Generation Gap

Zhuang Zhuang did as he was told and slowly closed his other eye. As Xiaoyi spun the kaleidoscope, Zhuang Zhuang’s face slowly turned red with excitement.

“It’s so beautiful! It’s so beautiful!”

Xiaoyi handed the kaleidoscope to Zhuang Zhuang and let him spin it himself. As it spun, the colorful flowers in the kaleidoscope kept spinning. As a result, Zhuang Zhuang got so dizzy and happy looking at it, but he simply couldn’t bear to put it down.

“This is awesome! Thank you, Xiaoyi!”

“You’re welcome, hehe.”

Xiaoyi rubbed his head. It was a gift that he had spent many days preparing. He was glad that Zhuang Zhuang liked it.

Zhuang Zhuang had not forgotten Jiang Danhe’s gift, so he reluctantly put down the kaleidoscope and opened the equally exquisite gift box to reveal a black-colored block. “Wow… this is… plum ink!”

Xiaoyi didn’t know what plum ink was. Zhuang Zhuang explained to him thoughtfully, “Plum ink is a kind of rare ink block. Not only is the ink color superb, it also has a faint medicinal and floral fragrance. Smell it.”

Hearing the excitement in Zhuang Zhuang’s voice, Xiaoyi leaned closer and took a whiff. His eyes lit up. “Yes! There’s really the fragrance of medicinal herbs and I also detected the smell of plum blossoms!”

“This is awesome! It’s really awesome!”

Zhuang Zhuang carefully put away the plum ink. He had to keep it well and not grind it unless it was absolutely necessary.

“Zhuang Zhuang, you’re amazing. You know everything.” Xiaoyi was in awe of Zhuang Zhuang. He actually knew what plum ink was, unlike him, who knew nothing except for playing.

“You’d know if you read more.”

“Hmph…” Xiaoyi lay beside him unhappily. “How can everything be related to studying?”

Zhuang Zhuang smiled. He announced that today was his happiest day. Not only had he eaten the cake, but he had also received many favorite gifts. It was really the best day of his life!

In the darkness, Xiaoguo rolled over and smiled at the sounds of laughter coming from the other room.

The next day, Zhuang Zhuang woke up and saw that Xiaoyi was still sound asleep. He got out of bed quietly, put on his shoes, and went to look for Xiaoguo. He did not forget to take the kaleidoscope that Xiaoyi had given him.

He had wanted to look for her as soon as he received it yesterday, but it was a little late. She was probably asleep, so he waited until dawn. When he woke up, he couldn’t wait to show it to her.

“Mother?”

Zhuang Zhuang ran to her room first. Seeing that she was nowhere to be seen on the bed, he ran to the kitchen. Sure enough, he saw Xiaoguo busy at the stove.

“Mother, I knew you were here!”

Zhuang Zhuang ran happily to her side. He was about to show her the kaleidoscope when Xiaoguo interrupted him.

“Why didn’t you get dressed before coming out?”

“Mother, I’m not cold. I’ll go back to the house and change in a while.” Zhuang Zhuang took out the kaleidoscope in his hand and handed it to her. “Look at this!”

“What is this?” Xiaoguo put down the knife in her hand and wiped her hands on her apron. She took it and looked at it carefully. It looked so familiar. “A telescope?”

“Let me teach you. Squint your eyes…”

Xiaoguo followed Zhuang Zhuang’s words and peeped through the hole. “Oh…” So it was a kaleidoscope and not a telescope.

“How is it? How is it?”

Zhuang Zhuang couldn’t wait to hear her thoughts.

Seeing Zhuang Zhuang’s expression, Xiaoguo pretended to look surprised, as if she didn’t know what it was. “How magical. What is this?”

“Hehe, this is a gift from Xiaoyi. It’s a kaleidoscope.”

“Wow…”

Xiaoguo’s slightly exaggerated acting skills had made Zhuang Zhuang very happy.

“Alright, hurry back to the house. You’ll catch a cold later.”

Xiaoguo played with it for a while longer, pretending to be curious. Then, she quickly got Zhuang Zhuang to return to the house.

Having achieved his goal, Zhuang Zhuang obediently returned to his room. Only then did Xiaoguo start cutting vegetables and cooking again. She watched Zhuang Zhuang hop away and laughed quietly to herself.

“Time to eat!”

After Xiaoguo was done cooking, she returned to the house and called out to the two children, who were still lazing in bed.

