My name is Liu Jingze, and I'm Su Tiantian's boyfriend. Our old house was a small, two-story building with a large courtyard. It was quite nice for the village at the time, as most people lived in tiled houses, and sometimes thatched huts.
Tian Tianmei's grandmother refused to take her with her, so Uncle Su and Aunt Su would take her with them when they went to work in the fields. Tian Tianmei truly grew up in the fields. They all said Tian Tian was very well-behaved. If they drew a circle and told her not to leave, she'd play alone in it. Later, I learned she had to be well-behaved because working in the fields could be dangerous. Once, she nearly drowned. She was forced to be sensible from a young age.
Although I live in the countryside, my family is a special case. We're immigrants and don't own any land. My parents don't farm; my father works away at home, and my mother makes clothes on her sewing machine. Sometimes she'll use scraps of cloth to make a small dress for Tian Tian's sister. I asked my mother, since we have money, why don't we just make her a whole piece of cloth? My mother said that Aunt Su wouldn't accept that.
Back then, no village children went to kindergarten because it was only available in town, requiring transportation and fees. Many children either played at home or followed their parents to the fields. If it was too hot or rainy, Uncle and Aunt Su wouldn't take Tiantian out, and would ask my mother to take care of her. Her younger brother would go to my aunt's house.
There's a lemon tree in my yard. My sister, Tiantian, loves its flowers and lemons. The tree has a slightly thick trunk and sprawling branches, covered in dense foliage. The lush green leaves and small, milky-white flowers with yellow stamens make it particularly lovely. Even cuter is the little girl beneath the tree. Her hair isn't too long, but it's braided into two high-top braids. Uncle Su bought her a red hairband. Tiantian's face is soft and sweet, and her voice is so sweet. She's so adorable. Her eyes look intently at me, and she follows me around like a little dog all day long. I love her, not even annoyed.
Tiantian is really obedient. If I draw a circle under the lemon tree and tell her not to go out of the circle, she will play alone in the circle. How can I bear to let her play alone? I want to play with her. I will help her make kites and play with flower strings. I will also braid her hair and take her to pick flowers.
The lemon tree is in bloom, seemingly incessantly, every day. Ever since Tiantian was pricked by a thorn, she's afraid to pick lemons. She just looks at me and lets me pick. The tree is laden with green fruit, large and small, slowly growing and turning yellow. You can pick them and make delicious black tea, bringing a cool breeze on a summer day. Give Tiantian a lemon, and she'll say thank you sweetly, taking it out to look at every once in a while.
Before I started elementary school, Tiantian spent most of my time with me. Many boys in the village disliked playing with me, saying I wasn't boyish. I was clean and wouldn't play in the sand with them, catch bamboo worms with them, or swim in the river with them. Furthermore, my family was rich, so I could buy food and drinks, but they didn't. If they wanted to buy, they would argue with their family and get beaten, so they wouldn't play with me. Fortunately, I still had Tiantian to play with. Su Zhiyao, five years older than me, was Tiantian's eldest cousin. Su Zhibiao, two years older than me, was Tiantian's third brother. They also had to work, but sometimes they would come and play with me.
Tiantian loves sunflower seeds, but she's too small to peel them. I peel them one by one, saving a small pile before sharing them with her. Seeing her enjoy her food, her usual big eyes narrowed, brings me great joy. Once, I put a handful of peeled sunflower seeds in her little hand, and my neighbor, Ajin, snatched some up. Tiantian started crying, and I got angry, so we had a fight.
At the end of the incident, Ajin's parents and my parents were both shocked. After hearing the reason for the fight and seeing that we weren't seriously hurt, they told us to apologize to each other. But after Ajin's parents left, my father grabbed a bamboo stick and started to hit me, asking if I knew I was wrong. Tiantian, who was still at my house, stepped in front of me and said she could hit me if she wanted to. Could my father hit her? No, she was so cute and brave.
Tiantian, who likes to eat sunflower seeds, of course likes sunflowers. She said that this is a sunflower seed flower. My family planted a few, and her family also planted a few. She would look at them when she was free and drag me to see them. To be honest, the golden sunflowers blooming towards the sun are really beautiful, but what Tiantian sees are just sunflower seeds, right?
So, on the day I went on a blind date with Tiantian, I gave her a big sunflower.
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