Chapter 3: Candy Friends
Chapter 3: Candy Friends
The first day of the Lunar New Year is a big day with many rules, and children are constantly restricted and cannot play around. Things get much better on the second day. In addition, many married daughters who have returned to their parents' homes bring their children back with them, so there are many new playmates in the village.
Fang Yuenian was at the age of being mischievous and naughty. While the adults were busy, he picked up a few icicles that had fallen from the eaves and ran to a side alley behind the back gate to squat and play.
The icicles weren't thick, but they were frozen solid and sticky. He rubbed his hands, which were so frozen they had lost all feeling, as he built bridges and roads all by himself. He was having a great time when he suddenly heard someone crying outside the alleyway.
During the first month of the lunar year, crying is considered extremely unlucky. Fang Yuenian was curious and listened to the man for a long time without stopping, so she grabbed the ice crystals and ran over.
He didn't recognize the woman; she was a girl who looked much older than him.
After standing there for a while, Fang Yuenian was finally noticed—the girl's face was already red, and now it turned even redder with embarrassment. She rubbed her eyes and asked, "Whose family are you from?" Seeing that Fang Yuenian tilted his head and didn't answer, she sniffed and pointed at his hand, saying, "Aren't you cold?"
Her hands had long since started to feel numb and tingly. Rural children were no strangers to this kind of numb, tingling pain, but Fang Yuenian still threw away the icicles, wiped her hands on her cotton-padded trousers, and said, "Why are you crying? My grandma said you can't cry during the New Year."
The girl sneezed, snot running down her face again. "What do you know, little one?"
She looked to be only seven or eight years old, with two braids tied too tightly in sections, her head covered in a bunch of fancy hair clips and hair ornaments, and her eyes were red from crying. But when she saw the meddlesome little one, she still put on the airs of an older child and asked Fang Yuenian, "What's your name?"
Fang Yuenian was hesitating whether to speak or not when the little girl's expression suddenly changed.
"You little brat, you've come all this way!" A sharp voice shattered the silence.
A woman with fashionable curly hair, wearing a white cotton-padded jacket and floral cotton-padded trousers, and unusually plump, rushed over in a flurry. Before she could finish speaking, she poked the little girl on the head with a finger. Fang Yue Nian was all too familiar with what followed.
"I told you not to run around like that, and you still go crazy! Every time during the Lunar New Year, you get up and start crying! It's rare for me to go back to my parents' home, and I have to take this brat with me! You never stay still, and you dare to get your clothes dirty, just look at you! You won't know until I beat you!"
Each sentence was delivered with a resounding conclusion, leaving Fang Yuenian trembling with fear after just a few sentences.
The little girl panicked, covering her head and backing away while saying, "I didn't cry! I didn't cry! I didn't get it dirty! I didn't get it dirty!"
"Hey! All you ever do is run around! Hey! Like someone's going to kill you!" The woman grabbed her arm. "Let me tell you, if you don't bring that ten yuan home tonight, I'll skin you alive!"
The little girl's eyes welled up with tears. "I didn't take it..."
"Stop talking nonsense! If you didn't take it, who did?! You just wait, I'm coming to your house..."
"Xiao Ai! Xiao Ai! Hurry up, the mahjong tiles are all out, we're just waiting for you!" A long shout came from the alley entrance, finally stopping the earth-shattering scolding for the time being. The woman turned her face and responded in a drawn-out voice, "Coming, coming, you guys set up the tiles first! I need Grandma Qinqin to draw a hand for me!"
While the woman was answering, Fang Yuenian picked up a small icicle and quietly put it into her cotton-padded jacket pocket.
Her daughter saw it, but just stared blankly and didn't say anything.
Luckily, her card-playing friends called out to her. After cursing a few more times, the woman hurriedly left, her curly hair flying wildly in the wind.
Now the little girl was even more embarrassed. It was common for adults to hit her, but to be seen doing so by a little kid she didn't know was still very shameful, especially since girls her age were already quite concerned about their image.
She pouted, tearfully patted the sleeve that her mother had wrinkled earlier, and prepared to leave.
Fang Yuenian: "Hey!"
The little girl turned her head, sniffed, and asked, "What?"
Fang Yuenian didn't know what to say. The word "comfort" hadn't yet been introduced into his little head by the adults in his family. However, the scene just now seemed extremely familiar. He had a vague impression in his memory of an older sister crying very sadly...
"If you don't speak, I'm leaving!" The little girl dashed off in a flash.
Her little floral cotton-padded jacket got its hem brushed against the moss on the overturned wooden boat in the alley, and she'd probably get another scolding when she got back.
Fang Yuenian returned to his little playground, feeling bored. The ice had melted a bit, and it was too short to play anymore. He casually flicked it and, losing interest, prepared to go home. As he turned around, he saw a little boy about his age standing not far away.
Fang Yuenian climbed walls and trees without a break, so his clothes were always covered in mud and dirt, black and grimy. But this little boy was different. His face was fair, and his not-so-thick winter clothes didn't even have a single gray stripe. He was just a little thin, with round, bright eyes.
