On the evening of the 3rd, Fang Damiao returned home and stayed overnight. The next day, he took Fang Dongqiang and Yuan Tingting back to the county town.
Fang Yu returned to school and went to the school's mailroom even more frequently. There were letters from her mother, but Fang Dongqiang's letter was still nowhere to be seen.
Did he forget about it or just not ask? Fang Yu lived with this question in mind, week after week.
Shi Feihao would still occasionally come to see Fang Yu and chat for a few minutes.
Fang Huahua would still wait for her at the school gate on Saturdays to go home together.
On this way to and from school, the fragrance of rice paddies in the wind is gradually replaced by the frosty chill.
On a cold morning, Yu Jihong and Fang Sandi, who were setting up their stall, felt not only sleepy but also a biting chill. However, the day to go home for the New Year was getting closer and closer.
Fang Meili's wholesale department also started preparing goods in advance, and Yuan Xinkang went to other places to look at and purchase goods.
After school, Yuan Tingting would come to the store first, have dinner there, do her homework, and then go home together after the store closed at night. They would have their lunch and dinner at the store behind the wholesale department. This wholesale department was moved to earlier this year and was larger than the old one. There was also a room in the back where Fang Damiao lived.
As Fang Meili closed the door, she reminded Fang Damiao that thieves were rampant at the end of the year, and they needed to be extra careful at night.
Fang Meili took Yuan Tingting and Yuan Fangfang home. Fang Dongqiang hadn't finished his evening self-study session yet. He went to school in the morning, ate lunch and dinner at school, and came back after evening self-study.
Fang Meili put the clothes into the washing machine. Fang Meihao had told her to just throw the clothes in, and the machine could spin them all by itself. Both her family and Fang Meihao's family already had this machine, and it saved them a lot of effort since they got all the clothes. Plus, it could spin-dry, so the clothes wouldn't be a puddle of water when they were drying, and thick clothes dried faster too.
While I was busy, Yuan Tingting came over and said that she had left her homework at the store. "It's too cold at night now, we'll go to the store to get it when we go to school tomorrow."
"I just remembered whether I had finished my workbook and wanted to check, but it wasn't in my bag. If it wasn't finished, I won't have time tomorrow morning," Yuan Tingting said anxiously.
"Okay! I'll go to the store to get it now." Fang Meili walked to the door, just as Fang Dongqiang returned from evening self-study. "Dongqiang, Tingting left her homework at the store. I'll go get it. You stay home."
"Second Aunt, I'll go with you."
"No need, you can stay home with your sister and the others."
As soon as she stepped outside, a cool breeze crept into her collar. Fang Meili pulled her coat tighter and rode her bicycle to the store.
Fang Meili pulled the roller shutter door of the wholesale store up a little, bent down and went in, turned on the light, and sure enough, Tingting's homework was still where she had been doing her homework. "She's just careless," Fang Meili muttered, and went over to take the homework.
Back at the door, as I was about to turn off the lights and leave, I suddenly realized that Fang Damiao hadn't even come out to check on the loud rolling shutter door, even though I had just told him to be careful at the end of the year.
Fang Meili went to the back to look, and found that the door and light of Fang Damiao's room were closed.
Fang Meili was taken aback. She pushed open the door and turned on the light. There was another door in this room, leading to a small path leading to the back door.
Upon closer inspection, the door was not locked from the inside, indicating that Fang Damiao must have exited through the back door.
Fang Meili's hands, hanging by her sides, clenched quietly, and her brows furrowed. Where would he go? Was he out for a late-night snack because he was hungry? Fang Meili tried to think of the best-case scenario.
She turned off the lights, closed the door behind her, and left the room. Then she went to the front and turned off the lights in the shop. After locking the roller shutter, she lifted it up again to make sure it was locked before hurrying home.
Fang Dongqiang, Yuan Tingting, and Yuan Fangfang were still sitting in the living room waiting for her.
"Second Aunt, I'm going to sleep now." Fang Dongqiang got up when he saw her return.
"Dongqiang, are you hungry?" Fang Meili suddenly asked.
I'm not hungry.
"Okay, go to sleep early, you need to get up early tomorrow."
Fang Meili handed the homework to Yuan Tingting, "Tingting, quickly check if there are any questions you haven't done well, and make up for them as soon as possible."
As Fang Meili hung the clothes out to dry, she wondered where Fang Damiao might have gone. Although she tried to think of something positive, all she could think of were bad things. Aside from going out for a snack when she was hungry, nothing else seemed like a good thing.
The next day, Fang Meili looked at the order list and saw that a new product had been introduced in the second half of the year: instant noodles. This new food, which doesn't require cooking and can be eaten after just pouring in boiling water, was very popular.
