Chapter 158 New Semester
Monday, February 12th.
After the Spring Festival, the one-month winter vacation finally came to an end, and today is the day for school to start.
Maybe it was because I had such a pleasant vacation that the first day of school came before I knew it. Even Fang Wei felt it was strange.
Picking up the schoolbag that he hadn't carried for nearly a month, Fang Wei took out all the old textbooks from last semester and put them away, brought all his winter vacation homework, brought a copy of the household registration booklet he would need for registration, brought his small pillow for nap, changed to a new mineral water bottle, filled it with boiled water and stuffed it into the schoolbag.
The empty backpack was very light, and it felt soft when pressed against his back. However, it probably wouldn't be so light after school. He pocketed the registration fee his father gave him last night, and today he used the registration fee to exchange for a bag of books.
Walking into the yard, he patted the bicycle, checked the chain, added a little new oil, checked the air pressure in the front and rear tires, and took out the air pump to pump up some air.
It was still the agreed time, at 6:40 in the morning, Xu Cailing appeared at the gate of his yard on time on her bicycle.
"Are you done? Let's go!"
"I'm coming."
Fang Wei agreed, pushed his bicycle and left home, and rode with her along the country road from the doorstep, first to the village entrance to find A Sheng, and then to Shayang Village to find Zhi Yi.
I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but after a month, when I put on the school uniform again, I felt that the uniform that was too loose had become a little more fitting. Maybe it’s not an illusion, because I really grew taller!
This is an experience that adults will never have the chance to experience. Only young boys and girls will experience the feeling of finding that they have grown taller after a period of time.
When I arrived at Asheng's house, Asheng was waiting at the door as usual, but he looked very sleepy. He sat on the bicycle and dozed off with his eyes closed, his head resting.
"A Sheng!"
"..."
"Fang Yuansheng!"
"..."
I called him twice, but the young man didn't respond at all.
Fang Wei then rode his bike and hit the front of his bike with the front of his bike.
A Sheng finally woke up.
"… Damn it! I thought it was someone riding a bike without eyes!"
"That's awesome. You can fall asleep in the car?"
"I'm so sleepy! I worked on my homework until after midnight last night! I feel like I'm dying now! I don't usually get up this early!"
"I told you not to finish your homework before the holiday!" Xu Cailing gloated.
"Go wash your face quickly. I'm afraid you'll fall asleep while riding the bike." Fang Wei said speechlessly.
Ah Sheng then ran to the yard again, scooped up a handful of cold water to wash his face, and rubbed it hard. Water droplets slid down his face, and he finally looked a little more energetic.
"Have you brought all your winter vacation homework?"
"Take it, take it."
"Have you brought a copy of your household registration book and the registration fee?" Fang Wei was worried and asked the two confused people again.
"Take it, take it."
After hearing what Cai Ling and A Sheng said, the three of them began to ride leisurely again.
Under the big lychee tree at the entrance of the village, Grandpa Li was eating a glutinous rice cake. He took off his dentures and held them in his hand to prevent the glutinous rice cake from sticking to them.
Mr. Li, who has no teeth, has a retracted mouth, making him look even older. The glutinous rice cake is still sticky, chewy and soft. The movement of his mouth can be described as chewing, but it would be more appropriate to use smacking as the description.
He ate very slowly, but his expression was very comfortable. After all, at his age, there was nothing to worry about.
"Master Li!"
"..."
"Master Li!"
"...Hehe, Awei. Are you guys going to school now?"
"Yeah! We're starting school!"
"Master Li! Isn't your glutinous rice cake sticky with sugar?"
"Haha, ninety-nine..."
"...Grandpa Li! He is ninety-nine years old this year!"
"You can eat it, eat slowly."
Yes. I didn't hear a word clearly! Talking to Mr. Li about glutinous rice cakes, he was talking about his age; talking to Mr. Li about his age, he was talking about glutinous rice cakes;
Fortunately, the biggest significance of such a chat is to talk, and the answer to the question is not important.
Just as the existence of this big lychee tree is the symbol of Donghua Village, the existence of Master Li seems to have become a symbol of the childhood of Fang Wei and the other two, a coordinate established in time and space.
The beginning of spring has passed and the weather is gradually becoming warmer.
Some early spring wild flowers bloomed quietly on both sides of the country road, dotted with crystal dew hanging on the grass leaves.
As the three men rode past, a gust of wind blew up, causing the wild flowers to tremble gently and the bees to flap their wings and fly away.
Liu Zhiyi was waiting in front of the yard gate early.
Before Fang Weiwei rode in, when she saw their figures, she turned around and shouted to the house: "Grandpa, I'm going to school!"
The three people on the road were waving at her. Liu Zhiyi pedaled and joined the cyclists who slowed down and waited for her.
Perhaps it had been a while since they had seen each other wearing the same school uniform, the four of them couldn't help laughing when they looked at each other, and no one knew what they were laughing at.
"Zhiyi, did you bring your winter vacation homework?" Cailing asked.
"Bring it!"
"Have you brought a copy of your household registration book and the registration fee?" Fang Wei asked.
"Bring it!"
"It's not cold anymore, but you're still wearing such thick clothes!" Ah Sheng sighed.
“It’s still a bit cold!”
