Chapter 14: They're just hard to please
Chapter 14: They're just hard to please
They returned the way they came, making sure to greet the gatekeeper again. After leaving the No. 2 Middle School, they turned out of the alley and walked along the street for less than ten minutes before reaching a newly built pedestrian overpass.
Although Fang Yuenian walked closely beside Cheng Bing, they didn't say much—a rare occurrence over the years, but seemingly more frequent since the start of the school year. He felt this was the troubles of growing up; his ability to provoke Cheng Bing was increasing, and he was becoming more and more lost.
They walked straight to the ramen shop. Since it was still early, there weren't many people in the shop. The two of them each ordered a bowl of noodles and sat down to wait for their noodles. Fang Yuenian said, "Brother Cheng, let's chat."
He often called him "brother," sometimes as a joke, sometimes as a serious expression. Cheng Bing didn't know what it meant this time, so she looked at him warily with her eyes raised.
"You need to understand a reality first: even if I do get into the top high school in three months, I won't have the chance to be in the same class as you."
When Fang Yuenian opened her mouth, it was indeed a serious matter.
With Cheng Bing's grades, she would be almost certain to pass the entrance exam for the top class and secure a place in the honors class, while Fang Yuenian would not have that opportunity.
Cheng Bing was silent for a moment, then said softly, "It's okay."
"It's okay?" Fang Yuenian leaned her face across the table. "You mean as long as we go to the same high school, it doesn't matter if we're not in the same class?"
Cheng Bing looked at him and nodded: "Yes."
The shop assistant brought over a bowl of noodles, and Fang Yuenian stopped talking and sighed softly.
He moved the bowl to the table, added this and that, stirred it up haphazardly, then scooped a large spoonful of scallions from the bowl on the table and shoved it into the bowl in a fit of pique. Soon, the aroma of scallions rose with the steam, and bright green scallion segments floated on the delicate noodle soup, looking incredibly appetizing.
Once finished, he pushed the bowl of noodles in front of Cheng Bing and said through gritted teeth, "You really don't ask anyone to do anything unreasonable."
Cheng Bing loves this kind of food, and he seems to be like that too—gentle and refreshing, but he's just hard to please.
It's not easy to coax him into talking, and it's even more difficult to make him happy.
Cheng Bing was opposite him, looking at him with her bright, piercing eyes.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Fang Yuenian's tone was subtle, a little annoyed and a little pitiful. "The noodles are going to clump together."
Cheng Bing suddenly said, "Actually, you also want to go to No. 1 High School."
Fang Yuenian was taken aback: "Who said that? When did I say that?"
"It's what you wrote in your diary, when you were in third grade."
Fang Yuenian's face flushed red instantly. "Shut up! Shut up! I said you can look if you want, but you're not allowed to talk about it!"
Cheng Bing fell silent.
Fang Yuenian gave up and muttered to herself, "Alright, alright, this is only the first day of a week. Let's talk about it in a few days, in a few days."
After finishing their noodles, the two went up the pedestrian overpass, intending to cross to the bookstore on the other side of the street.
This overpass was recently built, and when people walk on it, the hollow metal plates make a popping sound. Because it is located near the city center, there is a lot of traffic below, and it is very noisy. Looking down, you can see all kinds of people, which is part of the city's hustle and bustle.
Fang Yuenian always felt that he wouldn't be a successful child in the future because he didn't like the city. There wouldn't be lush orange trees or pavilions with well water and watermelons in the city, nor would there be long and quiet metasequoia roads. But... maybe there would be Cheng Bing in the city.
Even their city is too small. Cheng Bing should go to bigger places. He should see more of the world and be more successful than others.
As for the joys of rural life, they all seem to have been experienced with Cheng Bing. If it weren't for him, would things still be the same as before?
I can't figure it out.
Throughout the entire book-buying process, Fang Yuenian was only responsible for following behind and listening. When Cheng Bing said to buy this, he said "Oh". When Cheng Bing said to put that down, he said "...Oh" - and the book-buying was completed very quickly.
Because she had something on her mind, Fang Yuenian didn't ask to go sightseeing like she had the previous times. Afraid that she would get carsick if she took the bus right after eating, the two of them deliberately took a detour through the alley behind the bookstore, which took an extra half hour before they finally boarded the bus and started their return journey.
