Chapter 38: The Scarecrow's Summer
Chapter 38: The Scarecrow's Summer
Even after leaving the factory and receiving a few more compliments from the security guard, Fang Yuenian was still completely bewildered.
"So, we just," he looked at Cheng Bing, both amused and exasperated, "went out to play like that?"
He was only ever caught up in playing and forgetting the time, and was dragged back by adults to do his homework. He never said that he was urged to go out and play right before he was about to start doing his work.
Cheng Bing chuckled, looked around, and said, "Then let's play! Didn't you want to go to the shipyard?"
Actually, although it's called a factory, it's scattered all over, since there aren't really any factory buildings to build. The clanging and banging of construction noise could be heard far and wide across a long stretch of mudflats.
Fang Yuenian saw a lot of people below the embankment, including shipbuilding workers and many children playing around, and felt a bit repulsed. "Forget it, there are too many people."
He then turned to look in the other direction. The forest was low-lying, and the paths within were clearly trodden. Wang Jing used to often go there to pick tea leaves, but he had never asked where she picked them, so he didn't know if this was the place. "Shall we go and take a look at the tea plantation?"
“Okay, let’s go then. It doesn’t seem far,” Cheng Bing said.
The truth is, it's like looking at a mountain and running yourself ragged; it took the two of them almost half an hour to finally reach the mountain.
Perhaps because it has not been developed, apart from the tea garden which is tended during the spring tea season, the other trees here grow wildly and unruly, with branches twisting and intertwining randomly, forming a dense canopy overhead. It is also very quiet, with the clear and melodious birdsong that can be clearly heard all around, as well as the growing sound of cicadas.
They walked along the narrow mountain path, winding their way into the deep woods. Soon, the fresh scent of grass and trees, along with the smell of damp earth, filled their lungs.
Fang Yuenian recalled that when he was a child, Wang Jing had taken him to a famous scenic mountain in the neighboring city, but the novelty and excitement he felt then seemed nothing compared to today.
He walked ahead, then suddenly turned back and asked Cheng Bing, "Are you tired?"
He said this with a smile on his face, and because he was panting a little from going uphill, his eyes were unusually bright.
Cheng Bing suddenly met his gaze, and involuntarily, her heart began to pound violently.
He quickly looked away, glancing around before replying, "...Not tired."
"That's good," Fang Yuenian said, oblivious to what was happening. She turned around and pointed ahead, "I see the tea plantation. It turns out we could see it from the factory, but it took us so long to get here."
"Mmm," Cheng Bing said softly.
Once they reached a corner of the tea plantation, the view opened up before them. Although the tea plants around here were not of particularly rare or expensive varieties, the owner had not skimped on pruning the tea trees. They were not only neat and beautiful, but a short fence had also been built in front of them, next to which stood a grinning wooden scarecrow.
This isn't farmland, so there's really no need for a scarecrow. But this little wooden figure, dressed in straw, stands smiling in the wind and under the scorching sun, and it actually looks quite convincing.
Fang Yuenian laughed as soon as he saw it. "Look," he said, pointing to its face, "its expression is so funny, like a doll."
Cheng Bing stared at the little wooden figure for a while, and Fang Yuenian couldn't help but reach out to pat its hat, but Cheng Bing grabbed her hand, saying, "Don't touch it."
"Just playing around," Fang Yuenian chuckled foolishly, "Is this hat real or fake?"
Cheng Bing not only failed to control his hand, but he also pulled it back and forced her to poke the scarecrow's hat.
Joy turned to sorrow; the hat, like a con artist's hat, was punctured and knocked off.
Fang Yuenian laughed heartily, leaped over the fence, and jumped into the tea bushes to pick some—he could have just walked a couple of steps forward and circled around, but he insisted on climbing over the fence, determined not to take the usual route. Then, standing beside the tea bushes, he called up to them with a grin, "Come down too, come in quickly!"
Cheng Bing stared at his face, which was smiling even more brightly than the scarecrow standing in front of her, and suddenly felt that it wouldn't hurt to flip over. So she nimbly jumped over the fence and landed in the tea grove, just like Fang Yuenian had done earlier.
With the space next to him cramped, Fang Yuenian had to bend down to retrieve his hat. He was laughing incessantly, seemingly enjoying himself. "Don't move, your knees are blocking my legs, I can't bend down," he said, placing a hand on Cheng Bing's waist. "Move aside a bit."
That night, after he finished drinking, he came over and pulled Cheng Bing's waist in the same way, his movements so natural and practiced, as if he had been doing it like this since his past life.
Cheng Bing was half-pulled along by him, her eyes slightly lowered. He hesitated for a long time before finally picking up the straw hat. Then, in a very light and calm tone, she said, "Stand still."
"Alright, alright." Fang Yuenian checked the hat and then looked up at him.
Within a second or two, Cheng Bing guessed what he was going to do and nimbly moved aside.
Fang Yuenian missed the first button, grabbed the hat and shouted, "Don't hide! Let me put it on you and see!"
Cheng Bing didn't move her feet, but used both hands to brace herself against Fang Yuenian's arms, holding them in mid-air, and refused, "Why don't you put it on yourself!"
"I'm not as pretty as you!" Fang Yuenian couldn't move her feet either. The two of them trapped each other in the narrow gap between the two rows of tea trees, struggling against each other. "Just wear it for a moment, just for a moment!"
The little scarecrow, having lost its hat, stood bald in the sunlight, still baring its teeth and smiling silently as it watched the two boys childishly frolicking at its feet.
This summer, something seems to have changed.
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