Chapter 100 It's just that the channel is not right
From the 4th until the end of National Day, Fang Wei was busy planting mussels at home.
With the arrival of a new week, his family tasks have come to a temporary end. He still has to go to school, so the mussel farming can be left to his father and others.
The family has been busy these few days, and most of the seedlings have been planted in the original ten acres of sea fields.
It is only the beginning of October now, and in the remaining twenty days or so, Fang Xianfeng still has to hurry up and organize the other twenty acres of sea fields for expansion, and start purchasing equipment, purchasing mussel seedlings, and planting the seedlings again.
With the initial experience, doing these tasks again will seem much more adept.
Time is quite tight, and it is impossible for his own family to handle it all. Fang Xianfeng is not stingy and will invite a few fishermen's wives to come and help when the time comes.
In addition to mussel farming at home, the school will also hold midterm exams for this semester at the end of the month.
This October has been particularly busy.
……
on Monday.
Fang Wei didn't go to the farm today because he had to go to class.
But I still got up early and continued my running plan which had been delayed for a few days.
Pineapple Island is surrounded by the sea and has a subtropical monsoon climate. Influenced by the marine climate, the temperature changes throughout the year are relatively mild. Even in the coldest season, the temperature rarely drops below ten degrees. You won't see snow here.
Fang Wei still remembers that it was after he graduated from high school and went to Shanghai to work that he saw snow for the first time - if those tiny snow particles were counted.
The first time I saw real heavy snow, the kind of heavy snow that I imagined, with a thick layer of snow on the ground and enough to make snowmen, was when I was in my twenties and on a business trip to the north.
It is difficult to describe how a southerner who has never seen snow feels when seeing such heavy snow. Perhaps it is similar to the feeling of someone who grew up in more inland areas when seeing the sea for the first time.
Like my parents, grandparents, they have never seen snow in their lives.
If there is a chance in this life, Fang Wei still wants to take them there to see it.
Although the changes of seasons on Pineapple Island are not obvious, the autumn atmosphere begins to become stronger after October, especially in the early morning and evening.
Unless you are working or exercising, you have to wear a thin coat when you go out.
Fang Wei was still wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. He simply warmed up and then started running along the designated route. His body soon began to heat up, and by the time he reached Shayang Village, his forehead had already begun to sweat.
The seasons are changing and the sunrise time is moving later.
Fang Wei also postponed the time for getting up and running, so that he could just run to Xiaobaisha to see the sunrise.
From afar, the girl who had been waiting at the gate of the yard saw his figure, and she ran to join him, jogging with him on the quiet and cool country road in early autumn.
"Morning."
"Well, it's early for you too."
"The weather is getting cooler this morning. Aren't you cold wearing short sleeves?" Fang Wei asked her while running.
Liu Zhiyi shook his head and said, "It's not cold, I get hot when I run."
"I was afraid you might catch a cold while waiting outside the courtyard gate."
Fang Wei smiled and said, "Have you been waiting there for a long time?"
"It's not that early. You arrived not long after I came out..."
"Well, it's okay if you don't have to wait at the door. If it's cold, just go back inside. When I run to your door, I'll stop and call you out."
"It's ok!"
Liu Zhiyi said. Perhaps she didn't want to trouble him to stop and wait for her, so she preferred to come out early and wait for him at the door.
In fact, there was another reason she didn't tell him, which was that when she was waiting for him at the door, watching him running towards her from afar, from far to near, until they could see each other clearly, it felt quite good!
"Haven't you been running these days?" Fang Wei asked curiously.
While he was busy at the farm these days, Xu Cailing and Liu Zhiyi also came to the farm to join in the fun from time to time, just like they did on the first day, sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon.
"Yes, but number four didn't run, number five didn't run, number six didn't run..."
"…So he ran away yesterday, right?"
"Well……"
"You've been slacking off!"
Fang Wei looked extremely distressed.
Liu Zhiyi suddenly felt ashamed, and said in a low voice stubbornly: "You didn't run away either..."
"How can that be the same? I need to help with the work."
"Well, I also ran a little bit..."
"How far is a little run?"
