come, isn’t it? If Father had come, he wouldn’t have married Mother, and Xiaolin wouldn’t be here," the chubby child said, crossing her arms and lifting her chin, showing off her neck that was starting to develop several folds.

"Hmph," Huan Tan chuckled at his sulky little friend before bending down to pick her up.

Xiaolin wriggled and protested all the way, but she couldn’t make the big man put her down. Huan Tan led everyone around the barn, revealing a watermelon farm at the back with large, nearly ripe fruits.

The greedy child stopped her fussing and looked at the large watermelons with sparkling eyes, swallowing hard.

"This is our watermelon farm. I wanted to plant more because there’s a high demand, but due to the long transportation time, the watermelons would get bruised and unappealing by the time they reached the customers. So, I only sell them locally in Jingnan," Huan Tan explained to his chubby friend. Xiaolin’s eyes lit up with an idea. She turned to her tall friend, her eyes shining brightly.

Huan Tan laughed at the look in her eyes. Without saying anything, he put her down and walked over to a ripe watermelon. Xiaolin followed closely, tugging at the hem of his shirt.

"What is it, hm?" Huan Tan looked down at the chubby-cheeked child.

"Can I collect some seeds to plant my own?"

"Help yourself, but I won’t tell you how to grow them,"

Xiaolin pouted but nodded in agreement. She understood that some things required time and effort to learn, and it wasn’t reasonable to expect someone to just hand over that knowledge.

Tianrong watched as his daughter became increasingly attached to the tall uncle, causing his eyebrows to twitch. Wherever Huan Tan walked, the chubby child followed closely, whether he went left or right.

After collecting two large watermelons, Xiaolin sat swinging her legs on a bamboo bench, happily munching on the fruit. The sight of the chubby child with a big red watermelon grin on her cheeks was utterly adorable to Ching Long.

"Xiaolin, wouldn’t it be nice to stay at my house? We have lots of delicious food here," the boy said, sitting down beside his little sister. He wanted her to become his sister.

"Nom nom. I can only stay for a few days and then have to go back," she replied, glancing at him. But when she spotted some watermelon seeds, she quickly used a blade of grass to pick them out and place them on a leaf. Seeing her interest, Ching Long helped by picking the seeds from his own watermelon.

"Why don’t you stay forever and become my sister?"

Xiaolin blinked and looked at the boy’s sparkling eyes, pondering his intentions. Did he really want her as a sister, or did he just want someone to make tasty food?

"Why do you want me to stay here?"

"Because you cook delicious food," he replied with a smile, taking another bite of his watermelon.

Xiaolin sighed inwardly, thinking about how she could always guess some things correctly but never managed to win the lottery in her previous life. Sigh!

The chubby girl ate watermelon until her belly was full before the twins dragged her to another area. She saw a clear stream that looked invited to play in. Before she could act on the thought, water splashed from the other side.

"Xiaolin, come down quickly!" Ching Long called, emerging from the water and waving eagerly.

Xiaolin saw that the stream was only waist-deep for the boy. She wanted to jump in but was afraid her father would scold her.

"Not going to play?" Ching Lang asked as he removed his outer robe and neatly folded it beside a tree, along with his shoes and socks.

Xiaolin felt a bit flushed as she watched Ching Lang. Despite being a lady for two lifetimes, she couldn’t match his neatness. She never folded her blanket after waking up, and when she did put away her clothes, they were often folded haphazardly and tossed into the wardrobe.

"I’m afraid Father will scold me,"

"Uncle won’t mind, Xiaolin. I already told him before we came out. Come on," Ching Long, floating leisurely in the water, reassured her again. He looked over at Ching Lang, who was slowly wading into the water. Seeing this, Xiaolin quickly took off her shoes, put them aside, and ran a little distance from the stream to get ready.

"Woo! YAHH!!" She took a running leap and splashed into the water right in front of Ching Lang.

BOOM! SPLASH!

"Haha, my little sister is amazing!" Ching Long clapped his hands enthusiastically.

"Ack! The water is so cold! Haha!" Xiaolin laughed and swam joyfully in the cool water, not noticing the state Ching Lang was in after being splashed.

The children’s happy voices echoed for a while before they grew tired and floated quietly in the water.

