Qingming

On the day of the Qingming Festival, when Qin Anming returned, Xiaoguo began to pack her things and loaded them onto the donkey cart.

In addition to joss paper, they were also bringing dumpling filling, kneaded dough, a knife, and a rolling pin. In any case, all the tools for making dumplings were brought along on the trip.

When visiting the ancestors’ graves, according to tradition, they had to cook and make dumplings in their hometown. However, no one had lived in the house for so long, so it was necessary for them to bring all the tools required so that they could make dumplings there.

After packing up, the three of them set off together. Along the way, they bumped into many people carrying joss paper.

When they arrived at Qin Manor, they brought the donkey cart back to the courtyard and put Zhuang Zhuang down. It was better for children to stay indoors in this weather.

Soon, Xiaoguo and Qin Anming arrived at the two elders’ graves. They could see burnt offerings by the surrounding graves, but there were none on their family’s lot.

The sunflowers in front of the grave were still fulfilling their promise of spring. At this moment, they were guarding the two elders of the Qin family with new tender green buds.

The moment Xiaoguo saw the sunflowers, she stopped in her tracks. Then, she caught up with Qin Anming while wearing a puzzled expression on her face.

It was a wonder that the flowers could still grow without anyone taking care of it.

As the eldest son, Qin Anming had to talk to his parents. For some reason, Xiaoguo did not open her mouth for a long time. Seeing this, Qin Anming thought that she was too sad to open her mouth, so he thoughtfully said some words on her behalf.

After burning the joss paper, the two of them went back.

Xiaoguo walked behind him and couldn’t help but look behind her. Coincidentally, she spotted one sunflower that was facing in her direction. She didn’t know if it was psychological, but she felt that the sunflower looked familiar. It looked just like the one which she had planted herself.

As her thoughts were getting bizarre, Xiaoguo didn’t want to think further, so she stopped immediately with the wild speculations.

Zhuang Zhuang, who was staying at home, was cleaning the ground with a broom that he had found somewhere. Since his uncle and mother had gone to visit his grandparents’ graves, he could not stay idle. He had to clean the house so that his mother could cook when she returned.

After sweeping the floor, he wanted to wet the rag and wipe the table. In the end, he found the rag, but he couldn’t find any water.

Zhuang Zhuang stood helplessly in the courtyard, holding a rag covered in ashes and cobwebs. He looked around. With no water, he couldn’t possibly wipe anything with the rag. Or should he just clean with the dry rag?

At the thought of this, Zhuang Zhuang quietly shook the rag. In an instant, dust flew into the air. He couldn’t dodge in time and started coughing.

At this moment, Xiaoguo and Qin Anming returned.

“Zhuang Zhuang, what are you doing?”

Qin Anming walked in front. As soon as he pushed open the door, he saw Zhuang Zhuang standing in the courtyard, coughing.

Hearing this, Xiaoguo turned around and looked into the courtyard. She was amused by what she saw.

“Haha, has Zhuang Zhuang gone hiding under the stove?”

“No.” Zhuang Zhuang tried to recover from his coughs. He tilted his head and looked at Xiaoguo with a clueless expression. His silly appearance made Xiaoguo start laughing again.

Qin Anming walked over with a smile and wiped his face gently, gesturing for him to see the dust on his hands. “Look, there’s dust on your face.”

“Wow!”

Zhuang Zhuang was shocked. “Uncle, you’re so mean. You actually smeared dust on my face!”

He didn’t do much. He just swept the floor. How could his face be so dark? His uncle and mother must have joined forces to tease him. He wouldn’t fall for it. “Hmph…”

“I didn’t.” Qin Anming didn’t expect Zhuang Zhuang to shift the blame on him. He quickly shook his head and waved his hands to clear his name.

That was great. Now, there was only one suspect left. Zhuang Zhuang pouted, his eyes filled with evil thoughts. With his hands behind his back, he quietly approached Xiaoguo. Before she could react, he quickly pounced on her. He wanted to get some dust on his mother too!

Xiaoguo had a bad feeling right from the beginning. She quietly took a step back. The moment he pounced on her, she quickly reached out to push him away. With his physique, she believed that she would definitely fall to the ground if he jumped on her.

