Flying a Kite

Xiaoguo and Qin Anming heard the commotion and looked in the direction he was pointing.

“It’s a Qingming custom to fly kites.” Qin Anming saw the kite in the sky from the corner of his eye.

“Kit… What’s a kite?”

Zhuang Zhuang muttered to himself and looked at the two of them in confusion.

Xiaoguo looked down at Zhuang Zhuang in surprise. It seemed like this child had never seen a kite before…

“A kite is a frame that is constructed from bamboo fibers or wire. It is usually wrapped in paper or cloth. After tying it up, it can fly into the sky with the help of the wind.”

Hearing Xiaoguo’s explanation, Zhuang Zhuang nodded in confusion.

Looking at his expression, Xiaoguo thought for a moment and said to Qin Anming, “Brother, let’s go to the county first to buy a few kites.”

“Okay.”

Qin Anming did not seem surprised by her impromptu suggestion. Instead, as soon as she said that, he immediately turned around and headed for the main road.

Xiaoguo didn’t know where to buy kites, so she could only look for them at the small stalls. In the end, she found a stall and each of them picked out something that they liked. After paying, they headed back.

“Where should we fly the kites?” Qin Anming asked.

“Let’s go to the grain fields.” Xiaoguo led the way excitedly. Qin Anming and Zhuang Zhuang followed closely behind.

After taking a few steps, Zhuang Zhuang got anxious. He felt that they were walking too slowly, so he walked past the two of them and ran towards the fields first.

The three of them were very excited about flying a kite. It had been a long time since Xiaoguo had touched a kite. Zhuang Zhuang had never touched one before, and Qin Anming had not flown a kite since he was ten years old. Therefore, this was the first time he was flying a kite after such a long time.

The three of them each held a kite in their hands. It was best to fly kites in an open space. This would reduce the chances of getting their kites stuck on trees. In ancient times, there was no need to consider tall buildings or electrical wires. There were many places like this so it was easy to find a big open space.

Zhuang Zhuang arrived at the fields shortly after, but he just stood there with the kite in his hand as he didn’t know how to fly it. He tried turning around to look out for Xiaoguo and Qin Anming, but he didn’t see them. So he could only continue to stand there in a daze. After a while, he tried to raise the kite in his hand. When he felt the wind, he let go of the kite. The result was obvious. The kite fell to the ground with a thud.

Zhuang Zhuang was no longer in a good mood. He picked up the kite feeling upset. Why couldn’t he do it…?

The two of them arrived after quite some time. As soon as they arrived at the grain fields, Xiaoguo looked up at the sky again and realized that there were no kites in sight. It was the same situation on the road just now and here at the grain field. There was not a single kite in the sky.

Xiaoguo retracted her gaze in confusion. That shouldn’t be the case. Wasn’t it a custom to fly kites during QIngming to ward off illnesses and disasters? Why wasn’t there anyone flying them?

“Mother, I can’t get it to fly…”

Zhuang Zhuang handed the kite to Xiaoguo sadly. He felt that the kite didn’t like him.

Xiaoguo took the kite and smiled at Zhuang Zhuang. Before she could speak, Qin Anming interrupted, “Of course it’s hard to do it by yourself.”

With that, he handed the kite in his hand to Xiaoguo and picked up Zhuang Zhuang’s kite. “Let’s go. Uncle will fly the kite with you.”

When Zhuang Zhuang heard this, he happily followed Qin Anming. Xiaoguo tagged along behind them unhurriedly.

Zhuang Zhuang stood rooted to the ground with the spool in his hand and Qin Anming ran against the wind while holding the kite. Xiaoguo came to Zhuang Zhuang’s side and saw that he couldn’t quite hold on to the string, so she helped him to fly it. After the kite successfully flew into the sky, Xiaoguo handed the spool back to Zhuang Zhuang and taught him when to pull and release the string. Then, she and Qin Anming went ahead to fly the remaining two kites.

The two of them worked together to fly the three kites neatly into the sky. Xiaoguo chose a kite that looked like a goldfish and it had a few long tails floating behind it. As it floated in the wind, it looked extremely beautiful.

