On the sycamore tree in front of the teaching building, the last few dead leaves were shaking in the cold wind.
When Lin Zhiyue pushed open the door of the examination room, the sound of flipping papers in the corridor suddenly stopped, and more than 20 pairs of eyes were cast on the figure who handed in the paper early.
The girl with a ponytail in the front row was clutching a half-page of draft paper, her knuckles turning white;
The boy wearing glasses in the back row sneered and stabbed the test paper with the tip of his pen;
The short-haired girl sitting by the window frowned and watched her disappear around the corner of the stairs, her pencil leaving fine teeth marks on the eraser.
The cold wind at the school gate was carrying snow particles. Lin Lang saw the familiar pink figure through the windshield. The sound of knuckles tapping on the car window woke up Wen Yu who was resting with her eyes closed.
"The girl is out!"
Before he finished speaking, Wen Yu had already unbuckled her seat belt and rushed out of the car.
"How long have you been in there..."
Wen Yu trotted down the icy steps, her scarf hanging askew around her neck. "Did you forget to bring your ID? Or are you feeling unwell?"
She held her daughter's shoulders with both hands, and her eyes eagerly swept over Lin Zhiyue's flushed cheeks and slightly messy hair.
Lin Lang followed closely behind, his heavy cotton shoes squeaking as he stepped on the snow, his brows twisted into the shape of the Chinese character "川".
Lin Zhiyue was amused by her parents' nervous expressions. The white mist she exhaled condensed into tiny ice crystals under the street lights: "Dad, Mom, don't worry!"
She shook the admission ticket in her hand, with tiny pieces of snow on her eyelashes. "The questions are much simpler than the mock test. Check them twice and hand them in if you have no problems."
As he spoke, he took out his thermos and drank some ginger tea. The warm breath permeated the cold air.
Wen Yu's tense shoulders suddenly relaxed. She raised her hand to tuck the loose hair behind her daughter's ears, with a trace of worry lingering on her fingertips.
Lin Lang laughed heartily and patted his daughter's shoulder with his broad palm: "You are worthy of being my daughter!"
He opened the car door, and the warm air with a faint scent of sandalwood blew in his face. "Hurry up and get in the car to warm up. You need to have a good meal after the exam!"
Lin Zhiyue huddled into the back seat, and suddenly felt that the whistling cold wind outside the car window also became gentle.
Wen Yu stroked the metal shell of the thermos cup, and the warmth from the cup wall spread through the wool gloves and spread to her fingertips: "It's freezing cold, and the copper pot hot pot in the state-owned restaurant is the best way to drive away the cold."
She looked at the parents gradually gathering outside the teaching building, the white mist from her breath condensed into tiny ice crystals on her scarf, "After dinner, we can take a break in the private room to prevent the children from getting cold."
When she turned to look at Lin Lang, her eyes showed calculation: "Go and tell Brother Mu and the others, there are only a few large round tables in the state-owned restaurant. If you are late, there will be no room."
Before she finished speaking, she reached out and straightened the fur collar of her husband's coat. "Let them wait here for the Mu brothers and sisters. Let's go and reserve a seat first."
Lin Lang walked on the snow towards the Mu family's green jeep, and the friction between the soles of his shoes and the ice made a crackling sound.
The moment the car window was lowered, the warm air with a faint smell of tobacco blew in my face.
Mu Zhixin raised his hand and pushed his gold-rimmed glasses. His eyes passed Lin Lang and fell on Lin Zhiyue who was carrying a schoolbag to the car not far away: "Little girl, you finished the exam so soon?"
"Yes, the child said the question was easy."
Lin Lang smiled and rubbed his frozen hands. "Wen Yu was afraid that there would be no seats in the restaurant, so she asked us to go and grab a seat first. You guys wait for the three children of the Mu family and Lin Qiyang to come out, and then go directly to the restaurant. I'll go find a private room first."
His fingertips trembled slightly in the cold wind.
Zhang Yao leaned out from the passenger seat, the pearl pins on her cashmere scarf gleaming under the streetlights: "It's just right, I was thinking about finding a place to warm up after the exam. You go order the food first, we'll be there with the kids later."
She waved in the direction of Lin Zhiyue, her smile as warm as spring, "Don't let Zhiyue go hungry, eat something hot first."
After watching the Mu family's car window slowly rise, Lin Lang walked on the snow back to his own car.
The lights in the teaching buildings in the distance lit up one after another, like a string of pearls in the cold night, and the copper pots in the state-owned restaurant were bubbling with steam, waiting for the group of children who had just finished their exams.
Lin Lang opened the car door and sat in the driver's seat.
Wen Yu turned to look at her daughter in the back seat: "Zhi Yue, just order whatever you want to eat. We can eat as much as we want today!"
The car slowly drove out of the school, and the light and shadows on the roadside flowed on the car window.
Lin Zhiyue looked at the familiar street outside the window and suddenly remembered her aunt's meaningful look.
The state-owned hotel flashed on the corner of the street, and Lin Lang stopped the car.
When you push open the door, the rich aroma of mutton mixed with sesame sauce hits you in the face. The lobby is full of diners wrapped in thick cotton-padded jackets, and the sounds of clinking glasses and chatting and laughing are intertwined.
Wen Yu found the manager familiarly and said, "Old Wang, is the 'Songhe Hall' we reserved before still available? We have three families, so we need two more chairs."
In the private room, the waiter deftly set up the charcoal copper pot, and the carvings on the copper wall were faintly visible in the heat.
Wen Yu put some wolfberries and scallions into the copper pot, then turned around and saw her daughter staring out the window in a daze: "What's wrong? Are you tired?"
"Mom," Lin Zhiyue hesitated for a moment while biting her chopsticks, "I just met my aunt."
"Really?" Wen Yu touched Lin Zhiyue's head. "Your aunt works in the Education Bureau, so it's not surprising to meet her. She's very busy during this period!"
She added a glass of water to Lin Lang's cup, "Old Lin, pour the child a cup of hot soy milk and don't let her think about it."
As he was speaking, there was a noise outside the door.
Mu Yuchang rushed in like a cheerful little bird, with snowflakes on the ends of her hair: "Zhi Yue! You don't know, my palms were full of sweat in the last half hour, and the invigilator thought I was cheating!"
Mu Sihuai followed in carrying his brother's schoolbag, his glasses covered with a layer of white mist: "Little sister, be gentle, my thermos is going to spill!"
Zhang Yao and Mu Zhixin followed behind with smiles on their faces, carrying packages of sugar-roasted chestnuts in their hands.
"Hurry up and sit down,"
Zhang Yao distributed chestnuts to the children and said, "I'm sorry for the traffic jam. I kept you waiting for a long time."
She sat down next to Wen Yu and said in a low voice, "I heard that the math questions this time were particularly difficult, and many children didn't finish them."
The water in the copper pot was bubbling and the mutton slices were floating up and down in the red soup.
The skewer of meat that Lin Qiyang had just picked up was hanging in the air, and he looked at Lin Zhiyue eagerly: "Little sister, you must remember the answers to the multiple-choice questions! Just answer a few correctly so that I can have a better idea?"
His sleeves were still stained with pencil dust from some unknown time, and his fingers were unconsciously stroking the chopsticks.
Mu Yuchang had already thrown her cashmere scarf onto the back of the chair, leaned out half of her body, and her hair almost swept into the boiling red oil soup base: "Zhiyue is the most reliable! I haven't even finished the trigonometric function problem, tell me your solution idea?"
Her bright eyes were full of anticipation, and her nails tapped rhythmically on the tablecloth.
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