At that moment, Meng Xiaoyang suddenly popped up, holding a ball in her hands—a football. It was obvious that Meng Xiaoyang wanted Lan Yangyang to accompany her to play football.
"I still want to sleep. Why don't you go find Big Brother Xi Yangyang and Big Brother Fei Yangyang?"
Lan Yangyang yawned. Because of being late that morning, he had been left standing outside the classroom for the entire morning holding two buckets of water.
He was really so tired. He didn't want to move at all; he just wanted to lie here like this, lying down forever until the world ended.
Thinking this, Lan Yangyang rolled over, rubbed his right foot against his left foot, and then yawned, falling into a deep sleep.
A second later, countless Z's popped up from the top of Lan Yangyang's head—Lan Yangyang was fast asleep.
"Alright, then I'll go find Big Brother Xi Yangyang and Big Brother Fei Yangyang to play."
Meng Xiaoyang's eyes dimmed. Looking at Lan Yangyang, who was already fast asleep in front of her, Meng Xiaoyang sighed, then hugged the football in her arms and went to find Xi Yangyang and Fei Yangyang.
"Forget it, I'll just wait for my brother to wake up and play with him. I'll practice on the side first so I don't disturb my brother!"
After thinking for a moment and taking a few steps, Meng Xiaoyang still wanted to play with her big brother.
However, Lan Yangyang was fast asleep and didn't want to move at all. Having no choice, Meng Xiaoyang obediently comforted herself, then practiced football by herself on the side, waiting for Lan Yangyang to wake up.
"Does big brother not like Meng Xiaoyang?"
Meng Xiaoyang kicked the football in front of her, wondering what she was thinking about. But because she was distracted by other thoughts while kicking the ball, Meng Xiaoyang suddenly tripped over a stone with a human face on it.
"Ouch!"
Meng Xiaoyang tumbled flat onto the ground, her eye rims turning red. She wanted to cry, but then she glanced back at her big brother in the distance.
"Meng Xiaoyang, you have to be stronger. You can't wake big brother up. Big brother needs to sleep, big brother is very tired, and after big brother wakes up, he will play with Meng Xiaoyang. Yes, Meng Xiaoyang, you must endure it!"
"You have to be a good child, so that others will like you!"
"It's all because Meng Xiaoyang wasn't good enough that Grandpa left. Meng Xiaoyang doesn't want big brother to leave Meng Xiaoyang too. Meng Xiaoyang can be very good!"
Meng Xiaoyang muttered to herself, comforting herself while thinking of her Grandpa.
Fearing that Meng Xiaoyang wouldn't be able to handle the truth, Xi Yangyang and the others hadn't told her what her Grandpa had done.
They had only told Meng Xiaoyang that her Grandpa had left, going to a very distant place with some very important things to do.
However, Meng Xiaoyang blamed this whole series of events on her own lack of obedience.
It was all because she came back late that Grandpa got angry and left her. Meng Xiaoyang couldn't cry; if she cried, she wouldn't be a good child, and it would disturb big brother's sleep, causing big brother to leave her as well. Meng Xiaoyang didn't want to lose big brother.
"Where is my ball?"
Meng Xiaoyang said in a babyish voice. Because of the fall just now, the football had accidentally rolled out through the open gates of Sheep Village.
"Oh no, without the football, Meng Xiaoyang won't be able to play with big brother!"
Meng Xiaoyang said worriedly, struggling to her feet, patting the dust off herself, and then clumsily opening the gate, closing it behind her, and walking off in the direction of the distant forest.
Sheep Village Daily Life 1: Friends
"Football, where did my football go?"
Meng Xiaoyang walked out of Sheep Village, looking left and right for her kicked-away football.
Meanwhile, on the other side in Wolf Castle, Hui Tailang was packing his things, preparing for an outdoor parent-child bonding activity with his son, Xiao Huihui.
"Let's go, son, I've packed everything."
Hui Tailang finished packing and called out to Xiao Huihui, who was playing with a toy car nearby.
"Then let's hurry up and go, Dad."
