Old things in the south

Chapter 14 Aunt Lan (3)
On the afternoon of July [-]th, Aunt Lan's watermelon lantern was completed.After dinner, before it was dark, I urged Aunt Lan, Mama Song, and Second Sister to light up their own lamps and go out into the street, as well as shop around for other people's lamps.Before leaving, I ran to Uncle Dexian's house and said:

"Aunt Lan and I are going to visit the lotus lanterns. Are you going? We'll wait for you under the Jinghua Press building!" After I finished speaking, I ran away.

The sidewalks were full of lantern-carrying and lantern-going people, and my watermelon lantern was fresh and eye-catching.But soon we got separated from Mother Song and Second Sister. I took Aunt Lan’s hand and walked westward until I stopped in front of the building of Jinghua Press. Looking forward to Uncle De.I looked around for a while but didn't see it, and came back to the front of the building in disappointment. Unexpectedly, Uncle Dexian had already arrived, and he was smiling and nodding to Aunt Lan. Aunt Lan was a little embarrassed, and nodded and smiled.Uncle Dexian said:
"Mi Sihuang, I am very interested in folk customs."

Aunt Lan seemed surprised, and said unnaturally:

"Where, coax the child! You, how do you know my surname is Huang?"

I don't think Aunt Lan has ever been called "Miss Huang". I know that female students who have never been married are called "Miss", and Aunt Lan deserves it!I couldn't help curling my lips, feeling really unconvinced, even though I wanted to bring Aunt Lan and Uncle Dexian together.

"I heard from Mrs. Lin that Ms. Huang is a very ambitious woman who dares to resist the harsh environment!" Uncle Dexian said so. I don't believe my mother said that, and my mother would never say such a thing if.

That night, I was holding the lamp, and Aunt Lan pressed her hand tightly on my shoulder, as if I was leading a blind man on a night walk.We walked slowly all the way, and I was separated from Uncle Dexian and Aunt Lan. They were talking in a low voice, and Aunt Lan covered her mouth with a small handkerchief when she smiled.

The next day I went to Uncle Dexian's house again, and he talked to me about what I had. He asked me:

"Do you know what books your Aunt Lan reads?"

"She is watching "Second Plum", have you seen it?"

Uncle Dexian smiled at me rarely, shook his head, he took out a book from the pile of books and handed it to me, saying: "Let's show it to her."

I took it over and saw that it was printed on the paper: "Ibsen's Plays: The Puppet Family".

On the third day, I passed them the note once.The three of us went to see a movie on the fourth day. I couldn’t understand it, but Aunt Lan burst into tears when she saw it. Uncle Dexian handed her a handkerchief to wipe it. The movie was "The Two Orphan Girls" starring Li Lijishu ".On the fifth day we went further and arrived at Sanbeizi Garden.

When I came back from Sanbeizi Garden, I was so excited that I wished I could fly home, fly to my mother and tell her how I saw Aunt Lan and Uncle Dexian holding hands when I was playing in the distorting mirror in Changguan Building of Sanbeizi Garden. Hold hands, that disgusting look!And I'm going to tell Mom all about it!But when I got home, the door of the bedroom was closed, and Mama Song didn't allow me to go in. She said:

"Your mother gave birth to a little sister for you!"

It was not until the next day that I sneaked in to see that the little sister was very thin, and her pale hands were like chicken feet, but the midwife, Mrs. Yamada, praised her all the time. She came to bathe her sister, and when she opened the quilt, she revealed her chicken feet, she drawled in Japanese:

"Cute イネ!——Cute イネ!" (Cute! Cute!)
Mom was holding a bowl of delicious chicken wine to cook the noodles, and smiled as she looked at the little flesh in the bathtub.She didn't notice that I was spinning around the small coffee table in front of the bed.I really like my mother giving birth to a child, because I can eat something along with the oil. There is always chicken wine, milk powder, and brown sugar water on the small coffee table.But what I'm more excited about today is that I have one thing in my heart, I have to tell her!
Mom saw me at a glance:
"I haven't seen you for several days. What are you doing? Where have you been running in such a hot day?"

