Time flies, and it has come to 1992.

After graduating from Tsinghua University, Lin Laosan studied for a year at the University of Hong Kong as a postgraduate student, and finally went to the United States to pursue a doctorate.

Today is the day he returns to the port city.

Ten-year-old Lin Yao and thirteen-year-old Lin Hu have grown into increasingly refined and gentlemen.

They were going to go to the airport with Lin Li to pick up their third uncle and take him home.

In the waiting hall of Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong.

Thirteen-year-old Lin Hu immediately straightened his back and handed the "Welcome Third Uncle Home" sign in his hand to ten-year-old Lin Yao.

The two children were wearing matching blue overalls and had serious expressions.

When the announcement of the flight's arrival came over the loudspeaker, Lin Yao suddenly tugged at Lin Hu's sleeve.

"Brother, will Uncle change?"

He was clutching a photo in his hand; it was a picture of Lin Laosan squatting in his villa, hugging his two nephews, before he went to America.

The young man in the photo is wearing a white shirt and is smiling, revealing two small tiger teeth.

Just as Lin Hu was about to say something, his grandmother suddenly tugged at his sleeve.

He looked in the direction Lin Liwang was looking, and saw a familiar yet unfamiliar figure pushing a luggage cart among the crowd surging out of the gate.

Uncle San was taller than in the photo, with his shoulders and back ramrod straight. His long legs were encased in off-white suit trousers, and his gait was steady, unlike the Uncle San who would secretly buy them candy in our memories.

"Third Uncle!"

Lin Yao shouted out and broke free from Lin Hu's hand, running forward.

Lin Laosan looked up at the sound, and a smile instantly bloomed on his face just like in the photo, except that there were a few more shallow lines at the corners of his eyes.

He put down the luggage cart, opened his arms, caught his nephew who rushed towards him, and lifted him above his head.

"Xiao Yao has grown so tall!"

Lin Hu followed Lin Li slowly closer, watching as his third uncle put his younger brother down and then turned to them.

"Mom," Lin Laosan's voice was choked with emotion as he stepped forward and took Lin Li's hand, the calluses on his palms rubbing against hers painfully, "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

Lin Li shook her head, her eyes reddening, but she smiled and said, "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back."

Her gaze swept over the area behind her son, then suddenly stopped.

Just then, Lin Laosan stepped aside, revealing the woman who had been standing quietly behind him.

She was wearing a light green dress, her long, black hair loosely tied back, with a few stray strands falling beside her face.

Sunlight streamed through the glass and fell on her fair neck, making the delicate silver necklace sparkle.

Seeing Lin Li looking over, she quickly stepped forward, bowed slightly, and greeted her with a voice as clear and melodious as a mountain stream.

"Hello, Auntie, my name is Su Wan, and I'm Lao San's friend."

Lin Li then noticed that the woman was carrying a straw bag with a silk magnolia flower pinned to it, as smooth and lustrous as the pearl on her brooch.

She was about to say something more when Lin Yao interrupted her with his loud voice: "Third Uncle, is this lady also back from America?"

Su Wan laughed when asked the question, her eyes curving into crescents: "I'm from Beijing. I came back with Lao San this time to visit."

She spoke with a slight Beijing accent, her voice rising gently at the end, like the tune of a Pingju opera I heard on the radio when I was a child.

Lin Laosan put his arm around Su Wan's shoulder, his eyes brimming with undisguised amusement: "Not a friend, she's my girlfriend."

He looked at Lin Li and said seriously, "Mom, Su Wan is also from Beijing, so we're from the same hometown."

"Jingshi?"

Lin Li paused for a moment, then suddenly seemed to remember something and pulled Su Wan's hand, "Which district do you live in? We used to live in a hutong in Xicheng."

Su Wan's eyes lit up: "Really? My home is right over there in Zhuan Ta Hutong!"

Two people who were initially a little reserved instantly became closer because of the phrase "Beijing".

Lin Hu watched as his third uncle and grandmother bombarded Su Wan with questions, and quietly nudged his younger brother's arm.

"Did you hear that? You might have to call her Third Aunt from now on."

Lin Yao blinked and secretly sized up Su Wan.

She was listening to Lin Li speak with her head down, the sunlight shining on her long eyelashes and casting a small shadow.

He suddenly noticed that when Su Wan smiled, she had a small dimple on the left corner of her mouth, just like his third uncle's.

The sound of luggage cart wheels rolling over the ground mingled with the airport announcements. Lin Laosan reached out and took the card from Lin Li's hand, which read "Welcome home, Uncle San."

He turned to look at Su Wan, and the two smiled at each other.

Suddenly, they felt that even the air had become sweet.

As Lin Li watched her son and Su Wan walk side by side, she suddenly felt that the light green dress and the beige suit pants were a perfect match.

"Hurry up," Lin Li urged her two grandsons, her steps light and quick, unlike someone who was 53 years old. "When we get home, I'll make dumplings for your third uncle and Miss Su. They'll be sauerkraut dumplings, the kind from Beijing."

Hearing this, Su Wan turned around and smiled at Lin Li: "Auntie can make sauerkraut dumplings? My mom's best at that!"

"That would be great," Lin Laosan interjected with a smile, "Let the two of them have a competition in the future."

Lin Yao was skipping and hopping ahead when he suddenly stopped, pointed at the plane flying past the window, and shouted, "Look! Is that the plane Uncle San is on?"

Su Wan looked in the direction he pointed and saw a silvery-white arc sweeping across the blue sky.

She turned to look at Lin Laosan, her eyes brimming with light: "Yes!"

...

...

As the black sedan drove into the villa, the setting sun shone on the ornate European-style iron gate.

Uncle Fu was already waiting inside the door. When he saw the car stop, he quickly went forward and opened the car door.

"Madam, the Third Young Master is back."

Lin Li walked in along the stone steps. The white magnolias under the corridor were in full bloom, and their fragrance, mixed with the smell of pickled cabbage wafting from the kitchen, filled her nostrils.

"Uncle Fu, how's the dumpling filling you prepared coming along?"

"It's all ready!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Lin Hu and Lin Yao rush into the living room like two cannonballs.

Then, a loud crash was heard from the living room.

The group quickly entered the living room, where they saw Lin Yao standing on tiptoe to reach a celadon vase on the antique shelf, only to be grabbed by the back of his collar by Lin Hu.

"Grandma said I'm not allowed to touch this."

Lin Hu frowned and pulled his younger brother to the sofa, looking disgusted.

As the two children grew up, Lin Hu became more and more like the older brother, while Lin Yao reverted to being the younger brother.

Lin Li was also very troubled by the changes in the two children's personalities.

When we first met, Lin Hu looked exactly like he does now.

After spending a lot of time with Lin Li, he seemed to revert to being a child again.

When did it change back?

It seems that after Lin Laosan went to study in the United States and she often returned to Beijing to do research projects, Lin Hu reverted to the way he used to take care of Lin Yao back in his hometown.

...

The kitchen quickly became lively.

Wearing the floral apron that Lin Li had found, Su Wan tried to roll out dumpling wrappers. The rolling pin was always disobedient in her hands, and the wrappers she rolled out were either too thin or crooked.

Lin Laosan came over to help, but she pushed him away with a smile: "Don't make things worse, go talk to your aunt."

Lin Li sat on a small stool next to her, spinning the dough in her hands quickly, turning it into round dough balls in the blink of an eye.