Chapter 10: Two Families, Two Different Appearances
Chapter 10: Two Families, Two Different Appearances
The road leading back to the village from the dam is old and in disrepair, remaining uneven for over a decade. To make matters worse, layers of gravel have been laid over the potholes, a desperate measure to accommodate generations of students cycling to town. The only thing worth seeing is the two rows of tall, spreading metasequoia trees along the roadside that provide long, cool shade; otherwise, there's really nothing to see.
Fang Yuenian's bicycle, which had been submerged in water and then put back on the road, had been protesting all the way with heavy creaking.
Even so, when crossing a bridge with almost no slope, he still deliberately lifted the front of the bike and pedaled hard—the result, of course, was a particularly heartbreaking clattering sound of parts hitting each other, making one extremely suspicious that at any moment, the bike would completely break down.
Cheng Bing couldn't bear to watch any longer, so she silently caught up, reached out and picked up his soaking wet backpack, hanging it on her own handlebars.
“Ride slower,” he said. “If you ruin another bike, your dad will chase you into the river for three days.”
Fang Yuenian didn't care at all, and decided to go all out, kicking even more wildly.
"What are you afraid of? Just go ahead and get me out," he said with a dashing gesture of raising his chin. "Are you going to get me out?"
Cheng Bing: "If you get into No. 1 High School, I'll help you out."
Fang Yuenian: "..."
That said, it's quite amazing that Cheng Bing has always been able to help Fang Yuenian whenever she's in trouble.
She chased away the barking dogs that were chasing him from who-knows-where, and repeatedly covered for him so that Wang Jing wouldn't find out that he was secretly going to Cheng's carpenter's shop to play. Every time before school started, she would stay up all night to help him catch up on his winter and summer vacation homework. Even when he got into trouble at school and was punished by having to clean the sanitation area, Cheng Bing would always come over to help without saying a word. Fang Yuenian felt that it was abnormal to mess up and not let him know.
"Brother Cheng," Fang Yue Nian slowed down, leaned closer to Cheng Bing, and called out affectionately, "I suddenly remembered something."
"explain."
“I think we should get that cabinet finished by this summer at the latest. In my opinion, one bookcase isn’t enough. Let’s just get the whole set, including a wardrobe, a table, and chairs. Anyway, Grandpa Cheng said he’d provide the wood. What do you think?”
Cheng Bing got a headache as soon as she heard this.
The wooden cabinet he mentioned was intended as a graduation gift for Cheng Junjun, but since the beginning of spring, only three small boards have been produced so far, all of which were sanded by Cheng Bing herself. Fang Yuenian has indeed shown an extremely high level of interest and extremely poor talent in carpentry.
Cheng Bing glanced at him: "You haven't even managed to grind out a decent partition yet."
Fang Yuenian felt wronged: "I don't have time. Grandpa Cheng doesn't allow me to go to the carpentry workshop on weekdays. How can I learn anything useful in just a little time on Sunday mornings?"
After explaining, she smiled at Cheng Bing and said, "Besides, it's not like you're here. I think we should do this: I won't plank wood anymore. It's just a waste of wood anyway. I'll be your apprentice and work with you. Anyway, no matter what, this cabinet has to be finished on time, otherwise it will be useless when Sister Jun goes to university."
Cheng Bing said in a low voice, "Let's talk about it after the exam."
Fang Yuenian sighed, "After we finish our exams, Sister Jun's results will probably be out soon. I think we should make the most of this time..."
Cheng Bing stretched out her foot to touch the ground, stopped the car, and looked at Fang Yuenian.
"What, what are you doing? What's wrong now?" Fang Yuenian stopped, completely bewildered.
"You just said you were considering taking the entrance exam for No. 1 High School," Cheng Bing said with a stern face.
Fang Yuenian felt a little embarrassed, for once. "So what if it is...?"
Cheng Bing stomped on the pedal and left.
Fang Yuenian hurriedly chased after him, struggling to keep up, but she couldn't stop talking, "I'll really consider it seriously... wait for me..."
Joy turned to sorrow. After a period of overwork and damage, his bicycle finally broke down at the corner two miles from his home.
