Double Life: My whole world is you

Cheng Qiao looked back and saw a tricycle. Cheng Xiu was leaning on the window and waving at her. Cheng Xiu's father drove the car and stopped beside them. Cheng Xiu waved at her from the back of the car, "Come on in, it's on our way."

Cheng Qiao glanced at Cheng Ma and after getting her consent, Cheng Qiao and Cheng Zhu climbed up first. There were only three people on the tricycle, Cheng Xiu, her sister and her mother. After Cheng Ma went up, she greeted Cheng Xiu's mother.

Due to the loud noise of the tricycle and the sound of firecrackers all around, the few people did not communicate much. Cheng's mother only greeted them briefly. It turned out that Cheng Xiu and her family went to the city on the fourth day of the New Year, and Cheng Xiu's father rode a tricycle to pick them up early in the morning.

They stopped talking along the way. Cheng Qiao looked up and saw that Cheng Xiu and her sister were both wearing new clothes, Cheng Xiu's was pink and her sister's was a yellow cotton-padded jacket. Both of them had outstanding looks and fair skin, and the light-colored clothes made them look even more beautiful.

The last group of people said goodbye to each other in Chengliang Bay. Cheng Qiao told Cheng Xiu, "Xiu, I have to go back today. You and Xia will go to school together tomorrow. You don't have to wait for me. I will go directly to school from my home tomorrow morning."

"Okay." Cheng Xiu nodded, "Then we'll go back together tomorrow night."

After the three of them said goodbye to Sung-su's family, they headed towards the elementary school all the way to their grandmother's house. Sung-ju was the first to rush to the front, and before he even got there, his voice could be heard, "Grandma, we're back!"

Grandma heard the sound and came out happily with my aunt. My second aunt was the first to arrive. My eldest uncle and his family were at home. This year, my eldest uncle decided to learn steel bar engineering with my second uncle. My second uncle has been to Inner Mongolia in recent years. It is colder there, so they go late, usually after the Lantern Festival, and sometimes even after the first month of the lunar year. My second uncle went out on the ninth day of the first lunar month, and he officially went to work on the tenth day of the first lunar month. The weather was good and it was early. After Cheng's mother put down her things, she took my second aunt and others to sit in the yard and chat. Cheng Zhu threw away his schoolbag and played with Xiaoyanzi and others. Cheng Qiao picked up the English book and silently memorized words.

Soon my aunt and her family arrived. My uncle rode a bicycle with his family of four. My aunt brought a big cake. My grandmother complained that she was wasteful, but she smiled and responded, "You should have cake on your birthday. Besides, eating cake with more people will create a good atmosphere."

My cousin Zechun from my aunt's family is in the same grade as Chengzhu, but she was born in March 98, Chengzhu was born in December, Zechun is in the fifth grade, Chengzhu and Xiaoyanzi are in the fourth grade, Xiaoyanzi was born in February 01. My cousin Zezhu was born in and is in the first grade this semester. With two children of similar age, the children became even crazier, running around the yard, and as long as they didn't cry, no matter how crazy they were, the adults didn't care.

My third aunt and her family arrived at about eleven o'clock. My third uncle rode a motorcycle with Junjie and my third aunt. She explained, "I came here to help my wife prepare the meal. It's not convenient for her to take care of the children alone at home."

She just came down to drink a glass of water and went into the kitchen to help everyone.

My aunt and her family arrived at 11:30. Brother Yuan rode a motorcycle with my aunt and Brother Ping. As soon as my aunt got off the motorcycle, she got out and held my grandmother's hand, "Mom, I wish you a happy birthday, good health, and a long life."

"Big sister is still good at talking." The aunt came out of the kitchen and said, "Big sister, you don't need any help even if you come back late, just chat with mom."

Grandma pulled my aunt to sit in a chair and held her hand. "Big aunt, you've worked so hard. You've lost a lot of weight."