"Just run to the dock..."
"Since you're already running, why don't you go to the beach and watch the sunset?"
"I can't run anymore. I have no strength left after reaching the dock..."
"what?"
Fang Wei was stunned. Normally when he ran with him, he could always grit his teeth and run to Xiaobaisha. Why was it that when he ran alone, he couldn't run anymore after reaching the dock?
"Because I'm not pushing you anymore, your muscles are starting to get lazy, right?"
"should be……"
Liu Zhiyi thought about it and thought that this might be the reason.
After all, when running with Fang Wei on weekdays, he would not only correct some of her movements, but also encourage her.
I'm used to having him running with me, but when I run alone, I inexplicably feel empty around me, and I'm really not used to it.
The gazes of passers-by, whom she had ignored before, seemed to suddenly reappear. She was running alone and was too embarrassed to look up. The early morning was quiet, and the feeling of loneliness in her heart became stronger.
My hands and feet were no longer under my control, and I could only run half the distance I had originally planned before I couldn't keep going any further...
"What should we do today? Do you still want to run to Xiaobaisha with me?" Fang Wei asked with a smile.
"Yes!" Liu Zhiyi nodded.
"You won't run to the dock again and then stop running, will you?"
"will not!"
"Even if I'm not around, you can't slack off on running. You have to stick to it for a long time. Otherwise, if you take a day off, you'll be thinking about the next day."
"Oh……"
"Okay, stop talking and focus on running! Move your arms, lift your head, and lift your legs higher!"
"Hu~hu~~"
"We're at the dock! Come on, come on! We can't fall down here today!"
"Hu~hu~~"
Familiar words of advice and encouragement rang in her ears.
Liu Zhiyi gritted his teeth, raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and followed him without slowing down, passing the dock.
It's strange, when she was running by herself, she had already slacked off when she reached this point, but when she was running with Fang Wei, even if she ran a little faster, she still didn't feel that the pier was the limit of her body.
She didn't even notice that she had run to the dock, she just knew that she was running beside him.
This is really what is called, men and women working together, isn’t it tiring?
...Finally arrived at the Little White Sand Beach.
As promised, Liu Zhiyi saw the sunrise after not seeing it for several days.
The girl bent down and supported her knees, and the first ray of sunlight from between the sky and the sea fell on her sweaty face.
She couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth, and her smile and mood at the moment were somewhat bright.
On the other side, Fang Wei was reading and reciting the text as usual.
"The Master said, 'Is it not a pleasure to learn and to practise what one has learned? Is it not a pleasure to have friends come from afar? '..."
They were in perfect sync. When he finished reciting this sentence, she also recited the next sentence aloud:
"Zeng Zi said, 'I examine myself three times a day: Am I disloyal when I work for others? Am I untrustworthy when I interact with friends? Am I not practicing what I have learned?'"
The two of them exchanged words with each other, using the beach, sea and sky as their stage, and the rising sun and seagulls as their audience, where they competed in poetry, lyrics and writing.
Unlike the shyness at the beginning, Liu Zhiyi has now completely let go when reciting aloud with him on the beach. Sometimes she even raises her hands and makes some movements to make her emotions richer when reading aloud.
In fact, only here, on this deserted beach in the early morning, when she was with him, would she open her heart to do such a thing.
If this happened in the classroom or in front of other people, she would become the little girl who spoke in a low voice, always had a cold face, and would not speak easily.
Fang Wei found it interesting. Perhaps, apart from him, even Uncle Liu had never seen her like this.
The time was almost up, and the two of them basked in the morning sunshine and slowly ran back along the way they came.
"I've already finished reading The Golden Age that you borrowed from me last time."
"Oh……"
Upon hearing this, Liu Zhiyi secretly raised her eyes to look at his expression.
There wasn't that kind of... teasing or smirking expression.
Just quite peaceful.
It seems that it was right to lend him this book. He should have felt something deeper beyond the surface of the text.
Liu Zhiyi has never used words like "mature" or "reliable" to describe someone of his age.
The only exception in her eyes was Fang Wei.
