The 86-year-old girl has grown up
From then on, Li Wei almost felt like she was back in elementary school, studying with a large group of children. The only difference was that now everyone had to follow Luo Jianhua's lead, not hers.
"Sigh, the world is going to the dogs and people's hearts are no longer what they used to be," Li Wei sighed inwardly, not really caring.
Besides studying, Li Lin also resumed practicing the erhu. The erhu teacher that Ding Anping's mother had found for her had been scheduled, and Li Lin would go for a lesson once every weekend morning, practicing at home the rest of the time, which didn't interfere with other things.
Li Lianhui and the other two continued to practice martial arts with Luo Da, just like before. However, Wu Feng, who had also practiced martial arts before, stopped. When Li Wei asked her why, Wu Feng lowered her voice and said, "I'm afraid my calves will get too thick. Look at your calves, they're so thin. Mine are getting a bit thick now, and they don't look good."
Li Wei glanced at Wu Feng's legs and realized that as people develop, their legs naturally become fuller. There's a popular style of shapewear these days, clinging tightly to the legs and clearly outlining the shape of the thighs and calves; girls consider slender legs to be beautiful.
Li Wei herself had actually started developing, and her breasts were beginning to show curves, but her legs didn't seem to have gained any weight yet, remaining slender and straight. Because she didn't really like those shapewear pants, she had never worn them. Li Lin, on the other hand, had a pair and wore them often. However, like Zhou Xiaoyan, Li Lin also had model-like long legs, so a group of girls who wore shapewear pants looked on with envy, including Wu Feng.
Wu Feng stopped practicing martial arts because she loved beauty. Li Wei tried to persuade her a few times, but it didn't work, so she gave up. Anyway, Wu Feng didn't practice either, so she didn't seem to have much persuasive power.
Since neither of them had anything else to do, Li Wei decided to play basketball with Wu Feng after they finished studying together. The school was now teaching some basketball, and Wu Feng knew how to play as well, so the two of them had some common interests.
Li Wei is still taking the usual supplements, as this is a crucial period for her development. She needs to ensure she gets adequate nutrition, and this applies to Li Lin as well, even though Li Lin sometimes doesn't cooperate.
Grandpa Wu's goat milk is still only drunk by Li Wei and Luo Jianhua, but Grandpa Wu always milks it for them and delivers it to their maternal grandmother. Sometimes, if Li Wei doesn't go, their maternal grandmother will give it to Grandma Luo. The old ladies all know it's good stuff. But nobody likes the taste. Since the children like it, let them drink it; they're growing at that age.
Sometimes Li Wei felt like they had gone back to elementary school, and life seemed to be going backwards.
But, no matter what, it's not like when we were kids anymore.
The weather is getting cooler after the Mid-Autumn Festival. Li Wei is already wearing thick thermal underwear underneath, and a light jacket over her sweater.
That day, Li Wei finished lunch and was dozing off in her seat. Yang Qiuli ran in from outside the classroom, found Li Wei, and hurriedly woke her up. At the same time, she lowered her voice and said, "Wu Feng asked me to find you. She's in the restroom. It seems like something happened."
Li Wei immediately snapped out of her daze. What happened? Did she forget to bring toilet paper? No way. She could just have Yang Liqiu bring some back.
Li Wei nervously entered the girls' restroom. Upon seeing Wu Feng, Wu Feng exclaimed in terror, "Am I going to die? Ugh! That's terrifying!"
Li Wei was taken aback for a moment, then immediately realized what was happening. She glanced at Wu Feng's pants; the sweat was already seeping through. She just hadn't noticed. She immediately reassured Wu Feng, "It's okay. It seems like you've had your period. It's normal. I'll go get you some toilet paper. Also, it looks like you'll have to wear my long coat home."
Finally, Wu Feng, feeling restless, asked her teacher for sick leave, saying she had a stomachache and asked Li Wei to accompany her home.
Seeing Wu Feng like that, Li Wei thought of herself. This kind of thing might happen to her soon, and she should think of a way to deal with it.
Over the weekend, Li Wei accompanied Li Lin to class. They went to the mall specifically for this, but didn't see any of those cute little tampons with wings. They did sell tampons, but Li Lin felt insecure about them and decided against it.
Looks like I'll have to start folding toilet paper properly now. Sigh, thinking back to those days, having to be so careful in everything I do, it was really tough.
As a result, even though winter had arrived, Li Wei's aunt still hadn't come to visit. She had given away countless rolls of toilet paper that she always carried in her bag to classmates who needed them urgently, and she herself hadn't used any. She really didn't know whether to be glad or upset.
Before they knew it, it was time for the final exams. After the exams, Li Lin's face, hidden under her woolen hat, was already beaming with pride. It seemed that their little circle was quite successful.
As expected, Li Wei remained unchallenged and topped the list. Luo Jianhua, probably having spent too much time studying with the princes, also managed to come in second, right behind Li Wei. This made Zhou Xiaoyan look at Li Wei with a strange expression, wondering if this was the legendary one-on-one duel.
Li Lin, Li Lianhui, and Wu Feng were all among the top performers, and even the worst performers, Luo Er and Erpangzi, made it into the top ten.
Seeing that everyone's results were good, Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief, finally able to enjoy a relaxing New Year. These past two months had been quite exhausting for her.