The two dragged their way back to Shuibi Bay. The sky was already tinged with a deep twilight, the afterglow of the sunset had faded, and the village lights in the distance were twinkling. Occasionally, a man who was going to watch the fishpond at night would walk by with his dog. Seeing the two children pushing the cart, he would ask, "What's going on? Is the cart broken?"
Fang Yuenian said happily, "Yes, it's bad."
Cheng Bing glared at him and said to the man, "The chain broke, but it's okay, uncle. We'll be home soon."
At this moment, the entire Fang family was sitting around the dining table, waiting for their little darling.
Old Mrs. Fang had become thinner, her cheekbones were particularly prominent, and her face was deeply sunken, making her already narrow face appear even longer. Her mean temperament was even more undisguised, making her even less approachable.
Fang Wu, on the other hand, was over forty years old and had clearly gained weight. Even before the weather was warm, he couldn't stand the heat and lifted his shirt to reveal his protruding belly. Perhaps it was from sweating during the day and sitting under the lamplight, but the oily bulge he had was strangely comical.
In his youth, he had a handsome appearance, which made him less disliked. Now that he has lost that advantage, in the eyes of the villagers, he is probably just a bad example of someone who is good for nothing and idles away his time.
Wang Jing took the chicken feet, which she had reheated, out of the pot. Hearing a car outside, she said, "Yes, I'm home."
There was no light installed at the back door yet, so it was pitch black. Standing by the door, she could only see people and didn't notice the bicycle chain. She scolded her son first: "So you know you're home now? Look, we've been waiting for you. Hmm? Where's your grandpa?"
"Didn't come back," Fang Yuenian slung her soaked schoolbag over her shoulder, kicked off the train, and ignored the perfunctory scolding. "I'm starving, Mom. Is there anything to eat?"
"When have you ever come to your house without food?" Wang Jing was both amused and annoyed, then remembered that she was holding a paw. "Hurry up! We're waiting for you to eat!"
The Fang family always eats together.
Many elderly people in the village, being of advanced age, do not eat with their sons and daughters-in-law. They prefer to cook for themselves in their own kitchens. When guests come to the house and a table is set up for them to eat, they do not sit at that table. They do not have to chat with others and avoid being disliked. They are happy to be at ease. Old Mrs. Fang completely disapproves of this. Even if she does not cook or prepare meals herself, she always insists on sitting in the seat of honor when a table is set up. Otherwise, how can it be acceptable? Is there no manners at all?
Wang Jing let her be dramatic; some things should be left to chance, otherwise they could argue endlessly for a lifetime.
Fang Yuenian entered the house and was about to slip away to change her clothes when Wang Jing spotted her with sharp eyes. "Hey! What happened to your clothes? Did you fall into the water?"
Grandma Fang immediately put down the chopsticks she had just picked up, her face hardening: "Look, I think she's just gone crazy. Every time she comes over on Fridays, she makes sure it's dark by the time she gets home. And today she's covered in this mess. What did she fall into?"
Now that she had discovered it, Fang Yuenian simply admitted, "Yes, it fell into the river, and the bike chain broke."
Upon hearing this, Fang Wu angrily cursed, "What is this? The chain is broken again?! You little troublemaker, are you trying to drive me crazy? I won't..."
"Alright, alright," Wang Jing hurriedly put the chicken feet on the table, interrupting her husband's cursing. "No wonder you had to push your cart all the way back tonight! Did you fall and get hurt? You're all soaked! Go into the room and change."
After pushing her son into the room, she stretched out her finger and tapped his head hard a few times.
"What's wrong? Ouch!"
"You're just crazy! Tell me, did you fall into that pond at the bottom of the slope?"
No one knows a child better than their mother. Fang Yuenian picked up the schoolbag and put it on the table, then started rummaging through it, saying, "Yes, yes, it fell into the ditch, and all my books are wet." — The books had been drying by the river for a while before being packed back in, and after all the commotion along the way, the covers of two of them were almost torn.
Seeing the pitiful state of the books, Wang Jing was furious and shoved him, saying, "Fine, fine! Go change your clothes! I'll take care of it!"
