Chapter Five Going to Grandma's House

  Summer days always slip away unnoticed, and before I knew it, August had arrived. My mother took me to my grandmother's house. The traffic was really not developed at that time, so my mother first rode a bicycle with me to the west gate, then we took a pedicab to the wooden bridge. After arriving at the wooden bridge, my mother still had to ride a bicycle for more than half an hour with me on the back seat before we could reach my grandmother's house. At that time, I was always reciting ancient poems or singing songs behind her back. Speaking of pedicabs, my mother even joked with me, saying: "Baby, you're not yelling anymore. In the past, you would yell and our bicycle hadn't arrived yet! You have to wait until it's full before the bicycle can be hung in the designated place."

  I arrived at grandma's house and couldn't wait to say: "Grandma, I'm here! Grandma, I've come!"

  Grandma came out of the kitchen, smiling and said: "The girl is here, Grandma will steam duck eggs for you to eat. Coincidentally, someone came to visit your wife yesterday and brought some peach crisps, I'll give them to you to eat."

  The wife also walked out of the house and said, "Girl, it's been a long time since you came. Do you miss your wife? Tonight, sleep with your wife together, and your wife will tell you stories. This time, you must stay for more days."

  Mom smiled and said, "Mom, grandma, baby will stay here for half a month this time. During this period, my factory is quite busy and I need to work overtime, so let's take care of the baby, and I can rest assured. What about Zhānfēng? Máodì is not at home, and he can't go out to play wildly either."

  "Right, Huqing is out making money and no one takes care of you. You know Xiaocin's daily routine is just going to work and playing mahjong all day long. I'll call out from the back door and Zhanfeng will come back to keep Nü'er company."

  Not long after, my cousin Lu Zhanfeng's kid came back and said: "Xiao Xiao is here, brother will take you to pick dates and catch shrimp in the afternoon, it's so much fun, and there are tender lotus roots too."

  I nodded and said okay. Ah, every family has its own difficulties. Speaking of which, my mother's family was originally a wealthy landlord family, and the village where we live now used to be just a place for them to raise horses. My wife is also from a wealthy family, and when she was young, she was not only beautiful but also cultured, having studied in a private school and being able to do calculations and manage the household. When she married into our family, it could be said that we were a strong alliance. But who would have thought that the landlords would be overthrown later? I still remember my mother telling me that when my wife was young, someone had told her fortune, saying that she would bring disaster to her family from outside. Not long after the landlords were overthrown, my wife's husband, that is, my male counterpart, died, and my wife single-handedly raised two daughters and a son, suffering all sorts of bullying from the villagers. However, my wife has a strong and fierce personality, so no one dared to mess with her. As for my maternal grandfather, he passed away when I was four years old. He was a hardworking and capable person who could endure hardships, but because he was a landlord, he suffered oppression and even during bad harvests, there was no relief grain available. After my maternal grandfather passed away, my uncle Lu Huacai went out to do business with deep well pumps and was rarely at home. My aunt Li Xiaoyin was completely illiterate and lived in a different world from my uncle, not caring about my cousin Lu Zhanfeng's education, only hiding the fact that he wasn't doing well in school, which ultimately ruined him. Before I reincarnated, although my uncle had made money, he was unhappy with his life and was even getting divorced from my aunt. It's a long story. My mother was also worried about my uncle and cousin's situation. Thinking of all this, I decided that I must help my cousin and uncle change their fate.

  Then I said to my mom: "Mom, I'm going to do my homework with my cousin during the summer vacation. If my cousin doesn't know something, he can tell me."

  "Alright, nephew, your aunt is entrusting your sister to you now. You mustn't take her out to have fun wildly, otherwise, during the New Year, your father will deal with you. And your cousin is the best at tattling."

  My cousin was in a difficult situation and could only agree. In the afternoon, my mother came home, but I still went out to play with my cousin. There were other kids like Peng Zhēnzhēn, Liu Liánruì, Cao Qiáng, Peng Qiáng, and Liu Fēi. We first went to steal jujubes from someone else's house when the adults weren't home. After stealing the jujubes, I don't know who suggested we try roasting them to eat. When I heard this, my head hurt because roasted jujubes are really not good to eat. Last time my cousin used a pencil case as a support for roasting jujubes and even burned a hole in his clothes, and was scolded by my aunt.

  I tugged at older brother's clothes and said, "Roasting chestnuts won't be fun, let's go catch fish and shrimp in the pond instead. You said you'd play with me today, I don't like roasting chestnuts."

  Big Brother is the leader of a group of boys and girls, who calls him the biggest? Only listen to his order: "Everyone scatter around, we're going to Xitang to catch fish and shrimp." Liu Fei looked a bit unhappy and gave me a glance. I just pretended not to see it, this life I don't want Big Brother to mix with him, in the previous life he wasn't a good person either.

