At the age of three, he was old enough to move out of his parents' room and sleep alone.
Panx Juan'er insisted on sleeping with Zhang Deming. In her words, she was Brother Deming's wife, so they were supposed to sleep together.
In the end, the adults couldn't do anything about it and had to compromise.
They had only asked for Zhang Deming's opinion as a formality. If he agreed, it wasn't a big deal for two toddlers to sleep together. They were only three, after all.
Propriety between the sexes didn't really apply at that age, especially since they had a childhood betrothal.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Deming refused. Panx Juan'er wailed and asked why.
That day, Zhang Deming created the first inside joke between the two families.
'A cute boy like me has to protect himself.'
That day, hearing three-year-old Zhang Deming say this in his childish voice in front of everyone, the adults from both families—who were all getting headaches from Panx Juan'er's fussing—burst into laughter.
