Fuwa

Zhou Xi burned the letter.

The spark struggled on the ground for a moment and then turned into ashes, shivering and waiting for the judgment of the wind.

Isn't there a saying that goes, "A short pain is better than a long one?"

She knew her own character. Every time she looked at it, she would feel pain. In that case, she should not keep it. Only by leaving everything behind could she feel relieved, right?

The bitterness spread wildly, almost drowning out the fragile strength. I didn't know how much time had passed, but my hands and feet were already cold and numb. Zhou Xi forced the tangled mess into a door and turned to leave.

It’s too cold. Come back when the sky is blue and the cicadas are chirping in midsummer.

After we came down the mountain, we could smell the fragrance coming to us intermittently. It was someone making buns.

Making buns is a long-standing custom for entertaining guests here, and they need to set aside a few days before the Chinese New Year to make them.

She hasn't done this at home for many years, after all, it requires a lot of people to help.

As far as she can remember, when she was a child, she participated in kneading the dough among many steps. She kneaded the dough into round pieces and then placed them on a bamboo basket covered with white gauze.

And they need to be arranged at a certain distance. They cannot be too close, otherwise they will all stick together after steaming. They cannot be too far apart, after all, there are so many to steam.

Set up a big stove, put up a big pot, put an iron rack, put the bamboo basket on it, pour in appropriate water, and cover it with a lid.

She and Yang Jinyang were always assigned by adults to watch the fire. They both wore thick cotton jackets and hats that covered their ears. Each of them had a small stool and a fire stick.

The firewood was picked up from the mountain and had strange shapes. When Zhou Xi was bored, he would pick out the most special ones and play with them in his hands, but in the end he would throw them into the fire and then go find another one that was even more special.

Yang Jinyang was not good at lighting fires and never paid attention to which direction the wind was blowing or which side was facing the wind.

When the wind blew, he sat there stupidly without running away, and was attacked by thick smoke. His eyes were so stinging that he couldn't open them, and he jumped up and down like a blind man.

When the buns come out of the pot, they are hot and scalding hot. According to their custom, they put a little red on the white buns, saying that eating buns with red dots will bring good luck.

Xu Shulan loved to tease her and would always poke her in the middle of the forehead with a pair of red-stained chopsticks.

Speak——

The lucky doll is here!

"ah--"

"elder sister!"

A red afterimage came into view, and its short legs ran and ran, and finally hid behind Zhou Xi's legs.

Zhou Xi's eyelids jumped. It turned out that a little kid was being chased and bitten by a chicken - a common game in rural areas, a game involving roosters, and a nightmare for children.

In front of me was a rooster with a big red crown. Although its eyes were small, its glare was fierce. Its sharp beak was howling, and its wings were shaking, as if it was ready to attack at any time.

But he seemed to be afraid of Zhou Xi who was so tall, and he paced gracefully in a test manner, firing fog bombs one after another.

If it turned out as she expected, as soon as she let her guard down, this shameless chicken would immediately attack.

"Sister! Cluck!"

"elder sister!"

"It's chasing me! Woohoo!"

"It's okay, don't be afraid."

Zhou Xi picked up a stick from the ground, held it in his hand, and looked at the beautiful big rooster.

The big rooster must be most careful about its feathers, so he plucked two off for the little kid to play with.

“…”

"Thank you, sister!"

The little girl's crisp voice combined with the sharp crowing of the rooster as it fled was particularly beautiful.

"Sister, you are so awesome! This feather is so beautiful!" The little girl looked at Zhou Xi with her big dark eyes. She had just cried, and her eyelashes were stuck together, making her look like a little cat.

"As long as you like it, go home."

"elder sister……"

"Can you please take me back? I'm afraid it will bite me again!"

"Okay." Zhou Xi felt something warm stuffed into his hand.

When she looked down, she saw that it was a little girl who was holding her hand as if she were a good friend.

What bad intentions does the child have? She can't just spoil the fun and pull her hand away.

