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

A hint of mischief flashed across Tongtong's face, but she quickly concealed it, replacing it with a troubled expression.

She frowned slightly, pinching two fingers together as if calculating something complicated.

"Hmm...two..." she muttered softly, her eyes darting around a few times, then she looked up and said in a childish voice, "Eleven yuan! Uncle!"

He Wanqing almost burst out laughing.

She and Mo Ye exchanged a glance, both seeing the understanding in each other's eyes: this little girl was playing tricks.

They know their daughter all too well.

She counted to one thousand during the morning meeting; simple addition and subtraction were no challenge for her at all.

The "eleven yuan" price is clearly intentional.

But the man didn't know any of this and just assumed that the little dumpling really couldn't do math.

He patiently guided him: "No, little friend, two fives make ten. You see, five plus five equals ten."

Tongtong looked down at her fingers, then looked up at him, her little face filled with confusion and deep thought.

Then she counted again, still stubbornly stretching out her two chubby little hands:

"It's eleven yuan! Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven..."

The man was amused by her counting method and couldn't resist teasing her further:

"Ten yuan, eleven yuan, ten yuan, eleven yuan..."

Tongtong's little head swayed from side to side in rhythm with his movements, like a little penguin deep in thought.

Finally, the man gave up struggling, smiled, and pulled out a five-yuan note: "Okay, I'll buy a bundle first."

Tongtong took the money and deftly handed him a bundle of five yuan's worth of zongzi leaves.

The man pulled out another five-yuan note: "Buy another bundle."

Tongtong handed him another bundle, then sat obediently, waiting for him to say the next sentence.

The man stacked the two bundles of bamboo leaves together, waved them at her, and grinned smugly.

"Look, Uncle bought two bundles for only ten yuan! Isn't Uncle smart?"

Tongtong looked at him expressionlessly, nodded her little head, and spoke in a tone as calm as still water:

"Uncle is very smart."

The man paused for a moment, about to say, "Then give me back the extra five yuan, I'll just buy a bundle," when he saw that Tongtong had already given him the two five-yuan notes she had just collected.

I carefully folded it, stuffed it into the small pocket in the front of the overalls, and patted it with my hand.

man:"……"

and many more.

wrong.

Was he tricked?

He looked down at the two bundles of bamboo leaves in his hand, then looked up at the innocent-looking person in front of him.

The little dumpling, whose eyes were gleaming with cunning, suddenly felt a bit confused.

He got tricked by a kid? I need to check his license!

He, a nearly thirty-year-old adult man who had been navigating the social world for many years, was tricked by a child wearing overalls and with two little pigtails.

The man took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, trying to salvage his last shred of dignity.

He stroked his chin, looking at Tongtong with a scrutinizing gaze: "Are you... really a child?"

Tongtong tilted her head, her expression as if she were looking at an idiot: "Uncle, I'm three years old."

The man fell silent. There was nothing wrong with the cards!

He stood up, about to leave, when suddenly he remembered something, squatted down again, and lowered his voice to say:

"Little sister, let's make a deal. You won't tell anyone about what happened today, okay?"

He can't afford to lose face like that.

Tongtong's eyes lit up, and a shrewd look flashed across her face.

She stretched out three chubby little fingers, rubbed her thumb, index finger, and middle finger together, making a gesture that is universally understood.

"It's the rule of the underworld, uncle, one dollar as hush money."

The man stared wide-eyed at the chubby little dumpling in front of him.

Three years old.

A three-year-old will pay hush money.

Is this a child?!

He felt that his worldview, which he had held for more than 20 years, had been shaken.

But since things have come to this point, it seems like we can't refuse.

He gritted his teeth, took out another dollar from his pocket, and handed it to Tongtong.

Tongtong took the money, her face beaming with a smile so sweet it could smack.

"Thank you, Uncle! You're so kind! You're the smartest, Uncle!"

Then she stuffed the one-yuan coin into her pocket, patted it, and said contentedly, "Thank you for the eleven yuan, Uncle!"

The man paused.

Eleven yuan?

He gave me ten yuan to buy bamboo leaves, and another yuan as hush money, so it was indeed eleven yuan.

But why does it sound so strange coming from her?

He stood there stunned for a few seconds, then suddenly slapped his thigh, a look of sudden realization on his face.

"I knew it! My mom was wrong!" he muttered to himself.

She said I wasn't smart enough and shouldn't start a business, or I'd get scammed by adults in the city.

I knew something was wrong then. I was sure I could be scammed, but it wasn't just the adults in the city who were scamming me; the children in the village were too!

He seemed to have grasped some profound truth about life, and with a look of enlightened relief on his face, he walked away contentedly.

Mo Ye and He Wanqing were left looking at each other in bewilderment.

Mo Ye opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but not knowing what to say.

He Wanqing rubbed her forehead, feeling that it was a complicated matter.

This person... could they be a little... irrational?

Tongtong was completely unaware of the earth-shattering thing she had just done, and was happily counting the money in her pocket with her head down.

One, two, three... eleven yuan!

She looked up, grinned at Mo Ye, revealing a few tiny teeth: "Daddy! Tongtong made money!"

That smile was so bright it was dazzling.

Mo Ye looked at her, then at He Wanqing, and suddenly realized that his daughter might really never go hungry in the future.

With that kind of shrewdness, that kind of acting skill, and that effortlessly innocent charm, she'll be able to succeed in anything she does in the future.

He Wanqing squatted down and gently pinched her daughter's cheek, her tone filled with helplessness and doting:

"You little rascal, who taught you all this?"

Tongtong blinked, looking completely innocent.

"What? Tongtong doesn't understand. Tongtong just got the answer wrong. It's normal for a three-year-old to make mistakes!"

He Wanqing: "..."

Okay, you win.

She looked at Mo Ye and asked softly, "Our daughter... is this considered fraud?"

Mo Ye thought for a moment and answered seriously:

"I don't think so. They gave it to them voluntarily."

"Was the hush money voluntary?"

"...He paid for it voluntarily."

He Wanqing was silent for a moment, then spoke again:

"Were you like this when you were little?"

"Me?" Mo Ye immediately distanced himself from the situation.

"I'm not that cunning. When I was a kid, I would at most trick the neighbor's kid into giving me candy, but she's gone to... a level I could never have reached when I was a kid."

Tongtong touched her little pocket, grinned, revealing a few tiny teeth, and asked in her childish voice, "Daddy, Mommy, isn't Tongtong awesome?"

Mo Ye and He Wanqing exchanged a glance.

Then they exclaimed in unison, "Awesome!"

"That's amazing."

"Dad is proud of you."

Tongtong nodded in satisfaction, then lowered her head again, continuing to tend her bamboo leaf stall, preparing to welcome the next big spender... but no buyer...