average american beauty

In order to sleep well the next day and wake up naturally, Caroline turned off the alarm clock before going to bed.

Unfortunately, just after seven o'clock the next day, she was woken up by the biological clock.It was a rare rest, and the air in the room was freezing cold. Caroline couldn't bear to get out of the quilt, so she curled up on the bed and read magazines for a long time, until her stomach started growling because of the sweet smell coming in from outside.

Isabella is making gingerbread cookies in the kitchen.

Unlike Caroline, who is useless in cooking and does not seek to make progress, Isabella not only likes to taste all kinds of desserts and pastries, but is also very interested in baking. Caroline has already been here for a month Many times "try products" for breakfast.

"Is it still for the school children?" Caroline propped her arms, watching Isabella take out the two baking trays in the oven, took off the baked biscuits with gloves on, and put new ones on them Tuck into the oven.

"Yeah, I asked the people in the school kitchen, and they said they won't make gingerbread this year, but how can you not eat gingerbread for Christmas?" Isabella's thin voice was filled with the steam from the oven.

Caroline only recently found out that the school Isabella works in is a charity school for girls, most of which are children from poor families or who have lost their caretakers. Isabella goes to three or four classes a week, and the salary is low It is negligible, not as much as she posts to the girls every week.

"Are you going to spend Christmas at school?"

"Many of the children have stayed in school, and they all hope that I can come, and besides, my family is not in Chicago." Isabella looked out the window, bowed her head and folded the wrapping paper bag.

"Let me help you." Caroline picked up a dozen small paper bags folded next to her, and put the cooled gingerbread men and gingerbread Christmas trees into the bags and wrapped them up.

Isabella knew that Caroline was going to her sister's house later, so she specially prepared a copy for her to bring to her family.

Caroline put the candy package and card for Isabella on the table and bid farewell to her roommate.

The frequency of the trams on Christmas Day was reduced to every hour. Caroline carried the Christmas presents for her family, as well as all kinds of food bought in advance, and stomped her feet on the spot and waited at the tram stop.

As the largest industrial city in the Midwest, Chicago often has gray skies, and today is no exception.

Caroline looked up at the sky boredly until her neck felt a little numb.

Then a piece of icy snow fell on her face and turned into a drop of water the moment it touched the skin.

Immediately afterwards, it was one slice, and another slice.

"Snowing!"

Caroline looked at the snowflakes falling from the sky and put down the bag in surprise, and picked it up with her hands.

Of course, she had seen snow before.But the snowflakes in my impression, whether they fall on people or on the ground, will quickly melt away, leaving patches of mud, completely different from everything in front of me.

The snowflakes are transparent, but a few pieces are clustered into small balls, like small white fluffy balls. When they first fell down, they quickly disappeared on the ground, and a thin layer formed on the ground after a while. .

Caroline chased the snowflakes and had so much fun alone that she almost missed the approaching tram.Fortunately, someone who was waiting for the car kindly reminded her, otherwise she would have to walk to Minnie's house in the snow with her things, or wait another hour in the cold wind.You must know that it is snowing, and it is uncertain whether the tram will be on time or not.

It was past noon when Caroline arrived at Minnie's. Han Sheng was tidying up the room, while Minnie was already busy in the kitchen. Little Tony was crawling around on the only rug. When he saw Caroline, he immediately stood up. He got up, pointed at Caroline and happily called "Ka...Ka".When Caroline brought out the colorful Christmas candy for him, his eyes were glued to the candy again, and he kept chanting "Sugar".

A charcoal stove was lit in the front hall, and it wasn't too cold in the room. Caroline changed out of her overcoat, put on a home dress that Minnie found for her, and volunteered to help in the kitchen.

Since Caroline had already brought a package of gingerbread, Minnie changed the ingredients she had prepared and planned to replace the baked biscuits with muffins.

"Let me see, roast turkey, smoked pork ham, steak, vegetable pie, sweet muffins, egg pudding and creamy potato soup, plus biscuits, it's been a long time since I prepared such a sumptuous dinner!" Minnie said All kinds of raw materials were classified into categories, and Caroline, who took the initiative to help in the kitchen, was stunned.

"What can I do?" Caroline turned around behind Minnie, and the already small kitchen was even more difficult to turn around.

"Go...help me knead the dough. I'll put the vegetable cake in when the roast chicken is ready. And, when the pan is hot, cut a piece of butter for me later." Minnie instructed Caroline, Turned back to marinating the steak.

