Chapter 12: The Shady Shadows of Trees

Chapter 12: The Shady Shadows of Trees

The morning fog hadn't completely dissipated, remaining white and hazy in the air, carrying a faint hint of spring chill. On both sides of the road, the continuous rows of metasequoia trees stood tall and majestic, lush and green. Thus, the spring chill and the greenery intertwined, like a hazy landscape painting, making the unevenly colored pebbles used to fill potholes underfoot and the gray houses on both sides seem quiet and harmonious.

Perhaps the morning breeze was too refreshing, because Fang Yuenian, for the first time ever, didn't make a fuss. He spread his legs, tilted his head back, and let the wind blow on his face, feeling extremely comfortable.

A moment later, he leaned forward and asked Cheng Bing, "Are you tired?"

"I've only been riding for ten minutes, I'm not tired yet," Cheng Bing said, turning her head slightly. "It's okay."

Fang Yuenian said, "Then ride slower, I want to see more."

Cheng Bing asked, "What are you looking at?"

“This road,” Fang Yuenian said dejectedly, “I heard that this road is going to be repaired. I don’t know if these trees will be able to be saved.”

Cheng Bing frowned and slowed down. "Why can't we keep it?"

"Didn't they cut down all the camphor trees on both sides of Meiwanli when they were building the road ahead?"

The roads after coming down from the dam are mostly in bad condition, and the roads leading into the villages are countless dirt roads, which have always caused a lot of delays. In recent years, they have finally been slowly repaired, and some roadside trees had to be cut down because they affected the width of the road.

Cheng Bing was unaware of this matter.

Looking ahead, the road could be seen converging into a small dot in the distance, with the tree trunks on both sides moving behind them one after another, becoming shimmering phantoms.

Do you want to cut down the trees?

He suddenly felt very depressed.

He cherished the metasequoia trees along the way. For the past three years, every evening at dusk, in the blazing afternoon sun, or in the pitch-black hours before dawn, they silently guarded his route to and from school. Accompanied by the sounds of his bicycle, the bumpy ride, the talking, the laughter, and the chasing, it was the carefree time of his youth.

"No, it won't happen." He said firmly, speaking to Fang Yuenian, and also to himself.

Fang Yuenian said sullenly, "I hope so."

Then I suddenly remembered and asked, "I saw a picture of the carpenter's shop last week. Your dad was riding a big cart, Xiaoxiao was sitting on the crossbar, and Jun and Aunt Qiuyan were sitting behind him. Where were you then?"

The photo was originally placed in the photo rack in the main room. On a whim, Cheng's father moved it to the workshop, where it was seen by Fang Yuenian, who used to wait for Cheng Bing to go to school together.

"Grandpa said I was being held in his arms."

"Haha, I knew it. But Uncle Lin's driving skills are really good. The whole family can fit in one car."

These words seemed to touch Cheng Bing somewhat inexplicably. He turned his head, looked at Fang Yuenian who was swinging his leg behind him, and called out to him, "Fang Yuenian."

"Um?"

"Hold on tight."

"Huh? Oh, it's all set."

The rural minibuses that go to the city have been working for years, parked on a vacant lot on the east side of the town that can barely be called a "parking lot". On sunny days it's okay, but on rainy days they are always surrounded by puddles of water. In addition, they are battered by the dust from the road, so they are all covered in dirt.

The two parked their car in front of a bookstore they knew nearby and got into the first car in the row.

It was still early, and there weren't many passengers. The ticket seller, who was waiting to depart, kept yawning. As soon as someone got on, he asked, "Where to?"

"We've arrived," Cheng Bing said.

Fang Yuenian took out two ten-yuan bills and handed them over: "Here you go."

"Go inside and find a seat," the ticket seller said, taking the money and opening the door. "Sit by the window, and make sure to close the window a little smaller later."

Fang Yue gets carsick and usually sits close to the window to feel the wind when traveling. The two of them chose two seats on the left side of the front. As soon as they sat down, they could smell the spicy and oily fumes wafting from the spicy vermicelli shop not far away.

Fang Yuenian: "..."

Spicy vermicelli is a specialty of Shuibiwei, attracting people from all around with its fresh aroma and incredibly spicy flavor. It has quite a reputation, but Fang Yuenian doesn't like it because he can't handle spicy food.

He was quite frustrated that a kid raised in a place where people love spicy food couldn't handle it. He really couldn't eat it. Even a little bit would make his face turn red all the way down to his neck. If he were to eat a bowl of tempting spicy vermicelli, he would probably evaporate on the spot.

Cheng Bing silently pushed the window glass shut, took out a lollipop from her pocket and gave it to Fang Yuenian, then turned to the other side and stuck her head out of the window, asking the ticket seller standing at the door, "Auntie, when does the bus depart?"

"Oh," the ticket seller glanced at the notebook in her hand, "almost there, 8:30. Are you in a hurry? Have you eaten breakfast yet? If not, you can still go down and buy some potstickers."

