C12

Hearing the shouts, Grandma rushed out to see that some of the children had come, and called for grapes to be eaten in the house.

Second Uncle sat on the edge of his grandma's kang, and when he saw the children come in, he stood up. He called out to them, "Second Uncle," but did not ask why Second Aunt Qi didn't come back. He held a plate of grapes on the coffee table and said, "Grandmother, we went to eat in your room."

Grandma agreed and said, "Qi Hong is watching TV in the house. You guys can go over and play. We'll go to your second grandpa's house together later."

Qi Hong had been watching TV for almost a whole summer and was now leaning over the sofa watching cartoons. Seeing that his older brothers and sisters had all arrived, he quickly got up and pulled Qi Tan to sit on the sofa. Qi Hong said, "I have a tutorial class at home in a few days, you should come too."

Qi Hong asked doubtfully, "What is a tutorial class?"

Qi Yang said, "What do you call a tutorial class? Just call you over. When the time comes, I'll play with you everyday."

"Alright, you must accompany me when the time comes."

As they were talking, they heard some noise coming from the yard. Qi Yuan saw that it was his sister-in-law. She was carrying a bunch of things, so he quickly told the kids about it and they all went to the yard to pick her up.

His aunt was the most lively and cheerful one among his generation, with a long face, narrow eyebrows, and almond-shaped eyes. She smiled and squinted her eyes, which made her look especially amiable, and because of her work, she looked very clean.

My aunt went to the Acropolis School and after graduation worked as a nurse at the People's Hospital in F City. My uncle was also at that hospital, a pediatrician. The couple liked their children very much. There was a boy in their family, who was the same age as Qi Tao. Every summer, his grandma would stay with his grandma for a period of time. This time, they probably went to his grandma's house without him.

Seeing a group of nephews and nieces coming over, the sister-in-law smiled and handed over a large convenient bag in her hands to Qi Zhao. "Take it, your sister-in-law bought you snacks." Qi Zhengyuan took the bag and gave it to Qi Shuang, then he carried the things in his little uncle's hand and walked into his grandma's room …

The largest bag in the supermarket was filled with snacks such as crisps and shrimp bars. They smiled brightly and said, "Aunt, thank you!"

"Yo, my first niece learned how to be polite. Back then when I brought you around F City, you insisted on buying this and that. Even when others who cried and didn't buy anything looked at me, you didn't show any courtesy."

"Aiyo, little aunt, when is that old? How old am I then? It's been so many years, and yet you're still talking about it. Besides, be careful of the wrinkles on your face."

The aunt touched her smooth face and said, "I, your aunt, am a natural born beauty that cannot be abandoned. Where are the wrinkles on my face?"

The two of them were talking about the time when the young girl had just graduated, when they were about five or six years old and had to live with the young lady in F City for a few days, the young lady had brought the young lady out to the streets to play, and the young lady had no money in her hands, so she just stood in front of the door and cried. Qi Zheng remembered going to university to look for the young lady, and when some of the young lady's colleagues saw her, they would happily tell her what had happened in Qi Xiang's past.

The young husband stood by the side, smiling as he watched the duo bicker. When his grandma heard the commotion, she had already left the room. When she saw that there were only two adults, she asked, "Dou Dou isn't here?"

The young man called out "Mother" and said, "Dou Dou went to his grandma's house. I'll bring her back here in two days."

His grandma repeatedly said "good" as she walked into the house with the two of them. Qi Yuan carried the gift from his husband and followed behind them. Qi Zheng and the others were still standing in the yard when they said, "Take your things and eat in Uncle's room. I'll go call you guys when we leave later."

When Qi Yuan entered, he saw his second uncle sitting on the sofa with his little uncle and his grandma sitting on the edge of the brick bed. Qi Yuan saw his second uncle and his little uncles sitting on the sofa and his grandma sitting on the edge of the brick bed with his little aunt.

The grandma took the clothes from the aunt and put her hand on the cold, slippery fabric, saying, "Chivalry, you and little Chen earn that bit of salary and must raise a child. Don't buy clothes for me and your father in the future, we have enough clothes for both of us."

Hearing her grandma say this, the aunt quickly said, "Mother, how much can I spend on these clothes? Your daughter has been wearing so many new clothes made by you since I was young. I should buy them for you now, but you have to wear them now, don't be too secretive about it now."

Seeing that Grandma didn't say anything more, the sister-in-law started talking to Second Uncle.

"Second brother, I haven't seen second sister for years. Why aren't you here again this year?"

"Your second sister-in-law is busy with work." Second Uncle dryly explained.