"Sister, my home is..."

The little girl was wearing a red long down jacket that went below her knees and a scarf. She looked like a dumpling, and her short legs were as big as motors.

Zhou Xi slowed down his pace and walked slowly with her.

She remembered that when the Chinese New Year was approaching, Xu Shulan always liked to dress her up in festive red, and then take her hand and go to her grandma's house in town to play.

The old man always liked to feed some chickens and ducks at home. Xu Shulan chatted with people, but she, a little kid, didn't like to listen to the chatter or eat, and couldn't stay there at all.

So a man ran outside to play and was having a lot of fun when he was attacked by a blind chicken.

She was small and short at that time, and the big rooster flew high in the sky, taller than her head, as if it wanted to swallow her up.

He was showing off his sword in front of Guan Gong, and little Zhou Xi laughed at him coldly.

The big rooster can't stand provocation the most. It will turn red and raise its throat, and then the human-rooster war is about to break out.

Little Zhou Xi was quick and grabbed the chicken's neck, strangling it successfully. She didn't care that the chicken's wings were flapping and would dirty her beautiful clothes. She just sat on it and started plucking the chicken's feathers.

Finally, the big rooster was disfigured and turned into a bald chicken, and ran away in tears. She entered the house, and several old ladies saw that she was covered in dust and her new clothes had a hole in them. They felt sorry for her and comforted her, and quickly found a towel to wipe her clean.

Xu Shulan didn't scold her, but praised her for her great strength. However, she also mocked her for being incompetent, saying that if she had called the big devil Yang Jinyang to come along, she would not have suffered any loss.

In the evening, after having dinner at Grandma Bai's house, we followed etiquette and stayed in the tent set up by the host to watch opera and drink tea.

The weather was cold, so they piled a lot of firewood together in the open air. The fire crackled and the flames shot up. Everyone gathered around it, warming their hands, chatting and gossiping, killing time.

We just finished our meal and the show hasn’t started yet.

From where Zhou Xi was sitting, he could see a corner at the back, where several people were gathered around a paint-chipped performance car. Some were putting on makeup, some were looking at their phones, and some were rehearsing the movements they would make when they went on stage.

Zhou Xi doesn't like singing opera. The humming and humming sounds particularly creepy at night.

She has watched it countless times since she was a child. The more she watched, the sleepier she became, and she felt sincerely sad in the trance.

The opera singers wear heavy costumes and put on heavy makeup, so their original appearance cannot be seen. They look like monsters in storybooks, but people regard this as entertainment.

There are few people in the countryside, mostly old people and children. The big lights in the shed make their shadows very long, as if they have lived a confused life.

"Tongtong, are you cold?" Zhong Yinan sat next to Zhou Xi.

"It's not cold, Grandpa Zhong."

When the three members of the Zhou family left, they did not hire any opera troupe. Perhaps it was because of the education they received that these were feudal dregs.

The phone started ringing wildly. Zhou Xi lowered his head. Xiao Xiaoyu was coming back and the final grades were out.

She did quite poorly on the exam and fell out of the top 200 in her grade, and many people asked after her.

But she smiled and said it was exactly 250.

The number is auspicious.

——

After sending Grandma Bai off, Qin Ting went back immediately. Zhou Xi happened to be going to the city to give her a ride.

It was New Year's Day and there were traffic jams everywhere. It took them a long time to get into the city.

High-speed rail station.

"Have you thought about it?"

Zhou Xi was wrapped in a camel-colored scarf, with half of her face buried in it: "Well, thank you for your help, Mom."

"What you said is true. I'll call you again after your Uncle He has finished the process. Don't worry, although your final exam results are not very good, but with the previous results, you will have no problem getting into a good class."

Qin Ting heard that Zhou Xi had been ill during the period leading up to the end of the semester, and the same was true when Xu Shulan passed away, and he never recovered.

"good."

Zhou Xi hasn't told Yang Wen and the others yet. She wants to wait for a few days because everyone is very tired these days.

