Chapter Sixty Return to One's Country

  It wasn't until after six in the evening that Keli sent Grandpa and them back, as soon as they entered the house, the two little ones happily shouted: "Grandma (aunt), look at all the rewards I got today!" The two little guys took turns reporting their glorious achievements to Mom and sister who were busy setting up dinner.

  Jū ān saw Rǎn rǎn and Tóng tóng so happy, smiled at her brother-in-law: "Two little ones, played well today."

  My brother-in-law looked at Yu An and then at the two little guys who were like treasures, saying: "It's not bad, when we first entered, my dad and I spent $40 to buy over a hundred tickets. For lunch, everything required tickets, some needed more, some less. Each kid basically got a small prize for playing, but it was still pretty interesting. For example, they gave the kids a piece of paper and had them roll it into a tube with their parents' help, then see whose could hold the most popcorn, tall and thin or short and fat. Why? It made the kids think about the principle behind it. And there were several cups that you poured different things into, stirred, and suddenly became something like rubber mud. I thought it was great, many kids learned some math and science knowledge through games. Ran Ran even got a big box of chocolates.

  "Not bad, I even got a piece of chocolate back, at least I got something back." said with a happy and contented tone.

  The two little guys finished their report, and everyone had dinner. After dinner, Ju An sat on the sofa with her brother-in-law and father to discuss arrangements for returning home. Ju An mentioned the plan she had discussed with her mother that afternoon, and her brother-in-law nodded and said: "Yes, just send us to San Francisco Airport, and when we arrive in Jiangnan, we will go straight home, at most waiting for big brother for a day."

  Dad also nodded. At this time, Rongrong pulled Tongtong over: "Second uncle! We saw a little horse when we were playing today, will we have a little horse at home next time we come?".

  "Little horse? What little horse?" she asked curiously, looking at her brother-in-law.

  Her brother-in-law patted Ruan Ruan's buttocks lightly and said, "Go play on the side, wait for you to be two years old, you can come to Er Ye's house to ride a big horse, what do you want with a small horse?" Ruan Ruan and Tong Tong had no choice but to take Wu Song away, her brother-in-law still had some deterrent power over the little ones, unlike Ju An, the two little ones were basically not afraid of him.

  Watching the little ones go to the kitchen, my brother-in-law said: "There is an item in the activity that touches the pony and takes a photo with the pony. The two little ones went up to take a photo together. It was a horse that was two laps bigger than a tiger's head. I didn't expect to see such a small horse."

  "Still, how tall is it?" said Ju An, scratching his head. Looking at his brother-in-law gesturing with his hand, Ju An was a bit skeptical, really didn't know if there were such horses in the world, he usually paid attention to big horses.

  "We'll talk about it next time they come," said Ju An. "To be honest, I didn't notice this thing at all. You know, I've already gotten the kids two horses to play with."

  "My brother-in-law shook his head and said, 'You're too spoiled these two kids, whatever they want you give them. What's the use of that horse, which is only slightly bigger than a dog? It's just a waste of money.'"

  "Ha! A small horse like that can't be worth much, right? I could trade it for four big horses and the kids could learn to ride them too!" Later, when Ju An asked about buying two dwarf horses, he was shocked by the price and cursed out loud.

  "Dad listened to Ju An's words and said, 'Also, tomorrow you take Ruan Ruan and Tong Tong to buy some things. The two kids are preparing to give Jerry and Emily some gifts as farewell presents.'"

  "My brother-in-law added, 'Don't buy anything too expensive, it will give the child a sense of vanity. I actually heard something very reasonable from Jerry's dad today. They give Jerry and Emily $5 every week, and then transfer $5 from their own account to the two kids' bank accounts the following week. This forces the kids to save half of their allowance. They also made a chart of chores that need to be done, check it every day, and deduct money if they don't do well. When I get back, I plan to let Tongtong do the same, have her do some household chores within her ability, such as washing dishes, and then give her $10 as allowance every week."

  "Your ten bucks for this week, Tongtong isn't stupid, she just runs to my mom and stretches out her hand, it's already ten bucks, why bother earning your ten bucks and doing a week's worth of chores?"

  My brother-in-law patted his forehead and said: "Fortunately, you reminded me. When I have time, I'll tell my mom about it. Don't always give kids money, adults should be united."

  "Your family's elderly also need to agree, you have to get the old folks at home on board before your plan can be carried out smoothly."

  Looking at his brother-in-law nodding, with a serious expression, Ju An continued: "Then I'll take the two little guys to buy things tomorrow, and each person's budget is five bucks, okay?"

