Help Grandma wash the dishes

　　The weather in my hometown hasn't been great for the past few days; it's been raining and windy. I've been writing a lot of things related to ancient times, either novels (I'm thinking about how to continue the story in the collection on the writing website called "Three Lives, Three Worlds, Reincarnation on the Other Shore") or ancient-style passages (I've recently become fond of these and wanted to try writing one myself; the piece that seems to be an ancient-style passage, "Remembering the Past

　　," was written on a whim). Today, thankfully, the rain has stopped in my hometown. My grandparents are busy making wine, their small goal to be completed before the New Year. Going to my grandma's house for breakfast every morning is one of my must-do things lately. Watching my grandparents busy themselves and thinking about their love for me, I felt I should do something for them, so I thought of helping my grandma wash the dishes.

　　Grandma's dishes are usually left unwashed until the next day. It's not just my family (me, my dad, and my younger sister) who eat at Grandma's house for all three meals a day; my fourth aunt and my uncle who comes to visit from time to time also come. For me, whenever I see Grandma busy, whenever I see a mountain of dishes on the table, and unless I have something urgent to do, I'll help her wash the dishes. This has happened several times.

　　Sure enough, after breakfast today, as soon as I offered to help Grandma wash the dishes, she agreed without hesitation. Every time I help Grandma wash the dishes, I do it with a relaxed attitude. Even if no one is there to chat with me, I enjoy it. In my heart, helping Grandma wash the dishes from time to time is a pleasure. So, following the dishwashing procedure, I first took the bowls out of the basin and placed them on the cutting board, then poured in hot water, and then washed the chopsticks and bowls. I put the dishwashing oil next to the basin, poured a tiny bit of it on the chopsticks, and leisurely rubbed them with my hands. Grandpa watched this process, and suddenly he came to my side, glancing at me every now and then, which made me feel a little uncomfortable for a moment.

　　Grandpa watched for a while, seemingly understanding something, and then said something with an air of authority.

　　"You can wash the dishes."

　　These words made me quite embarrassed. To be honest, I hate it when elders stare at me while I'm doing chores, especially washing dishes. Sure

　　enough, Grandpa left after saying that, and I immediately felt relieved. I never imagined that I, who wasn't even that nervous entering the exam hall, would be so nervous about washing dishes while being watched.

　　Because I didn't check the time, I'm not sure how long I washed the dishes. I estimated it to be about half an hour, since I washed them twice. The second time was simple; I didn't use any dish soap or rub the dishcloth, and after washing the dishes, I just poured out the water and rinsed the bowl with clean water.

　　This happened at 8:45 AM on Friday, December 14, 2018. I think it's worth remembering, so I'm writing it down here.

　　Life is a mirror; if you smile at it, it will smile back at you. Feel it with a sincere heart, and you'll find that many small things we do around us are actually very meaningful.

　　(The End)