Xiao Huihui stood up excitedly. One could tell from his eyes that he was eagerly looking forward to this outdoor parent-child bonding activity.
"Then let's set off."
"Let's go!"
The father and son cheered happily. Then Hui Tailang took Xiao Huihui by the hand, took two steps, and walked toward the forest ahead.
"Where is Meng Xiaoyang's football? Why is it gone? Big brother is going to be angry!"
Nearby, Meng Xiaoyang searched constantly for her football, but there was still no sign of it. Meng Xiaoyang became so anxious that tears welled up in her eyes.
"Whose football is this?"
Xiao Huihui and Hui Tailang walked into the forest. Xiao Huihui walked happily in front, waving his hands about and dancing with joy, when suddenly he spotted a football ahead.
"Huh, who dropped this here?"
Xiao Huihui tilted his head and looked at the football before him, figuring it must have accidentally fallen here. With that thought, Xiao Huihui set off, running toward the direction where the football had fallen.
"Run slower, Xiao Huihui, don't trip yourself up in a minute!"
Seeing Xiao Huihui run off, Hui Tailang worriedly followed after him.
"Dad, look, a football!"
Xiao Huihui stepped forward, picked up the football, and held it up to show Hui Tailang. You could tell from his eyes that Xiao Huihui wanted some praise.
"Good, good, good, Xiao Huihui, you're so great. This football must have been dropped here by someone else, right?"
Hui Tailang looked at the football and guessed. Hearing his dad confirm that the football must have been dropped by someone else, Xiao Huihui's eyes instantly lit up.
"In that case, Xiao Huihui is going to return the football to its owner. They must be very worried."
Thinking this, Xiao Huihui took his dad's hand and pressed forward to explore. Suddenly, Xiao Huihui heard a slight movement coming from ahead.
"There's a sound!"
Xiao Huihui tilted his head and walked forward, carefully parting the bushes and poking his head out. Suddenly, within his line of sight, Xiao Huihui spotted a little sheep.
A very cute and adorable little sheep—she looked like a girl, and she was anxiously searching for something.
Xiao Huihui didn't recognize the Meng Xiaoyang before him. This was mainly because during that trip to Detective City, Xiao Huihui and Meng Xiaoyang had basically never met. Of course, it was also because one was a wolf and the other a sheep, so they hadn't been introduced in a formal way.
"Wow, such a cute little girl."
"Hey, isn't this Meng Xiaoyang?! What is she doing here? Did Lan Yangyang actually let Meng Xiaoyang out?"
Xiao Huihui looked at Meng Xiaoyang, and at that moment, Hui Tailang also looked over. Catching sight of Meng Xiaoyang before them, Hui Tailang blurted out instinctively.
"Meng Xiaoyang? Her name is Meng Xiaoyang? Could she be looking for a football?"
Thinking this, Xiao Huihui walked out holding the football. At the same time, hearing the movement, Meng Xiaoyang turned around to look and saw a little wolf.
"Um, who are you?"
Meng Xiaoyang tilted her head, looking at the Xiao Huihui in front of her.
"Here, for you. Is this your football?"
Xiao Huihui smiled and handed the football to Meng Xiaoyang. Looking at the little wolf in front of her, Meng Xiaoyang lowered all her defenses and happily took it.
"Thank you, my name is Meng Xiaoyang. By the way, what's your name?"
"My name is Xiao Huihui. Um, can we be friends?"
"Oh, thank you for returning my football, Xiao Huihui, then we're good friends! We're good friends. By the way, Xiao Huihui, do you want to play football with me?"
Meng Xiaoyang chatted with Xiao Huihui, exchanging names and making a new friend in the process.
Meng Xiaoyang had a very vague concept of the word "friend," but she knew friends were supposed to play together.
"Alright then, let's play together, Meng Xiaoyang. My dad has lots of toys over there, let's play together."
"Okay!"
Faced with Meng Xiaoyang's invitation, Xiao Huihui readily agreed. Seeing his son playing so happily with Meng Xiaoyang, Hui Tailang was helpless.
He had originally wanted to catch a sheep while he was at it and make some soup, but oh well—after all, Xiao Huihui was having such a great time playing with her.
