The lively atmosphere of visiting relatives during the first month of the lunar calendar gradually fades, and more people start working in the fields.

The New Year is over, now it's time to get back to daily life.

After the Lantern Festival, people who were studying or working away from home gradually set off.

Fang Meihao went to school.

Fang Damiao also rushed to the construction site with his luggage, while Fang Meixiang returned to her parents' home.

The villagers at home still follow the solar terms, repeating the same farm work year after year.

Fang Damiao had just stepped onto the construction site's dirt floor, his shoes still covered in mud from his hometown, when he heard a commotion ahead.

When his coworkers saw him arrive, their voices suddenly rose, "Da Miao! You're finally here! This year, the wages for tying steel bars have gone up!"

Fang Damiao put the bag down and took two steps forward. "Say it again? It's gone up?"

His coworker nudged him with his elbow and gestured with his chin toward the foreman, saying, "The foreman said that if the weather is good this year, there will be work every day, and we can earn more than 100 yuan a month."

"Wow, then the money to buy a bicycle will come quickly."

The wind blew in from the workers' shed, carrying the smell of rusty steel bars, but he found it more pleasant than anything else.

We need to get to work quickly! The sooner we start work, the sooner we'll receive our increased wages.

After the wages were raised, the shouts on the construction site were three points louder than last year.

In previous years, Fang Damiao would dawdle while adjusting the steel bars, and at the end of the day, he would always have half the work done compared to others. The foreman had scolded him many times before, "Damiao, if you keep doing this, don't bother coming back next year!" He would just chuckle.

This year is different. Every hammer blow makes a "clanging" sound. The steel bars bend quickly and neatly in his hands, and he tightens the wires of the newly erected frame.

This went on for several days in a row. The foreman noticed and, one day, stopped to pat Fang Damiao on the back as he passed by. "Damiao, you're working really well today! Not bad!"

Fang Damiao kept working, her face flushed slightly, but she smiled and said, "Foreman, did the wages go up this year?"

He paused, then hammered the steel bars harder. "My son is five years old, very smart. Last year when I went back home, he kept asking me to buy him a bicycle. I've finished my work this month, so I'll send the money back home and ask his grandpa to buy him one. The kid is waiting for it."

"That's right, we'll pay your salary as soon as the time comes this year, so your kid can ride a bicycle as soon as possible."

"Alright!" Fang Damiao wiped the sweat from his forehead, his eyes sparkling.

As soon as he received his wages, Fang Damiao and a few coworkers pooled together 50 yuan and ran to the post office to send 150 yuan home.

After sending the money, I didn't have much money left. I still need to pay back the loan when I get my wages next month. A picture of that shop with the pink lights flashed through my mind.

But then Fang Meixiang's dad appeared again, riding a bicycle with Fang Dongqiang sitting in front, showing off his cute front teeth and happily ringing the bicycle bell, "Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling!"

Fang Damiao smiled as he lay on the makeshift bed at the construction site.

When I went home for Chinese New Year this year, I rode my bike with my son to town. Just thinking about it made me a little homesick, even though I've only been away for less than two months.

Fang Meixiang's mother had booked a spot with the tractor driver well in advance.

"Dongqiang, we're going to town tomorrow on a tractor to buy bicycles."

"Wow!" Fang Dongqiang opened his mouth wide, unable to contain his laughter.

“Your dad sent money back.” Fang Meixiang’s mother then said to Fang Meixiang, “Meixiang, go to bed early tonight. We’re going to town tomorrow. Da Miao sent money and said he’d buy us bicycles.”

Fang Meixiang nodded heavily, a glint of light in her eyes. That night, Fang Meixiang hugged her blanket tightly; she missed Fang Damiao.

The tractor was already parked at the village entrance. Fang Dongqiang saw it and ran over quickly, as if he wanted to grab a spot.

"Dongqiang, don't run so fast, slow down, don't fall!" Fang Meixiang's mother shouted as she ran after him.

“My dad made some money, let’s go buy a bicycle,” Fang Dongqiang said from the back of the bicycle before he had even settled in.

"How long has Da Miao been working this year? How come she's already earned enough to buy a bicycle?"

"It's easier to make money outside."

"Yeah, I should have gone with Da Miao this year."

"Da Miao is such a good person. He sends money home as soon as he earns it. Mei Xiang's mom, it's all worth it for you to be so good to him."

He praised Da Miao again along the way.

After withdrawing money from the post office, I went to the supply and marketing cooperative to look at bicycles.

"This is the money Da Miao sent," Fang Meixiang's mother said to Fang Meixiang.

Fang Meixiang glanced at the money in her father's hand, but her eyes were filled with longing for Fang Damiao.

The cement floor of the supply and marketing cooperative had just been mopped and was shiny with a damp feel.