"I've been at home all the time. If you don't believe me, ask Aunt Lan."

"How about yesterday?"

"yesterday--"

I also learned to be sneaky, squeezed to my mother's bed, and whispered: "Didn't Aunt Lan tell you? We went to Sanbeizi Garden. Mom, the tall man who collects the ticket seems to be taller. The three of us I even took a photo with him, I only went to that person,..."

"Three people? Who is the other one?"

"Guess."

"Left is not your father!"

"You guessed wrong." Looking at my mother's bitter face, I wanted to laugh. I imitated Aunt Lan in a calm manner. I wiped down my face with my palm, and then bent my fingers into two circles to touch my eyes. Than, I said:

"Here! This is the man!"

Mom frowned and guessed:
"Who is this? Could it be? Could it be?—"

"It's Uncle De." I shook my body triumphantly, and patted my new sister's quilt.

"Really?" Mom's bitter look disappeared, and changed to an anxious look: "What's going on? Tell me, tell me from the beginning."

I talked from the four-eyed dog to the distorting mirror, and my mother was fascinated by what I said. The thin chicken sister in her arms had already fallen asleep, and she was still shaking.

"It's all your fault!" Mom seemed to scold me, but she smiled so beautifully.

"Mom," I felt very wronged, "You still want Dad to beat me up that day!"

"By the way, does your father know about these things?"

"Should I tell him?"

"That's fine." Mom ignored me, she lowered her head and thought about something, and said to herself with a smile.Then she seemed to remember something, raised her head and said to me:
"What did you say you wanted to buy that day?"

"A pair of hoops, a pair of leather shoes, and now I have to add a whole year's subscription to "Children's World." I said without hesitation.

Dad is watering the flowers in the yard. This is his daily homework. After returning home from get off work, he changes his clothes and always goes to the flower pond to fiddle with the flower pots for a while.Those pots of pomegranates were fertilized by my father in the spring, and the yard smelled of sesame residue. In May, the fiery red flowers bloomed. Now that the Mid-Autumn Festival is here, the big fat pomegranates all grinned at Dad!But today Dad was not happy, he stood in front of the flowers in a daze.I saw that my father was thin and tall, with a swaying body in white silk trousers and a jacket, and looked extraordinarily lonely. He had never been like this before.

Song's mother was serving dinner, and she was carrying bowls and plates to the dining room. Today's dishes are very rich, and they are for Uncle Dexian and Aunt Lan to see them off.

I am writing the last big characters in the room.This summer vacation was very happy and novel, but I left all my summer homework undone, and no one cares about me this summer vacation.Aunt Lan urged me to write Jiugongge at first, but later she only cared about watching "The Puppet Family" and didn't bother with my homework.The nine-square grid is filled with my scribbled ink, one after another, I don't seem to be writing, it's uglier than a ghost drawing.I saw Dad's white back from the window, so I couldn't help but stop writing. For some reason, I felt very sorry for Dad.

I was very puzzled, how did Uncle Dexian and Aunt Lan mention to Dad that they were going to go together?When I entered the room last night when I was about to go to bed, I only heard my father say to my mother:

"...Why don't I know anything about it?"

I didn't know what Dad was talking about, so I didn't pay attention at first, and I was thinking about my own business while changing clothes: there are two days before school starts, and I should write the big characters tomorrow, but a sheet of nine characters, Ninety characters in ten sheets, 360 characters in forty sheets, how can I catch up!Or ask Aunt Lan for help.Then I heard my mother say:
"How could you know about this kind of thing! Hmph!" Mom sneered.

"So you know?"

"Me? I don't know. How did De Xian mention it to you?"

"He first said that the rumors are getting tighter these days, and he must leave Beijing. He plans to visit Tianjin first, and then go to Shanghai by boat. Then he said: 'I have something to tell my brother, Ms. Huang is ready Come with me.'..." Only then did I understand what I was talking about, and listened carefully.

"Huh! You won't be surprised to hear De first!" said Ma.

