This summer, because of my grandma’s illness, my cousin came over to town. We had not met for quite a few years; therefore, my dad didn’t think we had any common topics any longer. In fact, I did find it hard to break the ice when we met again.

When I was a little boy growing up in Yunxian, my cousin was my best playmate. We played and learned together every day. Always sticking with each other, we were believed to be twins. Later, my family moved to Shiyan, where my parents thought I was able to get a better education. Back in Yunxian, my cousin got tired of school as time lapsed, and often hung out with some wrong guys. My dad came to look down upon him.

One day in the holidays I went to visit my grandma in the hospital. My cousin happened to be there. We share the same grandparents. While we were there, we hardly talked to each other. To make things easier, my mother rang up another cousin of mine, who is a girl and very good at communicating. The next day, this female cousin came too. We three went together to the park, ate some western-style meals and watched a film. We shared a lot. That night my cousin stayed at my home. After the adults went to bed, we chatted freely. I found he had changed a lot. He did go off the beaten track, but he is still good inside. My good grades do not necessarily mean that I am any better than him as a human anyway. We are just different in some aspects. He will always be my cousin and best pal.