On the second day of the lunar new year, my brother drove me to the countryside to deliver gifts.

In addition to those for our grandfather and grandmother, we also visited Aunt San.

Aunt San was still in good health.

My brother brought out a bucket of fish entrusted to him by our grandfather and conveyed his greetings.

Aunt San smiled and said, "Okay, in a few days, I will go to the market and stop by to see him, bringing him a few big pumpkins."

The sky was overcast, hinting at snow.

Aunt San urged us to hurry home, fearing the road might get slippery at night, especially since the rural cement road was particularly narrow.

Just as we left the yard, she came running up holding a red and white striped plastic ball.

It looked like a toy, with a thick line embedded in the ball, connected to a plastic ring, now covered in dust from being left out for so long.

She said, "Xiao Zhe, this is also a keepsake of your mother's. When you were very young, she said she wanted to lose weight, so she bought this at the market and often brought it to play in my yard. One day, she left it here and forgot to take it with her. The day she went out with your father, she met me on the riverbank, waved to me, and said, 'Aunt, just keep it at your house, I'll come over to play with you next time...'"

"Xiao Zhe, take it back with you as a memento."

My brother solemnly brought the toy back to the car, a hint of redness in the corner of his eye.

Indeed, snowflakes began to fall on the return journey.

My brother drove steadily, the car was warm, and I felt so comfortable that I started to doze off.

I cracked open the passenger window a bit, letting in the crisp air of the snow.

Eventually, I fell asleep in the car.

Anyway, with my brother there, he would take me home.