She has had a strong interest in China since she was a child. She met and fell in love with Qin Ao when she was in college. The two got married after graduating from college. When Amy planned to give her a Chinese name, she thought that she could take her husband's surname after they got married.
So I rummaged through Chinese legends and historical documents, and finally holding a piece of white paper with the three words "Qin Shihuang" written on it, I ran to ask Qin Ao, what does she think of this name? Isn't it very domineering?
Qin Ao was so shocked that her jaw almost dropped. After a lot of talking, she explained to her that Qin Shihuang was not a name, but the honorific title given to him by the world after the death of King Ying Zheng of Qin. Only then did she give up the idea, but
The burden of the Chinese name fell on Qin Ao.
It's just that Qin Ao is usually busy with work, so as soon as he wrote it casually, the name Qin Xiaoai came out, which was more lazy than serious. Fortunately, Amy liked this name.
Although Qin Xiaoai has a strong interest in China, Chinese is too difficult to learn, and she did not grow up in a place with a strong Chinese environment like Chinatown. Therefore, although she learned some Chinese after falling in love with Qin Ao and getting married, most of them
When I communicated with Qin Ao, I still used English.
But Guo'er is different. After all, he is a child with strong learning ability. He has understood since he was a child that he should use Chinese when talking to his father and English when talking to his mother. The whole person is like a small machine. Between Chinese and English
Switch between them easily.
This is why, as soon as Amy arrived, she kept talking to Shen Mochen. Only Shen Mochen in the whole room could communicate with her in English and understand her three-legged cat-like Chinese.
Throughout breakfast, various discussions centered around Qin Ao's work and life in the United States.
After breakfast, the family invited some monks to chant sutras and pray for the deceased grandma. The ceremony would last for two days. Mom Taozi and Aunt Taozi continued to fold paper ingots. These were all to be burned to Grandma Taozi, so naturally they folded more and more paper ingots.
The more the merrier, Qin Xiaoai observed for a long time, then rolled up his sleeves and asked to participate in the activity of folding ingots.
Uncle Taozi, Dad Taozi, and Qin Ao were smoking nearby and chatting about work matters. Grandpa Taozi went back to his room to rest because he was not in good spirits.
The entire busy restaurant finally became quiet.
Shen Mochen went back to his room to write the topic. Taozi thought about it and followed him back to the room. Naturally, Guo'er, the little follower, clung to Taozi and followed him.
Then a scene like this appeared in the whole room.
Shen Mochen was sitting at the desk, lowering his head and writing the topic carefully. Taozi was lying on the bed, listening to the sound of monks chanting sutras outside, while flipping through a few books he borrowed from the library. Guoer was still stuck on Taozi at first.
From time to time, he would lean over to look at the book in her hand, but he was helpless because apart from the pictures, he couldn't understand any other text. In the end, he had to give up and lie down by the window, looking at the snowy scenery outside.
After a long time, Guo'er finally turned his excited little face and shouted towards Taozi: "Auntie, it's stopped snowing outside!"
Tao Zi raised her head when she heard the sound and looked out the window at the early sunny weather. A thick layer of snow had accumulated on the ground, reflecting the soft light against the blue sky.
