The next day, Yu Jihong took Fang Yu to town to buy the lady's bicycle she had promised her.
Fang Yu took a fancy to a red women's bicycle. The frame was shiny, the seat was made of soft foam, and even the pedals were printed with small plum blossom patterns. "Mom, is this one okay?"
"Sure, if you like it, that's great. I bought it for you to ride. Give it a try."
Fang Yu carefully climbed onto the seat, gripped the handlebars, and slowly began to pedal. "Mom, it's much easier to ride than a big bike."
Yu Jihong also tried it out. "Hmm, it's easy to ride. I'll take this one." She bargained with the shopkeeper and insisted on getting an extra basket and lock.
"Could you also send one of those chain locks? I'm not comfortable with a new car, so I want to lock it wherever I park it." Yu Jihong was still asking for things.
We bought a bicycle, and then we filled in all the missing items at home, as well as gifts for relatives.
Earning money through hard work and spending it happily—half a year of hard work away from home is rewarded with the comfort of shopping sprees at home.
Fang Yu's new bicycle aroused the envy of several girls of similar age in the village. "Mom, I want to buy a bicycle like Fang Yu's too."
"Who else is as wasteful as Jihong, that crazy woman? She earns a little money from making breakfast outside and then buys all sorts of things without knowing how to save any money," someone said sourly.
Fang Huahua looked at Fang Yu's new bicycle and said, "Fang Yu, your parents are so good. They'll buy you anything you want. I started earning money after graduating from junior high school, and I bought a bicycle with the money I earned." Fang Huahua had already accepted that she was different from others, and that she might not have what others had.
Yu Jihong spent some money to pull strings, and Fang Yu was able to successfully transfer to the town's middle school when school started.
Fang San Di and Yu Ji Hong escorted Fang Yu to the town's middle school and helped her unpack her things in the dormitory. "Fang Yu, Mom will write to you whenever I'm away. You should also write to Mom and tell her how things are at school. Study hard here, and buy fresh vegetables from the cafeteria. You'll be home alone this week, so make sure the door is locked." Yu Ji Hong had already said these words several times at home, but she still couldn't help but remind her again and again.
The homeroom teacher led Fang Yu into the classroom, and more than forty pairs of eyes immediately turned to her.
Fang Yu stood nervously on the podium, and the homeroom teacher introduced her with a smile, "This is Fang Yu, the new transfer student. From now on, we will help each other."
Fang Yu was assigned an empty seat by the window, and her deskmate was a girl named Tang Xin with a mushroom haircut. The books on her desk were neatly arranged.
The first class was math. When the teacher wrote function problems on the blackboard, Fang Yu noticed that the students around her were taking notes quickly, and even the sound of flipping through their notebooks was very quiet.
After the bell rang, I saw several boys in the back row discussing difficult problems. Unlike the middle school in the village, they didn't chase each other around and play after class. There was a tense atmosphere of studying in the air.
Yu Jihong and Fang Sandi returned home and packed their luggage for the next day's trip. Yu Jihong stuffed the folded clothes into a denim bag, while Fang Sandi sat beside her picking the last bunch of vegetables to prepare noodles for dinner.
“Look at this savings book.” Yu Jihong looked at the small booklet. “You’ve spent so much over just one Chinese New Year. If I hadn’t gone to sell breakfast at a stall in the second half of last year, I wouldn’t have dared to spend like this.”
Fang Sandi tossed the vegetable scraps into the bamboo basket, glanced up at her, and said, "If you don't earn any money, you can't spend it even if you want to."
“The more you earn, the more places you have to spend your money,” Yu Jihong sighed.
At night, Yu Jihong got up to check on Fang Yu's room. The desk lamp was still on the left corner of the desk, and an eraser was pressing down on the homework. She reached out and touched the edge of the bed, as if she could still feel Fang Yu's warm body when she was fast asleep, and her nose suddenly felt sore.
Fang San Di stood at the door and gently tugged at her arm. "We have to catch the train tomorrow morning."
Before dawn, the lights were on inside the house. A denim bag and a snakeskin bag leaned against the doorstep. Yu Jihong cooked breakfast, ate with Fang Sandi, and then went out.
Both of them glanced back at the village, where the red and green brick houses and mud-walled houses were hidden in the morning mist. The next time they would come back would be at the end of the year.
With the increase in the number of people leaving the town, there are now buses to the provincial capital. This bus stops at each town along the way, picks up passengers at the county station, and then goes directly to the provincial capital station.
There was a physical education class on Wednesday afternoon, and this was the first time Fang Yu had seen a running track covered with cinders.
The middle school in this town is really different from the one in the village. Fang Dongqiang's school is even better. I should tell Fang Dongqiang that I'm studying at the middle school in town.
On Saturday noon after school, Fang Yu sent a letter to Yu Jihong and also sent a letter to Fang Dongqiang.
Fang Yu rode her bicycle home. The midday sun dispelled some of the biting chill in the wind. The wheat on both sides of the road was just sprouting green tips, sparsely spread across the fields, like a light green border around the brown earth.
The withered grass from last winter still stands on the ridges of the fields, rustling in the wind. Mixed with the cawing of crows in the distant trees, it makes the road seem even quieter.
I was in a good mood over the weekend, but the thought of not having my parents home when I got back made me feel a little down.
The chicken coop in the corner was empty, with only a few sparrows pecking at something on the ground. When they saw her coming, they fluttered away.
She parked her bicycle under the eaves, pushed open the door, and a chill rushed in. The warmth and laughter that filled the house during the New Year seemed to have been blown away by the wind, leaving her all alone, and even the wood-burning stove felt cold.
"Fang Yu!" Fang Huahua came looking for her. "Is the junior high school in town any good?"
"Great, this is much better than the one in the village. The students aren't as noisy..."
It was Fang Huahua's weekend again.
Every weekend when Fang Yu came back, she would tell Fang Huahua about the interesting things that happened at the town's school. It seemed like Fang Huahua always had so many interesting things happening around her.
"Huahua, let me tell you, the uncle who repairs bicycles next to the school, just like Zheng Zhihua who sang 'Sailor,' also has a limp."
Hua Hua's eyes widened immediately, and she leaned closer. "Really? Is he the same as the one they sing on TV?"
"He always sat on a small stool. Since his left leg was inconvenient, he would use his right leg to support himself on the ground. He would be twisting a wrench in his hand, but his mouth was never idle. He would sing as he worked, saying, 'What is a little pain in the wind and rain?' The students who passed by would stop to listen. He also sang like Zheng Zhihua."
Hua Hua listened intently. She had only ever seen elderly people with canes in the village, and had never seen anyone like this uncle, who, despite his leg problems, could still sing and work so happily.
"The stars twinkle, illuminating my door." Fang Huahua hummed along with Fang Yu. "Many people say that he's not singing a song, he's singing himself. When I come back next weekend, I'll copy the lyrics of 'Sailor' for you, and we'll learn them together."
Hua Hua nodded vigorously. For Hua Hua, the town middle school Fang Yu mentioned, the bicycle repairman who could sing, and Zheng Zhihua's songs were all distant and novel worlds. For Fang Yu, who lived away from home and boarded at school, being able to share these new things with Hua Hua seemed to add a touch of warmth to his days in town that he could cherish.
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