Double Life: My whole world is you

Ten days passed in a flash. The temperature had been getting lower and lower. It rained for three days in a row after they came back from town, and then it snowed for a week. The heavy snow was beautiful, but too much snow would become a disaster. One week ago, my uncle came back with a suitcase in the morning. At that time, everyone was warming up by the fire in my uncle's living room. My uncle came in and greeted my grandmother, then he walked upstairs with the suitcase. My grandmother looked at his back and said, "I'm glad you're back."

My aunt and Yingying also went upstairs. Yangyang also wanted to go upstairs. My aunt took Xiaoyanzi and Yangyang to their place with a sullen face. Grandma looked at the empty chairs around the stove and sighed softly. Chengqiao pouted, but finally said nothing and continued her homework. In the afternoon, my uncle gave my grandmother a box of preserved eggs and some persimmons. "Mom, I know you like to eat preserved eggs, so I brought them back from Guangdong for you, and persimmons. They are red and sweet."

Grandma took the things with a smile, "Good, you are thoughtful."

Cheng Qiao put down her pen and called out sweetly, "Uncle." Then she looked at him childishly, expecting him to take something out of his pocket...

"It just so happens that you have a holiday." The uncle didn't notice his big eyes and sat beside her to warm himself by the fire. "What grade are you in?"

Cheng Qiao picked up her pen in disappointment and continued to do her homework. Her uncle was quite handsome, a bit like Aaron Kwok's handsomeness, but he was too stingy. She never ate anything extra from him since she was a child. She pouted and replied, "I'm in the second grade of junior high school."

"How are your grades?" my uncle asked as he picked up the book next to her and looked at it.

"It's okay." Cheng Qiao continued with her homework and didn't intend to say more.

"You four kids back then, only Lulu was the smartest, but unfortunately he got sick..." Before my uncle could say anything else, my grandmother came over, patted him on the back, took out a bag of snow cakes and handed them to him, "Go to your sister-in-law's place and give them to Xiaoyanzi and Yangyang."

"Mom, this, actually I, you..." The uncle stood up reluctantly, "No need to be so troublesome, right?"

"You! You didn't even say hello to your sister-in-law when you came back." Grandma was very disappointed. "It's your duty to bring food to the child. Go now."

My uncle reluctantly took the things and walked out. My grandmother looked at his back and shook her head...

Three days ago, my uncle came back with a big backpack. At that time, Cheng Qiao and my grandmother were warming themselves in the small kitchen. After my uncle came back, my aunt stopped taking the children to my uncle's place. My uncle and his family of three stayed on the second floor most of the time, so my grandmother took Cheng Qiao to the small kitchen during the day. The small kitchen was small, and it was warm enough to put some sparks in a small pottery pot. It was still snowing outside that day. My uncle pushed open the half-closed door of the small kitchen and shouted, "Mom, I'm back."

Grandma stood up excitedly, pulled him to sit down beside her, and quickly poured him a glass of sugar water, "I'm glad you're back."

The uncle exchanged a few pleasantries with grandma, then handed a few bags of pastries to grandma and gave Cheng Qiao a handful of Little White Rabbit candies. Cheng Qiao called out sweetly a few more times, "Uncle."

The weather was cold, so my aunt waited for my uncle to come back before she went to the bay to make rice noodles, rice cakes, and noodles. The freshly baked rice cakes were delicious, sweet, sticky, and chewy. Cheng Qiao ate two palm-sized pieces and didn’t have dinner that night…

December 2007, 12, February 28, 2008 in the Gregorian calendar, was the beginning of spring. The snow that had fallen for seven or eight days finally stopped and the sun rose in the sky. Everyone was very happy that day, not only because it was sunny, but also because it was a good day to prepare New Year's goods. Both kitchens were busy. The pot at my younger uncle's house was used to stir-fry peanuts, broad beans, rice cakes, sweet potato cakes, and rice bubbles... The pot at my eldest uncle's house was used to fry tofu fruit, radish balls, lotus root balls, lotus root folders, fish, rice cakes, sweet potato cakes, peanuts...

Cheng Qiao was burning a fire in the kitchen of her uncle's house, reading a book while burning a fire. She was reading "War and Peace" that Zhang Yandi had lent her. Although she had a holiday for more than ten days, she had been working on her winter vacation homework during these ten days. She only finished four books: Chinese, mathematics, physics, and history. She had to finish one book every three days, and she had to finish it at eight o'clock every night. It took her nearly two days to finish it. She had to use the last time to understand the questions that she couldn't do. In the end, she had to let go of the questions that she really couldn't do and ask her classmates or teachers when she went to school. It took four or five days to finish Chinese and history, and seven or eight days for physics and mathematics. She also had to reserve half an hour to an hour every day to practice calligraphy. Although it was a holiday, the time was still very tight every day. Except for not getting up so early in the morning, she spent almost all her time studying. In these ten days, except for the second day when it snowed and I played a snowball fight with Cheng Xia for an hour, I spent the rest of the time studying. I only barely finished four books, and there were still four books that I hadn't started...

The kitchen in my uncle's house is relatively large, nearly twenty square meters, with two stoves, both of which are very spacious. She holds a book in her left hand and eats rice cakes in her right hand, occasionally adding fire to the stove, feeling cozy and comfortable.

"Grandma, the second uncle is back." Yangyang's voice came from far away. In their place, the sisters who are older than their father are called uncles, and those who are younger than their father are called aunts.

Hearing the sound, grandma, who was frying peanuts, put down the spatula, wiped her bib with her hands and walked out. Cheng Qiao also put down the book in her hand and followed. Second aunt was wearing dark blue rain boots and pants, dark red cotton jacket, and dark red scarf and hat. Her white hair made her look a little vicissitudes, but her deep eyes were bright and she smiled happily when she saw grandma, "Mom, I'm back to see you."

"Damei! It's so cold and the snow has just stopped. It's hard to walk. I hope you're going well on the road!" Grandma helped carry the things into my uncle's living room. My uncle and aunt also hurried downstairs to greet them. My aunt handed a bag to my uncle, one to my grandmother, and one to my uncle. "I was going to come back early, but I didn't expect the snow to last so long this year."

"The mountain road is not easy to walk on, it's okay if you don't come back." Grandma pulled my aunt to sit down, my aunt poured hot tea, my uncle and aunt also came with Xiaoyanzi, and the family chatted lively...

Originally, she planned not to cook at noon and just eat fried and stir-fried snacks, but because her second aunt came home, her eldest aunt cooked a big pot of meat noodles on the gas stove, which included mushrooms, dried tofu, twisted dough sticks, and chopped green onions. Cheng Qiao also drank a big bowl of it, and she decided not to eat anymore in the evening.

After lunch, my second aunt sat for a while and then went home. Cheng Qiao and my grandmother accompanied her all the way to Chengliang Bay and stopped only at my second aunt's strong request. Cheng Qiao held her hand and said, "Aunt, you must take care of yourself."

Second aunt gently touched her head and said, "Silly child, I will. Come to my house and stay for a few more days after the New Year."

"Okay, aunt." Cheng Qiao and her grandmother waved goodbye to her...