"Oh." Liu Tiao nodded, no longer worried, and returned the photo to Qi Tiao.
Qi Tiao took another look at it, put the photo into the password box and closed it. When he couldn't remember it next time, he would look at it again... "Auntie Zhuzhu, it's okay."
"Yeah, okay." Cheng Zhenzhu touched the seven heads and held the little guy in her arms with some heartache.
Compared to the cheerful and carefree Hachijo, the little brother Nanajo is more sensitive and bears more responsibilities. Sometimes she really wishes the little guy wasn't so sensible and well-behaved. If only he could eat and play like Hachijo every day, and occasionally make trouble, that would be fine...
"There are photos, too. Eight of them." San Tiao suddenly remembered that they also had family photos, so he went to get them with a small stool. Ichi Tiao saw it and lifted his brother up to help him.
When the photo was taken down, the children gathered together to look at it, and several little mouths began to chatter. Qi Tiao, sitting in Cheng Zhenzhu's arms, called out softly, "Auntie Pig Pig," and looked at her brothers and sisters, the meaning of which was self-evident.
He wanted to go see it too.
"Go ahead~" Cheng Zhenzhu put Qi Tiao on the ground, feeling somewhat relieved. When children play together for a long time, habits tend to spread. For example, Qi Tiao's love of joining in the fun was something he'd picked up from the other kids. For Qi Tiao, it was a good habit...
"Look, this is me." Compared to before, Rokujo can now confidently acknowledge the silly smile on his face in the first family photo.
"I'm here~" Sanjo looked at himself again, still feeling a bit surprised. He was so small back then, and he has grown a lot taller now...
Nijou pointed at a photo and laughed, "Hahaha, Rokujo closed his eyes again~"
There were four family photos: one from last year, one from the year before, and two from the year before that. The other four were photos of the various children with their mothers. One, two, and three looked at the photos, pointing and commenting with great delight, while seven and eight watched with great interest from the side.
"Hmph!" Rokujo was grouchy. He grumbled angrily, humming for every photo he looked at. Of all the photos, only one showed him with his eyes open; the others were all closed. In another, he only had half an eye open, his foot raised, as if he was about to kick someone off.
"Mom, mom~" Liu Tiao ran to his mother with the only photo of him with his eyes open, and said a little aggrievedly, "There is only one good-looking Liu Tiao~"
"Mom thinks they all look good. Liu Tiao, you look good no matter what. Promise mom that you will have confidence, okay?" Cheng Zhenzhu bent down and put her arm around the little guy's shoulder.
"Really?" Rokujo was skeptical. His brother said Mom never lied, but he felt she did sometimes. But he didn't know if Mom was lying right now or not...
"Really." Cheng Zhenzhu picked up the photo in Liu Tiao's hand, nodded seriously, and held back her laughter.
The truth is, only this one looks good; the others are just funny. Cheng Zhenzhu held up the photo to hide the smile that was about to overflow from the corner of her mouth, recalling some funny things about taking photos.
During our first family photo shoot, Rokujo fell asleep, so we only have three photos with his eyes closed. The following year, when we took family photos, the little one was "on full alert," alert the entire way. But when he saw the camera light, he shut his eyes so tightly that his expression turned out hilarious. She thought it was hilarious, so she kept the photo.
Then in the third year, which was last year, Liu Tiao learned from the previous two mistakes and did not fall asleep or close his eyes. Finally, he got this photo with his eyes open...
"Mom, when are we going to take a family photo this year?" Ichitiao asked while holding a photo.
Er Tiao looked at his brothers who were squatting in a small group and said, "Mom, can we take a photo with Qi Tiao and Pa Tiao this year?"
"Together~" San Tiao nodded. Mom said we take a family photo once a year, but we haven't taken this year's yet.
"Go, go, go!" Liu Tiao was excited. This time he must take the best picture!
Cheng Zhenzhu looked at the dolls' hopeful eyes and nodded, "Okay, we'll go take the photos next week. Then we'll sit in the front row, Seven and Eight."
When the other children heard this, their eyes lit up and they started cheering. San Tiao and Qi Tiao were more gentle, with sweet, soft smiles on their faces. They leaned into Cheng Zhenzhu's arms to express their joy...
Little kids are so easily satisfied. Cheng Zhenzhu moved the kids around for a while, then, seeing it was getting late, went to prepare lunch. A dish of braised fish, a bowl of tender tofu soup, and lettuce with oyster sauce—one meat, one vegetable, and one soup—all six kids ate to their heart's content, their bellies full. They then ran around Sanshi Island that afternoon, completely eating up the food...
Eager to have their picture taken, the next few dolls started counting, recording each day as it passed. San Tiao didn't miss the opportunity and took the opportunity to teach Ba Tiao how to count "one, two, three, four, five"...
Ba Tiao initially refused, but his older brothers, San Tiao, kept cramming knowledge into his head, pushing it hard and then giving him a White Rabbit candy to sweeten his mouth. Because of the White Rabbit candy and the family portrait, Ba Tiao began to look forward to learning "six" and "seven."
However, on the sixth day, which was Saturday, the children did not get their wished family photo taken this weekend because the elder of Damingsao's family passed away suddenly. The funeral was held on Saturday, and the family was to be buried at sea.
Cheng Zhenzhu left the children at home and went with the islanders to see the old woman for the last time. Daming's wife stayed by her side, looking utterly haggard. She was already exhausted from working and caring for the elderly and children, and now her mother-in-law, who she had loved like a mother, had suddenly passed away. Daming's wife was devastated...
The dead cannot be resurrected, and Cheng Zhenzhu didn't know how to comfort her, so she stayed with Sister Yumei until the end.
Sun Daming wiped away her tears, filled with gratitude. She had been strong all her life, but she probably wanted someone to accompany her at this moment...
She grew up with a widowed mother, and not long after she married, her mother died. Her in-laws treated her well, always giving her the best. But perhaps she was destined to be a widow. The following year, her father-in-law died, and then her husband died too, and her mother-in-law's mind gradually became unclear.
Her mother-in-law would occasionally blame her, but when she came to her senses, she would always hug her and cry, saying that she was a burden to her and told her to find someone to marry while she was still able to live... How could such a good person just leave without saying a word?
In fact, she was the one who dragged down the whole family, and she should be the one to die...
"Before she left, my mother-in-law said that she had been fishing and eating fish all her life. Now she was dying, and she should return to the sea to feed the fish... Yumei, Zhenzhu, if one day I..." Sun Daming's voice choked and he could hardly continue.
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