Thinking this, Hui Tailang smiled helplessly, then stepped forward and watched the two children kicking the football nearby.
Sheep Village Daily Life 1: Careless Big Brother
"Wake up, wake up!"
At that moment, Fei Yangyang stared intently, looking at Lan Yangyang, who was sleeping like a dead pig, and kept slapping his cheeks to try and wake him up.
Yet after yelling for half a day, the ultimate result was that Lan Yangyang rolled over and just kept sleeping.
"Wake up, will you!"
Fei Yangyang was clearly driven to desperation and directly reached out to pinch and pull Lan Yangyang's cheeks.
Even so, Lan Yangyang remained completely unbothered, continuing to sleep like a dead pig—he couldn't be woken up, absolutely couldn't be woken up.
"Ah, wake up already, hey!"
"Let me do it!"
Fei Yangyang was genuinely having a mental breakdown. Oh god, he had never seen anyone who could sleep this much. If the situation hadn't been so urgent right now, Fei Yangyang would seriously have loved to custom-order a black-and-white photo frame on the spot, hand it to Lan Yangyang to place on his chest, and drape a white sheet over him.
Seeing Fei Yangyang's breakdown, Xi Yangyang reached out to signal that he would take over.
Fei Yangyang stepped back two steps, and Xi Yangyang stepped forward, gathering his inner energy into his dantian and letting out a fierce roar.
"Dinner is served!"
Barely 0.00001 seconds after Xi Yangyang finished speaking, Lan Yangyang's eyes snapped open instantly. With a spring-loaded takeoff, a backflip, and a 360-degree rotation, he landed with absolute perfection.
"Dinner's ready, I want to eat!"
Drooling, Lan Yangyang got up and prepared to sprint directly toward the cafeteria, but he was grabbed by the arm by Xi Yangyang.
"Lan Yangyang, you're still thinking about eating at a time like this? I'm asking you, where did Meng Xiaoyang go?"
Xi Yangyang said angrily, but the newly awakened Lan Yangyang was clearly a bit dazed and had no clue what was happening right now.
"What Meng Xiaoyang? Didn't she go find you two to play football?"
Lan Yangyang racked his brain trying to remember. He clearly recalled telling Meng Xiaoyang to go find Xi Yangyang and Fei Yangyang to play before he went to sleep. Why on earth were they running over to ask him where Meng Xiaoyang went?
"Are you talking nonsense? We came to ask you precisely because we haven't seen Meng Xiaoyang. If we had seen Meng Xiaoyang, would we be coming to look for you?"
Fei Yangyang was utterly speechless. Hearing Fei Yangyang's words, Lan Yangyang's brain finally cleared up a bit, and he looked left and right without finding any trace of Meng Xiaoyang.
At that moment, Lan Yangyang finally panicked. He looked at Xi Yangyang and Fei Yangyang in front of him, trying to find even a trace of a prank on their faces, but there was none.
"Meng—Meng Xiaoyang, where are you?"
Lan Yangyang swallowed hard, looking all around to search for Meng Xiaoyang's figure.
Suddenly, Lan Yangyang froze, because he clearly saw that the gates of Sheep Village ahead had signs of having been opened by someone.
"No way, could Meng Xiaoyang have... No, Little Sister!"
Only then did Lan Yangyang finally realize the severity of the situation.
"Little Sister! Little Sister!"
Lan Yangyang collapsed flat onto the ground, his hands grabbing at the grass on the prairie.
"Meng Xiaoyang went out! Could she be in danger? Little Sister, Big Brother is coming to find you!"
Without a second thought, Lan Yangyang jumped to his feet, sprinted straight to the front gate, pushed it open, and dashed right out.
"This Lan Yangyang is always so careless! Now that he has a little sister, he's still just as lazy."
Fei Yangyang stood in place, complaining, though his bark was worse than his bite.
Right after, Fei Yangyang grabbed Xi Yangyang and followed after Lan Yangyang. Only this time, Lan Yangyang's running speed was even faster than Xi Yangyang's, leaving Fei Yangyang and Xi Yangyang far behind in the dust!
