Riding the wind of rebirth

"So, did Third Aunt and Uncle take Tiedan out for a walk?" Zhou Zhi decided to quickly change the subject.

“They’re even busier now that they’re retired than when they were working,” Auntie said to Xu Anxin. “Your mother is taking classes at a senior university now, saying she wants to rediscover all the hobbies she missed because of her work. Your father goes to Jinghu Park every day to play chess, drink tea, or go fishing, and he usually doesn’t come back until almost noon.”

"Where's Tiedan?"

“Your mother said to let Tiedan go and receive some cultural enrichment. The senior university has singing classes and dance classes. She said Tiedan is having a lot of fun there.”

Li Laosan was terrified: "Is someone following us?"

Xu Anxin rolled her eyes at Li Laosan: "This is the mainland, do you think this is your Hong Kong Island?"

Just three months ago, a shocking case occurred on Hong Kong Island: notorious gangster Cheung Tze-keung conspired with Yip Kai-foon's group to kidnap the eldest son of another Hong Kong tycoon, demanding a ransom of HK$1.038 billion. Cheung Tze-keung received HK$438 million.

For a time, Hong Kong's wealthy were on high alert and strengthened their security. Zhou Zhi believes that Li Laosan's frequent stay in China during this period is also very likely related to this.

As they were talking, Auntie and Uncle each rode a bicycle. Auntie's bicycle had a basket hanging on the handlebars, and Tiedan sat in the basket. The three of them chatted and laughed as they entered the dormitory area.

"Daddy! Mom!" Tie Dan called out when he saw the group still chatting at the door.

"Speak of the devil, and he appears!" Second Aunt laughed, "He's back on time today."

"Hmm, the egg pancake vendor didn't come out today," Auntie said with a smile. "That's why I came back a little early. Pork knuckle is here too. This must be Xiao Miao, right?"

"Hello, Uncle, this is Xiaomiao." Zhou Zhi pulled Mai Xiaomiao to his side: "Xiaomiao, call her Third Aunt, Uncle."

"Hello, Third Aunt, Hello, Uncle."

"Good, good, good." Uncle got out of the car and took Tiedan out of the pocket: "Tiedan drew a panda today!"

“Giant panda!” Tie Dan emphasized.

“Yes, a giant panda!” Auntie San exclaimed with a smile. “The teacher even said he has a talent for it.”

"Where is it? Let Dad see." Li Laosan was overjoyed.

Zhou Zhi didn't believe a two-year-old could draw anything. He took a piece of Xuan paper from his aunt's stationery bag, opened it, and found some bamboo leaves and orchids. One of the papers had several large ink blots on it. Looking at it together, well, although it was a little abstract, you could say it was a panda.

"Not bad, not bad!" Li Laosan was very happy: "Did Tiedan also draw the bamboo leaves next to the panda?"

"How is that possible?!" Zhou Zhi couldn't stand it anymore. Although those few bamboo leaves weren't drawn very well, they were at least drawn by a novice who had practiced traditional Chinese painting. They were different from random scribbles. "These were obviously added by Third Aunt."

"Your elbow is just in time," Third Auntie said with a smile. "Our school is holding a painting competition, but my handwriting is too ugly, so there are no words on my paintings. Your arrival is perfect, so please add them all for Third Auntie!"

Uncle handed Tiedan to Li Laosan: "You're cheating. What's the level of your school's paintings? What's the level of Zhouzi's calligraphy? He wrote on your painting, and the teacher was too embarrassed to give it a low score."

"None of your business!" The third aunt was annoyed that her thoughts had been exposed.

It seems that although everyone at the senior citizens' university is retired, the students are still quite competitive. Zhou Zhi couldn't help but chuckle to himself: "The calligraphy accompanying the paintings doesn't necessarily have to be beautiful. The key is to have distinctive features. Take the calligraphy of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, for example. Each one is very recognizable, but if you were to pick one out and say how well it is written, that's not necessarily true." He was actually just trying to fool his aunt. Although the calligraphy of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou was eccentric and not necessarily appreciated by the general public, each of them actually had their own strict rules, and the variations were only achieved after rigorous calligraphy training.

To put it another way, although some people in later generations often use "ugly calligraphy" to describe the calligraphy of the Eight Eccentrics, those critics not only cannot write "ugly calligraphy" as well as "correct characters" as well as the Eight Eccentrics, they are just talking nonsense.

However, this did not stop Zhou Zhi from using this kind of remark to make his third aunt laugh so hard she couldn't suppress her smile.

"Let's go inside and talk more." Uncle parked the car and invited everyone inside.

After instructing her second cousin to pour tea for everyone, the third aunt pulled Zhou Zhi to the backyard.

The ground-floor apartment my aunt and uncle wanted, besides being a 180-square-meter house, also included a nearly 200-square-meter yard squeezed out between the walls. The yard has now become lush and green, especially the two clumps of purple bamboo brought from our hometown, which have grown into a large patch. You can also hear a flock of birds chirping and chattering incessantly inside.

I reckon there are already birds building nests inside.

Besides the purple bamboo forest, there are also pomelos and lemons brought from my hometown.

There is also a small vegetable garden where chili peppers, eggplants, cowpeas, loofahs, and the like are grown.

"This little courtyard is quite nice." There is a platform with a roof outside the back door of the house. Outside the platform is a goldfish pond. On the platform is a large long table with writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone. It seems that the two old people usually paint, write and relax here.

Third Auntie excitedly brought out a large pile of Xuan paper from the house: "Elbow, you're the expert, you choose for me, pick out the three best ones to enter in the competition!"

"Wow, Mom, you draw so well! What kind of flower is this?"

"This is a peony." Zhou Zhi secretly rolled his eyes in his heart. His aunt's painting was at the level of a typical senior university student. The so-called senior university level means that the traditional Chinese painting has not undergone systematic training in composition and is only focused on quick learning. It is basically imitation and copying. If his aunt were to paint it from scratch, she probably wouldn't even reach half of her current level.

On the other hand, even if the third aunt's current level is the best, Zhou Zhi still considers her to be mediocre.

Therefore, he had even greater objections to Li Laosan's obsequious flattery.

"Hmm, the peony is beautifully painted, and so are these two butterflies." Li Laosan, holding Tiedan, continued his shameless flattery: "Don't you think so, Elbow?"

Zhou Zhi was determined to retaliate: "Hmm, I think it's not bad either. Third Brother can also choose two to take back and hang in the living room."

Li Laosan immediately fell silent.

Xu Anxin secretly pinched Zhou Zhi's waist: "The wall renovation at home was so expensive, it's hard to nail anything to it. It would be nice to put it on the cabinet in the entryway, but the size can't be too big."

Elbow was now in a real bind. He was already laughing hysterically inside, but he couldn't show it on his face. He could only lower his head and seriously admire his aunt's masterpiece, almost suffocating from holding it in.

It took Zhou Zhi a while to recover. He rubbed his sore abs and said, "Well, if I had to choose three, I think this ink wash painting of orchids, this painting of lotus flowers, and finally, this painting of chrysanthemums. Well, these three."

There's something on my mind that I can't say, and I really can't choose anything else. (End of Chapter)