Birthday Preparations

“Sigh, Sister-in-law, hold it in. Take a deep breath…”

Seeing that she had calmed down, Xiaoguo was relieved. If she were to continue crying along the way, who knew what others would say? With these gossipy women, they were best at making a mountain out of a molehill.

“Zhuang Zhuang, is Mother crying because of me?”

Xiaohu turned around and asked Zhuang Zhuang with red eyes. “It’s all my fault for making my mother cry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Then who is to blame?” Xiaohu looked at Zhuang Zhuang expectantly, hoping that he could say a name so that he could blame the person.

“Blame, blame…” After thinking about it for a long time, he still couldn’t come up with a name. Zhuang Zhuang reached out his chubby hand and scratched his head. That was true. Who could he blame?

“Forget it. Little children don’t know anything.” Xiaohu sniffled hard and blinked as he looked ahead. He was a child after all. He didn’t know anything.

Zhuang Zhuang pouted unhappily and looked at Xiaohu. “You’re a child too, okay?”

—-

“Alright, Xiaoguo, I’ll remember everything you said. Thank you.”

Mrs. Yang wiped her eyes and smiled at Xiaoguo. After chatting with her for a while, she felt much better.

“Forget it. It’s nothing.” Xiaoguo nudged her. Was there a need for formalities between them?

“Then I’ll go back.”

“Yes, go home.” Xiaoguo nodded and looked up in the direction of her house. “Hurry and go.”

Mrs. Yang looked towards the door and saw Xiaohu’s back. She turned around and blinked at Xiaoguo. She smiled and said, “I’m going.”

Xiaoguo smiled and nodded. “Go on.”

Mrs. Yang turned around and left. Xiaoguo held Zhuang Zhuang’s hand and said, “Let’s go back too.”

“Yes, yes!”

Zhuang Zhuang nodded happily. His unhappiness from being despised by Xiaohu had dissipated instantly. He skipped and followed Xiaoguo home.

The snow fell heavily for three consecutive days, followed by two days of light snow. Today was the sixth day of snowfall.

In the morning, Zhuang Zhuang was eating corn porridge from the bowl in his hand. He had been enjoying this recently, and had requested his mother to make the same porridge over a few consecutive meals.

“Mother, what are we doing today?”

Zhuang Zhuang put down the bowl and wiped his mouth. He looked at Xiaoguo expectantly.

“Today, I have to prepare everything I need for tomorrow.”

“What is it?”

“It’s confidential.”

Zhuang Zhuang scratched his head. “Then what am I going to do?”

Over the past two days, Xiaoguo had been training Zhuang Zhuang. He read, drew, did handicrafts, and cleaned up the house. He was already used to following Xiaoguo around every day.

“Zhuang Zhuang, let me ask you. Do you remember what day tomorrow is?”

Seeing him like this, Xiaoguo knew that he must have forgotten about it.

“What day is it?”

When Zhuang Zhuang heard this, he stood up and ran back into the house. He took the calendar off the wall and ran back into the kitchen. He had made the calendar with Xiaoguo the day before yesterday. As he sat back down beside Xiaoguo, he pointed to a page that was made of red paper. “Tomorrow is Zhuang Zhuang’s birthday, right?”

“That’s right.” Xiaoguo pointed to the conspicuous red paper and said, “Tomorrow is Zhuang Zhuang’s birthday. Mother has decided to hold a small banquet for you. How about that?”

“A banquet?” Zhuang Zhuang’s voice cracked with excitement. His birthday banquet?!

“That’s right. That’s why Mother is going to prepare everything for tomorrow. Food, drinks, and decorations.”

“Then I’ll help Mother.”

“Alright.” At first, Xiaoguo thought that it wouldn’t be good to let Zhuang Zhuang help out since he was a birthday boy. But on second thought, the official day would only start tomorrow. It was fine for him to do some work today. “Ok then, let’s do it together!”

“Okay!”

Zhuang Zhuang went to wash the dishes while Xiaoguo returned to the house with the calendar and hung it back to its original position.