  Dad nodded and said, "Yeah, I think it's about right."

  Since everyone agreed, the next morning, Ju An took two little guys to the supermarket in town. As soon as they entered the supermarket, the salesperson enthusiastically recommended: "We have just opened a back-to-school counter here, with many learning tools to choose from." After finishing speaking, she pointed to a pink sign beside her, which was written in English: "Happy Back to School". Ju An thought it looked fake no matter how he looked at it. Anyway, when he was young, the first few days of school were always busy copying homework, and every time had nothing to do with happiness.

  Ran Ran rushed to push the shopping cart, Ju An put Tong Tong on the shopping cart, and then Ran Ran happily pushed the cart from below. Ju An's hands were casually inserted into his pockets as he followed the shopping cart, constantly reminding Ran Ran: "Slow down! Slow down". Tong Tong sat on the shopping cart, happily shouting: "Brother, add oil!"

  Every time he heard "add oil", Rong Rong immediately gained spirit and pushed the car more vigorously. Ju An had to pull him back, preventing the two little guys from being overly excited.

  They first went to the place where Tongtong wanted to buy dolls. Rongrong chose a small elephant for Emily, and Tongtong chose a Barbie doll with a small bed. The two little guys walked while discussing with each other.

  Ran Ran said: "Emily will definitely like this little elephant, last time I saw it, mom didn't buy it for me".

  "Emily will like my gift too." Little Tongtong, with a package tucked under her arm, nodded and said: "It'll be a long time before we see Emily and Jerry again."

  After listening to Tongtong's words, Rangrang also felt a bit down.

  Two little guys said, "When the New Year's holiday comes, Rongrong and Tongtong can come again, and they can also chat with Emily and Jerry online every day. Everyone is like face to face."

  After Jerry finished picking out gifts, when they got to the door to check out, Rongrong and Tongtong were leaning against the cash register, saying "thank you" to the cashier every time she scanned something. When they finally finished checking out, the cashier even drew a big smiley face on the receipt and handed it to Tongtong, who took it and happily said to Ju'an, "Look, Auntie gave me a smiley face!" Ju'an patted Tongtong's head and said, "Tongtong is very polite, polite kids are liked by everyone."

  When they brought the two little ones back to the ranch, Jerry and Emily were already waiting. The little ones heard the sound of the car in the yard and ran out.

  "Uncle An, can we stay at your place tonight? I've already asked Dad."

  "Of course, but you must go to bed at eleven o'clock." Ju An thought for a moment and agreed.

  After hearing Ju An's answer, Jerry cheered: "Emily, today we can live with Rong Rong Tong Tong together!" The other little guys also became happy and the four little guys didn't make a fuss outside as usual, but instead carried a small bag to the upstairs room.

  At noon, when her sister went upstairs and called a few little guys to come down for lunch, Ju An saw that the children's eyes were all red when they came down, obviously having just cried.

  Sister smiled and explained to everyone: "When I went upstairs, I pushed open the door and several little guys were on the bed urinating like cats."

  "Alright, kids, last day, let's be happy. We can still see each other online every day, even if we won't meet in person again." Ju An comforted the little ones while serving them rice.

  Sister also followed and said: "Yes, you can still make a phone call".

  Tongtong looked at her mom and asked suspiciously, "Can we still make phone calls?" Her mom was taken aback by the question and replied casually, "Why not? Of course, we can."

  "Every time it's an international long-distance call, you and your husband discuss the phone bill. I suggest you don't come over for Chinese New Year, stay home and tutor the kids, and use that money to cover Tongtong's long-distance calls next year."

  Dad and a few others couldn't help but laugh when they heard it. My sister thought for a moment and continued to say to Tongtong, "Of course you can make phone calls, but phones don't have images, chatting online is great, we can see Jerry and Emily."

  After lunch, the little guys temporarily forgot about their unhappy things and started practicing lassoing in front of the house with Wu Song and two dog legs, Hu Tou and Gao Tou. They were lassoing a small wooden cow that Old Thomas had made for them during his free time. It had four legs and horns on its head made from two wooden sticks, painted black and white, looking just like a little calf.

  The adults then started packing their luggage, and when they left, they had many more things than when they came. My mother and sister brought a lot of things for our domestic relatives, such as leather bags, wallets, and even at the beginning, my mother and sister were preparing to buy some clothes to take back. After being persuaded several times, they took a look at the place of origin of the clothes, and eight or nine out of ten were made in China. The two people gave up and only brought some small gifts with characteristics to give to our domestic relatives.