"Mom, I'm not tired, it's just that I live far away and there's no direct bus. It's not easy to come back, please don't blame me." My aunt continued, "Today is the Lantern Festival, they are all back, I cooked and ate early without washing the dishes, and I came here after I sent them back."

"I don't think about having a birthday," said the grandmother. "I'm just happy to think that we can all get together and have a meal together."

"Yes! Every year we only get together today." After saying this, my aunt realized that my aunt's family was not here this year. "It's a pity that the fifth brother's family didn't come back, and my younger brother left so early."

"You all have your own families and jobs, so you should focus on practical matters," said my grandmother. "I will be happy even if only one of you is with me every year."

The meal started at noon sharp and we ate in the living room of my uncle's house. My uncle put two large tables together so that adults and children could sit together.

Before the meal started, my aunt gave a speech on behalf of the family. "Today is the Lantern Festival, and it is also my mother's birthday. It is also a day for our family to reunite. After today, the new year begins. First of all, I wish my mother good health and a long life. I wish you a smooth work and all the best. I wish the children to grow up healthily and be successful in their studies. Come on, let's drink together."

Everyone stood up and raised their glasses to drink together. After taking a sip, and after grandma took the first bite, everyone else started eating.

There were 16 dishes and 2 soups in total at this banquet, with chicken soup and fish soup cooked in an alcohol stove in the middle. Family members always have endless things to say, and everyone ate and drank for nearly two hours. The dishes were heated up, and the soup in the alcohol stove was cold, so everyone left the table one after another. After the meal, everyone cleaned up quickly together. Since there were many adults, the children didn't have to do it. Cheng Qiao played crazy with her cousins, playing hide-and-seek and eagle catching chickens with many people, and she was completely immersed in the joy of the children's world.

After having fun for more than an hour, my aunt took out the cake and put it on the table. Everyone gathered around my grandmother and after my uncle lit the candles, the children gathered around my grandmother and sang birthday songs. Everyone smiled warmly and happily. My aunt took a photo of my uncle and said, "It's all your fault. You lent your camera to someone else and didn't bring it back from the construction site."

My uncle-in-law was not annoyed. He smiled and said, "I will definitely bring it back this year."

The aunt glared at him and pushed grandma in front of the cake, "Mom, blow out the candles and make a wish."

Grandma was a little uncomfortable. She blew out the candles and urged everyone to eat the cake. The cake was not big, so everyone got a small piece and finished it in two or three bites. Yangyang and Yingying pulled their aunt to eat more. The second and third aunts handed their cakes to the two of them. At this time, Cheng's mother and uncle came out of the kitchen and brought in a bowl of noodles, "Mom, have a bowl of longevity noodles."

“Yes, how can we celebrate our birthday without longevity noodles?” Grandma took the noodles from Cheng Ma’s hand with a smile and started eating happily.

After eating the longevity noodles, everyone stood up to say goodbye. Second Aunt got on Uncle's car, Zezhu got on Brother Yuan's motorcycle, and Third Uncle said he wanted to ride his bike to send Cheng Qiao and her family off, but Cheng's mother refused, "It's still early, it's good for us to eat and walk."

After returning home, Cheng's mother asked Cheng Qiao to go find friends to play with, and most importantly, to go to school together with her tomorrow. She had no choice but to go to the left. She first went to Cheng Yun's house, but she was not at home. She was going to go to Cheng Dan's house, but she saw a lot of people at her house when she was standing outside. Finally, she went to Cheng Lin's house, but her grandmother was alone at home at this time, saying that Cheng Lin had gone out. She had no choice but to return to Cheng Yun's house, tell her brother and go home. On the way home, she met Cheng Li, who was one year younger than her and was in the first grade of junior high school. Cheng Li's house was behind Cheng Qiao's house. The two were about the same age, and she was one of the better friends in this bay except for the three girls of the same grade as her. She pulled Cheng Qiao to sit on the tile kiln and chat for a while. Cheng Qiao saw that she was getting more and more depressed, so she asked softly, "What's wrong with you? What happened?"