It is difficult to explain what maturity is. It seems to have nothing to do with age or dress. Instead, it is a kind of stable temperament that a person can only show after experiencing many things.
It would not be surprising to see such a temperament in her father, grandfather, or teacher.
But Fang Wei just had such a temperament that inexplicably gave her a feeling of maturity and reliability. The scenes of other boys of the same age flirting with other girls in the classroom would never happen to him; if she encountered any problems, the first person she would subconsciously think of asking for help would be him.
But different from the maturity shown by the elders, Fang Wei's maturity and reliability also has a youthfulness and vitality that only people of this age have.
Therefore, inevitably, in Liu Zhiyi's eyes, this classmate seemed particularly special...
"Well, what do you think after reading it?" Liu Zhiyi asked.
"This is a really good book. Wang Xiaobo explores many deep-seated issues in this book, such as the relationship between personal freedom and social constraints, which is not as simple as love. I remember a passage in the book that says..."
"Yeah! That's right!"
This was Fang Wei’s first time talking about books with someone else, and it was also Liu Zhiyi’s first time talking about books with someone else.
The usually taciturn girl, when talking about this topic, seemed to open up and chattered:
"Those days were like the 'golden age' in their hearts, but when they had to face reality and return to society, that purity became extremely precious!"
"Yes, the irony in the book is also very interesting. Wang Xiaobo uses a seemingly relaxed style, but between the lines he reveals his criticism of the social system at the time, especially those discussions about 'sin'..."
"Yeah!!"
Liu Zhiyi felt so happy! Finally, someone could connect with her!
It’s hard to describe this feeling. It’s probably like a person trapped on an isolated island, finally receiving a response from afar.
She just talked to him about books, but Liu Zhiyi was as happy as if it was New Year's Day.
……
The two of them chatted about books while jogging, and before they knew it, they were back in Shayang Village.
Liu Zhiyi was still chattering about the book and didn't even notice his grandfather standing at the door. He followed Fang Wei and ran towards Dongyang Village without looking back.
Uncle Liu: “???”
Fortunately, Fang Wei came to his senses first, pulled her to stop and said, "Hey, you're home, why are you still running forward?"
"……Eh?"
Liu Zhiyi finally reacted and looked at his grandfather who was standing at the gate of the yard, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
"Sorry! I wasn't paying attention for a moment! I was busy chatting!"
"You're too engrossed in the conversation."
Fang Wei smiled and said, "Then you go back. I'll go back to have breakfast and change clothes. Cai Ling and I will come to see you later."
"Fang Wei, can you wait here for me?" Liu Zhiyi called out to Fang Wei who was about to go back.
"What's wrong?" Fang Wei asked puzzledly.
"I'll get those books we just talked about and lend them to you!"
"……what?"
"Wait for me, soon!!"
After saying that, Liu Zhiyi ran back home.
In order not to keep Fang Wei waiting for too long, she quickly took out two books from the bookshelf and then ran out of the house.
These two books were mentioned when she was chatting with him just now, and they are also books she likes very much.
In fact, Fang Wei did not mention borrowing books. Unlike last time, this time she took the initiative to borrow it.
Because Fang Wei is also a book lover, she just wants to recommend all the books she likes to him! In this way, the two of them can talk about more books besides "The Golden Age"!
Just thinking about it, Liu Zhiyi was so happy that he couldn't help but laugh.
Uncle Liu was standing at the gate of the yard. His granddaughter ran in front of him and ran out again with a book in her arms, without even saying hello to him...
Until she stopped in front of Fang Wei with the books in her arms, and as if handing him a love letter, the girl held two books in both hands and pushed them in front of him.
"I'll lend them to you."
"Huh? I was thinking of watching The Golden Age a couple more times first?"
"It's okay! There's no rush to return them. I'll lend them all to you!"
"Well, thank you!"
"You're welcome!"
Liu Zhiyi's smile faded, and he said seriously, "You must read it carefully, otherwise I won't lend it to you next time."
"……it is good."
"Bye-Bye!"
The girl left happily.
It took Fang Wei a while to come back to his senses.
Oh my god... Have I become a tool for talking about books?
(End of this chapter)
