Chapter 144: Her Distant Relationship
Chapter 144: Her Distant Relationship
The Cheng family was very busy in the afternoon.
Cheng Qiuyan was making honey cakes again, and she asked her husband and son to help her.
Last time, we were halfway through making the cake when we suddenly heard the news, and no one had the heart to finish it. We hastily steamed it and fed it to the neighbor's livestock. This time, we made it for Fang Yuenian, but it has a different meaning.
Fang Yuenian remained uneasy about going to the Cheng family's house for dinner.
Strictly speaking, after he could remember, he rarely went to Cheng Bing's house, let alone ate there.
Not to mention, on an occasion like today.
Instead of rowing over by boat, he walked around in a circle. Cheng Bing came out of the house to wait for him after receiving the WeChat message.
The fruit trees in front of the Cheng family's house were already covered with green leaves and bore many green fruits. They looked even more verdant after the rain these past few days, a sign of the vitality of the new year. Cheng Bing saw him approaching from afar, and a smile appeared on her face as she waved, "Come here!"
Lin Guohui was arranging tables and chairs in the main room when he heard the noise. He went out and saw the two children smiling and getting along well.
Hearing Fang Yuenian call him "Uncle Lin," he smiled and said, "Hey, come in quickly!"
Upon entering, Fang Yuenian saw a large table set up in the center of the main room, with several dishes already laid out on it. She immediately felt bad and said, "Uncle Lin, this is too much trouble. Why did you prepare so many dishes?"
Lin Guohui said, "Not much, just a little of everything."
Just as Fang Yuenian was about to say something, he saw Cheng Qiuyan peeking out of the kitchen and quickly called out, "Aunt Qiuyan!"
"Hey!" Cheng Qiuyan laughed and waved, "Come on! Niannian, come in and have a look!"
Cheng Bing gently nudged Fang Yuenian, "Let's go!"
As soon as the lid of the steamer was lifted, a rich, sweet aroma filled the kitchen. After the rising steam dissipated, Cheng Bing pushed Fang Yuenian over to see what was in the pot.
Fang Yuenian was stunned after just one glance. "Yes, honey cake."
“You’ve come at the right time, Bingbing. Quickly bring the sesame seeds over. You two wash your hands and sprinkle them on yourselves. You can cut it in a little while,” Cheng Qiuyan said. “Niannian, this cake was made especially for you by your aunt. Eat a couple of pieces while it’s hot.”
Fang Yuenian's mind raced, and she said blankly, "Aunt Qiuyan..."
"It's mainly because you live too far away, so I can't send it to you. I bet you haven't had this for a year or so, right?" Cheng Qiuyan said with a smile. "Go wash your hands!"
Cheng Bing pulled Fang Yuenian to wash her hands, muttering under her breath as they washed: "Listen to this, it was made especially for you."
Fang Yuenian rubbed the foam in her palms and said, "Don't talk."
It was a bit difficult for Fang Yuenian to cut the glutinous rice cake. Cheng Bing couldn't bear to watch, so she went over and held Fang Yuenian's hand to help him.
Cheng Qiuyan was busy preparing the dishes when she happened to catch a glimpse of the two of them being so intimate. She was a little stunned until Lin Guohui came over and patted her on the shoulder, whispering, "Let them be."
Fang Yuenian's face burned from the position. She broke free and nervously glanced in the direction of Cheng Qiuyan and Lin Guohui. Seeing that they didn't seem to notice, she said with a hot face, "Brother Cheng... don't go too far."
“It’s alright,” Cheng Bing said. “We just need to speed things up.”
A short while later, the cake was cut. Fang Yuenian and Cheng Bing carried a small basket over to let Cheng Qiuyan and Lin Guohui taste it. Cheng Qiuyan said, "Try it while it's hot."
Lin Guohui said with a smile, "I don't need to taste it. It looks pretty good. You two eat it."
Cheng Bing then picked out the smaller one and held it to Fang Yuenian's lips, saying, "Open your mouth."
Fang Yue Nian really wanted to beat this person up, and hurriedly shook her head: "I won't..."