  When they arrived at the West Pond, all the boys and girls got into the pond. They were all good swimmers, but I wasn't, so I could only wade in the shallow water near the edge of the pond to catch fish and shrimp. My cousin said, "Don't worry, he can catch a lot, I'll just be responsible for putting them in the basket." After saying that, my cousin dove into the center of the pond and soon came up with a carp in his hand, saying, "Cousin, look! I caught one! We're having fish soup tonight!"

  Everyone seems to be having a great time, some are catching fish, others are catching shrimp. I'm also enjoying the leisure, when suddenly my big toe starts hurting. I lift up my foot and find that it's a crab! I use my hand to scoop it out, muttering in my mouth: "You little thing, dare to bite my toe? Tonight you'll be steamed clean! But even lying down can get shot, truly speechless..."

  Next to him, a boy's voice rang out, "You can have fun sitting here too, talking to yourself and not knowing what you're saying. Here, a freshwater clam."

  I reached out to take it, and the person who came was Cao Qiang, who is one year younger than me. Among the companions of our generation in the maternal grandmother's family, only he has made a good impression. Not only did he attend a key high school, but he also took a key undergraduate course at university. He looks handsome too. However, when we were young, because there was a mole next to his nose, just like Cao Ying's mole, and we watched Cao Ying's TV series "Chinese Heroes" at that time, Cao Ying was called "Red Pepper" in it. From then on, Cao Qiang got the nickname "Little Red Pepper".

  At the thought of this, I burst out laughing. Cao Qiang looked at me and said: "What are you laughing at? Brother Zhanfeng told me that you'll be staying here for half a month. What do you like to eat? I'll catch more for you today."

  I said: "Little chili pepper, sister likes to eat lobster, catch more lobsters."

  Cao Qiang immediately said: "Don't call me Little Chili, call me Cao Qiang. I kindly asked you what you like to eat, and you still mock me. You're only a few months older than me, how dare you call yourself sister? Last time, who was it that climbed up the tree and didn't dare come down, and I had to rescue you? And you promised to keep it a secret, and I said let's make a deal, you'd call me brother, didn't you already agree?"

  I don't recall such a thing, but Cao Qiang has never cheated anyone before. All I can say is: "It's my dog biting Lü Dongbin, not knowing the kindness of others. Thank you..."

  "This isn't Peng Zhēnzhēn also coming over, saying: 'Little Spicy Pepper, what are you and Xiao Xiao talking about? Bring me in on it too.' Cao Qiang glared at Peng Zhēnzhēn with a look, then left."

  Peng Zhenzhen pulled my hand and said: "Let's not bother with him, he's just a weirdo. Calling him Little Chili Pepper won't make a difference, and besides, he usually doesn't come out to play, always stays home reading or something. Today I don't know why he came out to play, and he's two years younger than me! He's in the same grade as me, second grade, actually one year higher than you... how boring... By the way, Xiao Xiao, how long are you going to stay here?"

  Peng Zhenzhen talked to me for a while, and I thought that it's indeed good that the kid has been self-aware since childhood. But this is just right, my cousin is also in second grade, so I can let Cao Qiang take care of him a bit. This idea is still feasible, after all, I will have to go back home after summer vacation ends. I said: "I'm going to stay at my grandma's house for half a month, you come find me and play with me!"

  Peng Zhenzhen said, "That's still a matter of one sentence. It's just that you can't swim, what a pity! Otherwise we could sneak to the small river side to play, without bringing those boys along."

  The sun sets in the west, and the remaining glow of the sunset scatters everywhere, by the pond, on the small stone road, on the houses... We also returned home with a full load, only hearing the silver bell-like joyful voices and laughter echoing on the small stone road.

  Grandma saw me and my cousin carrying small bamboo baskets back, smiled and said: "Tonight, Grandma will show off her skills, make river clam soup and braised carp for you to eat. Zhanfeng will take you to watch cartoons."

  My aunt's home still had a black and white TV, which required manual channel switching. My older cousin liked watching "Calabaza", while I used to like watching "Big Head Son and Small Head Dad". Since my cousin thought of me as his younger sister, he didn't dare fight with me over the TV, thinking that the previous generation always let me have my way. Now, I don't care about those cartoons at all, so I generously let him watch. He excitedly said: "Cousin, you're too kind! Today is exactly when Blue Wa comes out, and I thought I wouldn't get to see it!" Switching to channel 18, the familiar song came from the TV: "Calabaza, Calabaza, seven babies on a vine. A small tree branch is my home, la la la la... ding dang dang dong dang dang..."

  At six o'clock in the evening, we had dinner. As soon as we started eating, Cao Qiang came over with a small bowl of lobster and said it was for me to eat. I felt a bit embarrassed, did he see that I'm a foodie? I thanked him and accepted it. My grandma asked Cao Qiang to stay and have some fish, but he said he had already eaten and politely bid farewell to my grandma, aunt, and wife before leaving.

  We continued watching TV while having dinner. After dinner, my wife told a story for a while, and then we went to bed separately.

  My grandmother's family tradition is to go to bed early and get up early, but I'm a night owl, can't sleep... one, two, three... counting sheep, finally fell asleep in the sound of my grandmother's old-fashioned clock.