Fang Damiao was loading the goods onto the tricycle, preparing to deliver them.
Fang Meili went to get the instant noodles herself. "Brother Miao, the nights are long in winter now. Will you get hungry at night?"
"Huh?" Fang Meili's sudden concern startled Fang Damiao.
"I mean, you don't need to light a fire to make instant noodles now. Just take a few packs to the back, and if you get hungry at night, just soak them in hot water and they'll taste good."
I'm not hungry.
“I’ll take a box home too. I’m afraid Dongqiang will be hungry when he comes back from evening self-study, so I’ll give it to him as a snack.”
“He studies hard and might get hungry quickly. I ate a full dinner and I'm not hungry.”
"Okay, help yourself if you're hungry."
"Oh!" Fang Damiao rode away on his tricycle.
Fang Meili felt even more uneasy. What should she do? He probably wasn't out for a late-night snack. It seemed she would have to come back and check again after closing time.
When Yuan Xinkang returned, he was busy counting and organizing the goods he had purchased. In the evening, after taking a shower, Yuan Xinkang collapsed on the bed. Fang Meili came over and told him to get dressed and go to the store to take a look.
"There are big seedlings in the shop, what's the point of going over there at night?" Yuan Xinkang was too tired to move after returning from buying the goods.
"Go check on Fang Damiao," Fang Meili said from the side, explaining that she had gone to get her homework and Fang Damiao wasn't there.
"After moving so much cargo, I'm exhausted. I don't even have the energy to go whoring."
"Why did you immediately think of going to a brothel? Are you going too?" Fang Meili became alert.
"Tsk, I go home with you every day after closing the shop, sleep with you at night, and go to open the shop together in the morning. You still don't trust me?"
"Then why did you immediately bring up prostitution?" Fang Meili pressed on.
"Is that what you're thinking? Are you trying to find out if he's gone out to solicit prostitutes?"
"Me, me. What good could possibly come from going out so late at night?"
"Go to sleep first tonight, I'm really tired. Tomorrow night, no matter if it's windy, rainy, snowy, or hail, we'll go, okay?"
"Okay." Fang Meili suddenly remembered something, "You can't tip off Fang Damiao tomorrow."
Yuan Xinkang was both amused and exasperated. "Are you possessed?"
"Anyway, you can't be alone with him tomorrow." Fang Meili regretted telling Yuan Xinkang first; she should have talked to Fang Meihao first. Why does her IQ drop when something happens?
The next day, while Fang Damiao and Yuan Xinkang were talking, Fang Meili kept glancing at them out of the corner of her eye. Yuan Xinkang rolled his eyes at Fang Meili, and Fang Meili rolled her eyes back and turned her head away.
"What are you two doing?" Fang Damiao asked.
"Nothing much, Yuan Xinkang just put his faded clothes in the washing machine and dyed all my other light-colored clothes," Fang Meili blurted out.
"Yeah, it's dyed. I'll buy you a new one, so don't roll your eyes at me," Yuan Xinkang said helplessly.
"You two are the same age as Tingting and Fangfang?" Fang Damiao said with a smile as he walked away.
In the evening, I closed the door and went home as usual.
Fang Meihao settled her two daughters in, told Fang Dongqiang to go to bed early, and then went to the shop with Yuan Xinkang.
“What would you say if he were in the store?” Yuan Xinkang asked.
"If we're in the store, we're in the store. It's normal for us to come and get something we forgot."
Fang Meili was a little uneasy this time. What if she really wasn't there again? Had she gone to a prostitute? If she went to prostitutes so often, did she have money?
Fang Meili felt nervous again. She was the one who collected all the money in the store, and the drawers were emptied every night. He usually didn't come to the cashier, so there shouldn't be this opportunity. Moreover, Fang Meili had a strange trust in him in this regard. She didn't trust him about other things, but she believed he wouldn't do this.
Lost in thought the whole way, Yuan Xinkang arrived at the store and took out his key to open the door. "Be quiet," Fang Meili whispered in his ear.
"If someone is inside, they'll know when we go in; if we're not inside, they won't even notice if we make a sound."
"What if he brought someone with him in the room? If he hears this, he'll run out the back door." Fang Meili slapped her forehead. "Oh dear, we should have gone in through the back door. If he's not there, he's not there. If he is, we can just say it's too much trouble to open the front door."
Yuan Xinkang had already opened the door and closed it.
The two bent down and went into the shop, turning on the light switch next to them. They stood there for a while, but Fang Damiao didn't come out.
Fang Meili and Yuan Xinkang exchanged a glance and walked inside. Sure enough, Fang Damiao's room was still empty, just like before.
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