Chapter 1313 - 1185: Little Birthday Star and Big Birthday Star

Chapter 1313: Chapter 1185: Little Birthday Star and Big Birthday Star

Thank you for enduring the hardships of carrying me for ten months and the excruciating pain of giving birth to me. Thank you again for compensating for those seventeen years lacking motherly love with your companionship over the past twenty years.

I have no more regrets!

Zhang Guoqing looked happily at his wife and shouted, "Mom, I’m here, you go ahead and take the little birthday star to see the big birthday star, things will be ready soon."

Zhou Jiao beamed as she peeked into the kitchen, pulling her mom away. She still had to ask her mom if her dad had changed into red underwear and red pants, and put on the military pants hiding the red waistband.

Since the year she went to Beijing, it seemed to have become a routine.

On this day, the whole family’s morning exercises would stop, and occasionally they would host a few old friends, like her father’s sworn brothers, Wang Dawei and them.

The only thing different was the absence of Old Mrs. Cheng. If she were here, she would also be up early, smiling as she stood in the kitchen watching Zhang Guoqing and the other three prepare long-life noodles...

Zhou Jiao stepped out of the kitchen and took a deep look back at that place. Some people are gone, but she still keeps them in her heart.

Maybe the old lady had been reunited, as she wished, with her godparents, and also reunited with her older sister and brother-in-law.

Hopefully, the old lady’s wishes have come true.

"Your dad is really happy today. He says it’s all nonsense, but you didn’t see him—early in the morning, he didn’t mind wearing that bright red."

Hearing this, Zhou Jiao’s eyes curved with a smile, "When you turn 66, I’ll prepare the same for you."

"Oh, you must." Miao Lishan laughed proudly, "Your little aunt called me last night, she was envious, and said your little uncle wondered why he doesn’t have a daughter?"

"When they turn 66, I’ll prepare for them too."

"Hahaha, I purposely didn’t agree for the two of them. Though your cousin-in-law and others live far away, so there’s nothing to be done. Your little aunt and her husband, you really should prepare for them; they treat you like their own daughter."

"Okay." Zhou Jiao wouldn’t forget how Cheng Ruzhu treats her family, never forgetting to share any good things. Especially for her dad, treating him like a real brother.

She couldn’t forget when her Wen Family elder cousin got married, her dad was pushed by Cheng Ruzhu and her siblings to sit in the seat meant for the eldest uncle at the head table.

Later when her second cousin got married, her dad stated clearly that the remaining two nephews would each take turns at the head seat; otherwise, he’d have been seated there again.

What’s truly precious is that Cheng Ruzhu never came to them with requests regarding her family’s work. The only time she helped was when Miao Lishan personally recruited Yu into the Art Troupe.

She never felt that relatives without blood ties were not real relatives, just like her godfather Zhao Chuan Guang and the old friends like Wang Dawei...

To her, they’re more like real brothers to her dad than real siblings would be.

"Mom, come home early tonight, I’m hosting a dinner at the old house, and I’ve invited the uncles and aunts. You and dad need to keep them company."

"Alright, I’ll leave early in the afternoon and head over. Is there anything else you need?"

"That’s about it, we’ll still celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival at home at noon," Zhou Jiao thought for a moment, "In the afternoon around two or three, we’ll all head to the old house. My little aunt promised to come by five with my little uncle."

"Okay."

As Zhou Jiao said this, she caught sight of Zhou Xiaozheng coming out of the study and immediately smiled, bowing her hands in salute, "Dad, happy birthday, may you live a long and healthy life."

"Sure, long and healthy life indeed!" Zhou Xiaozheng replied with a bright smile, knowing that Jiao Jiao cherished these four words the most, "Are you done? Come sit on the sofa and take a break."

"Not busy, not busy, hahaha..." Zhou Jiao laughed heartily, pushing him onto the sofa as she squatted in front of him.

Zhou Xiaozheng gently rubbed her head, "Such a silly girl! Happy birthday!"

"Same to you, same to you!"

"Here we come, eat the long-life noodles and live a long life..."

With Zhang Guoqing’s loud shout, even before he arrived, his voice did, and soon the Ping’an brothers each carrying a tray entered the living room and placed it on the dining table.

Long-life noodles?

As the name suggests: according to tradition, a bowl of long-life noodles contains only one noodle, which cannot be broken while cooking. The entire long noodle is cooked to symbolize longevity.

This household did not concern itself with the rule that gentlemen stay away from the kitchen.

Thus, this handiwork had to be done once every year on the birthdays of the elders in the family, and it was a skill the Ping’an brothers had long mastered.

In the early morning, as soon as Zhou Jiao and Zhang Guoqing left, the three brothers would get up, wash up, and head into the kitchen to take the prepared dough and start skillfully pulling long noodles.

Now, seven bowls of soup noodles—broth as the base, a white single noodle, topped with shrimp, minced meat, golden egg yolk, and garnished with cucumber and bamboo shoots.

The combination of colors, aroma, and taste couldn’t help but whet one’s appetite.

After eating the long-life noodles, it was time to go to work.

But looking at Zhou Xiaozheng’s back, Zhou Jiao blinked: did her dad forget to give her a gift? Otherwise, should she sneak a peek in the study to see what he prepared?

"Wife, I’m off too, go upstairs and get some sleep."

"Oh, come back early for lunch." Zhou Jiao absent-mindedly replied, waving her hand and then pausing... This one hadn’t given her a gift either. What kind of secret are they playing?

Last night, as soon as she got off work, she first caught up on sleep, and now she wasn’t feeling sleepy. Together with Aunt Chen in the kitchen, they started draining the remaining soaked bamboo leaves and glutinous rice from yesterday.

Folding the bamboo leaf into a funnel shape, filling it with rice, covering one end, folding it, and tying it up with string, a small dumpling was created in a flash.

While making dumplings, on the earthen stove, there were dumplings from the morning boiling, with the pot making a bubbling sound, and soon the unique aroma of bamboo leaves could be smelled.

Faintly, there was also the fragrance of soda on the sticky rice.

Without even opening them, Zhou Jiao could already imagine that once this pot of sticky rice dumplings was peeled open, they would be golden glutinous balls with sweet red bean paste inside.

And in another steaming pot, as time went on, the strong fragrance of rice mixed with meat couldn’t overshadow the bamboo leaves’ scent.

Aunt Chen saw her wrinkle her nose in a sniff and smile indulgently, "Do you want to shell two to taste first?"

"They aren’t thoroughly cooked yet." Zhou Jiao laughed delightfully and blinked, "There are so many kinds, better to wait until they’re all done and then choose. Choosing what to eat is such a struggle."

"Hahaha..." Aunt Chen laughed heartily. Isn’t that true for many? Sweet and salty, cooked in two big pots, with all kinds of flavors and fillings.

Not to mention the Beijing jujube dumplings filled with honey and red jujubes, and with all sorts of fillings like red bean paste, chestnuts, lotus seeds, mixed nuts, soybeans, and osmanthus.

Even the salty plain rice dumplings. Although there aren’t as many types as sweet ones, this girl’s stuffing is abundant—a little fresh meat and ham, or a little plate of pork belly and salted duck egg yolks.

After soaking thirty pounds of glutinous rice and rice, it swelled up, and only after all fillings were wrapped, when it was time to eat, without looking at the rainbow-colored strings, it would really be hard to find a preferred flavor.