"Xiaomin, are you sure you want to sleep with your sister Qing tonight? Does your sister Qing agree?" Li Chunmei asked Xia Minmin again.

"Mom, you've asked me several times already. I already told Sister Qing before."

Li Chunmei had no choice but to pack up all of Xia Minmin's clothes and toiletries and send them to the neighbor next door.

Li Qing's room was right next door. When checking in, she specifically asked the front desk to arrange all four rooms together for easy communication.

thump thump thump...

"Xiao Qing, I'm your second aunt. I brought Xiao Min here."

"You're here," Li Qing's voice came from inside the room.

The door opened in less than two minutes.

"Xiao Qing, I'm entrusting Xiao Min to you these next few days. I hope it won't bother you."

Li Qing will be taking the college entrance examination in the first half of next year. This trip to Beijing was to help her relax. Although she was traveling, Li Qing still studied on her own every morning and evening.

"It's alright, Auntie. Xiaomin has always been a good girl, don't worry!"

"Mom, you can rest assured, I will absolutely not bother Sister Qing. Besides, I also need to study, okay? I brought my books with me."

After Xia Minmin finished speaking, she pushed Li Chunmei out of the house.

"Mom, you should get some rest too. We need to get up early tomorrow to get a good spot to watch the flag-raising ceremony!"

"Alright, alright! I won't nag you anymore. You two should get some rest today, lock your doors, and knock if you need anything."

"Okay, Auntie. We're closing now."

After they locked the door, Li Chunmei went back to her room.

"Chunmei, how is it? Is Xiaomin settled in?" Xia Jianguo leaned against the headboard, flipping through the Beijing Daily he had bought from the newsstand.

"Everything's settled in. Time really flies! I still remember how adorable Xiaomin was climbing the stairs in the guesthouse when we came to Shenzhen." Li Chunmei sat at the foot of the bed, applying hand cream.

"She was really cute. She was only a little over two years old at the time. She was worried that we would have a hard time, so she climbed up to the fifth floor all by herself with her short legs. Five years have passed in the blink of an eye."

"Yes, time really flies!"

Xia Jianguo placed the newspaper on the bedside table, pulled back the covers for Li Chunmei, and patted the bed. "Don't be sentimental, get some rest. You have to get up early tomorrow!"

"Okay, okay. I'm coming right now."

Seeing that Li Chunmei had settled down, Xia Jianguo turned off the lights in the room.

"Sister Qing, have you finished reviewing? It's almost eight o'clock, we should go to sleep, we have to get up at three o'clock tomorrow morning." Xia Minmin's biological clock is always very accurate, she yawns every night at eight o'clock.

"That's about it. I'll wash my hands and go to sleep. You should get some rest! Have you set your alarm?"

Upon hearing Xia Minmin's words, Li Qing tidied up the books on the table and went to the bathroom.

···

Grandma Xia heard a noise coming from inside the house, and Grandpa Xia was not in bed either.

"Old man, what time is it? Why are you up already? I didn't hear the alarm clock."

"It's still early, only one o'clock!" Grandpa Xia's voice came from the bathroom.

Why are you up so early?

"I saw the Chairman yesterday, and I can't sleep when I think about the past. It was too bitter!" Xia's maternal grandfather's younger brother was killed because he ran away to play.

Grandma Xia remained silent. During those years of war, she never slept soundly for a single day. She was always in danger of losing her life and often had to hide, unable to return home.

“Old man, look how good our life is now. Our children are all filial and even brought us to the capital. We should cherish this hard-won peaceful life.”

"You go back to sleep, I'll have a smoke before I go to sleep!"

"You still smoke?! Be careful your son and daughter scold you again!"

"If you don't tell and I don't tell, how will anyone know!"

“Your granddaughter knows.”

As soon as Grandpa Xia thought of his granddaughter Xia Minmin, who had a dog-like nose, he immediately came out of the bathroom. She could smell his cigarette as soon as he smoked, while the other family members, whose noses were not sensitive, would not be detected if they occasionally smoked.

Grandma Xia chuckled quietly; only her granddaughter could keep the old man in check.

···

The alarm rang promptly at three in the morning, and everyone got up except for Xia Minmin and Li Qing.

Xia Minmin nudged Li Qing, who was sleeping next to her, "Sister Qing, did the alarm just go off?"

Li Qing's voice was muffled, "I think so?"

thump thump thump...

"Xiao Qing, are you up yet?" Grandpa Xia's voice came from outside the door.

"immediately."

The two sisters woke up in bed and then got up.

"Xiaomin, are you all up yet?"

Xia Minmin opened the door when she heard her mother's voice.

Li Chunmei looked at her sleepy-eyed daughter, who must have just gotten up.

"You two hurry up and wash up. We're all done, just waiting for you. Xiaomin, let me comb your hair. Xiaoqing, go brush your teeth and wash your face first."

Xia Minmin thought Li Chunmei was joking when she said they had finished washing up, but in less than 5 minutes, everyone gathered in their room, making them afraid to dawdle and speed up their work.

Sun Erni placed the pastries she bought yesterday on the table. "It's still early, everyone can just have a little something to tide us over. After watching the flag-raising ceremony, we'll go out for a nice meal."

Everyone ate some pastries with water, as eating them on their own was too dry.

After getting ready, everyone took the elevator downstairs and walked to the security checkpoint near the square to queue up.

The early morning in Beijing was chilly, with a few snowflakes occasionally falling, but it wasn't too cold.

The dry cold of the North and the damp cold of the South are quite different. In the North, you don't feel cold even if you wear a lot of clothes, but in the South, you still feel cold even if you wear a lot of clothes.

When they arrived at the security checkpoint, there were already two or three people waiting, so the first row should be fine.

Xia Jianguo and Li Zhonghua handed the folding stools they were carrying to everyone.

Xia Jianguo said, "Mom and Dad, let's sit here a little longer."

Everyone took the folding stools and sat on them on the ground.

Grandma Xia said, "You don't know, your dad got up at one o'clock this morning."

Li Qing said, "Grandpa, isn't this way too early! Luckily, he didn't come to our room to call us."

"Sister Qing, you forgot, it was Grandpa who called us this morning, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to come so early."

At this moment, two or three people who were standing at the security checkpoint walked over. "Comrade, your family is really well prepared. You even brought folding stools."

Xia Jianguo said, "These were recommended by others. I bought a few folding chairs since they weren't too expensive. You guys arrived quite early too?"

"This isn't our first time watching the flag-raising ceremony, we're so excited we barely slept last night and were here waiting at 3 a.m. The weather's nice today, the sunrise should be a little earlier."

“He’s just like my grandpa, he didn’t sleep well either,” Xia Minmin said with a smile.

As time passed, more and more people waited to watch the flag-raising ceremony. Xia Minmin and her friends stood up and lined up. Once the security gate opened, they planned to rush in, just as the taxi driver had told them yesterday.