Sheep Village Daily Life 1: I Love Big Brother
"Meng Xiaoyang!"
Lan Yangyang rushed into the forest, shouting Meng Xiaoyang's name at the top of his lungs. At that moment, Meng Xiaoyang was playing with Xiao Huihui when she suddenly thought she heard someone calling her name.
"Meng Xiaoyang, where are you?"
Lan Yangyang shouted anxiously. This time, Meng Xiaoyang heard Lan Yangyang's cry.
"That's Big Brother's voice!"
"Big Brother!"
Meng Xiaoyang stood up and called back. Hearing Meng Xiaoyang's voice, Lan Yangyang's heart instantly soared with relief, and he charged forward regardless of everything else.
"Great, Meng Xiaoyang, you're alright. You scared me to death."
Looking ahead, Lan Yangyang saw Meng Xiaoyang standing up and waving. He ran over and hugged Meng Xiaoyang tightly, feeling profoundly grateful that nothing had happened to her.
"It's all my fault, Meng Xiaoyang. I shouldn't have said those things; I should have spent more time with you. I'm sorry, Little Sister!"
Lan Yangyang knelt on one knee on the ground, hugging Meng Xiaoyang in front of him and apologizing. He shouldn't have given Meng Xiaoyang the cold shoulder like that.
"It's okay, Big Brother, don't cry! Meng Xiaoyang isn't mad!"
Seeing Lan Yangyang crying his eyes out, Meng Xiaoyang wrapped her arms tightly around him to comfort him.
"Well, well, if it isn't Lan Yangyang?"
An untimely voice suddenly rang out. Lan Yangyang instantly felt a sense of dread—it was Hui Tailang.
"Hui Tailang, what a coincidence, you're here too."
Lan Yangyang forced down his trembling legs, turned around, and put on a nonchalant greeting.
"Yeah, what a huge coincidence."
Hui Tailang leaned his body forward, supporting himself with one hand against a tree trunk, and looked at Lan Yangyang with a wicked grin.
Then he began walking toward Lan Yangyang step by step, which inevitably terrified Lan Yangyang.
"Ah, these happy times always pass by so quickly. We'll be leaving first, you guys play slowly—bye-bye, Xiao Huihui!"
In a split second, Lan Yangyang turned his head, waved goodbye to Xiao Huihui, snatched Meng Xiaoyang up into his arms, and without daring to stay even a single second longer, sprinted straight in the direction of Sheep Village.
"Hey now, since you're already here, why rush off? Why not come over to my house as a guest! Xiao Huihui, be a good boy and go home first, Daddy will bring Lan Yangyang over for a visit in just a moment."
Hui Tailang grinned evilly, telling Xiao Huihui to head home first, and then rubbed his hands together as he charged straight after Lan Yangyang.
"Hui Tailang, why must you hound me relentlessly? Can't you let me off just this once?"
"No way!"
Lan Yangyang sprinted wildly through the woods holding Meng Xiaoyang, with Hui Tailang in hot pursuit right behind him.
"Lan Yangyang, be a good boy and become my dinner!"
"No way! Xi Yangyang, Fei Yangyang, hurry up and save us!"
Two sheep and a wolf chased each other through the forest. Suddenly, Lan Yangyang spotted Xi Yangyang and Fei Yangyang up ahead and hurriedly waved his hands for help.
"Lan Yangyang, run over here!"
Seeing Lan Yangyang ahead, Xi Yangyang and Fei Yangyang reached out and waved frantically, gesturing for Lan Yangyang to sprint over.
"I'm coming!"
Holding Meng Xiaoyang, Lan Yangyang burst into a final sprint and reached Xi Yangyang and Fei Yangyang's side.
"Hmph, did you think adding two more sheep would make me scared?"
Hui Tailang sneered, waving his claws as he lunged forward.
"Ha! Goodbye, Mr. Hui Tailang!"
At that moment, Xi Yangyang pulled a button out from behind his back. The very next second, the moment Hui Tailang's foot hit the ground, a red X suddenly appeared.