Cheng Qiuyan, who was on the other side of the river, was also startled by the way her son looked when he returned.
This year is the most crucial time. One of the children in the family is preparing for the middle school entrance exam, and the other is preparing for the college entrance exam. I also have to worry about Cheng Xiaoxiao, who is graduating from university. With so many important things happening at the same time, I have to do three things at once. Fortunately, she is a very considerate person. Although she has been worrying about her family all these years, she has her parents by her side, her husband protecting her, and her children are all sensible, so life is quite comfortable.
Cheng Bing was alright, but she was soaked. Her two-year-old Hercules shoes were filled with water, leaving a water stain with every step on the tiled floor of the main room.
"Mom, Mother-in-law, I've fallen into the pond," he said honestly.
Cheng Qiuyan rushed over and pulled him to look him over from left to right: "How did you fall? Did you break any bones or scrapes anywhere? Was there anyone else who fell with you?"
Grandma Cheng's eyesight has deteriorated in the past two years, and she can't see clearly even when she wants to. So she keeps asking her grandson questions, and as she talks, she complains about the child's father-in-law and father, "All these two know is to go out and fix the cabinet, but they don't care about the little guy!"
Cheng Qiuyan could only say, "Mom! It's alright as long as you're okay. Which little guy doesn't fall down?"
Turning back to her son, she said, "Luckily, I just boiled the bath water (Note 1). Go take a shower quickly, don't get cold. Where's your schoolbag? Where's your school uniform jacket? Where's your bike?"
“Your coat isn’t wet, and the car is fine,” Cheng Bing helped her mother-in-law sit up. “Mother-in-law, I went to take a shower. I wasn’t hurt badly; I just tumbled in the water and got out.”
After calming his family down, he went back to his room. Instead of tidying up, he took out Fang Yuenian's notebook first.
Fortunately, his backpack had a small compartment, so the notebook didn't suffer too much secondary damage. He spread it out on his desk to air it before going to get his clothes to take a shower.
Fang Yuenian quickly changed her clothes, hastily dried her hair, and went to the main room to prepare for dinner.
Grandma Fang was sulking, whether from anger that her grandson had fallen into the river because he was disobedient, or from the fact that he had fallen into the river. She hadn't even said two words before her daughter-in-law cut her off, and in any case, she had a long face. Fang Wu had already gone out the back door to check on the bicycle chain, and now he looked furious. He guessed that Wang Jing had said a few words to him, so he was barely holding back his anger.
Fang Yuenian dragged over a stool, sat down, grabbed her chopsticks, and started eating.
Wang Jing said, "All you know is eating! Why didn't Grandpa come home with you?"
"I'm busy preparing for the second mock exam." Fang Yue Nian had a big mouthful of rice in her mouth, thinking about her grandfather and finding him quite interesting.
Since he started junior high school, it seemed like Teacher Fang didn't recognize him anymore. When they bumped into each other at school, he wouldn't even give him a glance. Wang Jing thought her father-in-law would take care of her son at school, but apart from Cheng Bing, no one else knew that the two were grandfather and grandson. Moreover, Teacher Fang was supposed to retire last year, but probably because of his immense passion for education, he insisted on postponing it for another two years.
"Speaking of the second mock exam, how's your revision going?" Fang Yuenian's words triggered Wang Jing's sensitive nerves. Like all parents who are overly concerned about their children's grades, she started nagging, "Last time you only got 40 points in chemistry and 70 points in physics. Out of a total of 150 points for physics and chemistry, you didn't even get 120. How come other people get 90 points on a 90-point test? Huh?"
Fang Yuenian always found it amazing how she could remember the scores of every single exam so clearly, but she was too lazy to argue about it.
Cheng Bing is just someone who got 90 points on a test. He's that outstanding, what's there to say?
When it comes to exams and grades, Grandma Fang and Fang Wu usually don't say much. The reason is simple: they can't remember which exam Fang Yuenian took. Besides, the middle school entrance exam reform is too big. In this year, the marks for each subject are different. It seems to be designed to confuse everyone. What's the point of remembering?
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