Chapter 78: Teaching the Quadruplets how to Fight

As Lu Jiao tied up the hay and the bamboo, she asked the Second Born, “What do you want to be when you grow up? Do you want to be a great scholar like your daddy? If you want, ask your daddy to send you to study when you’re a little older.”

The Second Born instantly shook his head and straightened her back, “Mommy, I don’t like to study. I enjoy riding horses and I want to be a general in the future.”

Lu Jiao cooperated by praising him, “Okay, then work hard so you can become a great general in the future.”

The Second Born was overjoyed to hear the encouragement, “Mommy, when I become a general, I will look after you every day. Whoever dares you to hurt you, I will hit them to death.”

Lu Jiao’s eyes darkened. Though she wasn’t going to stay by them forever, she didn’t want them to grow up with poor morals.

She stared at the Second Born and said in a serious manner, “Second Born, even if you do become a general one day, you cannot be a general who hurts people without good reasons, got it?”

The Second Born explained, “Mommy, I am saying I will hit those who hurt me. I will only beat people who take advantage.”

“Even if someone does hurt you, you have to judge if their crime is unforgivable or not. If they hurt you, you can protect yourself, but you cannot threaten to kill them every time, okay?”

The Second Born thought about it and decided Lu Jiao was right. He should protect himself but he shouldn’t kill others.

“Mommy, I understand.”

Lu Jiao smiled. She placed him into her basket and put it on. As for the hay and bamboo, she tucked them under each one of her arms.

On her back, the Second Born felt that walking down the mountain must be too tiring for her and struggled to come down.

“Mommy, I can walk down the mountain. You can use the basket for hay and bamboo.”

“It’s okay, I can carry them. Don’t move around too much. You might fall.”

The Second Born didn’t dare to move then. He extended his arms and wrapped them around Lu Jiao’s neck and his little head reliantly pressed against Lu Jiao’s back.

The mother and son duo went home. Before they got there, however, they saw two people walk toward them. The sight of Lu Jiao made those two walk forward faster.

“Yunjin’s wife, Erdan pooped last night and his fever disappeared. It didn’t come back all night so I think he is fine now. I must thank you profusely.”

Lu Jiao nodded lightly and reminded Erdan’s parents, “Don’t let your children eat too much meat in the future. They’re young and their stomachs are weak. It’s better for them to consume more vegetables and fruits. Plus, when you cook meat, cook it for a longer period of time so the meat is very tender. That way, the children can digest better.”

Erdan’s parents nodded, “We understand. We will be more careful in the future.”

Erdan’s parents then took out some silver and said embarrassingly, “Yunjin’s wife, we don’t have much money so please don’t mind.”

Lu Jiao straight away raised up her arm along with the hay in her hand to decline, “Take that back. I don’t want money.”

Erdan’s parents exchanged glances, “How can we do that?”

Lu Jiao smiled, “It’s okay. We are all neighbors after all. You guys should go back to take care of Erdan now.”

Erdan’s parents thanked her again. As they left, they still muttered words of appreciation.

The Second Born felt very proud to have witnessed that. He silently exclaimed over how incredible his mother was. Not only did she cure Erdan, but she also refused the money.

With the Second Born on her back and hay and bamboo under her arms, they reached home. Outside her trellis, the other three little ones had woken up and were playing with Soot and Marble.

After they took some time to adjustment, the puppies now leisurely played with the children.

When Lu Jiao appeared, the three little ones came to greet the puppies. The Third Born was the first to speak, “Mommy, where are those pajamas you promised to make me?”

Still on Lu Jiao’s back, the Second Born complained, “No! Let mommy teach us how to fight bad guys first.”

The Third Born wanted to argue but the First Born spoke up, “We learn how to fight first so we don’t get beat up by others. After that, you can get your pajamas.”

The Second and Third Borns stopped talking then. The Fourth Born shot over like a bullet and hogged onto Lu Jiao’s leg, “Mommy, where did you take the Second Born? When I woke up, I didn’t see you and I missed you!”

Lu Jiao put down the hay and bamboo to pinch his cheek, “I went up onto the mountain to get some hay.”

The Second Born chimed in quickly, “Mommy said she can make the hay into a scarecrow. Then use it to teach us how to fight.”

The Third Born howled, “Really?! Hay can be made into a scarecrow?”

The others were intrigued by this. Lu Jiao put down the Second Born, put away the bamboo, and started to tie the hay together.

The four little ones circled around her to observe. Lu Jiao took the time to explain every step of the process, “See, this is the head.”

“This is the body. These are hands and these are legs.”

By the time she was done putting everything together, a scarecrow was formed.

The four little ones cheered, “Ah, it really is a scarecrow! It looks just like a person!”

“It really does look like a person!”

The Second Born was impatient, “Mommy, teach us how to beat up bad people!”

Lu Jiao nodded. She made the scarecrow stand up to demonstrate, “First, observe if your opponent is bigger than you. If they are and you cannot beat them, then grab their legs first. Use your strength to make them fall and use your elbows to hurt them. There are a few spots that hurt more than others. Such as the lower body. You strike here…”

Lu Jiao continued to teach her sons how to beat up bad guys. Lu Gui rushed over with interest.

Lady Tian also came over after she cooked breakfast. She watched everything in fear and grabbed onto Lu Jiao, “Jiaojiao, why are you teaching the children how to fight?”

The four little ones looked over to Lady Tian, confused. What was wrong with defending against bad guys?

Lu Jiao stood up and smiled, “Mom, it’s okay. It’s to prevent others from hurting them.”

“If you teach them how to fight, they’ll fight people all the time. It won’t save them from any pain.”

Lu Jiao reminded the four little ones with a grin, “You are not going to randomly hit others. You will only defend yourself against those who hurt you. Once you are older, you will not take advantage of the weak.”

The Second Born clarified in a hurry, “Who are the ‘weak’?”

“The weak are those who are smaller or weaker than you. Don’t take advantage of others. If you do, you will be as annoying as Caidou.”

The four little ones nodded to confirm they understood, “Mom, don’t worry, we won’t hurt the weak.”

Lu Jiao nodded but Lady Tian was still worried and whispered to Lu Jiao, “If you teach the children how to fight, wouldn’t my son-in-law be angry?”

Lu Jiao wasn’t worried about that. Xie Yunjin was the greatest antagonist in the novel who fought against the protagonists for his sons. There was no way he would be angry at her for teaching his children how to defend themselves.

“Mom, don’t worry. It’s fine.”

Lady Tian wanted to say more but Lu Jiao had already turned around to continue teaching.

As the mother and sons trained, Lady Zhao approached the outer gate. Lu Jiao saw her and told the four little ones to practice themselves.

She went to greet Lady Zhao, “Is something up?”

In a mysterious voice, Lady Zhao whispered to Lu Jiao, “Did you hear? Last night, something else happened at the Shen family home.”