“Mother, I’m getting up, but Xiaoyi is still in bed.”

As soon as Zhuang Zhuang saw Xiaoguo enter the house, he immediately complained to her. He had tried to wake Xiaoyi a few times just now, but he just wouldn’t get up. There was nothing more he could do.

“Is that so…” Xiaoguo knew the best tricks for tackling those who refuse to get out of bed. She shushed Zhuang Zhuang and rubbed her cold hands together as she walked towards the little guy whose eyes were still shut.

When her hands had warmed up a little, she reached out to Xiaoyi’s exposed neck. His warm neck was instantly enveloped by the coldness of Xiaoguo’s hands. That woke him immediately.

Xiaoyi sat up and covered his neck with both hands while rubbing it vigorously. He kept saying, “It’s so cold. It’s so cold.”

This scene made Zhuang Zhuang laugh out loud. He gloated, “Did you have a good taste of my mother’s ultimate move? Haha!”

“Get up and eat.” Xiaoguo placed Xiaoyi’s clothes beside him and pinched the laughing Zhuang Zhuang. “You too.”

Zhuang Zhuang knew only to laugh at Xiaoyi, but he was still sitting under the covers himself.

When Xiaoyi heard Xiaoguo’s words, he stopped rubbing his neck. He turned around and bared his teeth at Zhuang Zhuang. “You too…”

Zhuang Zhuang’s smile instantly disappeared. He looked at Xiaoguo and wailed, “Right away…”

–

After breakfast, Xiaoguo looked at Zhuang Zhuang, who was excitedly talking about building a snowman. Xiaoyi was also wearing a look of yearning on his face. To be honest, she really wanted to ask Xiaoyi about Jiang Danhe. Like how Jiang Danhe had handed him the letter and how he had asked him to bring it over.

Pretending to chat casually at first, XIaoguo slowly steered the conversation towards the main topic. Xiaoyi laughed as he answered her question.

“Speaking of this, I have to thank the general. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have been able to leave the palace so easily, let alone come out for so many days.” Xiaoyi’s face was filled with gratitude. If the general hadn’t gone to plead with his father, he wouldn’t have been able to come out at all.

“Tell me more?” Xiaoguo’s interest was piqued. It turned out that Jiang Danhe played an important role here.

Zhuang Zhuang’s was starting to get interested too. As the two of them turned to look at Xiaoyi at the same time, he felt almost embarrassed. He said shyly, “Actually, it’s not that complicated. It’s just…”

“Oh…”

Xiaoguo nodded. So that was the reason. Because the letter had to be delivered, Xiaoyi was brought along with it.

This whole thing started when XIaoyi, who frequently visited Li Shouji’s place to play with him, overheard Jiang Danhe mentioning that Zhuang Zhuang’s birthday was coming up. As Zhuang Zhuang’s best friend, how could he not do anything about it?

Hence, he ran back to beg the emperor. He wanted to leave the palace to look for Zhuang Zhuang. At first, the emperor did not agree. So Xiaoyi cried, threw a tantrum, and went on a hunger strike. Even when he was on the verge of collapsing, it didn’t hold as much weight as one word from Jiang Danhe.

He didn’t know what Jiang Danhe and the emperor had exchanged in secret, but the next day, the emperor sent someone to pack his bag and sent him out of the palace. Before he knew it, he was already in the carriage.

“Xiaoyi, you’re so good to me. You actually went through so much just to see me…”

While Xiaoguo was in a daze, Zhuang Zhuang gave Xiaoyi a hug. His eyes were red as he spoke of how touched he was. Xiaoyi did the same.

Xiaoguo was dumbfounded by their inexplicable tears. What was this? She couldn’t bear to look at them and turned to look outside. This must be a generation gap—there might be a chasm between her and the kids…

“Alright, will these two young masters continue with your moving scene? I’m going out.”

Xiaoguo shook her head and stood up to leave. When Zhuang Zhuang heard this, he immediately calmed down and pulled Xiaoyi up happily. “Mother, are you going to look for Auntie Yang?”

“That’s right.” Xiaoguo nodded and waited for Zhuang Zhuang to continue.

“Let’s go together!” Then, he pulled Xiaoyi along and dried his eyes. Zhuang Zhuang said to him gently, “I’ll introduce you to Brother Xiaohu and Sister Xiaohua.”

“Okay!”

Seeing that the two children had left her behind, Xiaoguo followed them gloomily and locked up the house.