To let Zongzhi and Run'er spend another half day close to their mother, Ding Youwei, Chen Caozhi did not set out for Chen Family Cove early on the fourth day of the fifth month as he had before. He would leave after lunch at Ding Clan Villa.
Having a few more hours with her two children made Ding Youwei both happy and sad, and she worried that Agu would be waiting at the door-
Chen Caozhi reassured her, "Don't worry, Sister-in-law. Before I came, I told Mother that if we weren't home by noon, we wouldn't arrive until evening."
Ding Youwei said, "You're always so careful, little brother. You think everything through."
But that half day soon passed as well. As they parted, Run'er wrapped her arms around her mother Ding Youwei's fair neck and whispered, "Mother, don't be sad. Soon we'll be together and won't have to part anymore, won't we?"
Ding Youwei nodded hard, kissed Run'er's cheek, and lifted her two darling children into the ox cart. She smiled and waved goodbye, her dark eyes opened wide, not daring even to blink her long lashes, for her eyes brimmed with tears that would spill at a single blink.
The ox cart rumbled into motion, and Zongzhi and Run'er naturally began singing the poem Uncle Chou had taught them when they parted from their mother early in the fifth month last year:
In the courtyard stood a wondrous tree, its green leaves lush with blossoms.
I drew a branch down and broke off a flower, to give to the one I longed for.
Its fragrance filled my breast and sleeves, but the road was long; I could not send it.
What worth was there in such a thing? Only the long parting moved my heart.
A red sun gradually