Chapter 15: Sour Fruit

Chapter 15: Sour Fruit

A few years ago, Lin Guohui opened a furniture factory, where he was both the boss and the master craftsman. Naturally, Cheng Jiagong became a senior master craftsman, and the carpentry workshop retired. Now that there are no more actual work assignments, the workshop contains a few old large machines and a pile of wood, which Cheng Jiagong keeps for occasional practice and also for Cheng Bing and Fang Yuenian to play with.

It's not far from the Cheng family's house. To avoid disturbing the neighbors with noise, we chose a slightly secluded location, but it's still right next to the river, and the willow branches facing the riverbank are covered with new leaves.

Cheng Bing hadn't arrived yet; the door to the carpenter's shop was locked.

Fang Yue Nian stood and waited.

He could see his own house diagonally across the river in the distance, as well as the abandoned wharf overgrown with dead trees.

—You could even hear the sharp, arguing voices. It seemed that Old Mrs. Fang had joined the battle. Such verbal battles never stopped all year round, so no one was surprised.

Cheng Bing arrived shortly afterward.

Besides the few homework assignments in his hand, he was also carrying a fruit plate in one hand. Fang Yuenian saw this and waved, "Hi!"

Cheng Bing walked over and heard the noise as well, asking, "What's all the commotion about?"

"I don't know," Fang Yuenian took the fruit platter and hugged it to her chest. She popped a grape into her mouth, and the next moment she grimaced from the sourness. "My... my god, who bought such sour grapes!"

Cheng Bing twitched the corners of her mouth, but her smile was barely perceptible.

“It was given to me by my great-grandmother; her family bought it.”

The younger sister-in-law was the Lin family's grandmother. The two families visited each other frequently, and she would never forget the three Cheng sisters if she had any unusual fruits or snacks.

Fang Yuenian, still feeling the soreness, shuddered and said, "I'm wide awake now, even though I was so sleepy before."

Upon entering the carpenter's shop, one sees a long table piled with semi-finished products and rough materials. In the center sits a handheld sander, and in the corner is an old-fashioned cutting machine with a saw blade gleaming with a dark silver light.

According to the rules established by the Cheng family, the two children cannot turn on the machine themselves when no adults are around, so Fang Yuenian didn't bother to look over there and went with Cheng Bing into a small room on the left. This was originally where the carpenters made patterns and cut designs. The window faced the river, so the light was good and no one would pass by. There was a table under the window against the wall, with a chair on each side—it used to be a good place for the carpenters to discuss patterns face to face, but now it was a good place for the two children to do their homework.

After putting down their homework and fruit plate, the two dragged out chairs, opened the window, and the afternoon sun shone brightly, making the room very bright.

Fang Yuenian's workbooks and test papers had just been washed last night, and now they were all wrinkled, with a layer of yellowish water stains left on the edges. Cheng Bing glanced at them and painfully looked away.

Fang Yuenian was indignant and shouted, "I blew these until midnight last night to dry them. I'm exhausted. I'm sure I'll get scolded if I hand them in on Monday."

Cheng Bing said, "If you finish writing it all, the teacher won't scold you."

Fang Yuenian said, "At most, I can get scolded a little less. Have you finished your chemistry test?"

"It's finished."

What are you writing now?

"math."

"Then I'll do the chemistry test first. After you finish the math test, you can explain it to me. I looked at the last question in chemistry last night, and I don't know how to do it."

"Um."

Soon, the only sound here was the soft rustling of writing.

The two sat at opposite ends of the table, and could see each other engrossed in writing problems whenever they looked up.

It's easy to get sleepy when doing homework in the afternoon, especially since Fang Yuenian had been feeling dizzy from sitting in the car all morning. So he couldn't stay awake for long before he started yawning. At first, the yawning wasn't loud, and Cheng Bing ignored it. But after a while, the yawning grew louder, and he even stretched involuntarily. Cheng Bing finally looked up at him.

Fang Yuenian froze in mid-air. "I...I'm so sleepy, I'm so drowsy, it's annoying."

Cheng Bing pushed the fruit plate in the middle of the table toward him, "Eat two."

Besides the bunch of tempting red yet strangely sour grapes, there was also a pile of small, smooth-skinned tangerines in the fruit platter. Fang Yuenian glanced at them and cautiously asked, "Did you pick these tangerines from your tree?"

"It was also given to me by my great-grandmother."

Fang Yuenian was discouraged. "You have so many orange trees at home, why did Grandma Lin still give them to you?"

Cheng Bing said, "They're different varieties. Don't peel this one. Try it."

Fang Yuenian shook her head: "It feels even more sour."