"This... this familiar feeling—no, please, anything but this!!!"
Xi Yangyang politely gave a wave, then slammed his hand down on the button. Instantly, the ground directly bounced upward, sending Hui Tailang flying into the air.
"I'll be back!"
Hui Tailang was blasted up into the sky, and the danger was successfully resolved.
"It was Big Brother's fault. Meng Xiaoyang, Big Brother will go play football with you right now, okay?"
"Okay!"
Lan Yangyang crouched down to apologize to Meng Xiaoyang, and then took Meng Xiaoyang, along with Xi Yangyang and Fei Yangyang, to play football together.
Happy times always pass by in the blink of an eye. After spending a few days getting along, Lan Yangyang finally fully accepted Meng Xiaoyang as his little sister.
Sheep Village Daily Life 1: An Ordinary Morning
An ordinary day began once more...
In the morning at 7:00, the alarm clock rang. Lan Yangyang yawned, reluctantly pressed the snooze button, rolled over, and went right back to sleep.
After 20 extra minutes of sleeping in, realizing he was about to be late, Lan Yangyang bolted upright in a sudden panic.
It took them five minutes for Lan Yangyang and Meng Xiaoyang to get out of bed, make their beds, and head out the door.
Lan Yangyang and Meng Xiaoyang rode a tandem bicycle to the school gates, stopping by the breakfast stall nearby.
"Boss, two bowls of savory doufunao, twenty steamed buns, and one oil pancake cut into four pieces!"
"And a side dish of mixed pickles!"
Sitting on a small stool, Lan Yangyang continued to yawn. He glanced at Meng Xiaoyang beside him, then raised his hand to order two bowls of doufunao, twenty steamed buns, and an oil pancake cut into four pieces.
He also ordered a bowl of three-flavor pickles: the small yellow square kind, small green beans, and shredded potato salad.
The doufunao had to be savory; sweet doufunao was completely inedible. Soon, steaming hot bowls of doufunao were served.
The doufunao was brought over and placed on the table, giving off heat. Afterward, the steamed buns, oil pancake, and pickles were successively brought out and arranged on the table.
"Dig in!"
"Dig in!"
Lan Yangyang rubbed his hands together with an excited expression. Seeing this, Meng Xiaoyang imitated her big brother, copying his exaggerated gestures.
Lan Yangyang reached over for a pair of disposable chopsticks, tore open the wrapper, handed one pair to Meng Xiaoyang, and held the other in his own hand.
Placing two spoons into the doufunao bowls, Lan Yangyang looked at the savory doufunao before him, scooped up a spoonful, and tasted it. Truly delicious.
The salty flavor paired with the doufunao was an absolute match made in heaven. A look of pure bliss appeared on Lan Yangyang's face, and he immediately reached out to grab a steamed bun from the plate next to him.
The steamed buns were pan-fried, crispy and golden on the bottom, which made them extremely tasty. Lan Yangyang had ordered the pickled cabbage and vermicelli filling.
A bite of doufunao paired with a bite of bun was the ultimate delicacy. Next, he grabbed the oil pancake, piled the three kinds of pickles onto it one by one, and took a bite—that was fantastic too.
Lan Yangyang and Meng Xiaoyang quickly finished their breakfast and entered the school grounds. At that moment, the time was 7:40, right as the school bell rang.
Watching Meng Xiaoyang walk into her toddler class, Lan Yangyang headed off to his own classroom, enduring the boredom of the day's lessons.
Soon, with ten minutes left in the third period and class about to end, Xi Yangyang and Fei Yangyang were hunched over with footballs in their arms, ready to dash out at any moment.
The fourth period of the day was P.E., and the same went for the next-door class. Precisely because of this, if you went too late, the best spots for playing football would get snatched up.
"Lan Yangyang, keep an eye out for us—we're going to go grab a spot first!"
Xi Yangyang waved his hand, signaling Lan Yangyang to keep watch for them. But the very next second, things became awkward as Principal Slow Goat stared angrily at Xi Yangyang.
"All three of you get outside and stand in the yard! None of you are allowed to take P.E. class!"