Chapter 7: Noisy

Chapter 7: Noisy

Fang Yuenian was completely unaware of the impending storm. He was huddled by the back door, enthusiastically picking pebbles from the pile to take to school to play with—for him, half of what happened at school was related to playing.

Behind the row of small, single-story school buildings was a diverse playground for the students. Boys played marbles, flipped paper bags, and jacks, getting covered in dust from rubbing their hands on the dirt ground. Girls would jump rope and weave things with colorful threads. Beyond the school wall was a long ditch. The bolder ones would sneak over after school to catch fish and loaches. Several tall mulberry trees grew along the riverbank. Although Old Man Wei, who lived nearby, always claimed they were his trees and forbade picking them, it couldn't stop the boys who were better at climbing trees than monkeys. Besides, mulberries growing on the branches were a natural, alluring purple-red temptation.

Fang Yuenian quickly explored all these secret bases—Cheng Bing, surprisingly, wasn't tempted. Although she visited a few times, she didn't show much interest, which Fang Yuenian couldn't understand. However, he would go home with Cheng Bing three or four days out of five, so he could sacrifice some of his playtime for that.

Grandma Fang ran all the way back, and as soon as she entered the courtyard, she called out:

"Fang Yuenian! Where is Fang Yuenian?!"

Fang Yuenian didn't hear clearly, but the tone and voice were too familiar, so he paused quickly.

"You son of a bitch! I ask you every day which family you're from, and you never tell me the truth. I'll skin you alive today! I refuse to believe it..."

Fang Yue Nian took off running.

Grandma Fang only saw a small figure quickly run across the yard and head out. The grandmother and grandson were equally agile. Grandma Fang shouted, "Don't run! If you run again, I'll catch you right away!" As she spoke, she had already chased him to the entrance of the yard. She chased her grandson around the yard, panting heavily, but still couldn't catch up.

She stopped, clutching her aching back, her face flushed, and gasped, "You little devil! You dare run away! Just wait until I catch you, you'll see!"

You can't deny getting old. When I was chasing Fang Junjun before, I could go on several rounds without getting out of breath. When I caught up with her, I could even grab the little girl's hair and drag her all the way home. But now, after just one trip, my heart is pounding so hard that I can't stop it.

Wang Jing, who was washing clothes at the wharf, finally came ashore.

I had already heard the commotion, and when I came upstairs, I saw a basket of beautiful black sesame seeds that had been drying nicely spread out along the way. Some of the sesame seeds had fallen over, and socks and underwear were scattered all over the ground. My mother-in-law was leaning against the door, looking like a candle about to die.

"What's going on?!" She turned around and glanced at Fang Yuenian, who was hiding behind the outhouse, who was peeking out furtively. "Come out here! What rebellion have you started now?"

Fang Yuenian refused to come out, hiding and shouting in a muffled voice, "I don't know, Grandma's family came and wanted to beat me!"

Wang Jing scolded him: "You good-for-nothing, you don't know how to clean up the mess! Come here! Sweep up the sesame seeds for me! All you do all day is eat and drink, you can't even lift a finger to do anything important!"

The implication was clear: Old Mrs. Fang's face darkened. "You're always meddling in other people's business! Let me ask you, don't you know who he's with every day? He's with that little brat from the Cheng family! He's so young and already knows how to lie! It's really something..."

Wang Jing then realized that her son's affair had been exposed.

But she refused to show weakness, so she didn't answer. She put down the wooden basin in her hand, picked up her clothes while slamming them down, and said, "At his age, if he runs after you, people outside will think your little guy has done something terrible. What? He's just going to school with other kids, and you're going to beat him?"

Grandma Fang was shocked.

She thought her daughter-in-law was on the same side as her, at least in matters concerning the Cheng family, and she never expected her to have this attitude.

Isn't it obvious? She already knew!

A surge of anger reignited within her, and Old Lady Fang plopped down on the threshold.

"How could I dare hit someone you gave birth to! You're probably still dreaming! Sigh!" Old ginger is spicier, and her natural sharp tongue only needs a few interjections to express it. "You're thinking about your girl, how can she be close to this one? Sigh! She has brothers and sisters, her name is Cheng Junjun!"

This was serious; it touched a nerve with Wang Jing. With a wave of her hand, she threw out a handful of socks, seemingly aiming to hit Old Lady Fang on the head.

The program officially began with a two-channel symphony performed jointly by the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

This verbal battle was more intense than any before. Both sides used all their skills, pulling out countless unusual words, and one after another, they revealed a lot of their true feelings without thinking. Early in the morning, some neighbors heard it, and some didn't. Anyway, it was a common occurrence for this family to be in such a chaotic situation.

