Shocking! A three-year-old brings his aloof mother to their door.

"Mommy! Daddy! Great-Grandma! Look! Tongtong caught it!" The joy of success made her little face shine brightly, and she held the little crab high in the air.

He Wanqing quickly captured this precious moment with her phone and offered sincere praise: "Tongtong is so brave and amazing!"

Mo Ye smiled and praised, "Our Tongtong is a little crab-catching expert!"

Tongtong happily put her first captive into her little basket, feeling a surge of accomplishment and even more motivated.

Seeing that his daughter had grasped the essentials and was enjoying herself, Mo Ye returned to Zhang Xiuying's side to help.

The two skillfully bundled the washed bamboo leaves with wet straw, neatly stacked them into baskets, and drained the water for easy sale.

He Wanqing stood by the stream, watching with a smile as her daughter intently turned over the stones, occasionally letting out a soft gasp of surprise.

The small basket gradually filled with more and more crabs, a dozen or so huddled together, rustling softly.

Tongtong would shake the basket on her back from time to time to prevent them from escaping. The serious expression on her little face made her look like a responsible crab boss.

"Tongtong, we should go home now." Mo Ye called out as he slung the bamboo basket full of zongzi leaves over his shoulder.

Tongtong was having so much fun when she heard this, her little face immediately fell, and she looked up, her dark, grape-like eyes filled with reluctance: "Daddy, let's play a little longer..."

He Wanqing walked to her side and said softly:

"Tongtong, have you forgotten the clay pot chicken that Grandma stewed for you at home? If you go back any later, the chicken will get cold."

The allure of delicious food is immense.

Tongtong's little face immediately showed a troubled expression, and her eyebrows were almost furrowed like caterpillars.

On one side was the fun of catching crabs, and on the other was the aroma of clay pot chicken that seemed to waft right to your nose... In the end, the craving for food won out over the desire to play.

She swallowed hard, then nodded decisively: "Let's go home and eat chicken!"

He Wanqing smiled and helped her wash the mud off her hands and feet, and put on her sandals.

The group slowly made their way home in the direction they had come from.

Upon returning home, the first thing Tongtong did was to settle her crab soldiers and generals.

"Daddy, where does my little crab live?" she asked anxiously, afraid that the little crab might be mistreated.

"Don't worry, Dad will find you a good place." Mo Ye took out a wide-mouthed, transparent glass jar from the storage room; it was the one he used to raise small fish and shrimp when he was a child.

"Look, how about this? It's big and bright enough."

"Great!" Tongtong was extremely satisfied and carefully moved the little crabs to their new home.

Mo Ye helped her lay a layer of washed fine sand and a few smooth pebbles at the bottom of the jar, and then poured in a shallow layer of clear tap water. A simple yet vibrant little ecological tank was completed.

Watching the crabs crawl around inside the jar, Tongtong finally breathed a sigh of relief, only then remembering her great-grandfather's promise to knit her a little rabbit.

She darted into the living room like a cheerful little sparrow, just as Jiang Hui, wearing an apron, came out of the kitchen.

"Grandma, where's my little bunny? The little bunny that Great-Grandpa made?" Tongtong asked, looking up at her.

Jiang Hui wiped her hands and smiled, pointing to the table in the living room:

"There it is. Great-Grandpa went back to the old house to get some things and specially placed your little rabbit in the most conspicuous place."

Sure enough, in the center of the table, a lifelike, adorable grass-green rabbit was squatting quietly, with long ears, a round body, and a cute little short tail.

Tongtong exclaimed "Wow!" and picked it up with great affection, liking it more and more as she looked at it.

She couldn't wait to share this joy with her brother Yunqi.

When we parted in the morning, my brother said that his house was next door.

She ran out of the yard holding the little rabbit, and a rhythmic "bang, bang" sound caught her attention.

Grandpa Mo Chashan was standing in the yard, with a cross-shaped iron ring in front of him and a log on top of it.

He sipped his drink twice into his palm, then swung a heavy, long-handled axe, his arm muscles bulging, and brought it down with a mighty chop!

With a crisp "crack," the log split into four pieces.

"Grandpa!" Tongtong ran over, clutching her little rabbit, her eyes wide open. "What are you doing?"

Mo Chashan stopped what he was doing, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said with a smile, "Grandpa is chopping wood."

"Why are you chopping wood?"

"Chopping wood to start a fire, cooking rice and stewing meat! The chicken cooked in a clay pot over a wood-fired stove is just so delicious!" Mo Chashan replied.

Tongtong seemed to understand but not quite, but when she heard it was related to delicious food, she immediately perked up.

She carefully placed the little rabbit on a clean stone bench, stepped back a few paces, made a cheering gesture, clenched her little fist, and shouted in a childish voice:

"Go, Grandpa! Heave-ho! Heave-ho!"

The little dumpling's voice acting seemed to have a magical quality, and Mo Chashan felt full of energy. He swung the axe faster and more steadily, and the sound of banging echoed continuously, along with the crisp sound of firewood splitting.

After Jiang Huiwen came out of the kitchen, she looked at the firewood that had quickly piled up on the ground and didn't know whether to laugh or cry:

"Brother Shan, are you planning to chop enough firewood for a whole month? Tongtong called out to you a couple of times, and you're working with the energy of a young person!"

Mo Chashan then stopped, still seemingly unsatisfied, and put down his axe with a smile. He said to Tongtong:

"Tongtong, Grandpa picked two big baskets of lychees today. They're in the storeroom. They're big and sweet. Do you want to try some?"

Lychees! Tongtong's eyes instantly lit up brighter than the stars in the sky: "Yes! Tongtong wants to eat them!"

She followed her grandfather into the storage room next door, where she saw two huge bamboo baskets filled to the brim with lychees, like two small mountains.

"So many!" Tongtong exclaimed in surprise.

Mo Chashan brought her a small stool, then picked out a few of the biggest and reddest ones, peeled them open, and handed them to her.

"Come on, have a taste. This is from our own tree, it's so sweet."

Tongtong sat on the stool, swinging her legs back and forth, and took the lychee flesh to eat with relish. The sweet juice filled her mouth, and she squinted her eyes in happiness.

As she ate, she looked at the lychees in front of her, pondering:

There's so much of it, enough to eat for a very long time. We can also share it with Brother Yunqi, with Mom and Dad, with Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma...

Mo Ye then walked over, leaned against the door, watched his daughter eat happily, and reminded her:

"Little glutton, just eat a few, save some room for dinner. Grandma's clay pot chicken will be ready soon, and lychees are too 'heaty' so you can't eat too many."

Tongtong was peeling a lychee when she heard this and paused. Looking at the juicy flesh in her hand, and then imagining the aroma of clay pot chicken, a conflicted expression returned to her little face. The caterpillar seemed to reappear.

Finally, she nodded vigorously and said like a little adult, "Yes! Tongtong knows~ I'll just eat... just five!"

After saying that, he started counting seriously, "One, two...one."

.......