Taking advantage of the chaos, Cheng Bing stuffed the cake into his mouth, her eyes revealing a hint of smug satisfaction at her successful sneak attack.
Lin Guohui coughed and said, "Well, just try two pieces. If you eat too much, you'll be too full. You still have dinner to eat later."
Fang Yuenian quickly finished eating and said, "Okay, I got it."
Cheng Qiuyan looked at the two of them, feeling very emotional, but she dared not think too much about it.
She was too preoccupied with the present moment. She remembered that Fang Yuenian liked sweet and sour flavors, loved soft and glutinous snacks, and couldn't handle spicy food. Her tastes were probably unlike anyone else in her family over there, but rather like those of a long-lost friend.
Memories flooded back, and she said, "Niannian, Bingbing, come here, come with me to find something."
Lin Guohui asked, "What are you looking for?"
"I remember there's a small box upstairs with photos that were taken down from the walls of the old house. Is that right?"
"I vaguely remember that. What do you need it for?"
"Just take a look."
Cheng Bing's memory of the old house was too vague, and she didn't know about the photos. As she went upstairs, she asked, "Mom, what photos are you looking for?"
Cheng Qiuyan turned around and smiled at them, "I knew it when I saw you."
However, there were too many old items, neatly stacked, making it really difficult to find anything. The three of them moved and checked each item one by one, and it took them more than half an hour to finally find it—it was not a precious item, just an ordinary wooden box that looked quite old and was probably made by the Cheng family's father.
“Your grandfather used to make so many boxes and put them at home, but they weren’t all matching sets. Now they don’t fit in any of your rooms, so they’re just piled up here.” Cheng Qiuyan carefully carried the wooden box, which was over fifty centimeters long and wide, and carefully avoided the other things that had just been moved out. “But after your sisters left, your father took a few days off and came up to clean it. It looks pretty clean, not moldy at all. I’m going to tidy up this room properly when I have time in a few days.”
Cheng Bing and Fang Yuenian exchanged glances, both of them curious about the contents of the small box.
Cheng Bing took the box, carried it downstairs, wiped it clean, and then opened it on the table in the main room. Inside, layers of old photos came into Cheng Bing's view.
Some photos, though yellowed from being covered with plastic film, still retain clear images. Others, however, are so old they've turned white or gray, bearing the irreversible marks of time, making it impossible to see whether the people in the photos are laughing or joking.
The two carefully took out the photos one by one and tried to sweep away the dust with a small brush.
Cheng Bing couldn't help but ask, "Whose photo are you looking for?"
Cheng Qiuyan: "I remember a photo, taken in winter, of two little girls in the snow. It was taken by a young teacher who came to teach at the village primary school that year."
"How old is the little girl?" Fang Yuenian asked as she rummaged through the items.
"One is seven or eight years old, and the other is around ten years old."
Cheng Bing thought for a moment and asked, "Are they my older sister and second older sister?"
Cheng Qiuyan smiled and said, "Your father treasures those two photos like precious gems, he keeps them so well. How could they be theirs? They are photos of Mom when she was a child."
Fang Yuenian was slightly surprised: "Aunt Qiuyan, is that your photo?"
Just then, Lin Guohui came out of the kitchen. Upon hearing this, he asked, "What? Your photo?"
Cheng Qiuyan said with a hint of reproach, "Well, my photos are buried somewhere, and it takes forever to find them."
Lin Guohui hurried over, "Come, come, let me see, let me find it. I remember I found all the photos of you when you were young. Is there anything else?"
Cheng Bing answered in her own words: "Not when you were young, but when you were a child."
Lin Guohui was also puzzled, "When you were a child? Come and look for it, what did it look like?"
The four of them then searched together, and before long, they found the photo.
Thanks to that volunteer teacher from back then, this 40-year-old photo was covered with plastic film and pressed very flat, preserving its original appearance to the greatest extent possible. The colors have faded slightly, but it's like a filter of time has been applied, making the people in the photo appear distant and hazy.
Fang Yuenian and Cheng Bing both looked at it in surprise.
"...Mom," Cheng Bing said with a smile, but her tone was incredulous, "This, this is you?"