Zhou Xi stood on the platform and watched Qin Ting wave to her, then went up with the suitcase.

There were a lot of people around, all carrying bags, all back to celebrate the New Year. Zhou Xi was empty-handed and looked out of place, but as he followed them out, he was also submerged in the crowd.

…

"Sister Zhou!"

Xiao Xiaoyu dropped the suitcase, rushed over, and gave him a cold hug.

"I'm back!"

"I'm glad you're back."

Xiao Xiaoyu touched Zhou Xi's cold face. Some things between friends don't need to be said, just a look can make them know.

I have said too many words of comfort on the phone. If I bring it up again, it would be like opening the scars again and again.

"It's okay, let's go, Gao Liyang is still waiting for us." Zhou Xi smiled and patted Xiao Xiaoyu.

"good."

"Eat, eat, Sister Zhou, let me tell you..."

The welcome party for Xiao Xiaoyu was scheduled at a hotpot restaurant. In the middle of winter, everyone wanted to warm their stomachs and have some fun, so the hotpot restaurant was doing a booming business. Gao Liyang and Lu Zisheng had to come early to grab a good seat.

Xiao Xiaoyu took the menu and added a lot of food. Gao Liyang saw that the table was full and felt that she hadn't eaten anything good in eight hundred years.

"Oh my, my Yu, how come you are so open!"

When Xiao Xiaoyu and Zhou Xi came over, Lu Zisheng was mixing the side dishes in the side dish area. If Gao Liyang hadn't been sitting at this table, he wouldn't have dared to recognize him.

Xiao Xiaoyu dyed her hair green.

"This is called having the courage to try. Does it look good?" Xiao Xiaoyu turned her head and asked Zhou Xi.

"Ah, it looks good."

Zhou Xi thought that while he was still young, he could still have some fun with it. In two years, Xiao Xiaoyu would definitely not have the courage to do that. With the way she loves handsome guys, it would be against moral standards.

Gao Liyang found that Xiao Xiaoyu's hair was obviously thinner, with broken ends and a bit rough. He reached out and touched his own hair, fortunately he still had plenty of hair.

Zhou Xi sat opposite him and saw Gao Liyang's actions. He gave him a colorful review in his mind and thought that yellow hair should suit him very well.

With pierced ears, ripped jeans, and glasses hanging in his shirt pocket, he can go out and rock the streets, and he'll definitely rock the town. But when you think of him wearing a big flowered apron, the contrast is even more eye-catching than the other.

"Why are you looking at me?"

Gao Liyang felt scared. The person opposite him stared at him for a long time, and his expression kept changing like a Sichuan opera face-changing.

"It's okay, you look good."

The sudden compliment made Gao Liyang's eyes go dark. It was really painful to hit him straight.

Xiao Xiaoyu and Lu Zisheng stopped bickering, only the pot was still gurgling.

I'm most afraid of the sudden silence in the air

Zhou Xi glanced at the two of them calmly: "You are beautiful, and you are handsome."

Gao Liyang: “…”

"Haha, it's so cold."

"Why is it so cold?" Lu Zisheng got goosebumps all over his body. He couldn't stand Zhou Xi's praise.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

“I’m dying of laughter!”

"No, what the hell are you two playing at?" Xiao Xiaoyu fell on Zhou Xi, her green hair looking so beautiful.

Gao Liyang was speechless and wanted to cut Zhou Xi's head open to see why he was so awesome.

"Eat it."

"By the way, Sister Zhou, please stay for a day. Yuanyuan will be back tomorrow, and we can get together." Xiao Xiaoyu racked her brains for a lot of funny words on the way back, but she felt warm enough when she found that a group of people could get together to eat hot pot.

"Okay, it's been a while."

Zhou Xi originally planned to stay in the city for two days, and she wanted to go to the overpass.

Their family used to live over there on the overpass. After Zhou Huaiyan passed away, Xu Shulan wanted to go back to her hometown to rest. Zhou Xi thought that studying anywhere was the same, so he went back with Xu Shulan.