Qi Yuan noticed his grandma gently tugging at his sister-in-law's sleeve. She was quick to say something, but was also reasonable. His grandma was afraid that her sister-in-law would lose face in front of her husband.

Qi Xiang saw his grandma's actions and quickly said, "Aunt, let's go to that room. I haven't seen you in a long time. Let's go have a nice chat."

As he said that, he pulled his sister-in-law along by the hand and headed towards his uncle's room. Seeing this, his sister-in-law didn't say anything else and followed him out.

When they reached outside the house, the nun whispered, "Hmph, it's as if this family's business isn't their family's."

Qi Xiang said, "Aunt, we haven't seen each other in a long time, and we've always been very happy to meet each other. Why do you have to make things worse for yourself?"

The nun laughed and scolded, "You little monkey, when did you learn to be so mean?"

The reason for this was that Qi Yuan took advantage of the time the aunt was chatting with a few colleagues to climb a big tree in the hospital. The aunt did not know, seeing the child disappearing, she cried and looked for him for a long time, and even got a lot of her colleagues to help her search for him. In the end, Qi Yuan came down to look for him himself, and those colleagues were at a loss whether to laugh or to cry, so they gave Qi Yuan a nickname, "Little Monkey".

Hearing this distant yet familiar nickname, Qi Chang's eyes began to ache. Blinking, he forcefully swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said, "Aunt, do you still remember these things?"

The aunt adjusted her short hair and said, "How could I forget? I've been watching you ever since you were born, and seeing you grow up to such a point and disappear, it scared me so much that I had nightmares for a long time. When I dreamt that you were gone, I woke up in such a hurry. "Hehe, in the blink of an eye, so many years have passed, yet you have already grown up into a big girl."

Qi Zhengyuan lowered his head and tried his best to blink the tears in his eyes.

The little aunt smiled and said, "I'm still sorry. If it wasn't for me, your little uncles wouldn't have recognized me. Your aunts and uncles would have said that you were the matchmaker for us."

Qi Yuan still kept his head down and said with his nose tucked under his nose, "I still haven't seen the two of you come to thank the matchmaker."

"Yo, how can you be so arrogant."

Qi Yuan chuckled and said, "Aunt, I guess I'll have to go to the F City Academy."

"Isn't that a specialized school?"

"The Polytechnic University has been merged. I have an undergraduate degree in the first year of this year."

"Alright then, since you're so close to me and to leave your home, it's so convenient. When you've eaten enough, I'll cook some delicious food for you to improve your life." "Look at how nice your aunt is. I was just thinking about improving your life before you even went."

Qi Chang shook his sister-in-law's arm and said, "If you don't treat me well, then who should? We've been doing well for so many years, so we must get better and better."

The aunt pointed her index finger at his forehead and said with a smile, "No big deal."

While the two of them were talking, the aunt and her wife arrived on a motorcycle.

The first child of my grandparents, in her fifties, married into a village seven or eight miles south of the Qi family village. My cousin was already married and had no children, my first cousin went to a university in the south the previous year, my first aunt had a quick mind and used some of the bamboo sticks and coals used in the countryside. From what my first aunt said, my first aunt lived in a house full of red fires, two people killed clean roosters, a box of milk, and the basket of the motorcycle was also full.

After greeting his aunt and uncle, Qi Yinfeng and a few other kids also came out. They affectionately called out to their aunt and uncle, who passed a bag in her hand to Qi Cheng and said, "Go wash these grapes and eat with your younger brothers and sisters."

He smiled and said, "Thank you, aunt."

Then he asked, "Why isn't Cousin or Cousin here?"

The aunt said, "Your cousin got married. Your cousin took her with him. Your cousin went back to school two days ago. She said the school was organizing a social investigation."

Grandma came out at this time and asked Qi Zhengyuan the same question again. After hearing his question, Grandma answered sadly, "She's already grown up, and she's getting further and further away from me."

Everyone who should be here had already come, and it was almost time for dinner. Qi Yuan called out to the children to go to his second grandpa's house, and the two family members carried gifts for him and followed his grandparents towards his second grandpa's house.

Grandfather and his family had to arrange four tables for each of them. Father and his family had to have two tables for each of them, Mother Qi and her sister-in-law had to have one table for each of them, and Qi Yuan's family of children were making arrangements. The courtyard door opened, and they saw a family of four enter, so they were not familiar with each other.

Qi Xiang asked, "Little Aunt, who is this?"

Little Aunt curled her lips and said, "Your Aunt Jianyun's family."

Qi Yuan suddenly realized that his second grandfather actually had three daughters. This Aunt Jianyun was his second grandfather's youngest daughter and was married to him in the village. However, his second uncle died when giving birth to his child, leaving his daughter behind.