Zhuang Zhuang looked at their kites and then at his own. He was overjoyed. He thought to himself that when his father returned, he would fly a kite with him.

Xiaoguo looked up at the kites flying in the sky. For some reason, she felt very relaxed. It was as if all her bad emotions had been swept away by the kites.

She didn’t know if a kite would help to bring one’s illnesses and troubles into the sky, but one thing for sure, flying a kite was helpful for relieving one’s mood. When she ran in the wind and watched the kites fly into the sky, she felt inexplicably relieved.

“Mother… look at our kites. They fly higher than yours!”

Qin Anming and Zhuang Zhuang gestured smugly for Xiaoguo to take a look.

Xiaoguo came back to her senses and looked at their kites. It turned out that the two of them had already raised their kites to double their previous heights while she was in a daze. The kites were hovering just above hers, causing it to sway unsteadily.

Seeing that Xiaoguo was looking over, Zhuang Zhuang and Qin Anming showed her the kite spools in their hands smugly. There were only a few thin coils of rope left on the spools.

Xiaoguo took her time to adjust the kite string. Soon, her kite was flying steadily again. She then reminded them kindly, “Be careful. You’ll break if you go too high.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Qin Anming and Zhuang Zhuang’s kites instantly shook unsteadily a few times before starting to swirl in the air. The two of them were so frightened that they lost all their smugness. They quickly held on to the kite spools and slowly descended the kites back to their original positions. Only then did they manage to regain their balance.

Immediately, the two of them heaved a sigh of relief. They thought to themselves that Xiaoguo’s mouth was really sharp.

Xiaoguo laughed out loud at the two of them. They almost embarrassed themselves earlier.

“Aiya, it’s better to do it steadily.”

When Xiaoguo was done laughing, she even went on to say such an infuriating thing. Zhuang Zhuang and Qin Anming were speechless. They looked at each other and did not speak. After all, they really did embarrass themselves, so there’s nothing they could do about it.

“What are you laughing at?”

Mrs. Yang happily led her two children over. From afar, she could hear Xiaoguo’s laughter, so she asked curiously.

“Sister-in-law.” Xiaoguo greeted them happily when she saw them. She looked at them and asked curiously, “Are you guys here to fly kites too?”

When Mrs. Yang heard this, she nodded helplessly. “That’s right. I wasn’t keen on doing this, but they were very persistent.”

Xiaohu and Xiaohua were holding kites in their hands. They said goodbye to Xiaoguo and ran off to look for Zhuang Zhuang.

Mrs. Yang greeted Qin Anming with a smile. Then, she looked up at the kites in the sky and said in surprise, “Hey, your kite looks good!”

Xiaoguo handed her the kite in her hand. “Try flying it for a while.”

Mrs. Yang immediately took it and tried her hand at it.

“Sister-in-law, how come there is no one flying kites in our village?”

Xiaoguo looked at Mrs. Yang and asked.

“Sigh, there were a few families who did that this morning,” Mrs. Yang said as she tugged at the rope. “Who will come in the afternoon under the sun? It’s cooler in the morning.”

Xiaoguo was about to ask why she didn’t see anyone in the morning, but on second thought, she recalled that she was at Qin Manor during that time. She quickly nodded in understanding.

With Xiaohua and Xiaohu joining in, there was a small group of kites flying in the sky at the same time. It was much more eye-catching and pretty to look at.

After a while, the scene attracted a lot of children. They gathered around them and chattered excitedly.

The kite in Xiaoguo’s hand was given to one of the children. She and Mrs. Yang went to the shade to play, leaving Qin Anming alone with a group of children.

Qin Anming had a good temper. While flying kites with the children, he was tripped accidentally by some of them. But he didn’t get angry. He just picked himself up and patted the dirt off his body before continuing to play with the kids.

Mrs. Yang looked at him with admiration and kept exclaiming from time to time. There were not many men with such a good temper.

“Xiaoguo, is your brother engaged?”