This year's Spring Festival was no different from previous years. All of Li Wei's children from her maternal grandfather's side came to her house to celebrate, making it a lively and bustling occasion.
Grandpa Cheng and Grandma Cheng made up their minds to settle down in Linjia Village. They even sold their land and house there, meaning they would never go back. Cheng Min was naturally very happy to be able to take care of her parents nearby.
In addition, my second uncle is very envious of my eldest uncle's thriving life here and is considering coming over to join my sister. The specifics will probably be finalized after the New Year.
Li Wei didn't need to worry about these things because her parents had already taken care of them. However, Li Wei still had a vague feeling that since the family members were all working together, there would only be more conflicts in the future, which would only cause her mother some trouble.
Another highlight of this year's Spring Festival was the Luo family.
Compared to last year, Uncle Luo has made great progress this year. When he came to Li Wei's house to pay New Year's greetings, his demeanor was that of a successful local person.
Sitting on her mother's warm kang (heated brick bed) drinking a beauty-enhancing and digestive tea, Li Wei carefully observed her third uncle, Luo, whose voice was booming. His hair was neatly cut and he looked energetic, his face ruddy. To be honest, Luo was quite good-looking, tall and sturdy, with a dignified appearance. Although nearing forty, he possessed a certain mature masculine charm.
It was that expensive leather jacket he was wearing that gave Li Wei a glimpse of the arrogant and domineering air that Luo Sanjiu had when he was a local thug.
In the past two years, Uncle Luo has been managing some infrastructure projects for his sister. Because of his reputation and experience from back then, he has done a good job and is highly appreciated by his sister. His salary and status have also been rising steadily.
Li Wei heard from Luo Sanjiu that his sister had gotten him an apartment in the city and intended for his whole family to move there. He was considering it, mainly because his mother was reluctant to go to the city; old people are reluctant to leave their hometown.
Listening to Uncle Luo's long-winded talk, Li Wei remembered that the Luo family had indeed moved away when she was in junior high school. However, she couldn't recall the exact time. But it probably wasn't that soon, considering she had skipped two grades.
Compared to Uncle Luo's triumphant return home, Wu Feng's and Aunt Lin's families lived a much quieter life. Now, besides hair accessories, Wu Feng's mother and Aunt Lin's main business was processing low-end clothing for Cheng Fei's company, earning a fee for their work. Their monthly income was decent, but since their husbands' jobs hadn't changed, they had nothing to boast about, and it was nothing compared to Uncle Luo's.
Another surprise for Li Wei was that Zhang Tong also came to wish Cheng Min and Li Zhaoxing a Happy New Year. She also secretly brought Li Wei a set of sky-blue jacquard woolen hat, scarf and gloves that she had knitted herself. The style was quite unique, and it must have taken her a long time to finish.
Seeing Zhang Tong's noticeably brighter and more cheerful smile, Li Wei suddenly felt that all the effort she had put in had not been in vain.
The other one is Ding Anping. As in previous years, although he was not given a formal title by his aunt, everyone treated him as one of their own. Every year, he would bring gifts to pay New Year's respects to Grandpa Cheng and his wife, as well as to Li Wei and her two siblings. He was very popular with everyone.
This year, because my aunt has a car, it's much more convenient for everyone to visit each other for the New Year. Li Wei also went with her parents, aunt, and uncle to her maternal grandfather's old village, Baima Village, to pay New Year's respects to her grandfather's brothers.
Actually, Li Wei mainly wanted to see her third uncle, but she didn't get to see him; he had gone to pay New Year's respects to his father-in-law. Li Wei could clearly see the disappointment on her aunt's face, and sighed inwardly. It had been several years, and she knew there was no future, so what was the point of all this?
Easy and happy days always pass quickly. Before we knew it, the Lantern Festival had passed. School starts again.
In March, the weather in the north is still very cold, almost entirely covered in ice and snow. When the wind blows, the cold penetrates to the bone.
Li Wei, who is sensitive to the cold, huddled up on the back of Luo Da's bicycle, bundled up tightly to avoid the wind. Luo Da, on the other hand, was simply wearing a cotton coat and everyday clothes, without even a hat. Li Wei didn't notice he was cold; perhaps he just had thick skin?
It was the second day of school. Just as Li Wei and Luo Da were about to arrive at school, Shen Tao caught up from behind, whistling: "Hey, you guys had a good New Year, huh?"
Li Wei had always felt that nothing good ever came from Shen Tao's side, so she couldn't be bothered with him. Besides, looking at his arm, it seemed like it was fine by the time of the final exams.
Luo Da glanced at him: "Pretty good. You're not bad either. You've grown another year older, but you seem to be the same."
Seeing the two chatting idly, Li Wei thought of Shen Tao's girlfriend, Yuan Jiawei, who should be taking the high school entrance exam this year, which is only a few months away. She had heard that Yuan Jiawei was a good student.
Shen Tao is only in the second year of junior high school, and he does nothing but waste his time. I don't know what's going on between these two, but I guess there's a high chance they'll break up.
Aside from his penchant for causing trouble, Li Wei really couldn't understand what Yuan Jiawei saw in Shen Tao that led to this whole "early romance" drama.
From any perspective, Yuan Jiawei is far superior to Shen Tao; it's like a beautiful flower being stuck in that... well, you know.
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