The bicycle was shiny, and the bell on the handlebars was still wrapped in a layer of plastic film. When the wind blew in, the film made a "rustling" sound.

There was a faint, slightly astringent, metallic smell coming from the bicycle shop. Fang Dongqiang leaned closer and took a deep sniff.

"Dongqiang, what are you smelling?" Fang Meixiang's mother asked.

"The smell of the new bicycle."

What does a bicycle smell like?

Fang Dongqiang took another long breath. "I can't say."

Fang Meixiang's father bought a bicycle, but he still doesn't know how to ride it.

They carried Fang Dongqiang onto the crossbeam, and Fang Meixiang's father pushed him to Fang Meili's shop.

"Grandpa, I've taken this off." Fang Dongqiang carefully removed the film from the bicycle bell and put it in his pocket.

"Dongqiang, throw this away, it's useless."

"Don't throw it away. Put the new bell back on when you're not riding it."

"Oh ho, they really treat it like a treasure."

Fang Dongqiang wanted to ring the bell, but the road below was uneven, so the bicycle shook, and the bell rang with a "ding".

"Wow, the new bicycle makes a sound by itself!" Fang Dongqiang grinned, staring at the ringing bell.

"If Da Miao knew that he bought a bicycle, Dong Qiang would never stop talking. He would be happy even though he had worked hard."

As soon as he arrived at the store, Fang Dongqiang ran in and shouted, "Second Aunt, my dad sent money to buy a bicycle, and I came on my new bicycle."

“That’s good this year, sending money back in such a short time. Where did his money go last year?” Fang Meili asked with a hint of suspicion.

“He said he had trouble adjusting to the new environment when he first arrived and got sick, which cost him some money,” Fang Meixiang’s mother explained. “It’s pitiful that he’s all alone in such a faraway place and has a headache or fever.”

Fang Meili didn't say anything more.

On the way back, the bicycle was placed on the tractor trailer, and Fang Dongqiang sat next to it, his hands gripping the pedals the whole time.

The tractor stopped at the village entrance, and several men in the trailer lifted bicycles off the truck.

Fang Dongqiang peered over from the side, looking up and down.

"Dongqiang, come a little closer, don't get in everyone's way." Fang Meixiang's mother pulled him a little closer.

"Don't bump into anything," Fang Dongqiang instructed, still worried.

"Hey, you bought a bicycle?" I ran into a neighbor on the way home.

“My dad made some money and sent it to us to buy it,” Fang Dongqiang answered quickly.

“Da Miao went after the fifteenth of the lunar month. It hasn’t been that long, and he’s already earned enough to buy a bicycle.” A villager carrying a hoe said, “We could swing this hoe for half a year and still not earn enough to buy a bicycle.”

People outside the shop were also talking about it, some even slapping their thighs in regret for not going out with Fang Damiao after the New Year.

"This big seedling wasn't bragging; it really can make money."

"Yes, although he sent money back once last year, he spent the whole Chinese New Year eating at his mother-in-law's house. He wore the same leather jacket from the moment he came back to the moment he left. I thought he hadn't saved much money after working all year."

Fang Meixiang's father took the bicycle to the threshing ground to go to school.

Fang Dongqiang didn't go anywhere; he just sat on a rock and watched his grandfather. Fang Meixiang also came out and sat next to Fang Dongqiang.

Fang Meixiang's father gripped the handlebars tightly, but they wouldn't obey him, swaying left and right and veering to the side. He had to use both arms to pull them back to keep them steady.

"Mom, when Dad comes back, I'll sit in front and you sit in the back to go to town. Just like Fang Yu's family." Fang Dongqiang said, watching his grandfather nervously riding his bicycle.

"Okay!" Fang Meixiang replied readily.

Fang Meixiang's mother came out and called everyone to eat, "You've been learning to ride a bike, so you don't have to do any work in the fields. You've spent the whole afternoon here."

"Once I buy it, I'll learn to ride it smoothly as soon as possible. In a few days, when Meili is about to give birth, I'll feel more at ease taking you to town, and we can go faster."

"That's true!"

After dinner, Fang Meixiang's father felt a strong sense of novelty and accomplishment from having just learned to ride a bike. Even after dark, he couldn't resist the urge to ride a few more laps, constantly thinking about the feeling of pedaling and the bike moving forward.

"Don't even mention Dongqiang's love for bicycles, I'm getting a little addicted to it myself."

"Forget it, it's pitch black outside, what if you fall?" Fang Meixiang's mother said.

"Okay, go to sleep early. Get up early tomorrow, do some work in the fields, and then study."

Fang Meixiang's father rode more and more smoothly, and only then did he feel at ease letting Fang Dongqiang sit in front and lead him.