Chapter 5: Who is the new deskmate?
Chapter 5: Who is the new deskmate?
The sound of firecrackers that day startled Cheng Junjun, who ran out and bumped into Cheng Xiaoxiao, who was returning from delivering spring rolls.
One of them chuckled and accused the villain first: "I bumped my head and flattened it!" The other was both angry and amused, and tenderly brushed off the black ash that had been pressed onto the front of his clothes by a claw. In the short while, Cheng Qiuyan and Lin Guohui were also brought out.
Later, Fang Yuenian was taken inside and shared Cheng Bing's roasted sweet potato with him. While waiting for the sweet potato to cook, Cheng's father-in-law gave Fang Yuenian a small sword carved from scrap wood, saying he could keep it as a toy.
Later, Lin Guohui took him to the entrance of the small restaurant where Fang Wu played mahjong.
—Fang Yuenian thought about it carefully one year and felt that his fate with Cheng Bing officially began from that day.
Although he had forgotten exactly what everyone said and did during that short period of time, in his simple mind at the time, it seemed that no one in the Cheng family, from top to bottom, had any aversion to him, the uninvited guest. As a result, he would stay far away from all kinds of firecrackers and fireworks later on. However, for some reason, he cleverly hid the little wooden sword for a long time and it was never discovered by his family.
The first month of the lunar calendar passed by so quickly.
The preschool class was a pilot project for the village primary school. After much discussion, the school finally notified parents that they could send their children after the Lantern Festival. So Fang Yuenian and Cheng Bing, along with nearly twenty other children, officially embarked on their long journey of school life under the watchful eyes of their parents, grandparents, and in-laws.
Wang Jing's plan was actually not wrong. There was a lot of work to do in the countryside, and there was not much time to take care of the children. Sending them to school would save trouble. With teachers in charge, they would be more sensible. If they behaved well, they could directly enter the first grade in September of the second half of the year. Wouldn't that be a smooth process?
Fang Yuenian certainly didn't disappoint his mother; he got into a fight on his very first day at school.
Calling it a fight is a bit of an exaggeration; it was more of a one-sided fight. Ultimately, this wasn't Fang Yuenian's fault. It was mainly because his deskmate was too annoying. He wouldn't let him put his treasured possession—a jar of ant seeds—inside his desk. Not only would he not let him put it in, but he also cried uncontrollably, insisting that the teacher throw it far away.
That's ridiculous! Fang Yuenian naturally wouldn't agree.
He was holding the plastic can with one hand, and with the other hand, before he could even exert any force, he pushed the person over—and then the little boy who had just been his deskmate in class and whose name he didn't even know, started crying.
Fang Yuenian was also taken aback. It was the first time he had ever seen someone cry like this. After all, in his memory, when Xiaxia next door was being chased all over the village by her grandmother and fell into chicken droppings, she didn't cry so heartbreakingly.
Am I more terrifying than chicken droppings?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He felt that he and his pet ant had been greatly wronged, so he absolutely refused to have this deskmate anymore.
Most preschool children are only five or six years old. Having just left their parents and entered a strange environment, they immediately start crying when they see someone crying. In no time, they all start making a fuss. On the first day of school, they cry and wail, smash pencil cases and tear notebooks. With snot and tears streaming down their faces, they easily turn the place upside down.
It wasn't until the teacher moved the overly fragile child, who continued to sob quietly until the end of the school day, to a new seat away from the ants, and then arranged for the most well-behaved and bravest child in the class—the only one who didn't cry or cause trouble—to sit next to Fang Yuenian, that the situation was finally stabilized through a combination of coaxing and scolding.
Who is my new deskmate?
Fang Yuenian was overjoyed; it was Cheng Bing!
He had wanted to play with Cheng Bing every day for the past few days, but his mother not only wouldn't let him go, but also wouldn't allow him to talk about it, which made him very depressed. Now, however, he was all smiles and talking to Cheng Bing happily, asking him if he had eaten roasted sweet potatoes or played with firecrackers these past few days, and warmly inviting him to watch ants building their nests together.
Cheng Bing didn't comment on the jar of creepy little animals. Fang Yuenian's notebook lay open on the table, its cover a mess of scribbles. He glanced at it, then painfully turned his face away.
Fang Yuenian: "Eraser! Where's my eraser?! My eraser is missing?!"
He still hadn't found his eraser by the time school let out at noon.
Cheng Bing used her own eraser to erase the notebook for him, using up almost half of it.
After a noisy morning, the children were finally able to leave this place, which wasn't as fun as they had imagined, and go home for lunch.
Back then, there wasn't a custom of picking up and dropping off children. The older children from the neighborhood would take them. It wasn't far to the left or right. In such a remote corner as Shuibiwan, it only took about half an hour to walk there.
Cheng Bing was brought to school by Cheng Junjun, while Fang Yuenian came with Xiao Hui, the son of Aunt Hongmei from across the street.
Although Wang Jing repeatedly reminded "Brother Xiaohui" to take good care of "his little devil" to and from school, Xiaohui forgot about it when school ended at noon.
Fortunately, Fang Yuenian had also forgotten about him.
He spent the whole morning playing with ants, searching for an eraser, and then watching enviously as Cheng Bing wiped his notebook clean. Going to school was really interesting, he thought. It would be even more interesting if Cheng Bing could say a few more words.
