Under the grape trellis, two small figures squatted side by side.
Jiang Xiangyang first used his index finger to dig two crescent-shaped shallow pits in the loose soil, and then solemnly pressed different colored glass beads into the bottom of the pits, his round cheeks puffing up and down as he spoke.
“This is for boys. My mom is forcing me to play with you. Watch carefully, I'll demonstrate once, then you can play by yourself! I'm not playing with you!”
Shen Duzhou glanced at Jiang Xiangyang, said nothing, and only nodded. Jiang Xiangyang was used to it and continued speaking.
"The red one is yours, the blue one is mine."
He took out five blue glass beads from his pocket and spread them out with his palm facing up.
"Then we'll each take five marbles of the same color."
"Next, place two beads on the ground, one in front of the other. Use your hand to flick the one behind you, aim it, and flick the one in front into the pit. Flick them one by one. Whoever flicks the most beads into the pit wins."
"You can also shoot other people's marbles, and if you hit one into your own hole, it becomes yours."
After saying that, he patted his knees and stood up, his chest puffed out like a little rooster.
"I'm really good at this! Nobody in our department can beat me! Let me show you!"
Immediately afterwards, he dropped to the ground with a "thump," squinted his left eye to aim, bent his index finger into a hook shape, and flicked the marble out with a "whoosh."
The blue bead spun twice on the ground and stopped three inches away from the edge of the pit.
Shen Duzhou blinked, her eyelashes fluttering, and looked at Jiang Xiangyang with a somewhat bewildered expression.
Jiang Xiangyang's face immediately turned red, and he pulled out three more blue marbles from his pocket.
As he spoke, he wiped his dirt-covered little hands on his trouser leg and carefully arranged the marbles.
"I slipped just now, let's try again, this time I'll fire three shots at once!"
Holding his breath and exerting force, the three beads collided and rolled in an arc, but none of them went into the pit.
Shen Duzhou tilted his head to look at him, his eyes filled with a subtle, indescribable emotion, a mixture of curiosity and doubt.
Jiang Xiangyang's face turned bright red to the roots of his neck, and he said stiffly, "That's not right!"
His small eyes darted around, finally fixing on the three blue beads on the ground, and he said decisively.
"It's a problem with the beads! I've played with these blue ones too much, and they've gotten a bit worn out!"
Shen Duzhou blinked and handed him the five red glass beads that Jiang Xiangyang had just given her.
Jiang Xiangyang clenched his two little fists, then took out three more beads, holding his breath as he prepared to flick them.
Deng Cuixiang shouted at the top of her lungs from the other side of the courtyard.
"Xiangyang, go call your brother for dinner! He's studying in his room!"
"Wait until I win a game!"
Jiang Xiangyang waved his hand impatiently, without raising his head, his thumb pressing until his knuckles turned white, and stared intently at Chen Duzhou.
"Zhouzhou, watch closely!"
This time, it's unclear whether he staked his dignity as a young man.
Finally, a red bead fell into the pit with a "thud".
This made Jiang Xiangyang extremely happy, and he clapped his hands.
"Hehe~ I told you I was awesome, didn't I?"
He then handed over a few more red beads, saying, "My task is complete, it's your turn. Try it yourself!"
They even thoughtfully arranged the spot for the sunken ferry boat.
Shen Duzhou, bewildered, imitated Jiang Xiangyang's earlier action, flicking his fingertip lightly, and the bead only spun once in place.
"Ouch, use a little more force!"
The second time—"This direction won't work, you need to find a different angle!"
The third time—"That's not how you play it, you're copying me!"
......
Five times in a row, he missed every single one, and the shots were all way off target.
Jiang Xiangyang's lips curled up, and like a little adult, he said with exasperation, "Shen Duzhou, you're too stupid!"
Shen Duzhou didn't speak, his head was down, his eyelashes fluttered, and his emotions were unreadable.
Jiang Xiangyang thought she was sad, so he hurriedly stuffed his "trophy" into her palm.
"Never mind, I'll teach you later. This is for you..."
Over there, Deng Cuixiang had already set the food on the table. Seeing that Jiang Xiangyang hadn't touched it yet, she urged him impatiently.
"Xiangyang?! What's going on? Why are you dawdling? Still playing?"
"Quickly call your brother out, then wash your hands and eat!"
"Okay, okay!"
This time, Jiang Xiangyang wasn't impatient at all, and excitedly ran into the house to call Xianghai.
He didn't turn his head, completely unaware of what was behind him.
Chen Duzhou arranged the three red glass beads in a row, then used his finger as a paintbrush to make a few dots and strokes, before bending his index finger into a hook shape and flicking it hard.
The three glass marbles bounced and rolled on the ground, eventually all of them wobbling and falling into the pit, making a series of crisp collision sounds.
"Zhouzhou, wash your hands and eat!"
Zhou Qiqi saw that Zhouzhou was still playing and called out to him.
Zhouzhou nodded, turned her back, put the glass bead Jiang Xiangyang had given her into her pocket, and then went to the tap to wash her hands.
When she came over, Deng Cuixiang personally handed her a bowl of dan dan noodles with two slices of luncheon meat in it, and said with a smile.
"The two children suffered today. We were supposed to have stir-fried minced meat, but we didn't have any meat at home, so we had to make do with what we had."
"Sister Cuixiang, thank you on Zhouzhou's behalf."
It was already 7:30. After a busy afternoon, Zhou Qiqi was really hungry. She said something and quickly picked up her bowl to eat.
This Dan Dan noodles is a specialty of Sichuan Province. Zhou Qiqi had tried the authentic version when she went there to do research before.
Deng Cuixiang is from Sichuan Province, so it's not surprising that she knows how to make this. But today, it was made by Battalion Commander Jiang, and she didn't expect it to be so authentic. It tastes almost exactly the same as what she had eaten before.
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