"What?" came a male voice from a distance through the phone, who was obviously running over to answer the phone.
"Yingying, are you coming back tonight?"
"Yes, Dad, I miss you. I'll buy a ticket right away. That's all. If we delay any longer, I might not arrive until early in the morning."
"Okay, okay, you buy the ticket, I will pick you up when the time comes!"
Xi Ying did not refuse.
As a parent, you will not feel bored or tired when you go to pick up your children after a long absence from your hometown in the middle of the night. What you will feel is a deep sense of joy and happiness.
So Xi Ying did not refuse.
*
It's half past twelve in the middle of the night.
When Xi Ying got off the urban and rural bus, she saw two people waiting at the platform.
They were wearing the simplest clothes and had the most sincere smiles on their faces.
"Yingying!" The woman shouted in surprise, walked quickly to Xi Ying, took her hand and looked at it carefully.
"Hurry up and give the bag to your dad. Are you tired from the journey?" the woman asked with concern.
Xi Ying's hand was held by the woman's rough and calloused hand, but she didn't feel that her hand was abrasive at all.
Instead, I felt very warm.
She shook her head, "I'm not tired. I won't be tired when I see you."
"Give me the bag! These are the steamed buns your mother made for you. She said you would be very hungry when you arrived in the car all the way. You should give me a bite first, and I will have food cooked with your milk when you get home!" The man said with a smile on his face. He came over, took Xi Ying's bag, and handed over two large steamed buns wrapped in cloth.
Xi Ying took the steamed bun.
This steamed bun is different from the steamed buns sold in the city. It is very soft.
It's not the kind that's soft with additives, but the kind that's naturally soft, the kind that's made by steaming it little by little with firewood on a big stove.
Even at such a long distance, the steamed buns were still hot.
"Your father said he was afraid that you would get cold when you ate the steamed buns, so he kept these two steamed buns in his arms and covered them. Fortunately, they were not cold. If they were cold, they would not taste good." Wang Chunlan explained.
Hearing this, Xi Ying's nose felt sour, and without any hesitation, she took a bite of the steamed bun that was warmed by Xi Jianguo's heart.
The mouth is full of sweetness and softness, as if the whole person is plunged into the warm network of family love.
Such a scene appeared in front of Xi Ying's eyes.
In front of the big stove in the earthen house, Xi Jianguo sat behind the stove and burned firewood, while Wang Chunlan stood in front and put dough in the basket of the big pot.
Every piece of dough is kneaded just right, round and looks very cute.
"Our daughter hasn't been home for more than a year, right?" Wang Chunlan chatted with Xi Jianguo while putting dough in the basket.
"Yes, it's been more than a year. I didn't come back last year for the New Year because my overtime wages were doubled during the New Year." Xi Jianguo stuffed a roll of straw into the stove.
Tongues of fire burst out from the kitchen door, illuminating his red face.
"I don't know if my daughter can appreciate these steamed buns." Wang Chunlan paused her hands and hesitated, "What do you think? Instead of bringing the steamed buns to wait for my daughter, why not buy some beef or something from the canteen?"
"What are you thinking? That's our daughter. Her favorite thing to eat was white flour steamed buns! You don't know who my daughter is? Do you think she will be like those people?" Xi Jianguo said.
Wang Chunlan thought for a while, and then continued: "Yes, I know best who my daughter is."
However, she didn't see Xi Jianguo's expression.
Although Xi Jianguo spoke so eloquently, he actually didn't understand what he was thinking.