Later, Qin Ting left and the house on the overpass became empty. Only a year later, I would go there to stay during the Chinese New Year.

Zhou Xi came to the city to attend high school, but Yuxiu was far away from the overpass, one to the north and the other to the south. During the month-long vacation, Yang Wen and his family didn't want Zhou Xi to be too busy, so they let her live with them.

"Yes, it's been half a year. By the way, there's also Chen Yu. We must call him out tomorrow." Xiao Xiaoyu picked up a piece of meat, coated it with condiments, took a bite, and felt satisfied.

Zhou Xi knew that Chen Yu had nothing to do at home except studying hard.

"I'll definitely make it. If he dares not come, I'll go straight to his house and kill him!" Lu Zisheng also knew what kind of person Chen Yu was. When he saw the results last night, he almost jumped up and down. Damn it, Chen Yu got first place again. He must be secretly happy.

Xiao Xiaoyu and a few others wanted to make Zhou Xi happy, so they searched their minds for words during the meal.

After dinner, Xiao Xiaoyu took Zhou Xi out to play again.

The traitor Gao Liyang said he had something important to tell him and had to run away first, but he refused to tell anyone even if he was beaten to death.

Xiao Xiaoyu took the lead and hugged Gao Yuanyuan, Lu Zisheng and Chen Yu were in the middle, and Gao Liyang hid behind Zhou Xi and listened to their chatter.

"Xiaoyu..."

"Yuanyuan..."

Gao Liyang remained alert at all times, fearing that the excited Braised Pork would harass him.

Gao Yuanyuan's hair has grown longer and fallen to her waist, and the flesh on her face has become less, making her look a little more grown up.

Lu Zisheng's most intuitive and direct feeling was that she had become more beautiful.

"Chen Yu, don't go home tonight. Let's go to my house and play games. Let's go!"

"I bought a chicken and need to feed it." Chen Yu was staring at a black figure in the distance and was distracted.

"It's okay, it's okay. Brother Chicken won't die if he doesn't eat for a day, but the competition is about to end tonight, and I almost finished the dungeon. You can stay with me."

Lu Zisheng followed Chen Yu's gaze with his fiery eyes.

"I……"

"Wait a moment!"

Lu Zisheng rushed out, caught a man, and pulled him over.

Your mom and dad!

Le Cheng wanted to kick Lu Zisheng to death. What the hell, can’t he just be a passerby?

"Why are you so stubborn? Do you want to run away when you see me? I didn't ask you to play games!" Lu Zisheng grabbed Le Cheng's arm.

Le Cheng smiled, he couldn't escape, five pairs of eyes were staring at him.

"Wow! Hot pot, long time no see!" Xiao Xiaoyu waved her hand.

Gao Yuanyuan leaned close to Xiao Xiaoyu's ear and said, "It seems like I've become more handsome, a little bit."

"Yes, yes, he is very cool and handsome." Xiao Xiaoyu covered her mouth.

Le Cheng nodded: "You're back."

"Yeah, yeah, I just got back, let's play games together!"

Lu Zisheng rolled his eyes at Le Cheng and said sarcastically, "Tsk, I'm not playing games anymore. You can't even yell at me every day. What do you mean by 'I need to study'?"

"Say that again!" Le Cheng gritted his teeth behind his back, "Shut up! I'll buy you a skin!"

Lu Zisheng's eyes lit up: "Okay!"

"Why are you here?" Xiao Xiaoyu asked curiously.

Le Cheng paused, not letting his eyes wander: "I'm here to buy New Year's goods."

Chen Yu stared at Le Cheng. Although he was wearing a hat that covered most of his eyes, he could still see the bruises under his eyes when he looked up occasionally. It seemed that he had been out playing a lot.

Lu Zisheng sneered in his heart: Master Le, I'll just listen to your boast! People who don't know you well might believe what you say, but people who know you well won't believe you at all!

