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

Behind the He family villa, there is a large private plot of land where they grow fruits and vegetables.

In one corner, sweet potato vines are growing lushly, their green leaves shimmering in the morning light.

He Wanning led Tongtong by the hand and, familiar with the way, made her way to the edge of the ground.

She crouched down and lowered her voice to demonstrate for Tongtong:

"Watch closely, even a master needs skill. You can't just pull the vine out; you have to gently dig around the soil from the side and take the sweet potato out."

The vines are still alive, so we can fill the soil back in, and no one will know—that's called sustainable development!

Tongtong nodded vigorously, her usual cute face turning serious and stern.

"Auntie, Tongtong understands! We're going to make sweet potatoes with technical skills... cough, we're going to make chivalrous thieves!"

She squatted down and, imitating He Wanning, stretched out her chubby little hands and quickly dug through the soft soil. The soil disappeared in a flash, revealing the sweet potato.

"Wow—!" she suddenly exclaimed, her eyes widening. "This sweet potato is huge!"

She grabbed the half-exposed sweet potato with both hands and started pulling it out with a "heave-ho" sound—

Her face turned bright red, her toes pressed against the ground, and she leaned back, but the sweet potato didn't budge.

He Wanning had already deftly dug out four sweet potatoes of different sizes and neatly arranged them to one side.

She looked at Tongtong's adorable struggle with the sweet potato and, suppressing a laugh, asked, "Tongtong, do you need any help?"

The skill with which he moved clearly indicated that he was a "habitual offender".

Tongtong shook her head firmly.

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She let go, circled the big sweet potato, then stretched out her chubby little leg and gently kicked the soil next to the sweet potato—

She figured this out herself after observing her aunt's actions.

Then, she hugged the sweet potato and began to shake it from side to side, like pulling up a radish.

"One, two, three, heave-ho! Heave-ho!"

With her childish shouts, the big sweet potato finally "emerged from the ground," kicking up a small clump of soil.

"Yay!"

Tongtong hugged a sweet potato that was almost half the size of her head, her eyes crinkling into crescents as she smiled, her little face full of a sense of accomplishment.

Just then, He Wanning suddenly pricked up her ears, her expression changing slightly:

"Tongtong, run! Someone's coming!"

Tongtong was startled, grabbed the big sweet potato, and turned to run away.

Unfortunately, its short legs weren't up to par, and it wobbled when it ran.

"Auntie~ wait for me~"

He Wanning glanced back, feeling both helpless and amused. She ran back and shoved four small sweet potatoes into Tongtong's arms:

"Hold on tight! If you drop me, I'll take half a sweet potato from your pocket!"

Tongtong quickly hugged it tightly, the five sweet potatoes piling up like a small mountain in her arms. She nodded emphatically:

"I know~ Tongtong promises to complete the mission!!"

He Wanning bent down, picked up the sweet potato and herself together, and strode into the woods.

The wind whistled in her ears, and Tongtong giggled in her arms. Her face, covered by a black cloth, revealed only a pair of bright, excited, and happy eyes.

What they didn't know was—

Not far away, by the window in the backyard of the old house, an elderly woman with gray hair and a kind face was holding up her mobile phone and taking a complete picture of this scene.

In the scene, He Wanning is running with a masked little dumpling in her arms. The little dumpling is tightly holding a bunch of sweet potatoes and is smiling so hard that his eyes are almost closed.

The old lady put down her phone, looked at the photo, and a helpless yet doting smile appeared on her lips.

"That girl Wan Ning... she's been stealing melons and dates since she was little, and now she's even leading the younger generation astray..."

She shook her head, her gaze falling on Tongtong's crescent-shaped eyes in the photo, her expression softening.

"But...it really does look like it."

She murmured to herself, her fingertips gently tracing the innocent and radiant face on the screen.

---

In the open space of the grove of trees behind the mountain.

The "spoils" were neatly laid out on the ground.

Tongtong squatted down beside them, stretched out her chubby little hands, and carefully counted them one by one:

"One, two, three, four... four, Auntie! Adding this big one, that makes five!"

He Wanning poked her rosy cheeks, which were flushed with excitement, and teased her on purpose:

"It's all your fault for holding us back; otherwise, we could have gotten at least two more."

Tongtong scratched her head sheepishly, then turned around and "lectured" her short legs, pointing at them with her little finger:

"It's all your fault! You're so short and fat, you can't run fast!"

He Wanning couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of him earnestly arguing with his legs.

She smiled and began to distribute the "spoils of war":

"I'll eat the two big ones, you eat the two small ones, and this biggest one is left..."

Tongtong immediately raised her hand, her eyes sparkling:

"I want a big one too!"

He Wanning raised an eyebrow and readily nodded: "Sure."

She had already planned this all along—

With Tongtong's small appetite, even if you give her a big one, she can't finish it, and in the end, the leftovers will just end up in her own stomach.

A sure-fire way to make money.

Seeing that her aunt agreed so readily, Tongtong unconsciously puffed out her chest and a smug look on her face said, "I got it."

He Wanning looked at her still grinning foolishly and suppressed a laugh as she gave instructions:

"Stop grinning like an idiot, hero! Come help us! Otherwise, our roasted sweet potatoes will turn into raw sweet potatoes!"

Tongtong immediately stopped giggling, nodded vigorously, and replied in her childish voice, "I'll do it!"

Tongtong ran to the edge of the woods, stuck out her round little bottom, and began to carefully pick up the dead branches on the ground with her chubby little hands.

"It has to be dry~" she muttered to herself as she picked them up, her sweet voice ringing out clearly in the quiet forest.

He picked one up, squeezed it, and nodded in satisfaction, "This one's good!"

Upon encountering a damp branch, she wrinkled her little nose in disgust and tossed it back to the ground.

"This wet thing is no good~ It smokes and it's choking~"

He Wanning, watching from a short distance away, couldn't help but chuckle at the serious look on the little adult's face.

Tongtong quickly picked up a small bundle of firewood and staggered back home.

Halfway there, the thinnest branch at the top fell down with a "thud".

She cried out "Ouch!" and bent down with difficulty to pick up the firewood, which scattered all over the ground.

Little Tuanzi wasn't discouraged. He simply put down the remaining firewood in his arms, picked it up one by one, and carefully arranged it into a neat little bundle before carrying it away with satisfaction.

He Wanning also joined the firewood-gathering team.

Two figures, one tall and one short, were busy in the woods; one was slender and agile, the other round and chubby like a little penguin.

Soon, a small firewood volcano was built up on the open ground.

He Wanning glanced at the quantity and nodded: "That's enough."

"Yay—!" Tongtong jumped up immediately, her little feet barely off the ground, but her excitement was palpable.

"Auntie, hurry! Start a fire! Roast sweet potatoes!"

She urged him impatiently, her little face flushed with excitement from running.

........