Chapter 34: When drunk, he chases chickens and dogs.
Chapter 34: When drunk, he chases chickens and dogs.
Cheng Bing was unaware that a drunkard was already on his way.
Their house was also lively tonight, as the whole family gathered together for a long-awaited reunion dinner, with dishes so plentiful they almost rivaled a New Year's Eve dinner.
It's truly something to celebrate. These past few days have been tough, big and small. Cheng Xiaoxiao graduated smoothly and started a new job and life. Cheng Junjun achieved great success in the college entrance examination and is about to become a college student. Cheng Bing's middle school entrance examination was relatively stress-free, so even before his results are released, we can already celebrate the whole family's success in overcoming these challenges this year.
As a result, Cheng Junjun was obviously too happy. She was already an adult and was allowed by her father-in-law to drink a large glass of beer. Her eyes were red from drinking, and she clung to Cheng Xiaoxiao and wouldn't let go no matter what anyone said. Cheng Qiuyan and Cheng Xiaoxiao dragged her upstairs, and she was still talking to Cheng Xiaoxiao in the middle of the night. In the end, she stayed in Cheng Xiaoxiao's bed and fell asleep.
Grandma Cheng busily cooked a soup to help her sober up, scolding Grandpa Cheng and Lin Guohui for letting their daughter drink alcohol. But then, thinking of her daughter's college entrance exam results, she was so happy that she wiped away tears in front of the stove.
Cheng's father laughed and said it was alright, it didn't matter, what did it matter in her own home, she was a grown woman.
He and his son-in-law had some baijiu (Chinese liquor) that night. The two of them drank and chatted happily. After finishing their liquor, they wanted to drink tea. They staggered around, drunk, and said to each other, "You are blessed," "You are also blessed," and even tried to perform a Huangmei opera.
When Cheng Qiuyan came downstairs and saw this scene, she was both angry and amused, so she had no choice but to go over and help her mother clean up the mess.
Cheng Bing had been kicked off the table long ago, and he couldn't reach anywhere. He had been diligently pouring tea for his grandfather and father, but Cheng Qiuyan had chased him away to take a bath.
So it was only after nightfall that the old and young went to bed.
Cheng Qiuyan and her mother-in-law were worried that the two men in the house would drink too much and vomit at night, and they were also concerned about Cheng Junjun. They kept going up and down the stairs to check on the situation. The noise never stopped, so much so that when Cheng Bing first heard the sound outside the window, he didn't pay attention to what it was until the knocking on the window continued for about ten times before he realized that there was someone outside.
It was already dark and quiet, with only the occasional sounds of frogs and birds in the fields. Cheng Bing got out of bed with a puzzled look, turned on the light, and pulled back the curtains to see Fang Yuenian clinging to the windowsill, staring blankly into the room.
His room faced south, with the flower and fruit orchard in front of the house visible through the window. Beyond that was the Shuibiwan River, the mother river. The window was built a bit high, so Fang Yuenian could only show most of his upper body. He was wearing a crooked short-sleeved shirt and looked a bit silly. When he saw him, he chuckled and said, "You're home."
Cheng Bing: "..."
"You," he was completely stunned, "what are you doing at this hour?"
"Shh—" Fang Yuenian quickly held up her finger in front of him, frowning, "Shh—don't be so loud, can you even come out?"
Cheng Bing's eyebrows twitched, keenly sensing something was wrong. He carefully looked the person in front of him up and down, and tentatively asked, "Have you been drinking?"
"I didn't!" Fang Yuenian lied without blinking. "I didn't drink it!"
Cheng Bing glanced at the quiet river not far behind him, her voice turning cold: "How did you get here?"
“I took a detour to get here,” Fang Yuenian said happily and proudly. “My boat sank a couple of days ago because of the rain, and we haven’t been able to salvage it yet. I took a huge detour and even got chased by a dog.”
"Did it bite you?"
"He only called out twice... Okay, I'm done talking. Are you coming out? I have something to tell you."
As he spoke, he leaned forward slightly, his expression hazy, but his eyes filled with anticipation.
"If I open the main gate to come out, the adults will definitely know," Cheng Bing thought, feeling a headache coming on.
A moment later, the back door of the Cheng family opened a crack, and Cheng Bing tiptoed out. She carefully closed the door again, making sure no one in the house could hear her, before striding forward around to the front.
Fang Yuenian stopped peeking through the window. He quietly hid under the small pear tree, leaning against the support Cheng Bing had made for it. In the darkness, he saw Cheng Bing's shadow and waved, "Hi~"
Nobody knows how this person managed to sneak over there; he didn't even have a flashlight on him, and his sandals were on backwards.
Cheng Bing walked up to him and checked him carefully again. He didn't smell strongly of alcohol, so why was he like this? He couldn't help but look up at the second floor, thinking of Cheng Junjun, and felt a strange sense of helplessness.
