Battle of the Rhine

The day of vacation has arrived, but the location of the vacation is still up in the air.On the first day of vacation, Quincy picked up Carl Jr.No need to go to kindergarten, the little thing is excited as hell. "Maybe children all over the world hate kindergarten," Michael grabbed little Carl, held down his waving limbs, and wiped the juice stains from the corners of his mouth, "None of Mary's three children like to go to kindergarten—you have been to kindergarten ?"

"No," said Quincy. "I don't remember a kindergarten in those days."

"You don't need to go. I haven't been there either. Ever since I could walk, Old Mike drove me out to herd cattle. In the countryside, children are labor, and they don't cost money."

Little Carl yelled, "Old Mike! Old Mike!"

"Okay, okay," Michael picked up Carl, "don't say that word! I'm not an adult yet!"

"Underage?" Quincy said sarcastically, "Then you go to kindergarten tomorrow."

Little Carl likes to play hide and seek.Honestly, besides hide and seek, Michael couldn't think of any other fun children's games.He wanted to teach Carl Jr. how to play football, but Quincy threatened to get out of the house if he wanted to play football. "You can teach him how to play football," said the owner of the house. "This is Germany, there is only one way to play the ball."

Forget it, Michael played hide and seek with Carl Jr.A few-year-old boy was extremely energetic, running up and down the stairs.Michael hid behind the curtain on the third floor, and soon heard a sound of thumping footsteps, and he immediately held his breath.

Little Carl walked in and started rummaging around.From the gap in the curtains, Michael saw the little boy pull open the cabinet, and seemed to think that Michael was hiding inside.After pulling open a few drawers forcefully, Little Carl forgot to play hide-and-seek.He was attracted by the things in the drawer, picked up a small box to look at, put it back, opened another notebook, and shook out a few photos.Michael decides to throw in the towel and come out and end it all.The moment he quietly opened the curtains, Little Carl struggled to pull out a beautiful big box from the bottom drawer. The box was too heavy for him to hold, so the box fell to the ground with a muffled sound.

"Your uncle will be angry," Michael said.Little Carl saw him, his blue eyes sparkled, "I got you!"

"I lost, I lost." Michael knelt down and picked up the box.The beautiful velvet box is heavy and looks a little familiar.Michael thought about it carefully, this box... seems to be for the Iron Cross in Quinny's suit.

But an Iron Cross is so heavy?Michael was thinking about the box, and little Carl's head moved closer, fluffy, "This is the box." He yelled, "Box--"

"Yes, this is the box." Michael stuffed the box into the drawer and picked up the scattered photos.He saw the roses and landscapes he had photographed, but not the ones he had photographed for Quincy.There are other photos in the notebook, all of which he took casually, and there are no portraits.

"Do you want to take a picture?" Michael picked up Carl, "I bought a new film..."

He spent the afternoon taking pictures of Quincy and Carl Jr.Quincy was forced to hold his nephew and pose as Michael requested. "Smile," the cameraman gestured, "Oh...turn your face, very good!...Arden! Don't run over...Okay, that's it, three, two, one—"

Quincy just doesn't smile, and Carl Jr. and Arden grin happily.In the evening, after seeing off Carl Jr. and Arden, Quincy stared at Michael who was moaning and complaining on the sofa, "First, sit up and don't roll on the sofa; second, we Germans don't know how to laugh——" It's very rude to smile, you have taught little Carl badly."

Michael wouldn't get out of the couch, the new slipcovers were too comfortable, not to mention the new throw pillows he bought.He was lying there watching TV, and suddenly remembered the box, "——why haven't you changed the Iron Cross?"

The federal government allowed World War II soldiers to wear the Iron Cross, but the medal had to remove the swastika. "I won't wear it out," Quincy said coldly. "The medals issued at the end of the war are orders to commit suicide—I hope you die and don't surrender, so as not to tarnish the honor of German soldiers."

The medal—the box of the medal always felt wrong to Michael.He also has a medal, and a medal is definitely not that heavy.Of course, he had no right to interfere with Quincy's decision.If you don't like to change, don't change it. He got up and changed the channel. "Tomorrow will be a fine weather." Michael shouted to the kitchen, "Sunny!"

"Not going very far anyway," said Quincy, weighing the butter on a scale. "You coward."

The next day, Michael drove and the two went on vacation in the mountains.Said it was a vacation, but Michael had other plans.He hummed along the way, "I like Elvis Presley, you know, he's serving in Germany—"

"You can pursue him," Quincy sneered. "How about sending flowers? There are enough roses in the yard for you."

"You jealous guy." Michael leaned his head and kissed Quincy, "I just like his songs, can't I just like songs?"

"I'm not jealous, don't slander me, old man."

"You also have players you like!"

"I like the team, not the players - we won the German Cup!"

"I'm not arguing with you." Michael slowed down the car, turned onto a small road, and finally stopped in front of a hillside, "...Oh, where did it go?"

He opened a map and checked it pretendingly, "Let me see, we must have missed the last exit."

"You may have missed more than one exit." Quincy snatched the map, "...you're too hyperactive, Mike."

"It doesn't look like there's anyone here," Michael said, "Oh, yes, look, there's no one behind, and there's no one in the opposite lane..." He put his hand on Quincy's thigh and touched it, "Can I kiss you ?”

"Fuck you!" Quincy pushed the hand away. "My head is full of strange things. Didn't you swear to be a good Christian?"

Despite his best efforts, Michael got his way and kissed him for a while. "You did it on purpose." Quincy's ears were red, "You drove to this place where no one was on purpose, just to—"

"I was wrong, forgive me." Michael restrained his smile, "Well, look, there is a church on the top of the mountain over there."

"There are churches everywhere."

"That's a very old church." Michael opened the car door, "Come on, accompany me to have a look."