Chapter 39 I'm telling you
Evening is the most leisurely time of the day in the small island village.
Fishing boats are returning to the port, smoke is rising, and the sky is filled with sunset glow.
On the country road, women and old men carrying farm tools were either walking or standing on the roadside chatting. Occasionally, a small local dog ran by, following the footsteps of the naughty children, running playfully.
When Fang Wei and the other two passed by the big lychee tree at the entrance of the village, Master Li was still sitting on the small rattan chair to enjoy the cool air, as if he was completely unaware of the passage of time. He sat there from sunrise to sunset, and his appearance never changed.
"Master Li! Why don't you go home for dinner?"
The three juniors politely stopped their bicycles and greeted Master Li.
Almost everyone entering and leaving the village would greet Master Li standing under the litchi tree at the entrance of the village.
Everyone knows that the big lychee tree at the entrance of the village was planted by Grandpa Li, but lychees can be eaten by everyone in the village. Grandpa Li never cares who picks lychees. In the season when lychees are ripe, Fang Wei Cailing and A Sheng often climb up the lychee tree. The old man under the tree watches them, afraid that these naughty kids will fall.
"Eat, eat."
Perhaps too many people had asked him this question, and Master Li had become accustomed to answering it. After he finished speaking, he squinted his eyes to take a closer look and asked with a smile:
"Ah Wei? Are you guys done with school?"
"Yes, Master Li, have you been sitting here all day?"
"Ha ha……"
The old man smiled but said nothing. In fact, he didn't hear what he said clearly because he was hard of hearing. Mr. Li often couldn't hear what others said clearly, and he wouldn't ask questions. When he couldn't hear clearly, he would just smile and nod. Generally, those were the only things he had to answer every day, so whether he could hear clearly or not became a secondary matter.
The gate to the yard not far away opened, and a little girl about seven or eight years old ran out of the house.
"Master Li, we're leaving! Xiaoting is here to tell you to go home for dinner!"
"Ha ha……"
I still didn't hear clearly, so I answered with a smile.
Until the little girl ran up to him and shouted loudly in his ear: "Grandpa! It's time to eat! Let's go home!"
The old man then started to move. He stood up with a hunched back, used the small rattan chair in his hand as a crutch, and walked home step by step.
The next time I see him, the sun will rise tomorrow.
……
After riding a short distance from the village entrance, you will arrive at Asheng's house.
So the three-person team became a two-person team, and Fang Wei and Xu Cailing continued riding.
Not far away, after the wheels rolled on the bumpy country road for a while, two familiar houses next to each other appeared in front of us.
The two fathers, Fang Xianfeng and Xu Zhiyuan, were sitting on a rock by the roadside and chatting.
These two middle-aged men are heavy smokers. Fang Xianfeng likes to smoke Hongtashan and Xu Zhiyuan likes to smoke Hongmei. When they smoke, smoke comes out of their mouths and nostrils, which is comparable to the chimneys with smoke rising from them behind them.
"Uncle Fang!"
"Uncle Yuan."
Xu Cailing and Fang Wei exchanged and greeted each other's old father.
Country people attach great importance to politeness, especially in this era of corporal punishment, children must call their elders when they see them.
Of course, the two families live next to each other, and Fang Wei and Xu Cailing grew up together naked since childhood, so they are very familiar with the elders of both sides.
"Are you back? Cailing, how was school today?" Fang Xianfeng also stopped chatting and asked the girl next door with a smile.
"That's great! Fang Wei is now the squad leader!" Xu Cailing looked proud of it.
"Look, Awei is already the class monitor, but you're still playing all day long. You shouldn't learn more from Awei."
Xu Zhiyuan said that compared with his neighbor's Awei, his own daughter was really a headache. They were the same age and grew up together, so why was there such a big gap between them? He saw that Afeng was a completely free-range guy and had never disciplined Awei.
Xu Zhiyuan had wanted to learn from Fang Xianfeng's way to educate Cai Ling, but when he ignored her, the girl almost went crazy with joy! She was almost going crazy!
"I, I am also a class leader!" Xu Cailing was immediately dissatisfied after hearing what her father said.
"Is this true..." Xu Zhiyuan looked doubtful.
"Really, Uncle Yuan, Cailing is now a class leader." Fang Wei affirmed.
"You, girl, have this ability? What kind of class leader are you?" Xu Zhiyuan was a little surprised when he heard it.
"Sports committee member!" Xu Cailing was quite proud. When she said that, her delicate little chin couldn't help but raise up.
"…What is that for?" The old men were all a little confused.
"I'm in charge of the class's physical education, sports, running, playing ball, long jump, and so on! Got it? Awesome, right? Humph!"
"... Just, you're in charge of playing? You're the leader?"
"Sports! It's not a game! Oh my, you don't understand! I won't tell you anymore!"
The girl was almost angry to death. She snorted and rode her bike back to the yard.
……
There are few entertainment activities in the countryside, and after a day of work, people are physically exhausted and have to eat dinner very early.
When Fang Wei's family started eating, night had not yet fallen.
Perhaps because the Mid-Autumn Festival is not far away, the moon arrives earlier than the night. When looking towards the eastern sky, you can vaguely see the bright white moon disk, while in the west at this moment, there is still a brilliant sunset glow. The setting sun and the rising moon are hanging together in the sky.