Fang Yuenian hid behind the thatched hut, a string of profanities seeping into his ears. He clutched two stones in his hand—he had finally found such white and beautiful stones and had originally intended to show them off to Cheng Bing, but now, it seemed pointless.

And so, the argument raged from dawn until midday. Three generations of the family missed breakfast, and neither the mother-in-law nor the daughter-in-law bothered to pick up the clothes, sesame seeds, the baskets of persimmons and pears lying under the tree, or the hoe hooked on a branch. Wang Jing went back to her room and lay down. Old Mrs. Fang went to the village entrance, found a shady spot, and sat down, letting the breeze soothe the restlessness of early autumn.

Fang Yuenian, while hiding, eventually fell asleep leaning against the wall.

"Hello!"

Someone is calling him.

"Hey! Fang Yuenian!"

Fang Yuenian finally opened her eyes.

It was already midday, and he was sweating profusely from the sun, feeling dizzy and lightheaded. He looked over in a daze and saw Cheng Xiaoxiao and Cheng Bing.

He suddenly woke up with a start.

"What are you doing?" Cheng Bing stared at him with her big eyes.

"I..." Fang Yuenian choked.

Cheng Xiaoxiao bent down and touched his head, finding it scorching hot from the sun. "Why are you sleeping here?"

Fang Yuenian jumped up and asked Cheng Bing, "How did you get here?"

Cheng Bing looked back at the cement boat nestled among the tangled bushes. "My sister brought me here."

The cement boat wasn't big, and a shovel was placed horizontally on its bow.

The Fang family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were arguing so loudly that people came and went at the gate, but no one noticed the little child behind them. However, Cheng Bing, who was on the other side of the river, did notice.

"Did your grandma hit you?" Cheng Xiaoxiao asked.

Fang Yuenian was naturally afraid of Cheng Junjun and didn't dare to be too unruly on his way to and from school, but he felt a natural affinity for Cheng Xiaoxiao. He rubbed his head and said, "I didn't hit her. My grandma and my mom were arguing."

"Why are they arguing?" Cheng Xiaoxiao's eyes seemed to speak volumes, so clear that you couldn't help but want to look at them a few more times.

“I don’t know,” Fang Yuenian shook her head vigorously. “They didn’t mention that Cheng Bing and I went to school together at all.”

Cheng Xiaoxiao paused, then couldn't help but laugh.

Cheng Bing, like an adult, moved closer to Fang Yuenian. "I heard everything," she said, noticing a few blades of grass stuck to Fang Yuenian's arm. She carefully picked them off. "It's okay. Let's learn from Second Sister and Sister Yanzi, meet at the intersection outside, and then go to school together."

Fang Yuenian was confused: "Don't the adults allow Sister Junjun and Sister Yanzi to go to school together?"

Cheng Bing nodded and said, "Yes, Sister Yanzi's mother wouldn't allow it."

Fang Yuenian felt a subtle sense of comfort, and her mood suddenly brightened. She nodded repeatedly, "Good! Good!"

Cheng Xiaoxiao found it amusing to watch the two little ones secretly discussing something, and kept trying to suppress her laughter.

After they finished discussing, she squatted down and patted the dust off Fang Yuenian's clothes. "Hurry up and go home. We're going home too. And," she took out a piece of peanut candy wrapped in paper from the pocket of her jacket, "here, have this. Eat it before you go home."

After saying that, he took Cheng Bing's hand and prepared to go home.

Cheng Bing, led by her, looked back two or three times before boarding the small boat, seemingly quite worried.

Cheng Xiaoxiao can row a boat, but she still struggles to control two oars, so she used a shovel to paddle the boat over from the left and right. Now she has paddled it back as well. On the other side, Cheng Junjun is standing on the wharf waiting.

After watching the three siblings enter the house, Fang Yuenian slowly ate the peanut candy in her hand.

Sometimes, what determines a person's thoughts are some very small things.

Cheng Junjun and Fang Yuenian both felt this deeply.

Fang Yue Nian embarked on a journey of going against her elders. At first, it was just a matter of repeatedly ignoring their admonitions, getting beaten and scolded if they found out, and then having more and more ways to hide it from being discovered. No one knows whether it was because Old Mrs. Fang got old and changed her personality, or because she could never win against her own grandson and had no choice but to give up. Anyway, year by year, this formidable old lady gradually softened a bit.

As Fang Yuenian grew from a child into a teenager, his rebelliousness increased until he became completely carefree and unrestrained.

The leaves of the dawn redwood fall and new leaves grow again, year after year. The tide of the new century seems to have been slow to reach this small village, which remains quiet and ordinary.

In the blink of an eye, it's early summer again, and the riverbanks are covered in green.