The father she has now is the father she remembers.
I still remember Liu Yue saying to me in my past life that Chen Shichao, the doting husband, the perfect man, the morally upright, and the outstanding male representative of the new era, was originally a playful, irresponsible, and hard-working person.
This disposition was particularly prominent when I was two or three years old.
At that time, the family had just bought a computer, and this young man was easily captivated by the dazzling world of the internet.
He does nothing productive all day long, just stays at home playing video games. Then one day, Ms. Liu Yue finally couldn't stand Chen Shichao's childish behavior anymore and had a good cry.
From then on, he reformed and became a model man.
Based on what she had heard, Chen Bing did not interfere with her father's education during that year. Instead, she ignored him, waiting for the day her mother would explode, and also waiting for the day her father would reform.
If Chen Bing were a normal child, and if he didn't know how things would turn out, he would probably be heartbroken by his father's foolishness and his mother's heartache, and might even be left with childhood trauma.
However, after witnessing this family farce, Chen Bing, a reborn individual, could only think, "What a juicy story! It's truly a juicy story!"
Since we know the story will have a happy ending, even if we feel anxious about the protagonist's setbacks along the way, we won't be sad because of it.
The thought that she would one day live from a perspective akin to that of God, just like this incident, filled Chen Bing with a sense of novelty and interest.
Perhaps only when we detach ourselves from the world can we better appreciate the joys of life, instead of having our eyes blinded by the trivialities of daily life, such as firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea?
Chen Bing thought to himself with deep emotion, and then, inspired by the moment, he picked up his brush and wrote a large character for "joy".
From now on, I want to be a person who simply enjoys life.
"Your writing of the character '乐' (le, meaning joy/happiness) is starting to look quite interesting," Grandpa said, stroking his chin with delight as he looked at the character he had just written.
Putting aside the nonsense he told to build his confidence when he first started learning, "somewhat interesting" was the highest praise his grandfather could give him.
"Hehe, thank you, Grandpa," Chen Bing replied with a smile, then wrote a few more words, which also looked quite good.
Liu Wucheng nodded in satisfaction, then blew on the "乐" character to dry it and carefully placed it in a special cabinet for storage.
Liu Wucheng himself never kept any calligraphy, even if he liked it very much, he would throw it away the next day. But he cherished the calligraphy of his eldest grandson very much.
He even bought a cabinet specifically for this purpose, and every now and then he would select one piece of calligraphy written by Chen Bing to preserve.
“You can write some couplets now, so let’s write them together this year.”
According to my maternal grandfather's and the villagers' custom, every year when the Lunar New Year is approaching, my maternal grandfather would write many Spring Festival couplets himself and then give them away to the villagers who asked for them free of charge.
These were things Chen Bing didn't know in his previous life, because his maternal grandfather left with his maternal grandmother when he was about three years old.
At the age of three in this life, although my maternal grandfather doesn't seem to be in good health, he should be able to live for another seven or eight years.
His eyes would sparkle even more when he was teaching me calligraphy and classical Chinese texts.
These changes all delighted Chen Bing.
"Great! I'm going to write Spring Festival couplets to hang at my grandfather's house this year too."
Grandpa smiled and rubbed his head, then quieted down and wrote with me.
One must not speak while practicing calligraphy; this is a rule established from the very beginning of one's studies.
The grandfather and grandson wrote from noon until the afternoon, and finally finished writing.
Just as things were finishing up, a villager walked into my grandfather's courtyard, shouting, "Is anyone home?"
Grandpa put down his pen and went out of the house to greet the guest.
"Oh, Happy New Year, Uncle Liu."
Happy New Year! Happy New Year!
After exchanging pleasantries, the village woman explained the purpose of her visit.
"Uncle, did you write Spring Festival couplets this year?" the aunt asked cheerfully, her face beaming with joy.
Hearing her say that, Liu Wucheng knew why she had come. He smiled happily, quickly wrote it down, and then led the woman into the small house to choose what she wanted.
