Colorful years

"Brother Congcong, come out quickly, let's go find Guigui and Houhou to play!"

The sun was shining brightly, a gentle breeze was blowing, and the weather was pleasant.

Just after finishing breakfast, his cousin San San, who was only three months younger than Cong Cong, couldn't wait to run to his door and urged him to go play with his friends from the same production team.

While Congcong is inviting his friends, I'd like to say something unrelated, because what I'm about to tell you is really interesting.

Strangely enough, it seems that the two brothers, Zhang Zhong and Zhang Hou, had a competition to have children, each having eight children.

Except for the second child of Zhang Zhongjia and the penultimate child of Zhang Houjia, whose birth dates did not match, the other seven children were born in the same timeframe.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Congcong and Sansan are the same age.

Congcong didn't have many playmates when he was a child, only three.

Besides my cousin San San, there are also Gui Gui and Hou Hou. Hou Hou is the same age as Cong Cong and San San, while Gui Gui is one year older than the other three.

The three playmates have different personalities: San San is well-behaved, Gui Gui is steady, and Hou Hou is kind and earnest.

At that time, children a few years older than them were busy with a lot of housework and had no time to play; children younger than them were not fun, so Congcong's range of playmates was small.

There were only five or six other kids in the same team who were also around the same age. But the two kids from the Sun family on the other side of the river were too far away to play together. So, all they had were these three friends.

At that time, children in rural areas didn't have money to buy toys, unlike children in the city who had all sorts of toys and could play alone at home.

Therefore, children in the countryside can only play games that require playing with friends. Besides games that city kids also play, such as hide-and-seek, house, and hopscotch, Congcong and his friends also play jacks, hopscotch, throwing sticks, spinning tops, and so on.

After finding Gui Gui and Hou Hou, the four of them played games like jacks, hopscotch, and stick throwing.

The game of catching pebbles involves taking five pebbles of roughly the same size, tossing one into the air, quickly grabbing the other four from the ground, and then catching the tossed pebble.

This process repeats itself, with the goal of seeing who catches the most.

Picking up pebbles may seem simple, but it actually requires a lot of skill and practice over time to be able to pick up a lot.

Although Congcong has been playing for several years, he can only catch five or six, with his best result being eight.

Gui Gui, however, is a master at catching pebbles; her record is over twenty. Every time Cong Cong watches her catch pebbles, he watches intently, afraid of missing any of her amazing moves.

With a gentle toss of her right hand, Gui Gui sent the pebble streaking through the air like a shooting star.

Her eyes were fixed on the pebbles, while her left hand swiftly reached down and accurately grabbed four other pebbles. Immediately afterwards, her right hand caught the tossed pebble perfectly. The toss, the grab, the catch—each movement was seamless and fluid, as natural as flowing water.

Gui Gui's fingers are long and nimble, and every movement is full of power and rhythm.

Her gaze was focused and resolute, as if she were having a silent conversation with the pebbles. Her arms moved, sending the pebbles flying through the air in beautiful arcs.

Congcong watched with rapt attention, completely captivated by Guigui's superb skills. He secretly resolved to learn from Guigui and improve his own pebble-grabbing technique.

After getting tired of playing with pebbles, the four of them started playing hopscotch.

Draw several squares on the ground. Hop into the first square on one foot, then hop into the second, third, and so on until you reach the last square, then hop back. See who finishes first. This game seems simple, but it requires a certain level of balance.

Congcong carefully lifted his foot and slowly hopped into the first square. His body swayed slightly as he tried to maintain his balance. His eyes were fixed on the square in front of him as he hopped forward step by step.

Gui Gui, on the other hand, appeared relaxed and at ease. Her steps were light and agile, each step landing steadily within the squares. Her body moved freely between the squares like a nimble little bird.

As Congcong played hopscotch, sweat gradually beaded on his forehead, but he persevered and kept jumping forward.

Gui Gui maintained her lead throughout, her face beaming with a confident smile.

In the end, Gui Gui was the first to hop through all the squares and won the game.

Although Congcong lost, he was not discouraged. He knew that he still had a lot to learn and improve.

Congcong is the tallest, but his balance is not as good as San San and Gui Gui, so he always loses to them in hopscotch.

"Brother Congcong, how come you lost again, haha!" San San laughed so hard she almost fell over, but Congcong was a little annoyed.

"I refuse to believe I can't beat you guys!" Congcong said defiantly, and then started a new round of competition.