A group of people were too excited.
On the way home, the street lights in Shangxie Village were all off.
Grandpa was walking with a flashlight, young people were walking with their mobile phones, each going back by themselves.
Grandpa walked at the very front, he walked very slowly, holding a flashlight in one hand and a stick in the other, tapping all the way.
Xiao Qi held Grandma's hand, using the flashlight on her mobile phone.
Grandma was a little old lady, but her hands were very warm.
Holding her hand felt hot.
Dad walked behind with Mom in his arm, Mom had her mobile phone flashlight on.
Sheng Juanhua was a little drunk, and had some sweet soup thick tea afterwards, so she was slightly sober now, but still different from usual. Usually Sheng Juanhua was a bit serious in front of her husband. Today she was like a little girl again, giggling and very happy, silly laughing all the time.
It was a bit cool in the early autumn night in the countryside.
It was very late, the insects and frogs were even louder.
So Grandpa would tap with the stick to avoid getting scared by bugs or snakes.
It was not far, and they arrived at Grandma’s house very soon.
The dark old house looked a bit scary from afar at night. Once people walked in, Grandpa turned on the kitchen light. The dim light made one feel secure.
They had been busy the whole day. The water in the pot was still hot.
Grandma scooped some hot water for her daughter and son-in-law to wash up first.
Because it was very late, the neighbors had all fallen asleep quietly.
After washing up and soaking their feet, the family tidied up and went to bed.
At Grandpa and Grandma's house, they did not sleep in separate rooms.
Grandma's bedroom was a long rectangle. There were three beds inside, Grandpa and Grandma slept in separate beds usually.
There was also a small bed for quilts and clothes.
Grandma was a rather fashionable old lady. She usually slept in a thick memory foam mattress bed, which was soft and near the window by the door.
Grandpa slept in a net bed, which would sink in the middle, a bit hard and a bit soft. Xiao Qi loved to jump on it when she was little. Grandpa’s bed was next to Grandma's bed, with bedside tables joined together, and a string in between to switch the lights on and off within reach.
The small bed was by the window facing outside.
When Xiao Qi came before, she liked to sleep with Grandma.
Tonight, Grandma and Mom slept on the memory foam mattress bed, Grandpa and Dad slept on the net bed, and Xiao Qi slept on the small bed alone.
The small bed was always prepared for someone to sleep, so it was tidied up, and the quilts were sun-dried and didn’t smell.
She could hear Grandma and Mom seemed to be whispering. Grandpa and Dad fell asleep quickly, perhaps because they were too tired. The faint whispers also gradually disappeared, only listening to faint snores.
The wooden window of the room was opened a small crack with a mesh screen, you could see outside.
She didn't see the moon on the way back, but lying on the small bed now, Xiao Qi actually saw a few stars through the small squares.
When she was little, Xiao Qi always wanted to have an adult house with glass roof to watch the stars lying.
She felt that would be so beautiful.
Now she didn't expect to see the twinkling stars of the sky through the small wooden window grille.
Xiao Qi was not as excited as Mom. She usually had a very full study schedule. Today she basically didn’t study by following Mom back to visit relatives, feeling a bit empty.
The signal in Shangxie Village was not very good either, especially at Grandma’s old house here. She couldn’t even play with her mobile phone.
Seeing even one star in the darkness made her very excited.
Her uncles and aunts who went home were still quite excited.
They didn’t expect that the person around them would be on TV, still being interviewed formally and specially, Jiang Yiru's interview! Many people asked Xiao Qi whether Jiang Yiru looked better in real life or relied on makeup.
The usually opportunistic big aunt even fried some green vegetables for Xiao Qi, green and oily, pushing aside the leftovers and serving them in front of her.
The always clever Second Uncle was not very fond of that brother-in-law who was silly. Today he even spoke a few words gently with the brother-in-law.
Second Aunt was still smiling as usual, without much change.
Third Uncle drank too much and was still confused, patting Su Youfu’s shoulder, “Brother-in-law, you also have advantages, you can read and your daughter can read too.”
Third Aunt was hardworking and busy all the time. She occasionally watched TV and was polite to Xiao Qi.
Young Aunt was the most exaggerated. Xiao Qi and Young Uncle were only a few years apart in age and had a very good relationship. Young Aunt asked her a lot of questions very excitedly, like fangirls, what the TV station was like, where Jiang Yiru's clothes were bought, were there many stars, could ordinary people enter, did she see the host Chen Xiao, etc...
Xiao Qi was confused by the series of questions, she didn't even know who Chen Xiao was.
In summary, the exciting topic in the daytime was the factory of new brother-in-law’s family, which seemed to repair and sell cars, by the highway entrance, occupying a large area.
The exciting topic at night was their niece.
At a young age, she could be on TV, and was well-spoken sitting beside the famous host Jiang Yiru.
Xiao Qi had a strong sense of the camera. She didn't have an ugly face on camera, but could be seen from all angles. Although Jiang Yiru beside her was very charming, Xiao Qi was no inferior.
But in reality, sitting next to them, she kept a very low profile, so everyone didn't notice her.
It was said that girls change a lot after 18 years old. She had become much more beautiful, but still completely different from what she looked like on TV.
In real life she was just a little girl in pink T-shirt.
Everyone parted after recalling the past one by one, still somewhat reluctantly, wondering whether this niece had shown her talent early on.
But they couldn’t recall any impression no matter how they thought about it. They only remembered that she was good at studying it seemed. She had been studying all the time, didn’t like to talk much. She was quite active when she was little. After going to school, she wore glasses and became decent, not talkative.
"I thought Juanhua married poorly without having a son and lived a hard life. I didn't expect that it looks like she will have a better life in the future.” Third Aunt poked her husband and said.
On the other side, Young Aunt was young. After coming back to the countryside, she even took a bath and changed into pajamas, snuggling up to her husband.
"Your sister has pretty good genes. I wish we could have such a nice girl too."
"You drank today, it's not good."
"But you didn't drink much, did you?"
In the dark night, the young couple groped each other.
It was very late and almost everyone was asleep.
Xiao Qi also fell into a sweet dream.
