October 1970, Cokeworth.
The weather in Britain had begun to cool towards the end of autumn this month, with daily highs not exceeding twenty degrees Celsius. Moreover, the weather in England is unpredictable; it often rains suddenly, and the gloomy weather can send a chill to the heart, leading to numerous cases of depression.
But today, the weather was bright and sunny at the Evans family home, for relatives had come to visit—relatives from back East. Yes, Mr. Evans's sister married a Chinese man, and they had not seen each other for a long time after their marriage. Today was the day his sister's family would return to Britain, and Mr. Evans was looking forward to it.
She continued to look out of the house, occasionally adjusting her clothes and making sure her manners were impeccable. Dressing inappropriately could create the impression of disrespect, and she definitely didn't want her sister and brother-in-law to think that way.
"Darling, Cindy and Lin won't be back until 10 o'clock; you're so impatient," said Mrs. Evans, smiling as she placed a homemade apple pie on the table. Even though she said this, what she actually did was quite honest. She had set a table full of delicious food: steak Wellington, roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, Scotch eggs, and several kinds of pie—enough for the whole family to enjoy several meals.
Mr. Evans had only met his sister, Cindy, a few times. This time, when he heard that they were going to be staying in Britain for a while and would have plenty of opportunities to spend time together, he didn't want to make a bad impression.
Mr. Evans ignored his wife's pleas to calm down and continued pacing. "Cindy went to boarding school from a young age, and when she grew up, she went to China. I don't know how long they'll stay this time, but I hope they can stay for a long time. I hear China is very unstable right now..."
Mr. Evans's parents died at an early age, leaving his sister Cindy as his only relative; the two siblings were dependent on each other. Who knew that when Cindy was eleven years old, she was suddenly whisked away to boarding school by an old man with a long white beard and a floor-length purple cloak? The siblings hugged each other and cried for a long time because they had to be separated. Thank goodness they had summer and winter holidays; they could still see each other.
Later, Mr. Evans learned that his sister was a wizard and that the boarding school she attended was Hogwarts, a place specifically for training young wizards in magic. Mr. Evans was very jealous and a little envious. After all, having such cool abilities was indeed something to be desired, but unfortunately, he didn't have it. But as soon as he thought that the person he was jealous of was actually his beloved sister, he felt that everything was acceptable.
"Mommy, have Aunt Cindy and the others arrived?" A girl in a pink dress was sitting on the second-floor staircase railing, swinging her legs and smilingly asking. With her long, dark red hair and almond-shaped green eyes, she looked like a beautiful doll—lively and lovely.
Mrs. Evans looked up and saw her youngest daughter doing something dangerous again and couldn't help but warn her, "Lily, why are you sitting there again? Come down quickly! Cindy and the others will be here soon; you're being very rude."
Lily stuck out her tongue and stood up. "Then I'll go get Petunia." She ran to Petunia's bedroom door and knocked loudly, "Petunia, come out quickly! Auntie's almost here."
"I'm coming!" Petunia answered from inside the room. Then the door opened. Petunia's room was always clean; in fact, it was spotless now. The wooden floor gleamed as if it had been freshly polished. The room had a single bed, a desk, and a wardrobe. The table was covered with books and stationery, and the wardrobe was filled with various clothes, from light to dark, neatly arranged according to their length. The other items were also neatly arranged, just as they should be; if someone with OCD saw them, they would definitely fall in love.
"Oh my God, Petunia, your room is already tidy enough; there's no need to tidy it up again specifically."
"No, Lily, that's not rude." Her room was to be temporarily lent to her aunt's little cousin, so of course, it had to be clean and tidy to be appreciated. Lily couldn't accept the phrase "she can't be rude" that her mother and Petunia often said; she felt that they cared too much about what others thought and that it wasn't really a good idea to hold back for others.
"Okay, let's go downstairs now; my mom is coming to us in a hurry." Petunia nodded, returned to her room, placed a bouquet of daisies in a vase on her desk, then opened the curtains to let the sunlight fill the room, and finally closed the door and went downstairs with Lily.
As they went down, they encountered Mrs. Evans, who was untying her apron. "Ah, you're down! Wonderful! Cindy and the others called; they just got out of the car and could be here any moment. We need to get ready to welcome them!"
The family quickly gathered and walked together to the door, eagerly awaiting the arrival of their guests. From a distance, someone was walking towards them from the street. They looked like a family of three: the man was wearing a simple white shirt, a black knit sweater, and matching work pants, carrying an old-fashioned flat suitcase.
The woman was dressed more elegantly: a white dress with a long beige trench coat, her long golden hair cascading over her shoulders, and delicate, beautiful facial features. She was holding the hand of a curious ten-year-old girl who was looking around.
Mr. Evans had already rushed outside to greet them. "Sister!" Mr. Evans hugged Cindy tightly; he was an emotional man and had already begun to wipe away tears. Cindy hadn't seen her brother in a long time and started to cry as well, "Brother."
Seeing the two embrace and cry, the others fell silent. Thankfully, Mrs. Evans reacted in time and didn't neglect the father and daughter. "Lin, welcome to Britain." Mrs. Evans extended her hand and shook hands with Lin.
Lin was a quiet man, only smiling and nodding. Then Mrs. Evans bent down to look at the little girl and, smiling, said, "Wow, this adorable girl must be your daughter, right? Can you introduce her to us?"
"Yes, her name is Lily, and she is turning ten this year," Lin said, gently pushing Lily forward and smiling as he introduced her.
Mr. Evans noticed what was happening. He immediately released his sister, first shook hands with Lin, then hugged Lily and kissed her on the cheek, saying, "Ah, I was so excited; I completely overlooked my lovely little niece. I'm so sorry."
He was quite stylish, using the cheek-kissing gesture that was becoming popular in France to show sincerity with Lily. Mr. Evans's exaggerated words and sincere kiss on the cheek instantly stunned Lily, who had never encountered a stranger before, and she couldn't speak for a long time.
Lily grew up in China, but her family was relatively busy. Although her mother occasionally taught her some English, perhaps because her language skills weren't very high, her English wasn't very fluent. She could only say one sentence: "Nice to meet you."