Because they were afraid of getting carsick and nauseous, neither of them had eaten breakfast. Cheng Bing turned around and asked, "Do you want to eat?"

Fang Yuenian waved her hands repeatedly: "Never mind, never mind."

Cheng Bing replied, "We won't buy it."

Seeing that no one wanted to get on, the ticket seller waved to the driver who was squatting outside smoking, and then got on the bus herself.

Aside from two gray-haired mothers sitting in the back, there were only these two young men on the bus. After the bus started moving, the ticket seller couldn't help but glance at them a few more times because they were good-looking and asked, "What are you doing in the city so early?"

Fang Yuenian hasn't shown any signs of motion sickness yet. He's chewing on a lollipop and casually says, "Buying things."

"You two look like middle school students, buying books?"

"Um."

"That's right, my son also wanted to go to the city last week to buy books, but there aren't many good bookstores on this street. What grade are you in?"

"Third year of junior high school."

"Oh dear, the exam is coming up soon, isn't it? Of course, we'll definitely need to buy books. I see my son, he can't even finish all the books and workbooks the school gives him, they're like snowflakes, and we still need to buy more. When he starts doing homework, he doesn't care about anything else."

It seemed she had run into a parent of a classmate in the same grade. Fang Yuenian guessed the next question would definitely be, "Which teacher taught you? What was your score on the last monthly exam?"

“My son doesn’t do well in school, he’s just clueless, and he’s several hundred degrees nearsighted. All he knows is doing homework and reading. Aren’t you two nearsighted?”

They even came up with a different approach, so Fang Yuenian said, "I don't need to be nearsighted."

"That's great, the learning method must be good. Which class are you in? My son is in class 4."

"From our Class 6."

"That's the honors class! Your homeroom teacher's surname is Lu, isn't he? He's short, very gentle, but incredibly capable. He teaches my son Chinese, so your grades must be pretty good, right?"

Their homeroom teacher was indeed known for his refined and gentle appearance, but was actually extremely strict.

As the current top student in the grade, Cheng Bing's name is posted on the bulletin board every month, making it difficult for him to remain inconspicuous among his classmates. He had just begun to speak when he said, "We..."

"My grades aren't good, but his are!" Fang Yuenian interjected excitedly. "He's first in the grade."

Cheng Bing: "..." What's more, there's someone else spreading the word.

The ticket seller, no longer looking sleepy, widened her eyes. "First place? Oh, that's good grades, that's great, that's wonderful! I remember now, my son said the person in the grade is called... something like Ice..."

“Cheng Bing,” Fang Yuenian said impatiently, “it’s him.”

Cheng Bing kicked him under the seat.

Fang Yuenian immediately restrained herself, licked the lollipop, and silently shut her mouth.

The ticket seller was still praising, "Oh my, this young man is great! He has good grades, is handsome, and tall. What family has such a little guy? His parents must be so happy."

Because of her excellence in all aspects, Cheng Bing has been praised and commended since childhood, and she can remain calm and composed in this kind of situation.

But he didn't like Fang Yuenian always categorizing him as someone with "poor grades".

After the ticket seller finally finished asking a long string of questions, such as what score she got on the monthly exam, what time she went to bed at night, and how long it took her to finish a test paper, Cheng Bing glanced to the side and found that Fang Yuenian had already fallen asleep leaning back in her chair—with a lollipop still in her mouth.

He doesn't know how to relieve motion sickness. Eating candy is just a way to distract himself. Fortunately, he's now far away from the spicy vermicelli shop. He pushed the window glass open a crack, and a cool breeze blew in through the crack. It was refreshing and invigorating. He leaned against it with his eyes closed, and if you looked closer, you could see his eyelashes trembling slightly from time to time.

Cheng Bing moved closer and noticed that Fang Yuenian had been curling up his legs since being kicked. He carefully moved Fang Yuenian's knees away, and with that movement, his shoulder felt a weight on it.

Fang Yuenian leaned her head closer.

This position was surprisingly comfortable. Fang Yuenian was half asleep and half awake. Her eyelids twitched, and she happily continued to sleep.

Cheng Bing remained silent for a while, then slowly leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.

It was more than an hour later when we arrived at the station.

The ticket seller came over to call Fang Yuenian, and she finally woke up. Even though she had been sleeping against the person the whole way, she seemed to feel unwell in her arms and legs, and cried out, "Oh dear, my neck is crooked."

Cheng Bing raised her hand and gave him a hard push from under his right chin, straightening him up from his pretentious act. "Get out of the car."

"Damn it, go easy on me!" Fang Yuenian blurted out.

Those around him immediately stopped.

Fang Yuenian reacted in a second and immediately said, "No, no, no, I didn't say anything. Hurry up and get off the bus, let's go!"

Cheng Bing glanced at him with dissatisfaction and got out of the car.