Fang Yuenian was stunned.
The two children stared at each other, seemingly trying to understand each other, but neither spoke first.
After a while, Fang Yuenian couldn't hold back any longer.
Which company are you from?
There was no response.
Aren't you cold?
There was no response.
"May I have your name?"
After three sentences, Fang Yuenian's patience ran out. He put his hands in his shirt pockets, ready to leave.
The little boy across from us finally responded.
Unexpectedly, he took a few steps toward Fang Yuenian and stretched out a hand.
Fang Yuenian craned her neck to look, and in the palm of that hand lay a round, shiny fruit candy.
These fruit candies are colorful, and the packaging is made of colorful holographic paper. They are a popular snack during this year's holidays, but Fang Yuenian is no longer interested in them. His grandfather, who teaches in town, brought back a big jar for him several months ago. However, he remembered his grandmother saying that he should eat them at home and not let anyone see them, so she took them away.
Seeing that Fang Yuenian didn't move, the little boy said, "Eat up. I took the candy wrapper down and gave it to my sister. She wants to save it and make some really pretty strings to hang on the door."
Fang Yuenian refrained from revealing that she had lost dozens of tickets in the past.
The little boy stretched his arm out, his eyes seeming to urge, "Eat!"
Fang Yuenian picked up the candy with his thumb and forefinger—if he were holding the candy with his bare hands, it would have been sweaty and dirty long ago, but the hand in front of him looked so clean, and the nail crevices weren't covered in dirt like his. He looked at the candy, and for some reason, he subconsciously licked his lips, then licked the candy. A cool, sweet taste quickly rushed to his heart. He licked it again and then stuffed the whole thing into his mouth.
The two children giggled.
This was probably the first time Fang Yuenian had received a gift from someone. He had never known that his things could be given to others to eat. This strange feeling made him a little flustered. After a long while, he introduced himself and said, "My name is Fang Yuenian. My mother is Wang Jing. My grandfather is Teacher Fang. What is your name?"
“My name is Cheng Bing,” the little boy replied.
He also had a piece of candy in his mouth, slowly sucking on it while muttering, "I saw Sister Yan Yan crying just now, and I wanted to give her candy so she wouldn't cry, since she walked away so fast."
Fang Yuenian almost swallowed the fruit candy whole when she wasn't paying attention.
It turns out this was originally meant for someone else!
Hmph! What's so great about it! I have tons of candy at home! And tons of candy wrappers too!
That's what he meant to say, but what came out was: "Do you know her?"
Xiao Chengbing nodded: "I recognize her, she's my second sister's classmate."
"Her mother is so fierce. She curses and hits people, saying that she took ten yuan."
"No way," Xiao Chengbing said firmly.
Fang Yuenian agreed: "Yes, it must be that her mother lost at mahjong."
Xiao Chengbing chewed the candy in her mouth, making a loud crunching sound. Fang Yuenian found it interesting and followed suit. By the time the two of them finished their candy, they had already completed another conversation and learned that they were both going to preschool.
Fang Yuenian patted his chest and said to his candy buddy, "I can fight. If anyone bullies you at school, don't be afraid. Tell me and I'll help you get revenge."
Xiao Chengbing looked at him strangely, scratched her head, and said, "...Yeah." He nodded anyway, "Then I'll go home first."
Where do you live?
"My house is across the street, the one with two orange trees in front of the door. I'm leaving now."
He originally came out to play with Grandma Lin, but Grandma Lin was held up by the old ladies from the next village who insisted on giving her two of their pickled cucumbers. He ended up here on his way, and if he didn't go back soon, Grandma Lin would get worried.
Fang Yuenian saw him run away, and the candy in her mouth was all gone, no longer even sweet.
Feeling dejected, he turned around at the alley entrance and went home.
After finishing her work in the morning, Wang Jing was preparing to go back to her parents' home in the afternoon to take the children to pay New Year's visits to her in-laws' family. She was looking for him everywhere but couldn't find him. When she saw him come back with his head hanging down, she called out to him, "Where have you been? Look at yourself! What have you gotten yourself all covered in mud?! Come here quickly, let me change you. We're going to your in-laws' house!"
Undeterred, Fang Yuenian put the finger that had just been holding the candy into her mouth and sucked on it. It was indeed no longer sweet, so she went over to her mother and called out, "Mom, I want to eat candy!"
Wang Jing casually remarked, "If you want to eat, why don't you just get it yourself!" She was busy trying to slip a box of cookies and a box of shortbread into the already tied-up New Year's gifts, working up a sweat.
Fang Yuenian ran into the inner room and tiptoed to reach the tin candy box hidden in the middle of the cabinet.
I finally managed to reach it, and eagerly broke open the lid, grabbed a candy that was the same color as the one I had just eaten, tore off the wrapper, and popped it into my mouth. But, as sweet as it was, it seemed completely different from the one I had just eaten.
He was even more dejected and didn't even bother to chew anymore.
But then he suddenly saw the candy wrapper on the ground, and as if he remembered something, he picked it up, smoothed it out, and stuffed it into his pocket.
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