Chapter 403 - Chapter 403: Experiencing Two Different Worlds

Chapter 403: Experiencing Two Different Worlds

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Feifei taught with great skill, and Tao Jingyuan initially wanted to join in and help, but the kids chased her to the side.

“This is easy, and we don’t have enough paper. Mom, you can do something else,” said Feifei.

Tutu also pushed Su Wei away.

Li Meng and Pei Lingfeng walked away.

[Is Doudou cutting a plum blossom? The way she holds the plum blossom and looks at the sky through the gaps is so adorable.]

[Feifei’s step-by-step teaching made me understand surprisingly well.]

[Cutting window flowers brings back so many memories. Nowadays, living in a residential complex, it’s rare to see people actually pasting window flowers.

The property management may organize such activities, but once they’re cut, they’re mostly thrown away. Not many people truly stick them on doors and windows.]

[There are so many different types of ready-made window flowers now, but I still feel they lack the feeling of accomplishment of doing it on your own.]

[In our generation, the most abundant thing at home before the Spring Festival was red paper. At that time, the paper was thin, and when paired with rice glue, it could stay on doors and windows for a whole year.]

[Writing couplets has also just become a memory for the older generation.

After my daughter and I moved to the city, we stopped pasting couplets.]

[Back then, I wrote my own couplets at home. My handwriting wasn’t very good, but it had a lot of meaning.]

Everyone reminisced about their childhood of writing couplets and cutting window flowers. Some even found old photos and posted them in the comments.

At Wheatley’s house, Xia MO held the scissors but hesitated to cut the paper. She had too many things on her mind.

“Xia…” Xiao Tianlin softly called out to her.

“Do you feel like we’ve experienced two different worlds? The environment I grew up in was much worse than Lan Village. Coming to this village now is like experiencing a different life. At that time, this kind of thing was very common,” Xia MO said with emotion.

Xiao Tianlin embraced his wife. “Although we were poor back then, we were happy. We didn’t know any better.”

“Yeah… There were no cement roads and not many electrical appliances. One black-and-white television set carried the happiness of the whole village. During the New Year, children could wear new clothes, but most of the clothes were handmade. The meat was a rare luxury, and electricity was erratic,” Xia MO said. Compared to those times, the present felt like an entirely different world.

Li Yanchen felt the same way. “Even if we had money back then, we couldn’t buy things. There was only a small store in the village.”

Lin Wan was born in the late 1990s, so she didn’t have such a tough life. She was poor when she was young, but that was because she didn’t have any parents.

The children weren’t in that era, so they couldn’t imagine what those times had been like. They did find it interesting.

“Grandma Huang told me that you guys liked playing in the mud and hiding in piles of grass back then. I envy you,” said Li Zexin.

“Did you ever think about having lice all over your head? It was incredibly itchy, and sometimes you had to shave your head,” Xia MO said.

“Okay… I’m not envious anymore.”

“It’s like the difference between heaven and earth.” Xiao Tianlin sighed. “Did you all write that essay? Returning to my Hometown After Twenty Years? I remember that I imagined the roads would be filled with cars and every household would be brightly lit. It has actually come true! In the past twenty or thirty years, our country has developed rapidly.”

“Yea. People always say they want to go back to the past, but can we really get used to living in times like that?”

[People wanted the world to develop, and now they want to go back to the past.

Humans are never content.]

[I think it’s pretty good now. We have something to look forward to. In the past, everyone was more or less the same. There was no competition, and everyone just took it easy. In terms of food, clothing, and shelter, it was much worse than now.]

[I don’t want to live in poverty again, but I hope we can preserve some traditions.]

[Same here! I don’t want those traditions to be abandoned as society develops.] [Remembering the past always brings mixed feelings.]

“Don’t feel so melancholic. Let’s be happy. Isn’t everything fine now?” Lin Wan said. “Nannan, is my plum blossom looking good?”

“Yes, it looks very good.”

Everyone happily continued with the task.

Before long, Li Zexin walked over to Lin Wan. “Ms. Lin, I present this peony to you to wish you wealth and good fortune.” Li Zexin gave his first piece to Lin Wan.

Li Zexuan also handed over the plum blossom he had just cut. “Ms. Lin, the plum blossom suits you better. It fearlessly blooms even in the cold.”

“Do we really need to compare them?”

“Auntie Lin, the flower I cut doesn’t have a name, but I’m giving it to you too.” Li Zekai joined in the fun.

The other children followed suit and presented their first pieces to their mothers.

Li Yanchen stood aside, feeling emotional. Why wasn’t he deserving of a child’s love?

“Brother Li,” Xiao Tianlin called out and then hesitated.

From the sympathetic look in his eyes, Li Yanchen already knew what Xiao Tianlin wanted to say to him.

“They should all be pasted on doors, windows, and walls. You can use something to stick them up.” Li Yanchen tapped on the small table.

[Mr. Li is feeling bitter. Mr. Li can’t express it directly and can only find excuses to protest in his own way.]

[He made a gesture, but no one paid any attention. He’s deeply affected.]

[The other kids all gave their pieces to their mothers.]

[The other families only have one child, but the Li family has three. Not a single one thought of Mr. Li.]

“Oh, right. Let’s keep the designs simple, so they don’t look messy when we paste them,” Lin Wan said.

“Okay, Auntie Lin. I’ll cut plum blossoms, and we’ll put them in the yard,” Feifei said.

In less than an hour, the window flowers were already cut, and everyone took their creations home to prepare for their couplets.

The staff distributed ink and brushes.

Writing couplets posed no challenge for Xiao Yi. He cut the paper into long strips, measured the size with his thumb, and marked the position of each character.

After soaking the brush and squeezing out the excess water, he dipped it directly into the ink. With a swift stroke, he completed a pair of couplets.

Xiao Yi’s characters were powerful and balanced.

[“The sound of firecrackers bids farewell to the old year, while plum blossoms celebrate the new spring.” It looks better than the printed characters I bought.]

[The t0D student’s handwriting is so good! I

[Amazing! The boy writes beautifully. It’s definitely a bonus. They say seeing someone’s handwriting is a sign of their personality.]

Xia MO and Xiao Tianlin sat by the side and enjoyed the sun. They entrusted the task of writing couplets to their son.

Xiao Yi had been practicing calligraphy since first grade. He could write a copy of “Carefree Wander” in a matter of minutes.

Xia MO and Xiao Tianlin were accustomed to this. Xiao Yi had always been different from his childhood.

At Feifei’s house, after finishing the skillful window flowers, they moved on to writing couplets.

Tao Jingyuan didn’t know how to start. Both her and Zheng Kuo’s handwriting were… questionable.

If it were their own house, it wouldn’t matter. But now, they were pasting it at someone else’s house. If the couplets turned out too ugly, the owners might consider tearing down their doors..