In the past six months, it was clearly Zhou Qiqi who first discovered Zhouzhou's interest in paintbrushes, and she was also the first to encourage the child to draw whatever he wanted.
Almost every single art supply she brought back for Zhouzhou was carefully selected by her.
Later, when she took Zhouzhou to enroll in a painting class, it was she who went.
Zhouzhou has drawn portraits of Shen Huaichuan, her parents-in-law, and even Xiangyang next door and the children in her art class.
But Zhou Qiqi was the only one who never received a single painting from the child, from beginning to end.
To say that she felt no disappointment would be a lie; she just has an open-minded personality and never shows it.
Holding this picture book in her hands, she was filled with anticipation, but even more so with nervousness.
Her fingers trembled slightly as she gently lifted the cover.
The first painting that caught her eye brought tears to her eyes instantly.
Zhouzhou and she share a similar habit: when storing photos or paintings, they like to put them from back to front.
In this way, every time I open it, I can gradually go back to the most recent time, as if I are reliving those warm memories, which makes me feel especially happy.
This latest page depicts the scene from over a month ago, when the two elders of the Shen family first arrived.
The scene of Zhou Qiqi, Zhouzhou, and Shen Huaichuan sleeping together on the bed.
Zhouzhou's drawing style is still somewhat abstract, and she drew her own head and Zhou Qiqi's head to be exceptionally large, close together affectionately.
Shen Huaichuan, on the other hand, was depicted as a small, aggrieved figure, huddled in the corner of the bed.
Zhou Qiqi felt a pang of sadness and her eyes welled up with tears the moment she saw it.
But when she caught a glimpse of Shen Huaichuan's pitiful little face, she couldn't help but burst into laughter through her tears. For a moment, she was crying and laughing at the same time, her emotions so complicated that she didn't know what to do.
Qin Peilan, who was standing nearby, quickly handed over a clean handkerchief and gently advised:
"Good child, don't rush to cry. This is just the beginning. Look at this picture book, it's so thick! If you cry now, what will you do later? You'll be a little tearful..."
Zhou Qiqi took the handkerchief, nodded vigorously, her voice choked with emotion, "Okay, I won't cry, I won't cry..."
She took a deep breath, her fingertips trembling slightly as she flipped the object backward.
The next page is about the day Zhouzhou accidentally created the "Ink and Wash Splendor" pattern. Zhou Qiqi was overjoyed and kissed Zhouzhou's little face hard. There were still many colorful dyes on the ground.
Next, the family of three went to a photo studio to take pictures, and Zhou Qiqi specially prepared three cute mascot costumes.
In Zhouzhou's writing, the photo studio becomes a whimsical fairytale forest; she is a glowing little mushroom, Shen Huaichuan is a憨厚 (honest and simple) dog, and Zhou Qiqi is a gentle and clever cat...
Page after page.
One late night, Zhou Qiqi sat by the bed, gazing tenderly at Zhouzhou's sleeping figure.
In front of the stove, Zhou Qiqi, wearing an apron, was making Zhouzhou's favorite sweet and sour pork.
Under the sunlight, Zhou Qiqi rode her bicycle with Zhouzhou, who had a shy smile, on the back seat, her skirt fluttering in the wind.
......
Zhouzhou cannot express herself in words.
However, she carefully recorded every precious moment the two spent together in this unique sketchbook that belongs only to Zhou Qiqi.
Just now, when introducing other people's paintings, Zhou Qiqi was able to talk fluently.
But now, looking at this picture book made especially for her, and listening to her in-laws asking curiously about the reason behind each painting, she was so moved that her throat tightened, and only tears of happiness flowed silently, unable to utter a single word.
Finally, Shen Huaichuan took over the conversation, standing beside her and gently explaining the stories in the paintings to her parents, one by one.
The two elders of the Shen family listened and watched, and were deeply moved. Qin Peilan couldn't help but wipe away her tears, but this time, they were tears of relief and happiness.
Shen Zhenbang was relatively calmer and examined the album more carefully. He pointed to the lower right corner of the album and said:
"Hey, there are words written by Zhouzhou on the corners of these paintings, 'Auntie.' This child writes quite neatly, but... why do I see eraser marks next to the writing?"
Qin Peilan leaned over to take a look and casually replied:
"I guess the child felt their handwriting wasn't neat enough, made a mistake, and then erased it and rewrote it..."
The two mentioned it casually, their main focus remaining on the painting.
Zhou Qiqi wiped away her tears and glanced casually in the direction her father-in-law was pointing.
She usually checks Zhouzhou's homework, and she knows her child's handwriting habits better than anyone else.
That one glance made her instantly realize that something was wrong.
Below the word "aunt," there's a spot where the eraser has been rubbed hard.
You can vaguely see that what's underneath isn't just two simple characters, but a line of small characters, which looks like it has seven or eight strokes.
Moreover, the marks indicate that it has been repeatedly erased and altered more than once.
It was wiped so clean, as if it was deliberately erasing something, that it was impossible to see what was originally written.
It was blurry; I could only make out what looked like the character "不" (bù, not) and the character "没" (méi, not); the rest were completely indistinct.
However, Zhou Qiqi couldn't afford to delve into that right now.
Looking at the paintings in the album, each one brimming with affection, her heart softened like a pool of water, warm and overflowing.
She sat back down beside Zhouzhou's bed, gently took the child's soft little hand, pressed it against her cheek, and called out in a choked voice:
"Zhouzhou, wake up, okay? Your auntie has seen all your drawings... Silly child, you've drawn so many, why are you afraid to show them to your auntie?"
Qin Peilan, Shen Zhenbang, and Shen Huaichuan also gathered around and joined in the soft calls:
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