Caroline cut a piece of butter and put it into the already hot pot. Minnie's shout came from behind her.

"Oh my God! Carrie, can you stop making trouble here!" Minnie watched as Caroline threw the butter into the pot, turned around and went to study the flour bowl on the chopping board, and accidentally threw flour on her own. body, backhand wanted to push her out of the kitchen. "Things are not ready yet, the butter will burn like this, you are so wasteful."

"Okay, okay, I'll leave the pot to you, I won't touch it, I'll go...to wash the dishes." Caroline always knew that she had no talent in cooking, and she usually helped Minnie by washing vegetables and dishes. It just so happened that the materials took up a lot of dishes today, and there were already a few used dishes piled up in the sink. While washing the dishes, she couldn't help laughing out loud as she looked at the flour on herself and Minnie.

"I'm so happy, Carrie. It's been a long time since I saw you smile like this. You should smile more." Minnie reached out and brushed off the flour from the two of them, her eyes filled with tenderness, "Don't forget that you still What about a child?"

When Caroline heard this, her eyes suddenly became sore.She turned around and opened her eyes vigorously, afraid that tears would fall if she was not careful.

I am no longer a child, she thought.

But my heart still couldn't stop echoing Minnie's words just now,

You are still a child.

Han Sheng tied a small Christmas tree half a person’s height with tree branches, and it was covered with ribbons cut from colored paper. The Christmas presents prepared by the two of them for little Tony had already been removed for him in the morning, and only Caroline’s belt was left. The gift box that came, and the presents prepared by two people for Caroline.

Because Little Tony kept thinking about unwrapping the presents, everyone unwrapped the presents they received before the meal. Minnie and Hansheng liked the things Caroline gave them very much. Minnie directly took a little body oil and applied it to her hands. On the road, although Han Sheng still had an unchanged face, he could tell from his brisk movement of trying on his hat that he was continuing his good mood for the day.

Caroline stared at the gift in her hand and was dumbfounded.

In a small box not much bigger than a palm, there is a new pen.

Although it is not a famous brand pen, the price of even the most common pen is worth the living expenses of this small family for a week or two.

Caroline pursed her mouth into a straight line, barely stopping her trembling expression.

"Thank you Minnie and Hansheng, I like it very much."

However, little Tony cried because none of the three gifts left under the tree belonged to him. It seemed that he had a little misunderstanding.

Han Sheng quickly stuffed a candy into his mouth, looked at his son who stopped crying immediately, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Even though everyone let go to eat, there is still more than half of the food left.However, it is not a problem to store food longer in winter.

"Stay here at night. There will be no trams after three o'clock in the afternoon these few days." Minnie asked Hansheng to move out the small folding bed that Caroline had slept in before, put it in the original position, and put another bed on it. He took off the mattress and took out a thick quilt.

"Carrie, do you remember when we were in the small town of Columbia?" Minnie and Caroline sat next to each other on the bed, watching the non-stop snow outside, the snowflakes swirling and drifting with the wind under the street lamps.

Caroline recalled for a moment from the part of Carrie's vague memory,

"I remember it was gold everywhere, and we ran across the fields, all the way, all the way."

"We ran all the way to the mill where my father worked, and looked at the farmers harvesting wheat and the workers working in the mill. At that time, I said, I will be able to go out to work in a few years, and I must not stay in this small place where the end will end soon." , Minnie continued Caroline.

Caroline looked at her sister who was caught in memories, and she also found this scene in Carrie's memories. At this moment, she couldn't tell who she was.

But soon, she felt that it didn't matter anymore, as long as she knew that she was now her own Caroline Meeber, what did it matter who she used to be?

"At the time, the other kids ignored me, and it was just you, Carrie, who said 'I'm going somewhere more interesting, too'."

Caroline leaned on the bed, listening to Minnie talking about the past that belonged to sister Carrie, and thinking about her gradually clear future.

The lights in the room had been turned off long ago, but the ice and snow combined with the street lights made it look like daytime outside the window.Caroline turned her head and smiled at Minnie, like an elf in a fairy tale on such a night.

Caroline hugged her sister's shoulders.

"Merry Christmas," she said.

The author has something to say: Some people have been struggling to distinguish between me and me after time travel, Caroline chose to reconcile, so let’s relax