Yu Jihong cleaned the classroom and walked side by side with Fang Yu on their way to the market. The setting sun cast long shadows of them.
The market was noisy and filled with the smells of fish and the sweet aroma of vegetables, a smell that Yu Jihong liked.
As soon as she entered the house, Yu Jihong put on an apron and started cooking, with Fang Yu helping out.
Inside the small room, the two sat at the table, eating and chatting about trivial matters. The setting sun outside the window gradually sank, but the lights inside the room shone softly.
On Friday evening, the setting sun painted the kindergarten walls a gentle orange-red. All the children in the class were picked up, and they all breathed a long sigh of relief.
Yu Jihong bent down to tidy up the scattered building blocks, her apron stained with a few colorful paintbrush marks. As she straightened up, her back creaked. "Finally, it's Friday."
Fang Yu nodded, her voice hoarse, and said, "That's right, this week has felt longer than a month."
"I feel so relaxed after being able to rest for two days."
Back home, Fang Yu leaned against the railing, watching the sunset. The clouds at the very edge were baked golden by the sun. "Mom, are we going to Aunt Mei Li's place tomorrow?"
"What do you want to buy?" Yu Jihong asked as she cooked dinner by the window.
"I promised Tingting that I would visit her in the county town on the weekend."
"Okay, let's go together tomorrow."
On Saturday, they all slept in late, had lunch, and then went to Fang Meili's shop together.
"Sister Fang Yu, you're here!" Yuan Tingting, who was doing her homework, ran over and hugged Fang Yu.
"Sister Ji Hong, Fang Yu." Fang Meili pulled up a chair. "How was the first week of school?"
"Oh dear, now all I can think of when I think of kindergarten is the sound of children crying." Yu Jihong's voice was also a little hoarse.
“We teach small classes, and this is how it is at the beginning of the semester for small classes,” Fang Yu said.
"Look at you two, your throats are hoarse." Fang Meili brewed two cups of chrysanthemum tea and handed a packet of dried chrysanthemums to Yu Jihong. "Take this and brew some water to drink. It's good to drink chrysanthemum tea in the autumn."
"No, no, we have them." Yu Jihong pushed it back.
"Here, this is dry and will keep well." Fang Meili then said to Fang Yu, "Dongqiang called last night."
"Oh, is he settling in well there?" Fang Yu asked.
"Yeah, he sounded pretty happy when he called, saying college life is great. Here's his dorm phone number and the school address so you can stay in touch."
Fang Yu lowered her head. "No need."
Fang Meili was already copying down addresses and phone numbers. "Fang Yu, give me your school's address and phone number too. I'll give it to Dong Qiang so he can contact you when he has time."
Fang Meili handed Fang Yu a blank sheet of paper and a pen.
Yuan Tingting chimed in, "Sister Fang Yu, write one down and keep in touch with your brother."
Fang Yu glanced at Yu Jihong, who smiled and nodded.
Fang Yu pursed her lips and wrote down the address and phone number.
Sunlight streamed into the wholesale store, illuminating the shelves laden with goods. Fang Yu sipped chrysanthemum tea, listening to her mother and Fang Meili chat about everyday things. Tingting occasionally came to ask her about kindergarten and tell her about their school.
Fang Yu thought this kind of weekend was pretty good.
On the way back, Yu Jihong asked Fang Yu, "Fang Yu, what do you think of Dong Qiang?"
"Mom, why are you asking that?"
Yu Jihong held Fang Yu's hand and said, "No one knows a daughter better than her mother."
Fang Yu lowered her head and looked to the side.
"Dongqiang is a good young man, and his family is also very nice."
"Mom!" Fang Yu shook Yu Jihong's hand.
Yu Jihong linked arms with Fang Yu and said, "You're already 18 and working. You can date any boys you get along with. It's okay."
"Dongqiang is still studying, and he didn't say anything to me?"
"Yes, he still has four years of schooling left. You can keep in touch. Mom won't peek at your letters."
"Even the letters we wrote weren't what you think; we were just ordinary friends."
"Okay, Mom knows." Yu Jihong patted Fang Yu's hand.
Fang Dongqiang looked at the thick "C Programming Language" textbook at school. It was heavy in his hands, which not only brought him physical weight but also psychological pressure. The dense code and concepts inside made him feel like he was going to chew on a tough bone.
Fang Dongqiang scratched his brow with his fingers. "University life isn't easy either!" He was still thinking about how he could work part-time in university, just like they told him. He'd better get through this tough nut first.
Fang Yu waited two weeks but received neither a letter nor a call from Fang Dongqiang. Had Aunt Mei Li given him his address and phone number? If he didn't call, he wouldn't know, or if he went out to make the call without paper and pen, he wouldn't know either. Fang Yu tried to find excuses for him: Could I contact him first? Fang Yu asked herself this question many times, but she had no answer.
Write him a letter, like we used to chat occasionally back in junior high. It feels good to receive a letter, and I do miss him a little.
The class had settled down a bit. At noon, Yu Jihong was watching the children during their nap, while Fang Yu was preparing lessons in the office. Looking at the red-lined draft paper next to her, she pulled it over and put it in front of her. What should she write? Fang Yu thought and thought, writing for several lunch breaks before finally finishing the letter. In fact, the content was still the same as she had originally planned: asking them about their school life and talking about her work.
Fang Yu carefully wrote his school address on the bottom of the envelope, walked to the green mailbox on the street corner, hesitated for a moment, and then put the envelope in. Listening to the sound of the envelope falling into the mailbox, her heart pounded like a rabbit's, filled with both anticipation and nervousness. She stood by the mailbox for a while before turning around and slowly walking back to the kindergarten.
Fang Dongqiang had just returned from the library, carrying a thick book on data structures. As he passed the notice board downstairs in the dormitory building, the building manager called out to him, "Fang Dongqiang, there's a letter for you."
He paused for a moment, then strode over. One look at the handwriting and address, and he knew it was Fang Yu; Fang Dongqiang's heart skipped a beat. He took the letter, forgetting even to say thank you, and ran back to his dormitory clutching the envelope.
His roommates were fooling around, so he went straight to his desk, pulled out a chair, sat down, and awkwardly opened the envelope with his fingertips.
Fang Yu told him about some things that happened at her kindergarten, but mainly asked him about his situation at school.
Fang Dongqiang tore a piece of paper from his notebook and wrote back to Fang Yu, answering each of Fang Yu's questions one by one.
"The school food is alright, I can eat it, it's pretty much the same as home-cooked meals."
"There are four people in our dorm: two from Zhejiang, one from Hebei, and one from Anhui."
"The course is quite intensive, and there are many things I'm encountering for the first time."
…………
Why am I writing this like a question-and-answer session? Fang Dongqiang chuckled and added some more information: "Do you often go to my second aunt's house? What do you call your mom in class?..."
After the children in the class were picked up, Fang Yu and Yu Jihong tidied up the classroom together, putting the small stools back in their places and wiping the tables that were covered in playdough.
After closing the classroom door, the two had just reached the doorway when the old man in the gatehouse called out to them through the window, "Teacher Fang, Teacher Fang! There's a letter for you!"
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