When Tian Qinghua returned, more than a dozen children started to eat. Tian Sisi specially lit two oil lamps, turning their wicks to the longest, making the flames burn brightly. Although it was still not as bright as electric light, it was already clear enough.
"e on, first of all, let’s all wish rade Tian Xinhua a happy birthday and progress in studies," Tian Shouhua stood up first to deliver the opening speech.
"I wish Brother Xinhua’s wishes e true and that he makes lots and lots of money."
Tian Sisi said this gigglingly, snatching the opportunity to speak. She knew that making money was always on Tian Xinhua’s mind.
Tian Shouhua was speechless for a moment, having been preempted by Tian Sisi. This darn girl, always manages to infuriate him with her words. Can you even say such things at this time? If others heard, it would surely cause trouble. He glared at her fiercely and decided to ignore her.
The rest also offered their blessings and downed their drinks, even the youngest Weiguo and Qinghua had a sip. The wine, specially taken out by Tian Sisi, was a sweet rice wine that was quite refreshing to drink.
It was a novel experience for everyone present to sit together like adults drinking and eating dishes they had prepared themselves. They were all very excited, and after eating the steamed cake, each picked their favorite dishes to enjoy, lavishing praise on the deliciousness of the food.
"These fried tofu and green vegetable rolls are made by Juying, the braised pork and steamed fish are by sister Wanhua, the stir-fried river snails and peanuts are by An Mei, the stir-fried radish with pork slices and lettuce with pork shreds are by Mei Ying, and the rest I made. Aren’t they delicious?" Tian Sisi proudly introduced who had cooked each dish.
"Not bad, all delicious. An Mei’s cooking is better than at home," Zhong Anping praised his sister after tasting a snail, and the others followed with their pliments.
The faces of the girls turned red, like a rosy dawn, perhaps out of excitement or maybe from the alcohol.
After about ten minutes of eating, Tian Sisi felt that just eating was a bit dull and suggested to Tian Shouhua, "Brother Shouhua, just drinking and eating like this is not much fun. Think of a game we can all play to liven things up!"
Tian Shouhua thought for a while and said, "Let’s play Chengyu Jielong (idiom solitaire). I’ll start with an idiom, and we go down the line from left to right. The next person must use the last character of the previous idiom to start the next one. Whoever fails to e up with an idiom loses, and has to drink a cup as a penalty and perform an act."
"That’s a good idea, but Weiguo and Qinghua haven’t started school, and Donghua has only been in the second grade. Ah Nan and Jianguo are only in third grade, what idioms would they know?" Tian Xinhua partially disagreed.
Tian Sisi was not convinced, "I know plenty of idioms, let’s pete in Chengyu Jielong. We’ll surely beat all you older ones, right, Jianguo, Donghua?"
Jianguo, the child, clenched his little fists and nodded vigorously, firmly supporting cousin Sisi, with Donghua similarly determined. Meanwhile, Weiguo and Qinghua couldn’t help but giggle, watching their brothers and sisters bicker.
"That’s settled then. The older kids are in one group; Sisi, Jianguo, Donghua in another three-person group; Mei Ying, Chengsi, Duofu, and Xiaogou in a four-person group, with Qinghua and Weiguo as judges. Is that acceptable?" Zhong Anping’s suggestion was agreed upon by all.
"Yi Sheng Ping An (May you have peace all your life)," Tian Shouhua started.
"An An Xin Xin (Peaceful and at ease)," Tian Xinhua followed.
"Xin Xiang Shi Cheng (May all your wishes e true)," Zhong Anping joined swiftly.
"Cheng Bai De Shi (Successes and failures gained and lost)," Zhong Ankang was also quick to react.
"Shi Er Fu De (Regaining after loss)," Tang Qiubai followed up.
"De... De Bu Chang Shi (The gains do not make up for the losses),"
Tian Qinghua finally managed to squeeze out an idiom after a long pause, though he inadvertently circled back to the starting point, prompting Zhong Anmei beside him to glare at him intensely.
Zhong Anmei was about to say "lost and found," but Tian Shouhua reminded her that an idiom can’t be repeated in the same round.
"Lost... lost... losing one’s way and lacking support."
Before Qinghua could chop down with his chopsticks to signal defeat, Zhong Anmei finally thought of one, and took a deep breath, grabbing a piece of braised pork to calm her nerves.
"It’s a joy to help others," Zhong Wan Hua quickly thought of one.
Next, it was Zhong Meiying’s group’s turn; four heads huddled together, whispering to each other for a while, then sent He Chengsi as their representative. "Happy to help," said He Chengsi, which made everyone burst into laughter.
"Aren’t ’happy to help’ and ’it’s a joy to help others’ the same thing, Fourth Brother? Isn’t that against the rules?" Tian Qinghua teased He Chengsi.
"Brother Shouhua didn’t say we couldn’t use idioms with the same meaning, so we didn’t break any rules," Xiao Gou retorted, with Zhong Meiying and Jin Duofu supporting the argument.
"Let’s just pass it," Tian Shouhua agreed helplessly.
Tian Sisi’s group was next; "A beast in human clothing," which she, Jianguo, and Donghua came up with together—actually, it was Tian Sisi’s idea and the other two didn’t object.
"At ease with a clear conscience."
"Getting by."
"Unforgettable."
"Forgetting oneself."
"Attacking stone with eggs."
"Stone, stone, stone..." Tian Qinghua ’stoned’ for a long time but couldn’t squeeze out the second word, as Weiguo and the little guy Qinghua excitedly banged their bowls, declaring Brother Qinghua lost—they’d been waiting half a day and were finally able to be judges.
"Brother Qinghua, hurry up and perform," Tian Sisi shouted the loudest, and everyone else also egged him on.
Tian Qinghua’s face turned red, and he stammered, "What should I perform? I don’t know how to do anything."
"Anything’s fine, singing or telling jokes," Tang Qiubai encouraged him from the side.
"Then I’ll tell a joke."
After bolstering his courage with a drink, Tian Qinghua began hesitantly, "Once there was a family that was very good at running their household. One day, the daughter-in-law went to help out at a fried dough stick shop. When she came back and saw her hands covered in oil, she washed the oil into the rice to cook. At dinner, her husband praised how good the rice tasted. The daughter-in-law immediately told him what she did, expecting praise. However, he slapped her on the spot."
After voicing a few sentences, Tian Qinghua lost his shyness and vividly continued while also making the gesture of slapping, "The man scolded his wife, ’You wasteful woman! Why didn’t you just rinse your hands in the jar? That would have lasted us three or four days!’ Little did he know, the woman’s father-in-law, without saying a word, also slapped the man, ’You wasteful man! Why didn’t you rinse in the well? That could have lasted us several months!’"
"Hahaha, this family is pretty much like Zhong Yu Ying and her mother; they’re both great at saving money."
Zhong Xiaogou laughed so hard he rocked back and forth, and everyone else couldn’t stop laughing either. Tian Sisi was laughing so hard that she ended up lying on the table, her stomach hurt from laughing. She hadn’t expected Tian Qinghua to have a talent for telling jokes. Actually, to her, the joke seemed quite ordinary. The key was that Tian Qinghua’s bination of narration and performance was hilarious. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are wele to cast your remendation and monthly votes at Qidian (). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m. to read.)
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