-blue sky-

He is handsome, she is beautiful. They are the perfect match on heaven and earth.
When i looked into his eyes of gentleness, all i see is love.
When i looked into her eyes of tenderness, all i see is love.
He is my hero, she is my heroine.

He is Cao Ji, she is Huang Qi Zhen.

I am born in the family of Cao. Cao2 cao1 de4 Cao2.
Im proud and love my surname. Not only because it is unique and rare, most of all, i bear my grandfather's name. (Of course, proud of my dad too)

I have a vauge recollection of my first five years of my life. But i know i spent it in Malaysia, under the care of my grandparents. I loved those days. The whole famliy lived under one roof. Big family. My grandparents has ten children. Very well balanced. Five boys and five girls. My dad is the number three from the boys side but is in the fifth position when all the slibings add together. The sequence goes like this: boy, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl, boy. Hmm.. im thinking, if my grandmother was to go on reproduce, maybe i would have another auntie? Hah.

Hmmm.. I dont think my parents were with me much in the first five years of my life. They were in Singapore working, trying hard to get me an entry permit to Singapore, i think. And only managed to get me in here only when i was five. But i thank God that i have my first five years of my life living with my grandparents. Though i may not remember everything, but i do know that i have stored those feelings in my heart. The feeling of living in an extended family having everyone cramped into a big house that soon to be outgrown.. doing things together, as one. I think its a gift, that my family is very united. When one was in trouble, the whole family will stand together and fight. Thats the condition that i was brought up in. I love the spirit. But what i saw at that time, was the fruits that my grandparents had bore so far for that time. Their past, to me was a glorious one.. i believe everyone has one.. But mine was an extraordinary one. Simply because i am born in this family.

My dad likes to ah1 gong1 jiang2 gu3. Whenever we got a bit spendthrift, he will yakdudodido.. telling me how bad life was when he was young. Though im not really interested in his lecture, but the stories always captivate me.

My father used to live in a small hut in a forest. Imagine, a family of twelve living in a small hut, at the same time trying to fight against any possibilities of getting attacked by any hungry animals. My grandfather would work hard in the plantations and my grandmother would look after the rascals in the home. My father would tell me how my grandmother would set up fire around the house when the night falls.. alone, to protect her children from any harm. How brave was she.They were poor, all they had was just a pair of hands, working hard to bring bread on the table and to do their best to send the children to school. The rest was history. Too much to elebroate on. I feel that its nearly impossible to write down every tear and blood shed to bring the family out from the wilderness to the promised land. To my five year-old memory, we were already living in a big terrace house with six rooms, owning a few pieces of land and plantations. By that time, seven of the children were married. I remembered i saw my grandfather and my uncles building the second level of the house together to accomodate the multiplication. Err.. only the paternal families were living together. That was really something, wasnt it?

Now, its not difficult to spot my grandparents' house during big festivals or special occasions like wedding or my grandparents' birthday. Cars would lined up on the side of the road, slowing down the traffic. But who cares. Ha.
From nothing, now they have almost everything. I admired them for this. To date, the head count of my e-x-t-e-n-d-e-d family is over one hundred. (Should i pity my husband-to-be? HAha)

Got to get on to work. Will continue again.