"Ah Wei, will we get new school uniforms this semester?" "Not this semester. Didn't you notice that the registration fee is 75 yuan less? We will get them when we enter the second year of junior high school."
"So do we still have class this morning?"
"Of course."
“There are no textbooks.”
"It will be available when a new book is published."
"Ah, I also brought my old textbooks..."
The four of them rode along, talking and laughing all the way.
The school uniforms they were wearing were all issued last year, but the shoes they were wearing were all newly bought for the Chinese New Year. When they stepped on the pedals, the pairs of new shoes stood out particularly.
Leaving Shayang Village, we passed the pier, rode along the winding coastline for a while, then went up the Baitan Bridge, and finally got off the bridge to arrive at the town.
The town was as bustling as usual in the early morning. With the start of the school day, new banners were hung at the school gate and vendors pushing tricycles returned to the school gate to sell breakfast.
The smoke from the steamer, the faint aroma of steamed buns in the air, the young faces coming and going in blue and white school uniforms, everything is the same as before, but it seems a little different in the senses.
“This is called New Year, New Atmosphere!”
"I know what's different! Because everyone is wearing new shoes!"
"It really is……"
The four of them got off the car at the school gate, pushed their bicycles into the campus, and parked them by the wall.
At the end of last semester, the whole school did a general cleaning. At that time, all the weeds were cleared away, but after not seeing them for a month, green sprouts gradually emerged again.
The most obvious thing is the grass on the track and field field. No one has walked on it for a month, and the parts that were originally trampled bald have turned green again.
Come to the classroom.
Unlike the start of last semester, everyone is now familiar with each other. After not seeing each other for a whole winter vacation, we are now gathered in the classroom and the atmosphere is very lively.
"Wow! Pepe~~! I missed you so much!!"
"Haha, Cailing, I miss you too."
Xu Cailing hugged the warm Pepe tightly, it felt like they hadn't seen each other for a year. Pepe had even changed his hairstyle, cutting his long hair short to the same shoulder-length hair as Cailing's.
"Ha! Wang Yushan, I heard from Awei that he saw you on Nanpu Island when he went to his grandmother's house!"
"Aren't you two brothers? Why didn't you go when the monitor went to grandma's house?"
"You must have fainted from visiting relatives during the New Year! Awei and I are cousins, but his grandmother is not my grandmother!"
"..."
Wang Yushan was embarrassed. It was true that visiting all the aunts and uncles during the New Year almost made her dizzy. She was good at studying, but she really had a hard time recognizing her relatives!
"Let me test you. What is your mother's uncle's wife's name?"
"……Shut up!"
On the other side, Fang Wei and Liu Zhiyi also returned to their seats.
The girl was thoughtful and had prepared tissues in her pocket early on. She took out the folded tissues from her pocket, gave half to Fang Wei, then unscrewed the bottle, poured some water on the table and chair, and wiped off the dust.
At the end of the semester, all the desks had been cleared away. Outsiders might look at these twenty-one double desks and think they are all the same, but to the boys and girls, their own seats have long been owned by them. Whether it is the different patterns on the desks, the carved words, the uneven table corners, or the creaking chairs, they all have a unique memory and cannot be easily confused.
After wiping the tables and chairs, Liu Zhiyi sat comfortably in his seat, holding his schoolbag in his arms, curled up in the corner, and stretched his calves very comfortably.
Fang Wei looked at her with a smile. If he was not sure that this was a classroom, he would have thought that Liu Zhiyi had returned home!
Ye Xiaoli and Wang Qiaoyun at the front table also turned around to talk.
"Class monitor! Zhiyi! Happy New Year!"
"Xiao Li, Qiao Yun, Happy New Year."
"Hahaha, do you remember that day when we met when we were buying clothes? And then I met Qiao Yun again!"
"What a coincidence? We didn't run into Qiao Yun."
"So what did you do during the New Year? Did you come to town to watch the dragon and lion dances on the first day of the New Year?"
"Yes! You didn't come?"
"I came too, and I saw Pepe!"
"Haha, Pepe lives in town anyway, she will definitely go to see it."
In the days when no one had cell phones, we could only talk when we met at school. After holding back for a month, we talked non-stop about everything we saw, heard, felt and thought!
In such a noisy atmosphere, there is no room for classroom order.
Fang Wei, as the squad leader, didn't care and joined in the chatting and laughing.
This continued until familiar footsteps were heard outside the corridor, and a gentle and elegant figure appeared at the door of the classroom.
"Teacher Wen! Happy New Year--!!"
Almost as soon as the person came into view, greetings were heard sporadically in the class.
Fang Wei stood up and shouted, "Stand up!"
Everyone in the class stood up, in unison, and shouted in a deafening voice: "Hello, teacher!"
Wen Susu was startled by the commotion. Seeing the familiar faces in the class and hearing their loud greetings, she felt a warm current flowing through her heart. She said angrily and amusedly:
"Of course! After the Chinese New Year, we are full of energy!"
"Teacher Wen, you have become more beautiful again!"
"Hahaha! Not bad! Your mouth has become sweeter too!"
"We are telling the truth!"
"Everyone has grown taller!"
Wen Susu's eyes swept across the classroom. The seats were full and no one was absent.
"Then our new semester begins!"
(End of this chapter)
