Li Xiuxiu followed behind the child, wanting to pick up Wei Mo, but Wei Mo refused, since his friends now called him "Big Brother".
And there's another important point: what kind of wife carries her husband around?
Therefore, Wei Mo insisted on refusing Li Xiuxiu's embrace, and instead held Li Xiuxiu's hand, walking forward with his head held high.
After the children arrived at the riverbank, they began digging in the mud, collecting leaves, twigs, and other materials. They then started making things for playing house, and children kept bringing them to Wei Mo to show him, since Wei Mo was now their "father."
"Brother Wei Mo, do you think the bowl I made is good?"
"Brother Wei Mo, look at the dishes I've prepared,"
"Brother Wei Mo, look at the wok I'm using to cook later."
A group of children chattered excitedly, showing their finished creations to Wei Mo.
Wei Mo nodded, looking like a little adult, and said...
"Hmm, not bad, keep it up! Let's make more, we're having a feast later!"
Then, the kids continued making the props they needed for their pretend play.
Tian Yue found a particularly large leaf somewhere, intending to use it as the bride's red veil! It was a vibrant green, which secretly pleased Wei Mo.
With the props ready, everyone prepared to start the game.
There are many ways to play house. If there is a bride and groom, it usually involves getting married, cooking, and finally having a feast together.
With preparations complete, everyone got busy, starting with Shan Zhenjiang coming to marry Tian Yue.
Tian Yue covered her head with a huge leaf and sat on the ground. Shan Zhenjiang walked over from the side with a group of boys.
After picking up Tian Yue, they headed towards Wei Mo and Li Xiuxiu, thus bringing the bride home.
However, for the last leg of the journey, Shan Zhenjiang had to carry Xiao Tianyue on his back as they arrived at Wei Mo's home.
Wei Mo gathered all the children together and began preparing to cook. A large clay bowl served as a pot, and some leaves and pebbles were placed inside to start cooking.
Then, everyone took a clay bowl, and Wei Mo took these things out and distributed them to all the children.
Li Xiuxiu also found it interesting, because as a mother, she had to be responsible for cooking for the (guest) little ones next to the big pot.
As dishes like rice with pebbles, stir-fried grass with pebbles, and stir-fried grass with twigs were served, everyone held a small clay bowl.
Then she found two twigs to use as chopsticks, pretended to eat, and kept making smacking noises with her little mouth.
"Mmm, it's delicious, it's delicious."
After the meal, everyone started teasing each other because it was a wedding version of playing house, and the groom was supposed to kiss the bride.
The little brat Shan Zhenjiang caught the green leaf off Tian Yue's head and kissed her on the cheek, imitating her perfectly.
This then caused a commotion among the surrounding children.
"Oh, getting married, getting married."
A group of children were jumping and hopping around in place, and some of them kept talking to Wei Mo.
“Brother Wei Mo, you and Aunt Xiu Xiu are husband and wife, you should kiss each other too.”
Looking at the little boy who was speaking, Wei Mo really wanted to secretly give him a thumbs up.
This child is sensible; we'll get along well in the future.
Then Wei Mo looked at Li Xiuxiu, his intentions were obvious. Li Xiuxiu didn't care, since the other party was just a child.
Then he squatted down, walked directly to Li Xiuxiu's side, and kissed her on the lips.
Some children covered their eyes in embarrassment, since Shan Zhenjiang kissed Tian Yue's cheek, while Wei Mo kissed Li Xiuxiu directly on the lips. The cheers grew louder and louder, but Wei Mo and Li Xiuxiu also had a lot of fun.
I don't know which brat said it,
"Hurry up and take them to the bridal chamber! Hurry up and take them to the bridal chamber!"
Then everyone surrounded Shan Zhenjiang and Tian Yue, and led them to a nearby earthen slope. The two of them lay down together, and their game of house ended.
The children found it interesting and wanted to play more, but Wei Mo suggested other ways to play. The place was near a stream and covered in mud.
Wei Mo gave everyone a demonstration, flattening a lump of mud and throwing it into the river.
Although Wei Mo wasn't very strong, the mud shards weren't big either. They splashed across the water's surface with a "splash, splash, splash, splash" sound, creating several ripples. Then Wei Mo addressed everyone...
"Let's skip stones and see who can make the most splashes."
When the group of children saw Wei Mo splash water, their eyes lit up, and they nodded at him.
"Alright, alright, let's continue the game, let's continue the game,"
That's just how it is these days; children have far too few toys.
There weren't many things to do, but as soon as they saw something interesting, they all expressed their willingness to join in. Even Li Xiuxiu, who was standing to the side, was tempted and picked up a piece of mud from the ground.
Following Wei Mo's instructions, she shaped the mud into a flat shape. She was very strong and threw it into the water, but unfortunately, due to a lack of skill, it only created two splashes.
Wei Mo watched from the side and laughed heartily, then said to Li Xiuxiu,
"Aunt Xiuxiu, you're so clumsy! Squat down, and I'll teach you how to play this."
Li Xiuxiu nodded, then squatted down, and Wei Mo told her some techniques for skipping stones.
Li Xiuxiu found another piece of mud and threw it into the water. Sure enough, this time it created a lot of splashes, a whole string of them.
The children eagerly tried it out, their eyes lighting up as they watched Li Xiuxiu create a series of splashes of water.
Both boys and girls kept making mud slabs and throwing them into the water, but because they lacked skill, they could only make one or two splashes at most.
Therefore, Li Xiuxiu and Wei Mo seemed particularly impressive, and a child nearby remarked...
"See, Dad and Mom are still the best."
Wei Mo smiled without saying a word, and gave the child who had spoken another thumbs up.
Children in cities in the 1960s might have had some toys, but for these rural children, playing with mud was the most common activity.
After skipping stones for a while, these people started playing with firecrackers, the same game that Li Fu had asked Wei Mo to play before.
Shape a lump of clay into a bowl shape and then smash it against the ground. Whoever's bowl breaks over the largest area wins.
However, Wei Mo did not gain any advantage in this game. After all, Wei Mo was young, and the bowl he made was also small. The force with which he smashed it on the ground was not as great as that of some of the older children.
The winners were clearly older children, but Wei Mo was still enjoying playing with them.
Li Xiuxiu also made a firecracker the size of a washbasin, held it above her head, and slammed it hard to the ground.
With a "smack," the thin mud at the bottom of the basin cracked, and a group of children cheered from the side.
"Aunt Xiuxiu, Aunt Xiuxiu, you are so amazing, you are so amazing, please teach me."
Several little girls, in particular, excitedly tugged at Li Xiuxiu's clothes, shouting incessantly.
"Teach me, teach me, I always lose."
Then the little girl's eyes were still red. After all, girls are too weak, and in this respect, they are at a great disadvantage compared to these boys, or even older boys.
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