She didn’t expect that Zhuang Zhuang had become stronger again. Xiaoguo really couldn’t stop him. He really lived up to the nickname she had given him in private—little cow pig.

As the name suggested, it was a little pig with the strength of a cow.

Watching the mother and son wrestle with each other, Qin Anming was quite free. He watched the show from the side. One moment, he was cheering for Zhuang Zhuang, and the next moment, he was cheering for Xiaoguo. He looked like he was enjoying the show.

“Brother, who are you cheering for!”

“For you, Xiaoguo, come on, Xiaoguo!” When Qin Anming heard Xiaoguo’s reprimanding voice, he immediately directed his words of encouragement towards Xiaoguo instead of Zhuang Zhuang.

Zhuang Zhuang was strong to begin with, and he was trying his best to transfer the dirt on his body to Xiaoguo, so there was no stopping him.

At first, Xiaoguo was laughing so hard that she almost ran out of strength. Now, she couldn’t take it anymore. When she saw the man watching the commotion beside her, she had the urge to play a prank on him. She bent down with all her might and whispered something in Zhuang Zhuang’s ear. The child, who was exerting all his strength, was stunned for a moment. Then, he turned around and charged towards Qin Anming.

“Xiaoguo, come…”

Xiaoguo’s arms were suddenly free, she immediately turned to look at the situation on the other side.

Qin Anming couldn’t react in time to this sudden turn of events. His mouth was wide open as Zhuang Zhuang pounced on him and sat on him. Before he could react, Zhuang Zhuang was already rubbing his little black face against his face and body.

“Hahahahaha…”

Xiaoguo was gloating and laughing so hard that tears were coming out of her eyes. This scene was too amusing. It was a pity that she didn’t have a camera. Otherwise, she would have captured everything on camera.

When they had enough fun, and started to hear rumbling noises from their bellies, they realized that it was time to cook.

Qin Anming went to fetch water. When he returned, the three of them split themselves up to clean the tables, clear the stove, and prepare the dough. Each of them had their own duties.

Xiaoguo was in charge of cutting the dough, and Qin Anming was in charge of wrapping the dumplings. Zhuang Zhuang went to start the fire.

With the three of them working together, the celery and pork dumplings were quickly cooked.

When Xiaoguo was rummaging through the fridge last night, she came across a bag of celery. Some time back, she had blanched the celery and froze it because she was afraid that it would spoil if she didn’t finish it in time.

It was not good to keep the frozen celery in the fridge for too long. Initially, they were going to have dumplings stuffed with pork and green onions, but since she had celery, it was changed to celery and pork dumplings at the last minute.

Xiaoguo took out some vinegar and garlic from the basket she had brought with her. Right after she placed them on the table, Qin Anming came over with the dumplings. Zhuang Zhuang was following closely behind him.

The three of them finished all the dumplings.

“Xiaoguo’s cooking is still the best.”

Qin Anming sighed as he cleared the table.

When Zhuang Zhuang heard this, he nodded in agreement.

“Eat more if it’s delicious.”

Xiaoguo said with a smile. She couldn’t be happier.

“Of course. I was planning to eat these until I grow old.”

Qin Anming’s sudden words made Xiaoguo exclaim, “How can you say that? Are you planning to stay single for the rest of your life?”

“Me too! I’ll enjoy your cooking until I grow old!”

When Zhuang Zhuang heard Qin Anming’s words, he thought for a moment and added.

“Woah!”

When Xiaoguo heard this, she quickly begged for mercy. So an old bachelor and a young bachelor are planning to torture an old woman like her?

Although they were joking, the three of them worked very quickly. After dinner, they got ready to go back. After all, there was no place to rest here.

It was lunchtime when they made their way back. Xiaoguo sat in the donkey cart with Zhuang Zhuang while Qin Anming drove the cart.

“The weather has been getting warmer recently,” Xiaoguo said to Qin Anming as she wiped the sweat off Zhuang Zhuang’s neck with a handkerchief.

“Exactly. Fortunately, it’s windy today. It helps to relieve some of the heat.”

Qin Anming tried his best to drive the carriage in the shade so that it wouldn’t be exposed to the sunlight.

Zhuang Zhuang, who was looking outside, was suddenly attracted by something. He called out to the two of them excitedly.

“Look at what that is!”