Li Guizhi had just reached her front door when she saw Qian Jiefang walking over, grinning broadly with wrinkles on his face.

"Honey, our daughter got into Longda University? It was just our third son who called to tell me the good news."

Li Guizhi's eyes widened suddenly. Her already large almond-shaped eyes were now round and bright, and she looked extremely surprised: "What did you say? Say it again."

Qian Jiefang was overjoyed to see his wife like this. After all these years of taking care of the elderly and children on her own, she was still so beautiful, just like the little girl with two pigtails that he had fallen for at first sight.

“I said, our daughter got into Longda University.”

Li Guizhi's eyes lit up instantly: "Really? Oh my god, this is wonderful news! My daughter, my daughter is so amazing!"

It seems so unreal that she and Qian Jiefang, who are semi-literate and can only recognize a handful of characters, could have given birth to such a smart daughter.

"Of course! How did I manage to give birth to such a smart daughter?" Qian Jiefang repeated foolishly, laughing so hard it was almost unbearable to watch.

"Our parents must be overjoyed. I wonder if they'll come to visit before our daughter starts school?" She misses her daughter terribly, but she has two little ones here. Otherwise, she would have loved to go home and see her daughter right now.

“She should be able to come. Even if our daughter doesn’t miss me, she’ll still think about you and your two younger brothers.”

"That's true."

Qian Jiefang... no, I was just saying this and you've already made a final judgment on it. You hurt my feelings, you know?

"No, I need to figure out what to pack for my daughter to take to school. I don't know what university is like, or what she'll need to bring."

As she spoke, Li Guizhi hurriedly went inside to search. Qian Jiefang saw this and said, "Well, in my wife's heart, he's not as important as our little kids."

...

After hanging up the phone, Qian Laosan reluctantly paid the phone bill. Making a phone call was too expensive. He thought it would have been better to just send a telegram and save some money. He looked at the few small bills in his hand.

He excitedly ran to the popsicle stand. It was the first time he'd ever tried one, and none of his four little ones had ever had one before. He planned to buy five more for his five children; on such a hot day, a cool, refreshing treat would surely make them happy.

He's spent the money, and his wife definitely won't say anything to him, since he's happy today.

He took off his jacket, wrapped the popsicle tightly, and rushed home excitedly. He pedaled the bicycle so hard it almost sparked, and all the sweat on his body couldn't dampen Qian Sanbao's good mood.

"Erdan, Wudan, Liudan, Qidan, Badadan, come out quickly, look what I brought back for you!" He shouted at the top of his lungs before even entering the yard.

Qian Xiao leaned against the big tree without moving, watching as his four younger brothers, like little chicks, surrounded their third uncle, chattering away.

"Third Uncle, what did you bring back? Is it food?" In the child's mind, if his family members could bring back candy from their trip, it would make them happy for several days.

"Third Uncle, is it candy?"

"Dad, I want to eat cookies."

"Dad, candy will do."

Qian Sanbao felt he was more popular with the children than ever before, and he grinned from ear to ear with great pride. He parked his bicycle, then took out the cloth bag from his arms and sat down next to Qian Xiao with a mysterious look on his face.

"Wait here, I'll show you what I brought back now," he said, his rough, large hands carefully opening the cloth bag.

They were wrapped up very tightly, layer upon layer, and the children stared at them with wide eyes and curious expressions.

Qian Xiao also became interested and craned his neck to look. When the cloth bag was wrapped up to the last layer, he saw that the cloth bag was wet and looked like it could be wrung out with a little force.

Qian Sanbao had a bad feeling. This thing was so tightly wrapped, could it have melted? He quickly lifted the last layer of cloth, and sure enough…

Qian Sanbao was filled with regret. How could he have forgotten that if this weather lasted too long, the stuff would definitely melt?

All they saw inside were five wooden sticks wrapped up, nothing else. The four little ones looked at the four wooden sticks with blank expressions. What did Uncle (Dad) mean by this? Did he bring back a few small wooden sticks to amuse them?

Qian Xiao... Sure enough, this is something her third uncle would do. In this sweltering heat, he walked for an hour to bring back popsicles, never thinking that they would melt.

Seven Egg, sucking on a finger, asked, "Dad, why do I smell something sweet? Could these little sticks be candy?"

Ba Dan leaned closer and sniffed: "It looks like candy, Dad, can we eat it now?"

Liu Dan leaned closer to smell it: "It smells so good, what kind of candy is this?"

Wu Dan looked at it carefully and said angrily, "This isn't candy, it's just a wooden stick! Third Uncle, why are you lying to a child?"

Qian Sanbao looked dejected. He had thought he would receive praise from the children, but instead, he had become a fraud.

"No, how could I lie to you? This is an ice pop. I just didn't expect it to melt like this by the time I got home."

"Popsicle, what's a popsicle? It's like an icicle in winter, but those icicles don't taste like anything." Liu Dan had never seen a popsicle before.

Let alone six eggs, even these four eggs have never left the village, how could they possibly know about popsicles?

Every child in Northeast China has eaten snails and icicles; there are so many hanging from the eaves in winter.

"No, that's different. Iced water is just water, it's not tasteless. This popsicle is sweet and delicious."

Seven Eggs bit his finger, drool practically dripping from his mouth: "Dad, have you ever eaten an ice pop?"

"Oh, right, it's what your older sister treated me to today. I was thinking of buying it for you guys to try, but I forgot that this stuff melts."

Ba Dan's mouth watered: "Dad, tell me what it tastes like! Isn't it even better than candy?"

Qian Xiao felt a pang of sadness upon hearing this question. In modern times, there are all kinds of popsicles, too many to count, yet the children here don't even know what a popsicle is.

Qian Sanbao scratched his head: "Poppies, they're sweet and cool. How about I take you guys to the commune to have one tomorrow?" He didn't know if his wife would give him any money; he'd spent all the money he had left on clothes today.

Qian Xiao looked up at the sun in the sky. His family didn't have such a high-end thing as a watch. The people in his village all had the skill of guessing the time by looking at the sun. It would be too late to go to the commune at this time, since they would leave work on time.

Suddenly she thought of something and stood up: "Third Uncle, get some hot water and dissolve some sugar in it, preferably something sweet. When I get back, I'll make popsicles for the four of them."