Little Dengdeng, excited, jumped off Bai Zepei's back and, imitating the adults, paid his respects, then stuck out his little belly and said, "Do I look like an official lord?"
The whole family was amused by his antics, and Lin Ping'er laughed heartily, asking, "Why are you sticking out your belly?"
Little Dengdeng, with a look of a little smart aleck, said, "That's how the official lords act in the operas."
The family burst into laughter again. A few days earlier, Lin Ping'er and Bai Yihong had taken Little Dengdeng to watch an opera, and he had remembered how the officials stuck out their bellies.
Bai Zepei found it funny and, with a smile, asked, "Is Second Uncle like that? Is he not an official then?"
Little Dengdeng looked puzzled, tilted his head to think for a moment, and said, "You're different from them; you're my Second Uncle, much more handsome than they are."