The photo showed a round-faced little girl wearing a yellow cotton coat and with two pretty braids, smiling happily at the camera. Her smile did indeed resemble Cheng Qiuyan's.
Lin Guohui breathed on the photo while wiping it with a cloth, his eyes crinkling with laughter. "Oh my, you looked so...strange when you were little..."
Cheng Qiuyan patted him on the back. "Give it to me."
However, Cheng Bing frowned slightly: "Which one is the other one?"
Lin Guohui: "Hey, right, this one seems a bit older than you. Why is he wearing such thin clothes in the snow? Hmm, he looks kind of familiar, like he's..."
Another little girl was also looking at the camera with a gentle smile, unlike Cheng Qiuyan who was so cheerful. She was also a bit thin and was wearing a light gray-blue blouse.
Cheng Qiuyan stared at her for a long time, then whispered, "It's been so many years... She's Sister Hongya."
The three people around him were completely bewildered.
Lin Guohui: "What's popular? Who is it?"
Just as Cheng Bing was about to ask a question, she suddenly remembered another person: Grandma Fang, Hongya's mother.
He immediately looked at Fang Yuenian in astonishment.
“Hongya…she is…her surname is Fang?” he asked, dazed. “Your…aunt?”
"Oh right! Grandma Xiaoyue, the villagers call her Hongya's mom!" Lin Guohui realized. "Oh my, no wonder! Look, doesn't she look a bit like your second sister?"
Cheng Qiuyan smiled and handed the photo to Fang Yuenian. "Look."
Fang Yuenian took it in his hand, and his expression changed several times before he finally understood. He said blankly, "I don't have a single photo of my aunt in my family, and no one has ever told me about her."
Cheng Qiuyan then explained softly, "It's your Aunt Hongya. We were good friends when we were little. I remember we went to elementary school together. Every morning, my dad would ride his bicycle to take us both to the school gate before he went to do his work. He would bring us back in the evening, sometimes with some fried rice candy, which we both loved... You don't have this photo at home, do you?"
Fang Yuenian shook his head.
Cheng Qiuyan sighed: "Medical conditions were poor back then, unlike now... But just now we saw that everyone said your sister Jun looks quite like your aunt. Actually, your sister Jun probably looks a bit more like her, but your tastes are exactly the same as hers. I remember that sister Hongya couldn't eat any spicy food. Back then, we didn't have all kinds of dishes. Every family just had stir-fried dried tofu with chili peppers, or there were no other dishes. We would just mix some chili sauce with rice. She couldn't eat spicy food and often ate bland rice."
Fang Yuenian stared at the thin little face on the screen for a long time, as if imagining the life of this little girl from the Fang family forty years ago: poverty, toil, illness, and perhaps countless insults and beatings... This strangely connected with Cheng Junjun, and even Cheng Xiaoxiao.
Seeing that his eyes were red, Cheng Qiuyan quickly said, "Alright, I just thought of it by chance. I found it to show you little ones. Bingbing, put the photos away. We're going to eat."
Cheng Bing said, "We should have brought Aunt Hongya to our home back then."
Cheng Qiuyan was stunned for a moment.
Lin Guohui: "You're absolutely right. One or two isn't enough, is it?"
Cheng Qiuyan quickly said, "That's right. I wanted Hongya to come to my house back then, but I wasn't as tough as you and your sister. When the adults scolded me, I was so scared that I shut up immediately."
One sentence was enough to make Cheng Bing and Fang Yuenian blush and shut up.
Fang Yuenian remembered asking Grandma Fang when he was little why others called her Hongya's mother, but Grandma Fang just said with a stern face, "You talk too much," and ignored him. Later, although he learned that there was such an aunt, he had never heard anything specific about her, let alone seen what she looked like.
"Time flies, almost forty years have passed," Cheng Qiuyan sighed softly, then smiled. "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. If you want to hear more, I'll tell you both properly another time. Come on, try some of Auntie's cooking." Author's Note: Thank you to my mentor 9492239 (9492239) for your support! For more exciting content, please leave a message for this book on Liancheng Reading.
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