Blog 8: My childhood in the countryside

When I was young, my parents were very busy.  My mother had to commute every day and my father often went out on business.  They were so busy that I was sent to countryside so that my grandparents could look after me.

            I think it is the most wonderful time in my life since I had nothing to worry about.  I spent most of my time there playing with my close friends in the fields and hills.  We often caught fish and all kinds of insects together and we even made praying mantises eat grasshoppers!  We also played many kinds of games such as using a glass ball to knock other glass balls into a hole; using triangle hard paper made by cigarettes’ shell packaging to make others upside down and so on.  We often flew the kite made by ourselves in a big vacant lot on the hill which actually carried our dreams into the sky.  And we used to secretly follow the ox-cart coming from the farmlands which was filled with peanuts to pick up dropping peanuts. 

            There was a time when all of my aunts and uncles gathered together in Spring Festival.  They sat on the Kangtou and chatted together.  My uncles often played mahjong overnight and aunts played cards with me and my cousins.  The meal was well cooked in the caldron and the whole family ate together on Kangtou.   Could you imagine such a warm scene?  As far as me, the most interesting thing was setting off fireworks.  Watching the colorful sparks flying across the night sky, we couldn’t be happier.  In case I set off all fireworks at a time, my grandpa always hid some and gave me a part, telling us there was no more.  However, to our surprise, he could always give us another part the next day.  What a kind grandfather!  He loves his grandson so much that he never blamed us.

            After my grandpa passing away, my parents sold the old house in the countryside and bought a new house for my grandma near my home and hired a nursery maid to look after her.  Every summer vocation, I still went to the countryside—one of my aunts lived there.  I could not forget that place where I spent my happiest time in my life. The temperature was very high in countryside’s summer.  Therefore, my aunt bought many watermelons and other fruits for me and my cousin.  My aunt’s house was villa.  We let the front door and the back door open to let the wind go through, we sat on the second floor, eating the watermelon, overlooking boundless fields, cool and happy.

            In short, I have a happy childhood which I will never forget.  And my dream is to live there again when I was old, happily and relaxed every day…