There was another family next door with two children, about the same age as theirs: Du Ming and Du Mei. Grandma said the kids next door were obedient and capable, so she let them go play with them. Mu Zishan was always reluctant, because every time she followed her brother to the next door, ostensibly to play with them, she actually just watched them do chores.
Du Ming was still in high school, and Du Mei had just graduated from middle school. Their parents were away, so they had been living with their grandparents. After finishing their chores, they took them to the mountains behind, where pine trees grew mostly. They used knives to cut through the bark of the trees, collecting the sap and roasting it over a fire, making a sizzling sound. When they tired of playing, they casually picked unnamed fruits from the thorny bushes. They were sour and sweet, but they didn't worry about being contaminated by pesticides.
After climbing up the mountain, Mu Zishan became playful. The crooked trees became a good place to cool off, and she even wanted to use the tree roots protruding from the cliff as a swing.
Du Mei smiled and said, "I and others also like to play like this."
"Really? It's really more fun here than the park." She jumped down and rushed to her brother's side due to inertia. She stopped only after grabbing his hand.
After dinner, they invited Du Ming and his sister to their room to watch TV. The four of them sat around a bed and played Landlord. Mu Zibai was the best at it, and after a few rounds, the three of them were hit on the forehead the most times.
"Ah!" Mu Zishan was flicked on the forehead by his brother again, "Brother, be gentle!"
The brother chuckled and said, "You lost with such good cards. Don't tell anyone that I'm your sister when you get out."
"No more playing!" She leaned back and saw her laptop on the desk. She had brought it here for so many days and hadn't used it once. She had downloaded a lot of movies on it before she came, but she still hadn't watched them.
"Is this yours?" Du Mei asked.
"Well," she turned on the computer and tapped on the keyboard, "it's a pity there's no internet here."
"That's great! My classmates also have one, and they even registered QQ on it." Du Mei said excitedly.
"Yeah, I have one too. Do you have one? We can add each other as friends." Mu Zishan took out his mobile phone and logged into his QQ, where he received several messages.
"No, my brother and I don't even have a cell phone, how could we have QQ?" Du Mei was a little depressed.
Mu Zibai stood up and got some snacks, put them in his pocket, and placed them next to them. "Zishan, there's really no use for the computer except watching TV shows. You can take it back with you later."
"Ah?" Mu Zishan didn't want to think about it. You know, he had begged him for a long time before he agreed to buy him this computer. How could he just give it away like that?
"Pack the things together so that Du Ming and the others can take them back later." Mu Zibai rummaged through the suitcase again and took out a few books, saying that he brought them specially for Du Ming when he came here, so that he could review well for the college entrance examination.
When school was about to start, Mu Zibai asked Mu Zishan to give his mobile phone and an automatic watch to Du Mei when they left grandma's house, and their trunk was filled with various vegetables, eggs, chicken, duck and fish.
Grandma stood at the entrance of the village to see them off. The day before they left, Mu Zishan remembered that her grandma had told her about the incident between her brother and Du Ming.
She wasn't even born then. My brother would always return to the countryside during his holidays, and Du Ming and his sister naturally became his playmates. The three of them were always together. But one day, there was an accident. My brother, riding his bike with Du Mei, fell off the road. The mark on Du Mei's forehead dates back to that time. Perhaps like my brother, Mu Zishan also felt a sense of guilt towards these two neighbors.
What they didn't expect was that this trip would be their last meeting with their grandmother. A few days after returning home, they received the news that their grandmother had passed away. Except for their father, all of their grandmother's sons, daughters, and grandchildren went back to mourn. Although her brother didn't shed a tear, Mu Zishan knew that he was in more pain than anyone else. After their grandmother passed away, her brother's attitude towards their father became worse and worse. Although he lived at home, Mu Zishan saw him very little. Since then, she has learned how to cook and take care of her brother.
On the first day of school, she took her brother's car to a middle school in the east of the city. This school was her own choice. The school had many cherry blossoms planted, and she could imagine the beautiful scene of studying under the cherry trees. Her brother also bought her a new phone, the model she had wanted most.
There was a long line of private cars at the school gate, and everyone was moving slowly. My brother seemed particularly calm at this time. His favorite English songs were playing in the car on a loop. It took about an hour for them to enter the campus.
"I shouldn't have asked you to come and see me off." Mu Zishan said with a wry smile.
She was assigned to Class 3, Grade 7. Their homeroom teacher was a gentle woman whose voice was like singing, a truly beautiful sound. On the first day of the opening ceremony, the principal, a white-haired old man, spoke very slowly, while the host patiently waited for him to finish every word. Mu Zishan enjoyed observing her classmates, memorizing their characteristics and judging their potential for friendship.
After finishing all the things, I went to the parking lot to find my brother and found him chatting with his homeroom teacher, and it seemed that he had been chatting for a long time. After asking the teacher, I glanced at my brother. He always interfered in all her affairs under the banner of his guardianship.
Mu Zishan's deskmate was a girl. When she had nothing to do, she liked to observe him from the side. She had a standard student hairstyle, a medium build, no glasses, and rather elegant lips. She was generally satisfied with her deskmate and said with a grin, "I'll treat you to ice cream after class!"
At school, food is indeed the fastest way to bring two people closer together, and of course it is also her most common way of making friends.
The other party really put aside his initial caution and smiled: "Okay!"
During recess, the school supermarket was quite crowded. On the way there and back, she got to know her deskmate a little better. Wang Yao, a boarding student, had become familiar with the school's layout before her, and whenever she had free time after class, she loved to stroll around the campus.
After class that afternoon, she dragged Mu Zishan to the school basketball court to watch the team practice. Once there, Wang Yao expertly found a seat and sat down, intently watching the captain of the basketball team, who wore jersey number five. Mu Zishan noticed him, too. He was handsome, but not quite charming. In comparison, the curly-haired number ten caught the attention of the surrounding girls.
"Zishan, who do you think is good-looking?"
"Number five."
Mu Zishan looked at her, his pure eyes gleaming brighter in the sunlight. Their coach called a timeout before the first half was over. Everyone's clothes were drenched in sweat. Wang Yao grabbed a Coke from her bag and handed it to Number Five. Women are often sentimental creatures, often mistaking casual displays of friendliness and politeness for affection. Wang Yao was one of them. She felt a mixture of fascination and admiration for the look Number Five gave her.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