Chen Bing recognized the voice immediately when she heard it, and when she saw the person coming in from outside, she immediately recognized who it was.
Isn't that the auntie who gave me the firecrackers last year?
Happy New Year, Auntie.
"You are fine, you are fine too."
As soon as the woman entered the house, she saw Chen Bing standing on a chair writing Spring Festival couplets. She was initially surprised, thinking, "Such a young child can already write?"
Then she smiled to herself, guessing that the child had probably just come to draw whatever he wanted, treating it as a game.
I guess Uncle Liu was having a headache writing Spring Festival couplets when some kids came to bother him? It seems that although Bingbing is precocious and well-behaved, she can still do some naughty things occasionally.
Thinking this, the aunt casually asked Chen Bing a couple of questions, and then went about choosing Spring Festival couplets on her own.
In no time at all, she had selected several that she liked. One of them had a particularly novel and interesting style, and the aunt couldn't help but point to it and jokingly said to Liu Wucheng:
"Oh my, Uncle, you can even write such witty Spring Festival couplets?"
Liu Wucheng looked closely and saw what was written on the Spring Festival couplet that the aunt was pointing to.
First line: Firecrackers send away troubles
Second line: Red envelopes bring happiness
Horizontal scroll: Happy Chinese New Year
He chuckled and said to the woman with great pride, "At my age, how could I write this? This was written by my grandson Bingbing."
Grandpa was so happy that he didn't even need to use the word "grandpa" anymore. Chen Bing then smiled and chimed in, "It's all thanks to Grandpa's excellent teaching."
The grandfather and grandson, acting in unison, successfully made the aunt feel incredibly awkward and embarrassed.
Such beautiful handwriting, was it written by three-year-old Chen Bing?
She looked at Chen Bing in disbelief, and saw him holding the fine brush that his grandfather had specially prepared for him, and writing another piece on the spot.
Now we have no choice but to believe it.
It is said that children only begin to remember things at the age of three, and they can gradually recognize characters at the age of five or six.
But Chen Bing doesn't seem like an ordinary child at all; otherwise, how could she write Spring Festival couplets at the age of three?
"Did you come up with these Spring Festival couplets yourself?" the aunt asked Chen Bing incredulously.
Did Chen Bing write it himself? Actually, he chose a less abstract one from the "New Era Spring Festival Couplets for Post-00s Generation" that later became popular online.
However, considering that this kind of Spring Festival couplet has not yet been invented by the talented and resourceful post-2000s generation, Chen Bing shamelessly agreed.
"hold head high."
The main concern was that if I said I saw it somewhere else, the older woman might ask me where I saw it from.
Sometimes, a lie can be more effective at avoiding trouble than the truth.
After hearing Chen Bing's answer, the feudal superstition that had been ingrained in her began to stir in the aunt's heart. She couldn't help but think that Chen Bing must be a reincarnation of the God of Literature, which was why he was so smart.
She immediately thought of her good-for-nothing eldest son. If he could study with Chen Bing and absorb some literary knowledge, even if he couldn't become a high-ranking official, he could still become a college student!
Thinking of this, the aunt asked Liu Wucheng rather shyly if her good-for-nothing son could also come and learn from him.
The aunt's words inexplicably started to become pedantic. Although the grandfather found it strange, he could tell that she was envious of her son Bingbing's calligraphy skills and wanted him to learn as well.
Liu Wucheng readily agreed, as he was always eager to teach others.
The auntie was overjoyed and flew out of the courtyard. In just a few minutes, she dragged her son and daughter, who were still watching TV, over with a large bag of meat, vegetables, and other things, all as payment for her teaching.
They were all neighbors who saw each other all the time, so Liu Wucheng naturally didn't want the aunt's things.
However, he pointed to the little girl rinsing her fingers and said, "This child is not even three years old yet. She won't be able to learn anything at such a young age."
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