"...So, you must not have a boy you like." Tao's father followed him to the stairs, and finally called Tao You. His gentle eyebrows showed a rare sharpness, and he stared at her with eyes that seemed like She will be completely seen through in the next second.
"No!" She shook her head without hesitation and turned her head to avoid Tao's father's aquiline eyes.
This look was one of the things she feared most in her life. It always gave her the illusion of interrogating a prisoner. Especially when she was lying with a guilty conscience, she wanted to disappear where she was.
"Ah Hong, where is the kettle? The water outside is about to run out." The third aunt came over in time, carrying a few thermos bottles, and asked. The tense atmosphere between father and daughter was swept away by her appearance.
Tao You turned his head sharply and said hello excitedly, "Third Aunt!" Thank you!
"Next to the back door." Tao's father took the hot water bottle and returned to his gentle expression, "I'll do it. You can go sit outside."
"Okay, then you can do it." The third aunt smiled and nodded, not forgetting to wave to Tao You when she turned to leave, "Xiaoyou, go sit outside and watch TV. If you don't come, they will finish the snacks. .”
Tao You nodded and walked out behind the third aunt, "I'll go now."
Once you leave, never look back.
She didn't dare to look back, for fear of facing another death stare from Tao's father.
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It always gets dark very early in winter.
At 4:30 in the afternoon, the sky was getting dark, and the number of vehicles on the road began to increase. The street lights that were installed in recent years lit up around the corner. However, the power was not very sufficient, and they only lightly illuminated a small area under the light pole. place.
It was a little after five o'clock, it was completely dark outside, the cold wind was blowing, and there were sporadic fireworks not far away.
In the afternoon, Tao You watched cartoons in the living room for a while. The noise from the children gave her a headache, so she grabbed a lot of snacks and went back to the room.
After sleeping for most of the afternoon, I finally lifted the quilt and got up from the bed, opened the heavy curtains, stared at the dark sky for a long time, checked my phone to make sure I didn't miss dinner, yawned and stretched. waist. ..
"You use this to throw a cannon!"
"There's a sky cannon!"
"You're a girl, take the fairy wand. It's safer and looks better in photos."
"I don't want this, I want to play the same thing as you!"
「······」
Tao You stood at the corner of the stairs, looking down at the children below who were dividing the fireworks she and Tao's father had just bought in the morning in the storage room.
"It's still early, I haven't eaten dinner yet, and I haven't even watched the Spring Festival Gala. Are you going to play with this now?" Tao You stepped forward and raised his hand to take three small packets of fireworks gift bags from the cabinet that were out of their reach. "There are more here, You take your pick."
"Why don't you watch TV? The children's program isn't over yet."
The little boy in the lead, wearing a warm yellow down jacket, looked up at Tao You and said matter-of-factly, "Little aunt, my mother said you can't. If you keep watching TV, your eyes will become myopic and your face will become square." , it will become as square and big as a television.”
"It's so ugly that no girls will like it, and they won't go on a "date" with me. I don't want it. "
--they? !
"Dating..." Hearing these two words from a kindergarten child, it feels quite magical.
Tao You raised her eyebrows and looked down at the little kid in front of her who was shorter than her legs. She couldn't help but squat down and reached out to pinch his fleshy cheeks. "Little brat, you have more than one date with a girl." Does your mother know about this?"
"I don't know." The little boy shook his head frankly. These three words were perfectly spoken.
——I didn’t know he was so confident. Are the kids these days so brave? !
"Where do you go on your usual dates?" What are you playing with? doll? play house? "
One side is dressed in bright red, with two small knots on it.
The little girl with a round and soft face, who looked like a New Year doll, said in a squeaky voice, "Auntie, my cousin meant going to school together. We are from the same community and kindergarten. , we go to kindergarten together every morning." There was just a hint of disgust in Tao You's eyes.
Tao You nodded awkwardly, "Oh, go to school..."
——Is it because she can’t keep up with the trend? Just go to school, talk about dating, and be so romantic, it seems too tacky for her.
"Haha, it's good to go to school. Well, you guys... hurry up and play, it's time to eat later." Tao You urgently changed the subject, "Are there enough fireworks? If not, I will get them for you."
"That's enough, thank you, aunt."
"By the way, Auntie." The little boy ran to the door, turned around, glanced at Tao You up and down, and said solemnly, "My mother said that playing with mobile phones will make your face longer and square, so will you. Play less, it’s not good for your eyes and body.”
——What a considerate little cotton-padded jacket this is, remember to care about her.
Tao You narrowed his eyes and smiled, putting his hands into the pockets of his cotton home clothes, "I..."
"And auntie, you are celebrating the New Year, so dress up. No boys will like to play with you like this, let alone find a boyfriend. My neighbor sister is only in her second year of junior high school this year, and she has already had four boys. We are friends." After saying that, he turned around and chased a few friends outside the house.
"Tao Xubai...you little brat! Am I not your favorite aunt?!"
--dislike me? !