Needing to stay alert, he resignedly picked two grapes, but as soon as he took a bite, his face scrunched up again.

"Oh my god, did Grandma Lin bring this specifically to cure drowsiness?" He shrugged and hissed. "It's so effective, so effective, it's amazing! You should try one."

“I’m not eating,” Cheng Bing said, lowering her head and continuing to do her homework. “These are all yours. If you’re not going to doze off, hurry up and finish your homework.”

Fang Yuenian: "Holy crap..."

Cheng Bing abruptly lifted her eyelids.

Fang Yuenian: "...I mean, um, okay, I'll write it right away."

In one afternoon, Fang Yuenian actually ate the whole bunch of grapes. In the end, her teeth felt soft and she even found it difficult to drink water.

He comforted himself, saying that a good student can overcome any difficulty in order to learn!

However, he still got quite a few questions wrong on the chemistry test. After Cheng Bing finished explaining it to him, she noticed that he was staring blankly at her, so she asked, "Is there anything else you understand?"

Fang Yuenian said, "No, that's all."

Cheng Bing's face was stern.

Fortunately, these few pages of the math workbook happened to be a compilation of simple questions, testing the ability to read and understand the questions. With the help of sour grapes, Fang Yuenian persevered and finished them. After checking the answers, the result was not bad, and she immediately became proud: "Hey, the difficulty is not bad."

Cheng Bing glanced at him and said honestly, "It's alright."

The two studied for more than three hours, and finished writing and explaining everything they had brought with them, by which time it was getting dark.

After tidying up the papers, Fang Yuenian asked, "Can we come here tomorrow morning to make a bookshelf?"

Neither Cheng Jiagong nor Lin Guohui were home, and the machine couldn't be turned on. They were only coming to grind the rough cut material from before. Cheng Bing asked, "You want to come?"

Fang Yuenian said, "I do think about it. After all, if I really decide to take the entrance exam for No. 1 High School, I definitely won't have time later."

Cheng Bing stopped closing the window, looked at him, and her face clearly said: This is a tried-and-true excuse.

Fang Yuenian pressed, "Is it okay?"

Cheng Bing slammed the window shut. "Even if you want to get into the top high school, you don't have to miss two hours a week."

“You’re right,” Fang Yuenian pushed her chair back under the table. “It might be too late.”

Cheng Bing said, "It's not too late. As long as you want to, it's not too late."

This statement was clearly a double entendre, and Fang Yuenian felt immense pressure. She quickly rolled up the test paper and hurried home.

Normally, when Fang Yuenian finishes her homework and goes home, even if she's a little late, she won't be nagged.

His school years were inseparable from Cheng Bing. As a child, he would sometimes lie to keep the adults in the dark, but later, as he grew more independent, he did everything openly. He ignored Grandma Fang's incessant nagging and Fang Wu's fierce, cold-faced expression. He would go to the carpenter's shop to do his homework whenever he wanted, and he would ask Cheng Bing to go with him whenever he wanted. However, he never hid anything from Wang Jing. Cheng Bing was a self-disciplined and good student, and Cheng Junjun's younger brother. Regardless of her motives, Wang Jing would never stop her son from being friends with him.

There had just been a heated argument at home, and the atmosphere was still tense. Fang Yuenian went in through the front door but didn't see a single person.

He went into his room, put down his workbook and test papers, checked the two books that were lying there drying—they hadn't been dried last night—and opened the newly bought materials, flipping through them casually. Just then, he heard the sound of a chair being moved outside the door.

Wang Jing probably saw that her son's room light was on and called out from outside, "Niannian!"

Fang Yue Nian came out, and just as she called out "Mom," her expression suddenly changed: "What happened to your face?"

Wang Jing had a bright red scar on her left cheek, a thin, broken line, probably from some kind of scrape. Fang Yuenian's eyes blazed with anger, "You hit her?"

"It's alright," Wang Jing waved her hand, "Come and clear the table, we'll eat soon."

Fang Yuenian turned around and went to find Fang Wu.

There was nothing in the main room. Upon entering the room, they found Fang Wu slumped in a corner chair, cigarette butts scattered around his feet, the room filled with smoke. Fang Yuenian turned on the light and was about to speak when she noticed a large, shiny, purplish bump on Fang Wu's forehead.

His anger subsided considerably.

"What's going on?" Fang Wu was startled awake by the light and said angrily.

Fang Yuenian stood there and asked, "They've started fighting?"

Fang Wu snorted, "Little guy, don't meddle in these things."

Fang Yuenian gave a cold laugh, "If you get hurt worse than her every time, I won't care."

Fang Wu roared, "You son of a bitch..."

Fang Yuenian turned and left before he finished cursing.