A few days later, I went to the docks with my little friend Tang Ling.

There was a big ship on the river, with a narrow wooden plank extending from the bow to the shore.

Tang Ling jumped across the plank in a few steps, and I followed suit.

Suddenly, the ship swayed, and I stepped into thin air and fell into the water.

As I fell, I saw a lot of water grass, struggling to drink two mouthfuls of water, and then I lost consciousness.

When I woke up, someone was carrying me on their back, and my head was dangling down.

Someone shouted, "She's awake, she's awake, child, don't run away, she's awake."

"This child is really hardworking, carrying her sister for more than ten laps."

I was gently placed on the grass.

My brother's shiny eyes stared at me nervously.

When he saw me wake up, he carried me back home.

Mom greeted us from afar.

She snatched me away and yelled at my brother, "Stay away from her!"

My brother lifted his arm to wipe his face and silently sat in the corner of the wall.

Mom put me in a bathtub filled with hot water and changed my clothes.

My brother still kept his head low, sitting alone in the corner.

At this time, Tang Ling was dragged in by her mother.

She cried, "I'm scared, I'll never take Xiao Yu onto the ship again."

Auntie apologized and said, "It's my fault for not teaching her well. Xiao Yu fell into the river and came home without saying a word. If I hadn't slipped up just now, I wouldn't have known!"

"It was so dangerous. Wu teacher hadn't finished class yet, but her brother suddenly said he had to go out for a while. They are so close. Your eldest son doesn't know how to swim very well either. He carried his sister to the shore but slipped back into the water. It was so dangerous! I'm here to apologize to you!"

Auntie put down the gift in her hand and bowed sincerely.

Mom's face was red and white.

She turned around and went into the kitchen, scrubbed the bathtub, scooped out half a basin of hot water from the pot, and used Aunt Zhu's two hot water bottles as well.

Then, she came out and pushed me, saying, "Go!"

I immediately understood and dragged my brother, telling him to hurry up and take a bath.

My brother sneezed loudly.

Mom stewed a large pot of ginger soup in the yard with a small coal stove.

She was frugal, scraping only a little brown sugar from the jar into two big bowls of soup.

I took a sip and it was so spicy I gasped for breath.

My brother came out wearing dad's clothes. Dad was fat, and the oversized clothes made him look even thinner.

Mom said in a rough voice, "Drink the soup."

My brother took a sip, and then he gulped it down.

Seeing that mom had walked away, I pushed the bowl in front of my brother.

My brother said, "Xiao Yu, you drink half, I'll drink half."

As he spoke, he drew a line in the center of the bowl.

Hey, that works too.

I held my nose, gulped, and drank vigorously until the bowl was still full, buried my head, and continued to gulp.

I kept drinking until my stomach was full, and I hadn't even finished half a bowl...

Later, I learned that this was the first time my brother tricked me.