She was actually disliked by a little kid who just started kindergarten? !
Tao You half-opened her mouth in shock, turning her head to look at the glass window on the side. The light reflected on it, showing that her blue home cotton coat with a bear pattern on it was slightly bloated.
Her hair was messy, with a few stupid hairs standing on top of her head.
——She forgot to clean up when she got up...
Careless!
Her image! She managed to maintain the image of a ladylike aunt and Aunt Wenjing in front of these little brats!
She took out a black hair tie from her pocket, raised her hand to tie her hair casually, then smoothed the raised corners of her clothes, put her hands in her pockets, and comforted herself by looking at the window, "It's very pretty. The bear is so cute and has fluffy hair." , the clothes still have the fragrance of washing powder, it is obviously a lazy style at home... but they don't know how to appreciate it..."
After some brief self-appreciation, she turned off the light and ran upstairs in three steps at a time.
"boom!"
Lock yourself in the room and lock the door.
When I went downstairs again, my black hair was tied up with a hairpin, and my cotton-padded clothes were replaced by a long black down jacket and an old-age off-white slim knitted sweater. My cold expression slightly grasped the feeling of coldness and alienation. .
————————————————————————————————
"Xiaoyou is coming down."
"Happy New Year, uncle."
"..."
Those who come to the house for dinner in the evening are basically the closest relatives, uncles and aunts, cousins, etc. A total of three round tables are prepared, plus a children's table.
"Auntie, let's set off the fireworks now. My dad just brought me a lot of fireworks. I won't be able to set them off when I get home soon." Tao Xubai held a cannon that was taller than him in his arms, and there were many more of her The nameless Little Fireworks struggled to free up a small hand and tugged at the corner of Tao You's clothes, looking at her longingly.
Tao You turned her head and glanced at the TV. It was showing the Spring Festival Gala from previous years, but it wasn't the sketch program that she never got tired of.
The kitchen was very busy and there was still some time before dinner.
"Let's go, I'll be back for dinner in a while." She agreed readily, took the fireworks in his arms, held his little hand and walked out of the door.
Perhaps they were worried that they wouldn’t be able to set off the fireworks until twelve o’clock in the evening, or they were planning to go home after eating soon. When Tao You and the others arrived at the open space in front of the village, people were already sitting on the edge.
There were a lot of people, and the fireworks were blooming overhead, lighting up half of the village. The crackling firecrackers kept ringing in my ears, making it difficult to hear the people around me talking, but it didn't make anyone feel a little irritated.
There were many vehicles parked at the entrance of the village, with candles and various tributes placed in front of the vehicles... After completing the process according to custom, a small firework was set off aside.
"Auntie, I'm going to play with Yangyang and the others. Goodbye. We can't finish all the fireworks, so I'll leave half of them for you." Tao Xubai kindly left half of the fireworks for Tao You, and left the cannons for Tao. You, only took the relatively safe fireworks from the Fairy Wand, and ran to find her friends.
"Don't run too far! You must be within my sight, otherwise you can find someone else to take you out to play next time!" Tao You quickly grabbed Tao Xubai's back collar, pulled him back to him, and whispered in his ear Admonished.
Tao You, who became a toolman, sat down on the stone steps nearby and stared at the small figure not far away. Although there are cameras here and a lot of familiar adults there, you still need snacks when setting off fireworks at night, but be sure not to cause any accidents.
She pulled up her scarf to block half of her face from the cold wind, then held her chin up and stared at the gorgeous sky for almost half a minute. She felt a little bored and might as well go back to watch the Spring Festival Gala. There was air conditioning at home and there were snacks. ..
She sighed slightly, then looked back and continued to stare at her nephew.
"Auntie, please hold the clothes for me, thank you, auntie." The little boy's forehead was covered with sweat from playing, so he took off two pieces of clothes and gave them to Tao You.
"Auntie, aren't you setting off fireworks? Sitting there is so boring. Aren't they cold?" He saw the untouched fireworks beside Tao You, looked at a group of friends chasing each other not far away, and took out a bundle He took the fairy wand apart and put it into Tao You's hand, saying, "Auntie, I'll play with you."
After saying that, he wiped off his sweat, took another bundle of fairy sticks, asked Tao You to help him light them, and then happily ran to the open space, waving his arms up and down.
"Aren't you going to play with Yangyang and the others?" After the two fairy sticks burned out, Tao You pulled his nephew back, took out a tissue to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and stuffed the prepared dry towel on his back.
Tao Xubai put his hands on his hips like an adult, thinking he was very mature and said, "There are a lot of people over there, I'm not bad at all, and the games they play are too childish, so I'm still here to accompany my aunt."
After speaking, he grinned, revealing his gums, which were missing several baby teeth and made it difficult to speak.
"Auntie will set off these big fireworks for you!" Tao You was infected by his smile. He stood up and stretched his waist. He took a big firework from the ground. As soon as he walked to the open space and was about to light it, his cell phone in his trouser pocket began to vibrate violently.