"Oh, so that's how it is. Come on, let's eat together! It'll be more lively with more people!"

"No, I have something to do later, you guys take your time and play."

"Okay, bye!"

"Um."

Le Cheng's appearance was just a small episode, and the few people returned to their original formation.

"It's too obvious, why don't you cover it up?" Zhou Xi felt that Gao Liyang was very close to her, and she could even see the mist sprayed out by Gao Liyang.

"There's nothing to hide. They all know, but they don't care about me."

Xiao Xiaoyu and the others had long known that Gao Liyang was afraid of dogs, and they even laughed at him, saying that it would be better to put hope in the dog than in them.

We had hotpot yesterday, and today a few of us switched to barbecue. The kids were very happy about the braised pork, saying, "Woof woof woof, there's meat to eat."

Gao Liyang finally couldn't stand the dog circling around them while they were eating, so he dragged Zhou Xi to eat the crab pot next to the barbecue.

He paid the bill, and Zhou Xi had no objection to following his financial sponsor, as they ate wherever they went.

Seeing the two people being alone together, Xiao Xiaoyu expressed her contempt for Gao Liyang. He was stealing her man, huh!

Gao Liyang was bored waiting for the meal, so he opened the birthday gift Gao Yuanyuan gave him, a small desk lamp.

No, it should be described as a big light bulb. As soon as Gao Liyang took it apart and pressed the switch, it seemed as if the strong light could be felt within a few miles. Not only he accepted it, but many people also accepted it.

Zhou Xi's eyes were almost blinded by the light, and he glared at Gao Liyang.

Gao Liyang opened his eyes wide and expressed his injustice: Oh my god, it’s the lamp’s fault!

Countless eyes fell on them, and Gao Liyang hurriedly turned it off. What a nice light, who's this from? It's a conscientious merchant, give him a thumbs up.

"and yours?"

"I haven't decided yet."

"Didn't I ask you this before the final exam? Tsk tsk tsk! Zhou Xiaoxi, I'm so sad!" Gao Liyang covered his chest, looking very serious.

Zhou Xi pursed his lips, loaded himself, and gave him an Oscar for Best Actor.

"What do you want?"

“Tsk!”

“Tsk!”

“Tsk!”

"Forget it!"

Gao Liyang pulled something out of the oversized pocket of his down jacket: "I'll give it to you."

There was an amulet in Zhou Xi's hand. It felt very comfortable to touch, with dense stitching, but the seal on it was a little crooked.

"I had this specially blessed at a temple. What do you think?"

"Well, keep working hard." Zhou Xi poked it, and his heart seemed to be poked as well, beating fast.

Gao Liyang blinked, propped up his chin and looked at the man seriously: "I said no, do you believe it?"

"letter."

Zhou Xi changed the subject and said, "That's strange."

The teacher in their class likes to correct each other's homework and test papers. Zhou Xi and Gao Liyang, her deskmate, correct each other's homework and test papers every day. She only looks at Gao Liyang's papers in class and is very familiar with them.

She had seen Gao Liyang's calligraphy in so many ways: serious, perfunctory, sloppy, nervous. Zhou Xi felt she could imitate his writing style to about 60 percent.

Although the small words on the amulet are slightly different from his current words, there are still traces of them.

"Oh, then you are quite good at it. Yes, I embroidered it when I was a kid. It's pretty good, isn't it?"

"Then you are quite impressive, Gao Xiu...fu?"

"Are you going to make me laugh to death?" Gao Liyang covered his face.

Zhou Xi saw Gao Liyang's ears turned red: "Why did you suddenly think of giving this to me?"

"They say praying at Huacheng Temple is very effective..."

"I'll make a wish for your birthday this year. I hope you'll be healthy and happy."

Zhou Xi was choking and looked at Gao Liyang.

The store was brightly lit, and Gao Liyang's eyes showed no emotion at all. Zhou Xi was stunned, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Is Gao Liyang an idiot?