Wondrous Scene
First, it was “Zhuang Zhuang”. Then, it was “Happy Birthday”.
After Xiaoguo was done, she got off the stool and walked further away to take a look.
After she was done looking, she felt so satisfied that she only had one word for it. “Awesome!”
Looking at the remaining two pieces of red paper, Xiaoguo came up with a plan.
Since there was a cake tomorrow, there would definitely be a segment for wish-making. Other than candles, the only thing she was missing for this segment was a birthday hat. The remaining red paper could be used to make one.
Xiaoguo got to work immediately. The birthday hat was easy to make. Xiaoguo picked up the square piece of red paper and folded two opposing corners towards the same direction . This created the shape of a pointy hat.
Xiaoguo then joined the two ends of the paper and formed a ring that had the same circumference as Zhuang Zhuang’s head. She glued the two ends together so that it would not fall apart when she let go.
She tried it on herself. Other than the fact that it was a little small for her head, there was nothing wrong with it. It was no different from a real birthday hat.
But there was still a piece of red paper left. Xiaoguo wanted to put it away, but then she thought of something else. She had everything except for a portrait of the little birthday boy.
Xiaoguo held the brush and tried to settle down. She then carefully sketched out Zhuang Zhuang’s cute face.
She couldn’t draw realistically, but she was able to come up with a cute version of his face.
When the final drawing was done, Xiaoguo blew on the ink. Looking at the cute version of Zhuang Zhuang that she had just drawn, she realized that she had completely captured his demeanor and facial expressions on paper. Satisfied, she got up and stuck herself to “Zhuang Zhuang”, who was now on the wall.
Looking at it up close made it look even more perfect. She returned to the kitchen to wash her hands. She calculated the time and realized that it was time to bring out the cake. Hence, she walked uneasily to the oven. Before she reached the oven, she could smell the fragrance.
Xiaoguo took a deep breath and thought that the smell seemed okay. She felt a little more at ease.
If it smells good, the cake shouldn’t look too bad either.
Xiaoguo’s heart was beating like a drum, but she still opened the oven. As it was dark, she couldn’t see anything clearly. She could only rely on the light of the candles to take out the cake before she quickly ran into the kitchen. She didn’t even have time to take the candles, as the cake was very hot. Although she was using a thick cloth to hold on to it, the temperature was high enough to make Xiaoguo jump.
When she reached the kitchen, she threw the cake uncontrollably onto the table. Fortunately, it landed safely and Xiaoguo heaved a sigh of relief.
She was secretly happy to see that the cake looked quite authentic.
Fortunately, she had beaten the eggs for a long time just now. Otherwise, the cake mixture would not have risen.
She quickly placed the basin upside down on the shelf and waited for it to cool down before taking it out. However, that would have to wait until tomorrow.
Xiaoguo yawned and stretched. After blowing out the candles, she went to the courtyard in the dark.
At this moment, Xiaoguo realized that the snow seemed to have become lighter. She was extremely surprised. “Could it be so coincidental? Would it stop completely tomorrow morning? If it really happened, it would be too unbelievable.”
She went to the oven and took out the candle that she had not picked up earlier. With the help of the candlelight, she returned to the house. At this moment, Zhuang Zhuang had fallen into a deep sleep.
Even so, Xiaoguo subconsciously softened her movements. After undressing, she blew out the candle and got into bed. Lying on the soft bed, she gave out a sigh. It was really too comfortable.
After a tiring day, Xiaoguo, who had not moved so much since a long time ago, was very tired. The tiredness was not physical, but spiritual. As soon as she touched the pillow and inhaled the fragrance of the blanket, she fell asleep very quickly.
—-
The next day, Xiaoguo woke up before Zhuang Zhuang could open his eyes. As she was thinking about the cake in the kitchen, she quietly put on her clothes and walked out of the house.
As soon as she stepped out of the door, her eyes, which were still sleepy, were immediately irritated by the radiant white scene. She couldn’t open her eyes anymore. She retreated to the back of the house and rubbed her eyes a few times before she felt more comfortable.
After her eyes felt more adjusted, she lifted the curtain again. As soon as she entered the courtyard, her eyes widened and she completely woke up.
