Cen Huaian's heart instantly blossomed with joy, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and he couldn't suppress it no matter what.
Zhang Lu grabbed Jiang Weixian again, and they both laughed and joked. She knew her cousin was a crybaby, so she didn't play with him too hard, for fear of hurting him somewhere and causing him to start crying.
Chuxia asked Cen Huaian to go play with them.
Cen Huaian refused to go: "I want to help my mother."
Chu Xia saw through his thoughts and reached out to take the locust flowers from Cen Huaian's hand: "Don't think too much, kid. You are my son, no matter who it is, no one can take your place in my heart."
Without waiting for Cen Huaian to speak, Chu Xia suddenly raised her voice and shouted, "Lulu, bring brother An'an to play with you guys."
Zhang Lu ran over immediately and then remembered that she was here to pick locust flowers. She ignored Jiang Weixian and took a locust branch with a smile.
"Aunt, I don't want to play anymore. I want to pick locust flowers with you guys."
She turned around and glared at Jiang Weixian who still wanted to play: "If you make trouble again, I will ignore you!"
Jiang Weixin also squatted down and picked the fruits together.
The afternoon sunlight shone through the branches and leaves of the tall locust trees, like pieces of broken water falling on everyone's heads and clothes.
Zhang Lu's clear and cheerful voice floated around, mixed with Jiang Weixin's voice calling sister and brother from time to time, and Cen Huaian's childish response.
Chuxia saw that the Sophora japonica flowers were almost finished, so she turned to look at Aunt Li and said, "Aunt Li, you don't need to pick any more. If you pick any more, we won't be able to eat them all."
Aunt Li then stopped and came over to pick locust flowers with them.
I picked all the flowers from the branches and put them in the basket. In early summer, I plucked some leaves from the trees. I looked at the children and said with a smile, "Do you want to see the little baskets made from leaves?"
Zhang Lu immediately showed great curiosity and nodded repeatedly: "I want to! Cousin, how do you want to make it up?"
Jiang Weixian nodded as well, also looking expectant.
Cen Huaian also looked at the leaves in Chu Xia's hand, but he was thinking about how to weave a basket with those things.
Chuxia raised her eyebrows, pointed at a handful of stemmed leaves in her hand and said, "Look."
She quickly picked away the leaves and used the stems of the leaves to weave them together. Soon, a small basket, like the ones people often carry today, appeared in front of the three children.
Chuxia finally put the finishing touches on the basket, hooked the handle of the basket with her finger and shook it slightly. The three children all followed the basket with their eyes.
"Aunt, you are so awesome!"
There was pride in Cen Huaian's eyes, this was his mother!
Chu Xia laughed out loud at the admiring looks from the others: "This isn't a difficult task. It doesn't require many skills. You can learn it in a short while."
It's not like she really made a basket with rattan strips, and the small baskets she wove were just folded crosswise, unlike other objects that require multiple weaving methods.
Zhang Lu immediately said that he wanted to learn, Jiang Weixin also quickly raised his hand and said yes, and Cen Huaian called out "Mom".
Chuxia sat on the stone pier at the gate and taught the three children how to weave. After she finished, Zhang Lu and Jiang Weixian quickly picked a bunch of leaves to try to weave.
Cen Huaian was not as anxious as them, but he also picked a lot quietly. In early summer, he used the leaves he picked to weave the leaves himself.
Not long after, a small wreath made of leaves appeared in Chu Xia's hands, and she put it on Cen Huaian's head with a smile.