"You’re a good swimmer. Do you often swim in the sea?" Ching Long asked the chubby girl, who was now floating on her back.

"There’s a stream behind my house too,"

"Oh right, but it’s only knee-deep,"

"Some parts have more water, but it’s not as much as here,"

Xiaolin said, flipping over to swim a breaststroke. Ching Long tried to mimic her, leading to more laughter.

The sound of the children’s laughter made the two young men who had just arrived look at each other.

"Come on out, or Father will scold us," Ching Lang, who had only been wading and playing in the water briefly, called out as he sat on a log.

"We’ve only been swimming for a little while,"

"A little while? It’s been an hour," Huan Tan said, walking in and overhearing his younger son.

Ching Long turned sharply to see his father’s stern face, then gave a sheepish smile and nudged Xiaolin, who was still floating.

"Xiaolin, come out now, quickly."

Tianrong saw his daughter in the water with her clothes on, even her socks. He nodded in approval, pleased that she was mindful not to expose herself. He quickly took off his cloak, ready to wrap it around her when she came out.

Xiaolin obediently walked out of the water and was quickly wrapped up and carried over her father’s shoulder. He picked up her little shoes and walked to the barn to wait, leaving Huan Tan to continue talking with his sons.

The chubby little girl nestled quietly against her father’s shoulder, as he refused to let her down. After a short wait, the three father and sons returned, and they all climbed into the cart to head back to the hill.

After taking a bath and changing into fresh clothes, Xiaolin sat while her father dried her hair. She nodded off several times before her hair was fully dry. Seeing how tired his daughter was, Tianrong requested a meal for the two of them. After eating, the chubby child fell asleep without even combing her hair.

Once she had slept soundly, Xiaolin woke up, got dressed, and tidied her hair. She walked out to the field on the hill, where she saw her father pressing sugarcane with the workers and Huan Tan. The round-cheeked child’s eyes sparkled as she ran over and hugged Huan Tan’s waist.

"What is it?" Huan Tan looked down at the chubby child.

"I want some," Xiaolin said, her eyes bright and focused on the sugarcane juice, swallowing her saliva. Huan Tan instructed a worker to pour a small cup of sugarcane juice and handed it to the child.

Xiaolin took a sip and her eyes widened. The sweet, fragrant, and refreshing taste delighted her. It would be even better with ice, she thought.

"Make some snacks for me," the small and large friends spoke quietly.

"What do you want to eat?"

"Anything,"

Xiaolin glared at her tall friend. "Anything" isn’t a real answer!

She handed him her small cup and asked for another. Once she got it, she headed to the kitchen to see what she could make.

"Oh, young miss, is there something I can help you with?" Xiaolin looked up at the pretty lady who seemed to be around her mother’s age.

"Beautiful Auntie, I want to make some snacks."

"B...beautiful Auntie?" The lady blushed at the child’s compliment, and Xiaolin giggled.

Her round eyes spotted a bunch of bananas in the corner, some of which were ripe. She asked the beautiful auntie to peel and halve the ripe bananas while she prepared the batter.

She was going to make fried bananas!

"Place the bananas on a banana leaf, cover them with another leaf, and then press down with the cutting board," Xiaolin instructed.

They ended up with flattened banana strips that she dipped in the batter before frying until golden and crispy. The fried bananas smelled delicious. Xiaolin picked up a piece that had cooled and took a big bite.

"Yummyyy!"

"Hehe, young miss, you’re so funny,"

"Hehe. It’s just so good!" Xiaolin said, munching on the fried banana.

The bananas weren’t even done being fried and there was already a hungry zombie flog running towards the kitchen, including her father.

"What are you making, Xiaolin?" Tianrong asked, following the delicious aroma. He had overheard Huan Tan telling his daughter he wanted some snacks.

"Fried bananas, Father. Try some," Xiaolin said, placing a basket on the kitchen table.

Tianrong took a bite and his eyes widened in delight. The slightly crispy batter and the sweetness of the ripe bananas were a perfect combination. Huan Tan and the twins also grabbed some to eat.

"Delicious! Make a lot more, Jin Lian," Huan Tan said, turning to the woman frying the bananas.

"Uh, yes, sir," Jin Lian replied, blinking at her boss.

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