She looked up at the sky in a daze and reached out to grab at the air. She realized that it was not an illusion. It had really stopped snowing!
“No way…”
Xiaoguo muttered to herself. This was too magical. Could Zhuang Zhuang be a child from the snow? A child that was welcomed by heavy snow?
Suddenly, a gust of cold wind blew past. Xiaoguo shivered and quickly ran to the kitchen. As expected, it becomes even colder when the snow melts. The wind that had just blown past her made her bones hurt.
When she returned to the kitchen, the first thing she did was not to light the stove, but to check on the cake.
After a night of cooling, it was as cold as it could get. Xiaoguo brought it over and put it down. She fiddled with it a few times before giving it a good shake. The cake left the basin within the next instant. It was super springy.
Xiaoguo ate the cake crumbs stuck to the bottom of the basin. They tasted good and she felt very relieved.
She set the cake aside. Although there was no cream, it was still delicious. She took a look at the sizable cows outside. If she wished to make a cream cake, she could probably make one by next year.
After making breakfast, Xiaoguo went to wake Zhuang Zhuang up.
He still remembered what Xiaoguo had said yesterday. From the minute he opened his eyes, he did not stop smiling. He kept thinking to himself that he was the little birthday boy today.
He put on the new clothes and shoes that Xiaoguo had prepared for him. As soon as he arrived at the outer room, he was attracted by the wall. When he took a closer look, he almost jumped up in joy. After taking a good look at the wall, he ran to look for Xiaoguo. When he saw her, he hugged her and told her how much he liked the decorations.
Seeing Zhuang Zhuang so happy, Xiaoguo was overjoyed. She hugged him and kissed him a few times. Looking at his smiling face, it was worth it no matter how tired she was.
Zhuang Zhuang was extremely excited. He had not stopped eating since he opened his eyes. As soon as he finished eating, he wanted to invite Xiaohu and Xiaohua over.
Xiaoguo looked at the time and felt that the timing was right, so she agreed.
After Zhuang Zhuang left, Xiaoguo took the big broom and prepared to sweep away the snow. At the very least, she had to sweep away the snow covering the main entrance.
Xiaoguo scanned the house and soon got to the main entrance. She did not see Zhuang Zhuang around. She began to wonder why he was taking so long.
When he did not return, Xiaoguo continued with her sweeping. She swept the snow from the front door to the trees across from her house. She didn’t stop until she had cleared out an empty space in front of the main door.
At this moment, Zhuang Zhuang came over with Xiaohu and Xiaohua.
Now she knew why he had taken so long. It turned out that he didn’t go over to invite them. Instead, he had brought them over personally.
“Auntie.”
Xiaohua and Xiaohu greeted Xiaoguo politely.
“Okay, okay. Let’s go in.” Xiaoguo smiled and invited them in. She followed behind them and opened the door completely. Afraid that the two dogs would run out to play, Xiaoguo specially brought them indoors and reminded Zhuang Zhuang to keep an eye on them.
After receiving the boy’s answer, Xiaoguo went to the kitchen. She cleaned up the kitchen and washed up everything that had to be washed. As it was Zhuang Zhuang’s birthday today, Xiaoguo did not let him wash the dishes earlier. Now, she had to wash them herself.
Qin Anming returned quite early, earlier than Xiaoguo had expected. However, Ruyi was the only one who came along with him. This was also within Xiaoguo’s expectations. The shop must be so busy, it was already quite incredible that Ruyi could come.
“Sister Xiaoguo.” Ruyi got out of the car and explained to Xiaoguo immediately, “The shop is a little busy today. The rest had wanted to come, but they got so busy that they were unable to leave. In the end, I was sent here instead.”
Ruyi wasn’t lying. The shop was really busy today. When she woke up early in the morning, she was planning to close for the day so that everyone could celebrate Zhuang Zhuang’s birthday with him. Unexpectedly, when she opened the door, there was a large group of people waiting outside. They said that they had come after hearing about the shop’s reputation. Before she could say anything, they had entered and gotten themselves seated. Almost all the seats in the shop were filled up. It wouldn’t be appropriate to chase them away, so some of the staff had to stay behind to watch over the shop.