As soon as the security gate opened, everyone rushed towards the flagpole.

For safety, Xia Minmin was carried by Xia Jianguo as they ran. There were too many people, and she could easily fall if she wasn't careful.

The whole family ran towards the agreed-upon place, and after they stopped, they counted that everyone was there and no one had gotten lost.

Xia Jianguo put Xia Minmin on the ground. It was indeed tiring to carry such a big child while running.

It was already dawn, and the morning star could still be seen in the sky.

"The music is starting, is it almost time?" Xia Minmin said loudly.

The place was so noisy that anyone who spoke softly would be completely drowned out.

"Yes, that should be true," Li Qing said.

Li Chunmei said, "Look over there, isn't that the honor guard coming out?"

Everyone looked in the direction Li Chunmei was pointing, and sure enough, the guard of honor of the three services came out.

The crowd fell silent instantly, their eyes following the powerful strides of the honor guard.

This was Xia Minmin's first time watching the flag-raising ceremony up close, and it was both awe-inspiring and exhilarating.

The moment the national anthem began, everyone spontaneously joined in singing, while Grandpa and Grandma Xia silently wiped away their tears.

After the flag-raising ceremony, Xia Jianguo took out his camera, and we started taking pictures. First, we took individual photos, then couple photos, then family photos, and finally a group photo.

It took thirty to forty minutes just to take individual photos, couple photos, and family photos.

Grandma Xia asked, "What about the group photo?"

Xia Minmin ran out and walked to a boy's side.

"Brother, could you take a family photo for us?" Xia Minmin asked a boy with a camera.

“Sure!” The boy followed Xia Minmin over.

"Grandma, this young man said he can help us take pictures."

Xia Jianguo handed the camera to the boy and then arranged for his family members to stand in line.

The boy raised his camera and shouted, "Follow me, one, two, three, cheese! One, two, three, cheese!"

After taking the photos, the boy handed the camera to Xia Jianguo. "Brother, is there anything else?"

"Young man, thank you for your help earlier! Have you had breakfast yet? Would you like to come with us for breakfast?"

"No need, brother, I have something to attend to and will be leaving now." With that, the boy left.

"Let's go have breakfast too, I'm hungry," Xia Minmin said, rubbing her stomach.

Li Zhonghua said, "I've heard that the douzhi (fermented mung bean juice) in Beijing is very famous. Do you think we should try it?"

Xia Minmin shuddered at the mention of douzhi (fermented mung bean juice). In her previous life, she had seen many related videos, and it was said that the taste was very peculiar, both sour and salty, somewhat like the smell of sweat after people sweat in the summer.

Xia Minmin said, "Why don't you try it by yourself first, Uncle? If it tastes good, we'll arrange for everyone to have it. If it doesn't taste good, you'll have to bear it alone, and we won't keep you company."

Eating in Beijing during winter means taking off your clothes as soon as you enter because it's too hot, and putting them back on when you go out because it's too cold. Li Chunmei was worried that her two elderly relatives and her young child would catch a cold from this back and forth.

"Gentlemen, what would you like to eat?"

Do you have any recommendations?

"You're here for tourism, right? My family's douzhi (fermented mung bean juice), miancha (millet porridge), sesame seed cakes, pepper and salt cakes, sugar and oil cakes, and jiaoquan (fried dough rings) are all quite delicious and we have a lot of repeat customers. However, some customers don't like the taste of douzhi, while miancha is more suitable for the general public's taste."

"Okay, seven bowls of millet porridge and one bowl of soy milk, and eight of each of those sesame seed cakes I just mentioned. If that's not enough, we can add more." Li Zhonghua quickly ordered the food.

"Please find a seat and wait for your food to be called."

There are only small tables in the shop, so eight people can only sit at two tables.

Xia Minmin was really looking forward to her uncle's reaction to drinking the soy milk. Finally, their number was called.

"Number 67"

"They're here." Everyone except Grandpa and Grandma Xia, who were reserving seats, went to get their food.

Finally, she got to eat a hot breakfast. Xia Minmin took a sip of the millet porridge and felt so comfortable that she wanted to shout out, "It's so delicious!"

At this moment, Li Zhonghua also drank the soy milk he had been longing for. Xia Minmin stared at him intently, and saw Li Zhonghua's expression change instantly, his face turning bitter.

"Hahaha... Uncle's expression is so funny!" Xia Minmin said, slapping the table.

Everyone around looked at Li Zhonghua.

"Comrades, you're tourists, right?"

"Yes, I came here yesterday. I heard this restaurant has really good food, so I wanted to try it."

"No wonder they order douzhi (fermented mung bean juice). Even people from Beijing don't necessarily like douzhi. If they don't like it, they won't order it. Many tourists from other places order douzhi and have this expression after drinking it."

Li Zhonghua ordered another bowl of millet porridge at the counter, but never touched the bowl of fermented mung bean juice again.

Sun Erni said, "You know what, the restaurants that driver recommended were actually pretty good."

Li Chunmei said, "It is quite delicious. Indeed, you should ask the locals for recommendations on how to eat it."

"The sesame seed cakes are delicious today too, I've already eaten two," Xia Minmin said.

"What are we having for lunch?" Grandpa Xia asked.

"Let's go eat roast duck for lunch! There's a really famous roast duck restaurant near the Forbidden City," Xia Jianguo said.

After leaving the breakfast shop, the family walked to the Forbidden City, bought tickets, and planned to go inside. It would be a waste to come to Beijing and not visit the Forbidden City.

Visiting the Forbidden City without a guide is like not having visited at all. Xia Minmin said to Sun Erni, "Auntie, let's find a professional guide! Without a guide, you can only see the buildings, but with a guide, you can learn a lot of strange and interesting things. Isn't that more interesting?"

"Mom, why don't you find a tour guide? That way we can hear more historical stories," Li Qing suggested.

"Okay, okay, I'll find it for you."

Sun Erni paid a tour guide to introduce the Forbidden City and even helped plan the tour route, which was completed in one morning.

On the way to the roast duck restaurant, everyone was still discussing the Forbidden City.

Grandpa Xia said, "This palace looks quite big, but I didn't expect his wife's room to be so small."

"The bed isn't very big either. It looked quite large on TV, but I didn't expect it to be so different," Grandma Xia added.

Li Chunmei asked, "How did they manage to stuff someone into that small well opening?"

“If you want someone to die, isn’t that easy?” Xia Jianguo said.

Sun Erni said, "The number of souls in this vast Forbidden City is countless. Didn't you hear what the tour guide just said? All the concubines of the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty hanged themselves in the Kunning Palace."

“The Imperial Garden is so small, it’s not even as big as the garden in our community,” Li Chunmei said.

"The Forbidden City's outer court is still quite magnificent, so the trip was worthwhile," Li Zhonghua said.

"I just overheard someone saying that a few years ago, on a stormy night, someone saw the shadows of a row of palace maids on the walls along the Forbidden City's palace corridors," Xia Minmin said, deliberately lowering her voice.

Snap...

Li Chunmei slapped Xia Minmin on the back.

"Mom, why did you hit me?!"

"Who gave you the right to say these things in broad daylight?"

Grandma Xia said, "You know what, I also felt it was a bit eerie. Luckily we came in the morning, when the sun was out and there was plenty of yang energy."

Xia Waigong said, "Let's go! Let's go! We need to go eat quickly, we're starving after walking all morning."