Fang Yuenian was overjoyed to see him come out, and in her joy she forgot to whisper, saying, "Cheng Bing... um..."
Cheng Bing covered the drunkard's mouth and whispered, "Do you want to wake everyone up? Let's go!"
He pulled Fang Yuenian along, but having nowhere else to go, he led her down to the wharf and sat her down on a secluded stone step. Then he asked, "Why are you drinking?"
"I didn't drink!" Fang Yuenian said firmly. "They said we were happy today and could have a little drink after the exam, so I did."
Cheng Bing paused slightly, then smiled helplessly in exasperation.
"How did you get here? Did you hit the dog?"
“I didn’t hit it!” Fang Yuenian said firmly again. “I was just passing by. It kept barking nonstop, so I went over to scare it. I had a pen cap in my hand, so I hit it on the head.”
"Do you carry a pen with you when you go out? And the pen cap too?"
"I'm packing things up! I was planning to pack in the afternoon, but the noise gave me a headache, so I fell asleep in the afternoon."
Cheng Bing immediately grasped the key point and asked, "Did your family have a fight? What was it about?"
"We didn't argue!" Fang Yuenian denied again firmly. "My grandma said that if I got a high score, I could go to Shuibiwei No. 1 Middle School and get a tuition waiver, and then she and my mom started arguing."
Cheng Bing's expression instantly hardened.
He had been standing, worried that Fang Yuenian might slip and fall while sitting by the water. But upon hearing this, he suddenly squatted down, grabbed Fang Yuenian's arm, and asked urgently, "What did your mother say?"
Fang Yuenian was startled by his sudden action. She blinked blankly and said in a daze, "She said, she said she doesn't have high expectations of me, and Shui Biwei is quite nice..."
If it weren't for the darkness, Fang Yuenian would have been able to see the raging anger in Cheng Bing's eyes.
He took a deep breath, barely managing to calm himself down, and looked at Fang Yuenian, saying each word clearly, "Fang Yuenian, you can't go back on your word."
Fang Yuenian was puzzled and couldn't understand what she had done, so she asked seriously, "When did I ever go back on my word?"
Cheng Bing stared at him coldly, wanting to say something, but held back. He let go, turned his face away, and after a long while said, "Do your family members all think that Shuibiwei High School is quite good?"
Fang Yuenian's mind was too busy to think straight. After a long while, she said blankly, "But I don't care if it's good or not, I'm going to go to No. 1 Middle School anyway."
Cheng Bing froze.
Fang Yuenian seemed to have found a topic to talk about: "Oh right, I just wanted to ask you, are you happy to be going to No. 1 High School?"
Cheng Bing's expression shifted rapidly. She bit her lower lip to calm herself down and said in a seemingly indifferent tone, "It's alright."
"How can it be okay? Huh? Such a big deal!" Fang Yuenian seemed very dissatisfied with the answer. "So, you'll be going to high school with me? Are you happy about that?"
Cheng Bing stood up and said, "Yes, I'm happy."
The premise is that you can actually do it.
Fang Yuenian was satisfied now. He chuckled twice, swinging his legs and gesturing wildly: "Let me tell you! Just wait and see if you'll call me 'brother'! Who knows what the future holds? Maybe my grades will be better than yours, and I'll be taller than you, so I can rightfully be your brother! Right, Brother Cheng?"
Cheng Bing looked at him, and with a hint of reluctance, she gave a slight smile.
“I’m waiting for that day,” he said.
"Yes, yes, you wait... Ouch..." He couldn't sit still, and somehow lost his balance. Cheng Bing thought he was going to fall, so she quickly turned to the side to block him, but he instinctively grabbed her around the waist.
Cheng Bing: "You..."
Fang Yuenian then buried his head in Cheng Bing's waist and said boldly, "I'll be your brother! No problem at all! I'll protect you from now on!"
Cheng Bing: "..."
He gritted his teeth and said in a voice only he could hear, "You try being one."
Fang Yuenian was immersed in the joy of becoming a brother, and also craved the sense of security she had now, so she tightened her arms around him a little more.
"I'm going to high school, and I'm going to high school with you. I'm so, so happy..." he said earnestly yet vaguely, "Then we can go to university together, and then..."
"And then...what?"
“Where are you?” Fang Yuenian answered softly, “I am right there.”
In a murmured, dreamlike voice, he silently wiped away a tear from the corner of his eye on Cheng Bing's T-shirt. Finding the action incredibly natural, he became even more unrestrained, wiping away all the tears that kept welling up in his eyes onto the shirt.
His sobs could not be hidden in the silent night.
Cheng Bing froze in place.
Children will eventually grow up. They will be pulled and tethered by countless invisible threads, some of which make them feel reliable and warm, while others make them feel powerless and suffocated. Time flows on without waiting for anyone to prepare, and they must move forward.
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