"Surprised!" Dad was unconvinced, "But it was unexpected, you really didn't know at all, didn't you see it at all?"

"Where do I know that?" Ma said nonsense!After pausing for a while, my mother said again: "I usually seem to see that there is something interesting."

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"Hey! Let me tell you, can you still stop them? I think they are doing very well."

"Of course it's good, but I don't agree with Dexian's sneaky behavior."

Mom let out a snort when she heard this, and when she turned around and saw me, she scolded me:

"What are children listening to! Don't go to sleep yet!"

Dad was sitting there with his legs folded and shaking constantly. I really wanted to go up and tell him that Uncle Dexian had inscribed on the photo taken at the gate of Sanbeizi Garden: "Why should we have known each other before we met?" Lan My aunt told me several times!But I was afraid that my father would scold me and beat me if I said it.I silently climbed onto the bed, lay down, and heard my mother say:
"Are they going to leave tomorrow? Then we have to cook a few dishes for them?"

"whatever!"

I didn't hear anything more, I just felt sorry for Aunt Lan, so I forced my eyes to open and close again.I was still writing big characters in my dream, and Aunt Lan was pressing my right shoulder, as if it was the night when I was shopping for lanterns. I wanted to raise the pen to write, but she pressed it tightly, and couldn't raise my hand, so I couldn't write...

But now I am writing one after another, and finally finished before dinner. I came to the dinner table with a black beard and black handprints. Aunt Lan smiled first:

"Have you written your big characters upside down?"

I sat next to Aunt Lan today, and I really felt reluctant to part with it. My mother gave up the wine and said to Aunt Lan and Uncle Dexian:

"Have a nice trip, both of you!"

Dad didn't need anyone to stop him, so he flushed himself, and the blue veins on his head were exposed like earthworms. He held up the wine glass and stretched out his head, all the way to Aunt Lan's face. Aunt Lan dodged back, mouth Li said:

"Mr. Lin, don't drink any more, you have drunk a lot."

Dad suddenly straightened up again, pretending to be a big brother, and said drunkenly:

"I am the person who is most willing to help my friends, and I like to make friends the most, don't I? Dexian, you have to treat her well! She is just like my own sister!" Dad turned his head and said to Aunt Lan "If he treats you badly, just come back to me." Aunt Lan smiled shyly, as if she was a big girl who just got married.

Mama Song was waiting on the side, also smiling, looking at Aunt Lan with fresh eyes.At the same time, he also gave the towel sprinkled with Shuangmei's toilet water to Dad again and again to wipe his face.

The carriage had already been called and stopped at the gate.Our whole family saw us off at the gate, and even our little sister who had just turned one month was carried out of the gate to see the wind.

The Hufangqiao Street at dusk is very lively, people come and go, there are people in front of you, and there are neighbors waiting around in front of the carriage to see what's new, Mama Song must have told them!

Aunt Lan has changed, her shiny twisted bun is gone, and now her hair is cut in the style of Prince Warren!Just like the picture in my storybook: a row of hair is aligned with the eyebrows, and the sides hang down to the ears.What I was wearing was the egg blue silk cheongsam, made into a long waistcoat with two sleeves, a white gauze around the neck, tied obliquely into a big bow, just like the third aunt of the Zhang family who was studying in a women's high school. Be the same!

She said many words of thanks to her parents, then bent down and touched my face and said:

"Yingzi, study hard, don't make your mother angry like last time, you are a big girl in the third grade!"

I wanted to cry, and I also wanted to laugh. I didn't know what it was like to see Aunt Lan and Uncle De Xian getting into the carriage together, and waving at us through the window.

The carriage went farther and faster, and there was a billow of dust, so I couldn't see anything clearly.I looked up at my father, he touched his chest with his hands, like my mother every time she got angry and had stomach problems, I only felt a little sorry for my father, and even more sympathized.I gently pushed Dad's thigh and asked him:
"Dad, do you want cardamom? I'll buy it for you."

He didn't hear it, but shook his head at the distant smoke.

(End of this chapter)