After going around in circles, Fang Yuenian boarded a rural minibus and sat by the window. The scenery outside the window flashed by quickly, and soon he felt dizzy. He turned to Cheng Bing and said, "I want to sleep."
Cheng Bing nodded and leaned her shoulder against him: "I'll call you when we get there."
And so, once again, the urban and rural roads became scenery that we could only glance at, just like every time before.
When Cheng Bing woke him up, the car had already arrived at the town's embankment.
This embankment carries people and vehicles back and forth. On one side is the riverbank, and on the other side are crisscrossing rural houses and paddy fields. If there were advanced aerial photography technology and photography skills, this place would be an extremely beautiful and tranquil water town landscape, an untouched natural scene.
"Are we almost there?" Fang Yuenian asked groggily.
"Soon."
Fang Yuenian opened her eyes and stretched her arms. "I'll ride my bike when we get back."
Cheng Bing agreed.
On the way back, Fang Yuenian didn't dare to be reckless because he was riding Cheng Bing's bike, and behaved himself the whole way. However, he couldn't resist the urge to ride, and couldn't help but stand up on an uphill slope, shouting and pedaling hard into the wind, until Cheng Bing patted him on the back and made him behave.
It was past noon when they got home. Wang Jing had looked rather embarrassed when she sent Fang Yuenian out that morning. She was so glad that he had finally arrived. She went over to greet him from afar and asked, "Have you eaten?"
Fang Yuenian had been riding her bike all day and her legs were tired, so she wanted to go inside and sit down. When she heard the question, she replied that she had eaten, and casually took out a wad of bills from her pocket and handed it to Wang Jing, saying, "Mom."
Wang Jing was taken aback, and her face immediately darkened.
Fang Yuenian stuffed the money into her hand and whispered, "Sister Jun is very nice, but she's always busy and doesn't have much time. Cheng Bing bought her some fruit, milk, and some bread, and we delivered it to her dorm entrance and left."
"Hmm." Wang Jing lowered her head and wiped her hands on her apron.
In the corner of the yard, winter slippers washed that morning were drying. The sun shone there early in the morning, but now the sun couldn't reach them anymore. She turned around and moved the slippers to a new spot, then went to check on the bedding drying behind them. The sun was shining brightly today, so she brought out all the blankets and mattresses from Fang Yuenian's bed to air them out, hoping he could get a good night's sleep before going to school tomorrow.
She shouldn't have been so unrealistic.
Fang Yuenian went into his room and put the materials on his desk, where the mess he had made while doing his homework the night before was piled up.
Not to mention Grandma Fang and Fang Wu, even Wang Jing rarely touched his books, so the pile remained in the same messy state as yesterday. On top was a math workbook, and the open page was a large blank space. He stared at this blank space for a while, finally reached out and closed it, then picked up a chemistry test paper, haphazardly tucked it in, and turned to leave.
Wang Jingzheng entered the room through the back door. Seeing his expression, she asked, "What are you doing?"
Fang Yuenian waved the book, "Do your homework."
Just as Wang Jing was about to speak, a stomping sound came from behind them. It turned out that Fang Wu had stormed into the house through the front door.
He stepped into the wet mud, his trouser legs and waist covered in mud splatters, and the rubber overalls he was carrying were dripping wet.
"What are you doing?" Wang Jing scoffed. "Don't you know to wash yourself before coming in?"
Fang Wu glared at him: "You think I'd wash it all? You think I'd believe you if I made a mess of things and dumped them all at once!"
These past two days, Fang Yuenian's father-in-law has been fishing in the pond, and many relatives and neighbors have gone to help. Fang Wu hasn't gone much, but last night, his uncle, who had been busy all day, thought that Fang Yuenian would be back for the weekend, so he came over and brought him a beautiful bream. Wang Jing felt bad about it and persuaded Fang Wu to go and help out today.
Wang Jing raised her voice: "Is it because I asked you to help out once that you're so angry? When have you ever not eaten fish or received crabs?"
Fang Wu's anger flared even more: "You just wait and see if I'll eat this year! Damn it!"
The two argued back and forth, making Fang Yuenian's head buzz.
With a blank expression, he ignored the two men and went out of the house through the back door, heading familiarly towards Cheng's carpenter's shop.
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