Cheng Junjun was waiting for Cheng Bing at the classroom door on time, and Fang Yuenian naturally followed her out.
At first glance, he didn't see Cheng Junjun, but noticed another thin girl next to her. He vaguely felt that he had seen her before. When Cheng Bing walked over and called out "Second Sister" and then "Sister Yanzi," he finally remembered that she was the one who was crying at the alley entrance that day.
Sister Yanzi was still wearing that little floral cotton-padded jacket, but it was obviously very dirty. She had clashing sleeves on both sleeves, and her hair was combed even tighter than that day, making her head look like it was being held firmly in place. There was a black snot streak across her face. If she was still quite energetic and lively during the New Year, today she looked completely listless and empty.
Cheng Junjun stared at Fang Yuenian for a long time.
The gaze was sharp, making Fang feel uneasy and a little scared. He tugged at Cheng Bing's clothes from behind as if seeking help.
Cheng Bing looked around and understood what he meant, then asked her sister, "Second sister, Fang Yuenian is my deskmate, can he come with us?"
Cheng Junjun: "..."
Of course she knew who this kid was.
Unable to resist, I asked him with a stern face, "Who brought you to school this morning?"
“Old Hui,” Fang Yue Nian blinked, her voice soft, “he’s gone.”
This term of endearment is widely used among children, serving to bridge the gap and blur the lines between "you" and "me." Even Cheng Junjun was once called "Old Gentleman."
She looked at the two little ones obediently tilting their heads up, waiting for her to agree, and finally pouted, reluctantly saying, "Okay."
Fang Yuenian excitedly grabbed Cheng Bing's hand: "That's great!"
Just as Cheng Bing was about to say something, Yanzi suddenly shouted, "Hurry up! My mom will scold me if I'm late for my house!"
Cheng Junjun was startled by her, "What are you shouting for? Your shouting hurts my ears."
"Is my voice loud?" Yanzi was a little confused. She covered her ears and frowned. "Ouch, my ears hurt so much."
Cheng Junjun started school late and was the oldest child in her class, so she was more sensible than her classmates. Seeing Yanzi like this, she asked worriedly, "Does your ear hurt again? You were complaining of pain this morning. Why don't we go home and ask your mother to take you to see a doctor?"
Yanzi acted as if she hadn't heard her, tugged at her ear a few times, and urged impatiently, "Hurry up, I'm going home!"
Her voice was still very loud, and then she kept muttering to herself, saying something incoherently. As she spoke, she casually wiped her nose. Cheng Junjun found this repetitive action, which she had been doing all morning, very strange. Yanzi used to be extremely clean and never wiped her nose with her sleeve.
Two adults and two children walked home together, but halfway there, Yanzi separated from them without even saying goodbye.
Fang Yuenian was completely unaware, only feeling that walking was really exhausting.
Several times he tried to drag her to the roadside ditch to pull up reeds to play, and Cheng Bing seemed willing, but Cheng Junjun was unmoved and strode away quickly, so the two of them had no choice but to follow. If it weren't for that, he probably wouldn't have been able to get home until afternoon classes.
That afternoon, Cheng Junjun, along with Cheng Bing and Fang Yuenian, who had been waiting by the roadside, waited for a long time but didn't see Yanzi at their usual meeting place. So they went to school first. When they got home that evening, their father-in-law told them that Yanzi's family had taken her to see a doctor about her ear condition.
Another week passed before Yanzi finally returned to class, but she became even more listless than before. Not only did she look slovenly, but she also spoke unclearly.
The homeroom teacher, who already considered Cheng Junjun to be one of the older children in the class, quietly told her to take good care of Yanzi, as Yanzi was deaf in one ear.
Fang Yuenian was never able to play with the reeds again, because he walked with Cheng Bing every day after that. Cheng Bing was always quiet, so Fang Yuenian would try every means to get him to talk. He would talk about this and that, and he had no interest in playing anything else. He would only part ways with Cheng Bing when they reached the U-shaped bend.
After a while, Cheng Junjun got used to it.
As for Cheng Qiuyan, she heard that Cheng Junjun was taking Fang Yuenian with her every day, and that Cheng Bing and Fang Yuenian were even classmates. After a while, Lin Guohui offered some words of advice, and then she stopped talking about it.
Several months passed in a flash. Fang Yuenian spent a few months at school, sleeping and making a fuss. Although he was mischievous and caused trouble, and the few Chinese characters and pinyin he was taught were written crookedly and ugly, he was not the kind of child that teachers couldn't handle. Finally, in the summer, thanks to Wang Jing's active efforts, the school agreed to let him, along with several other children, start first grade in the second half of the year, including Cheng Bing.
Wang Jing was completely relieved.
She had always assumed that Xiao Hui was the one who took Fang Yuenian with her, and even gave Xiao Hui a pair of crocheted cotton shoes for his good deed. However, she accidentally saw Cheng Junjun with two children a few times, and her heart skipped a beat.
But every time Fang Yuenian came home, Grandma Fang would ask her grandson as usual, "Did your teacher praise you today? Did Xiaohui take good care of you? Did he not let anyone bully you?" Fang Yuenian would nod and say yes in a haphazard way, and then clamor to go play, and Grandma Fang would not say much.
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