The calendar was something that she thought of making on a whim, while they were working on some crafts the day before yesterday. After all, there was no item here that could help to keep track of the days. She had been passing the days in a daze and was unable to keep track of the dates. It would be nice to have a calendar around. Although it was very basic, she didn’t mind as long as it could tell her the dates.

What should she do first? Xiaoguo looked around and decided to cut out the decorations for tomorrow. She could prepare food and drinks in the afternoon. She liked to prepare everything in advance so that she wouldn’t be flustered on the actual day.

Xiaoguo went to the other room and brought the colored paper into her room. She had bought them some time ago. She placed the paper on the table and took a pair of scissors from the sewing basket. Now, she had all the required materials to make the colored flowers.

“Mother, I’m here!”

After washing the dishes, Zhuang Zhuang quickly ran in. He was afraid that Xiaoguo would start making things without him.

Xiaoguo first made the flowers according to what she could recall from her handicraft class. She used a pair of scissors to make a few cuts and then folded the paper in a few steps. Soon, a flower with three colorful strips at the bottom came to life in her hands.

“Wow, Mother is so awesome!”

Zhuang Zhuang exclaimed. Not only were his mother’s hands slender and fair, they were also very nimble. He was stunned by how easily she managed to fold such a complicated-looking flower.

Xiaoguo smiled and handed the flower to Zhuang Zhuang. After he took it, he held it lovingly in his hands and scrutinized it.

She did not disturb him. When he was done looking at it, she said, “Come, Zhuang Zhuang. I’ll teach you.”

“Zhuang Zhuang, look. First, you cut the paper with scissors. Here and here. But you are still too young to use the scissors. Mother will cut it for you. Do you understand?”

Xiaoguo held the scissors and moved it away from Zhuang Zhuang. After all, he was still young. It was not safe for him to use the scissors. What if he accidentally cut himself?

“Yes, yes. I understand, Mother. I won’t touch anything sharp on my own.”

Zhuang Zhuang nodded seriously, looking like an obedient boy. Xiaoguo felt completely warm inside.

Xiaoguo stroked his head in satisfaction. Then, she used a pair of scissors to cut the paper he was holding. She positioned the scissors such that the sharp edges were pointing at herself. Then, she taught him the next step. “Okay, now you fold it. You have to fold it on both sides. Then, open it up and fold it inwards.”

“Mother, is this correct?” Zhuang Zhuang’s small hands were clenched tightly. When he was finally done, he quickly checked with Xiaoguo.

“Let me see.” Xiaoguo leaned closer to take a look. “That’s right. It’s perfect!”

When Zhuang Zhuang heard this, he flashed his teeth again as he giggled at Xiaoguo. He looked like he had accomplished something great.

“Alright, do this again… and again… and then turn it out. That’s a complete flower.”

Xiaoguo showed him the big pink flower that she had just made.

She then looked at Zhuang Zhuang. At this moment, he was working hard to create a round flower shape. Seeing that Xiaoguo was already done, and was waiting for him, he couldn’t help but feel anxious. However, he was still working hard to make the flower look neat.

Xiaoguo leaned closer to take a closer look. This flower wasn’t difficult to make. Why couldn’t Zhuang Zhuang turn it out? After studying it for a while, she realized the reason. It was because he had missed out on one step, so the flower couldn’t be fully formed.

Seeing how anxious Zhuang Zhuang was, Xiaoguo quickly took the flower. “Zhuang Zhuang, this will do.”

“Mother, no!” Zhuang Zhuang reached out for it and tried again.

Seeing that the paper was about to tear from the repeated folding and unfolding, Xiaoguo quickly stopped him. “Zhuang Zhuang, I think this is enough.”

“But Mother, this looked nothing like the round flower you had made.” Zhuang Zhuang looked at the limp flower with dissatisfaction. He was having mixed feelings. This was his first flower, but he didn’t expect it to turn out so imperfect.

“Who said that flowers have to look the same?” Xiaoguo gently rubbed Zhuang Zhuang’s face. Under his puzzled gaze, she continued, “Flowers that are not round or blooming are still called flowers. Look at this.”

As she spoke, Xiaoguo placed the flower that Zhuang Zhuang had made on the table and compared it with hers. “Don’t they all look like flowers?”