In the Liu family's private room, Liu Liangjie, Liu Jingze, Ren Zhenghui, Ren Zhengxuan, Wu Xilun and Guo Qian'an were having dinner.
At another table in the private room, Su Tiantian, who had already finished her meal, sat on a chair, looking at the items on the table and nodded with satisfaction: "Ah An, you are amazing. You helped me prepare the ingredients so quickly."
Three whole grapefruits, a fruit knife, a spoon, scissors, three plates, pens, strings, electronic light strings, colored pens, stickers, special small bamboo poles and other decorative materials are all available.
Guo Qi'an swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "Sister-in-law, I feel embarrassed because of your praise. It's not like I prepared all the ingredients by myself."
What I was thinking was, you are the wife of Mr. Liu, the boss of Siqi Farm, which is equivalent to the boss's wife. Just say a word and someone will naturally serve you, and it is not a difficult thing.
They were concentrating on eating (except Ren Zhengyu, his eyes kept drifting away), and Su Tiantian was concentrating on handicrafts. She picked up the largest one among the three grapefruits. The skin of this grapefruit looked smooth, which was really nice.
She cut the top of the pomelo flat, then used a small knife to slowly separate the pomelo flesh from the pomelo peel along the edge of the pomelo peel, and placed the pomelo flesh on a plate. She was very careful in her movements, trying her best to keep the pomelo peel intact.
Seeing that most of the pomelo flesh had been taken out, Su Tiantian used a spoon to scrape the white flesh inside the pomelo peel a little thinner to allow light to pass through better, but she didn't dare to scrape it too thin for fear of scratching the pomelo peel.
After cleaning the pomelo flesh, Su Tiantian used a pen to draw a star pattern on the pomelo peel, and carefully carved along the lines with a knife: one star, two stars, three stars, a total of eight stars.
Su Tiantian's hands are steady, her strength steady, and her cuts are even. She pokes two symmetrical holes at the top to thread the handles. Her deft craftsmanship is evident from repeated practice.
Place the small light string inside the pomelo peel, pass the rope through the two small holes on the top and tie a knot, hang the pomelo lantern on a special small bamboo pole, and the pomelo lantern is ready.
The surface of grapefruit peel has a unique texture, like a natural decoration, with a unique natural charm. Some places are slightly undulating, which adds a three-dimensional effect under the reflection of light.
Although the star carving was a bit crude and the decoration was simple, Ren Zhengyu was still very happy to see Su Tiantian making the lantern while eating. He walked over to Su Tiantian happily, took the pomelo lantern and said, "Cousin, you have a very skillful hand. It turns out you can really make lanterns."
Su Tiantian said, "I'm too lazy to use colored pencils to add other colors to the grapefruit peel, so let's just leave it like this."
Ren Zhenghui said, "The yellow pomelo peel looks nice, and it doesn't need to be colored. It looks simple, but it wouldn't be easy for me to make. I originally wanted to make one for Huilin, but it seems I have to give up."
Liu Liangjie said, "The farm has all the lanterns hung up, but there are still a few in the warehouse that haven't been hung yet. Ah Hui, why don't you go pick out two? I'm thinking of hanging those lanterns at home on Mid-Autumn Festival night to create a festive atmosphere."
Su Tiantian smiled. "Dad, what's your crazy idea? Wouldn't it be more romantic to ask my cousin to take Huilin to the lantern market to buy some? We have a night market here every evening these days that specializes in selling lanterns and Mid-Autumn Festival gifts. There are a lot of stalls, and I heard there are also a lot of snacks. I'm afraid of the crowds, so I don't dare to go. Otherwise, I would have gone with Brother Jing."
Ren Zhenghui's eyes lit up: "Send me the location."
Guo Qi'an said, "I'll send it to you. I know where it is. It's really lively."
Wu Xilun sighed, "Mr. Liu, why didn't you marry Mrs. Liu earlier so that I could share in the blessing? Do you know how painful the handicraft homework at school is for me? I've been making lanterns for several years, so I just bought them this year."
Su Tiantian said, "I used to help Shishi with her craft homework, so I made quite a few lanterns. I also made a few using red envelopes, which were barely enough to hand in as homework. I could also use colored paper. Shishi said the prettier the ones, the more likely they were bought, so I wanted to make something that was both ordinary and beautiful."
Liu Jingze put down his chopsticks and said, "What a common yet beautiful sentence. This request is a bit funny. Why don't we turn off the lights and turn on the lanterns to see the effect."
Ren Zhengyu nodded quickly: "Okay."
Guo Qi'an said, "Brother Jingze, please sit next to your sister-in-law quickly. I'll go turn off the lights." Liu Jingze also understood the meaning of Guo Qi'an's words, walked over to sit next to Su Tiantian, and put his arm around her waist.
The reason why he let Liu Jingze sit next to Su Tiantian was, of course, because he was afraid that the lights would be turned off and it would be pitch dark, which would scare the pregnant woman. That’s why it can be said that Guo Qian’an is meticulous in his work and sometimes very reliable.
Ren Zhengyu turned on the light string first, and Guo Qianan turned off the lights in the box.
The pomelo peel lantern reflects the original round shape of the pomelo, and the string at the top makes it look like a small, lifted moon. The hollowed-out star pattern emits a soft, warm yellow glow. In the darkened room, it looks like real stars dotting the dark night sky.
Guo Qi'an said, "Master Yu, can you turn on the light?"
Ren Zhengyu said, "Okay, you can take it to the yard to play later."
The lights in the box came on.
Liu Liangjie said, "Are you full? If you are, ask someone to clean up and let the guests come over. Let's finish the business early and do other things early."
Ren Zhengyu said, "The shrimp dumplings haven't been served yet."
Liu Liangjie said, "We'll move a table to the yard later and eat then. I'll also prepare some fruit and snacks for you. Your uncle and your cousin have something to do, so why don't you accompany your cousin's wife for a while?"
Ren Zhengyu said, "Okay, my cousin-in-law will make me another pomelo lantern."
Liu Jingze coughed, and Ren Zhengyu raised his head proudly: "Cousin, your cough is useless, I don't care, I just want one more pomelo lantern."
Su Tiantian covered her mouth and laughed. Her brother Jing was sometimes quite pitiful, being completely taken advantage of by his little cousin.
Ren Zhenghui also found it funny, but he still wanted to help his cousin out of the predicament. He knew that Liu Jingze didn't want Su Tiantian to be too tired.
So he walked over to Ren Zhengyu, put his arm around his shoulders and said, "Ah Yu, how about this? I'm going to take Huilin to the Lantern Festival these two days, so I'll take you with me. You can buy whatever lanterns you like. Look, my cousin's belly is so big, she needs to rest, otherwise the babies will be angry."
Ren Zhengyu looked at Su Tiantian's bulging belly, which was much larger than the last time they met, so he nodded: "Okay, I'll go shopping with Brother Hui."
Guo Qian'an had already walked out and asked someone to come in to clean up the box.
Liu Liangjie said, "Jingze, can I ask Ah Xi to invite the guests here?"
Liu Jingze nodded: "Follow Dad's arrangements."
At Liu Liangjie's signal, Wu Xilun quickly left the box.
Su Tiantian whispered in Liu Jingze's ear: "Brother Jing, I will make you a lantern tomorrow, no, two."
A spring-like smile overflowed from Liu Jingze's eyes. He whispered, "Thank you, Tiantian sister. If you are tired, you don't have to do it."
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