Shining Fireflies - A Selection of Masterpieces by the Renowned Children's Literature Writer Qin Wenjun

Author: Qin Wenjun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: San Hao Po has already settled comfortably on the bamboo couch, her hands spread out, with pickled radish strips turning yellow on top. She said, "Come pick them up, five each."
"Five? So many!" Xiao Yang said. "Thank you, San Hao Po!"
I imitated her and said, "Thank you, San Hao Po."—Today, San Hao Po was especially generous; last time, she only gave us three each.
San Hao Po said, "Let's play a riddle game first."
"I can't guess it, I'm really dumb, I can't guess anything."
They all laughed. Xiao Yang said, "You're not dumb at all. Last time, San Hao Po gave us riddles that we've guessed over ten times already; we've even memorized them."
So that's how it is! I laughed out loud too.
San Hao Po said, "You're all quite smart, you can read and sing, but you just don't know how to do things..."
"Learning to do things is hard, right?"
"It's not hard, you'll get better with practice. Xiao Shi, braiding hair is quite easy too. Divide one braid into three strands, keep them even, and it'll look neat."
"San Hao Po, can you teach me how to do things tomorrow morning?"
"Sure. If you know how to do things, your parents will worry less."
Xiao Yang and I both exclaimed, "San Hao Po, teach us how to do things!"
San Hao Po chewed on the radish strips and said, "There's a lot to learn about doing things. Like the vegetables your parents buy, ugh, they're expensive and not worth it. I buy taros with red stems, greens with short stalks, and meat without the first cut. Whatever goes into the basket is food, but they don't know how to calculate! Don't look at them as engineers; they can't do simple calculations."
Xiao Yang said, "San Hao Po, can you teach us how to cook rice first?"
"Sure. I'll teach you tomorrow afternoon. You're smart, you'll learn in two tries. San Hao Po is sleepy now, don't disturb me."
San Hao Po tilted her head and fell asleep.
The three of us sat together chewing radish strips. I said, "I'll learn how to braid hair tomorrow morning and cook rice in the afternoon. By the time summer vacation ends, I'll be as skilled as San Hao Po. Every day, I'll open the stove door, cook rice, and Mom won't be in a hurry anymore."
Xiao Yang said, "I still want to learn how to cook dishes!"
Bo Bo got annoyed and said, "You're only talking about doing things, and it's making Grandma forget the rest of the story."
Oh, there's no time now. San Hao Po is already snoring. I really want to wake her up and ask her to finish the story. But no, she's had a long day; let her sleep.
Xiao Yang said, "Sister, we have a question in our summer homework called 'Read and Recite,' and you've already recited it, right?"
"Is it 'Song of Beauty"? I can't recite it."
"I'll recite it with you. Come, one, two."
"The beauty of a peacock lies in its tail;
The beauty of a magpie lies in its beak;
The beauty of a child lies in their character."