Today's dinner is a plate of braised small fish, a plate of cold kelp, and a large pot of boiled mussels in their shells.
It looks rich, but it’s actually quite homely.
Braised small fish are eaten every two or three days. These small fish are the small fish left in the fishing nets that are difficult to sell. When Fang Xianfeng collects fish at the dock, there are always some left, which he can only eat at home.
Wakame is a type of seaweed. It is the most common vegetarian dish in the home. There are many individual farmers on the island who cultivate wakame. Compared with other seafood, it is easier to cultivate, but the profit is also low. It depends on the quantity. However, it tastes good.
Mussels are also called clams, and here people are used to calling them clams. Fang Wei eats them quite a lot. The most common way to eat them is to boil them in salt water until they open and then eat them directly. They taste very sweet and fresh.
September is the time when mussels are in season, and the price on the island is very cheap. However, my dad usually collects fish but not mussels, so this pot of mussels...
"Come, try this mussel. I brought it back from the mussel breeding experimental field in the breeding office!" Fang Xianfeng said as he couldn't wait to pick up his chopsticks.
"Ah? Are they raised in their experimental fields? I thought you bought them." Tian Xilan also found it curious and took one to taste.
Fang Wei was no exception and tried the flavor with his parents.
After all, it is not a novel ingredient, so it is impossible to show any shocking expression after eating it. Although it is farmed, the taste is no different from wild-caught mussels.
It is very large, no smaller than wild clams, with a shiny black shell and a long wedge-shaped shell. After peeling the shell, the inside is purple-brown or bright gray, with a pearly luster, and the meat is dense and thick, and the body is quite full. In terms of appearance, it is also the best mussels.
"How is it? Does it feel okay?" After tasting it, Fang Xianfeng asked his wife and son for their opinions.
"Yes, both in size and taste, they are no different from wild thick-shelled clams." Fang Wei nodded.
"What kind of species is this?" Tian Xilan asked curiously.
"The thick-shelled mussels cultivated by Professor Xu's team look the same as wild ones, right? But did you know that the yield of this thing is much higher than that of wild thick-shelled mussels? One seedling rope can produce 300 to 400 mu, and the yield per mu is as high as 10 tons! The key is that the earliest seedling month can be advanced to April or May, and the entire breeding cycle can be shortened by half a year!"
"real or fake……"
"I went to the test field these past two days and saw it with my own eyes. It can't be false." "So you're planning to raise this thing?"
"There are experts in the village to provide guidance. I think this is also a way out. It's not impossible to consider..."
Tian Xilan laughed, as if she had figured him out a long time ago, and teased him, "When I asked you to think about it a few days ago, you were very loud, saying that experts know nothing and that breeding is a dead end... You said that, didn't you?"
"Hey, you... I didn't understand you before!"
"Then you should learn more about it, and don't get carried away. You have never been involved in breeding, so you don't know anything."
"You don't need to tell me."
Fang Wei was eating while listening to his parents' conversation, feeling both angry and amused.
In any case, the old man is indeed tempted now. Apart from being busy at the dock in the morning, he goes to the experimental field in the afternoon when he is free, and pesters Professor Xu and others to learn breeding experience. This is a good thing and a great opportunity.
My dad has a good business sense, but he is too empirical and sometimes stubborn. However, with my mom and I watching over him, I think he won't miss any good opportunities in this life.
Unlike many families, the topic they talk least about at the dinner table is their son's studies.
After all, having no peers makes parents less worried.
……
After dinner, Fang Wei took a shower, washed and hung his clothes, then returned to his room to read as usual.
The wind was cool tonight. He took the book in his hand, opened the window, and sat on the windowsill to read.
Just as he was watching seriously, a small ball of paper flew over and hit him on the forehead.
No need to guess who threw it.
Before Fang Wei could say anything, the girl next door who had committed a crime hurriedly followed his example, holding a book in her hand, sitting on the windowsill and reading seriously.
God knows! How could she not have thought that it would hit him right in the head! But it was so accurate, there was nothing she could do...
When she annoyed him, it was best for her to immediately pretend that she was also studying hard, so that when he saw that she was reading seriously, he would not always criticize her with a stern face... Just as Fang Wei knew her thoroughly, she also knew Fang Wei thoroughly.
Sure enough, Fang Weili ignored her, so much so that Xu Cailing began to doubt whether she had missed the target just now.
The pretended seriousness naturally could not last too long. After more than ten minutes, Xu Cailing felt dizzy, her back ached, and she wanted to drink some water and go to the toilet. In short, she became restless.
Finally I couldn't help but talk to him.
"let me tell you--"
Classic opening line, Fang Wei could even guess what she was going to say next.
"When I went on stage this afternoon, I was so nervous! I kept waiting, but after you came down, no one else went up, so I couldn't help but go up. Then when I said I wanted to be the sports committee member, everyone was so surprised! Even Teacher Wen was surprised! I didn't know what to do..."
Fang Wei ignored her, but as he listened to her speak, the corners of his mouth curled up imperceptibly.
He knew that Xu Cailing would definitely nag him about this, because when she went home in the afternoon, with Ah Sheng and Liu Zhiyi around, she was too embarrassed to talk about these things. Although she seemed like a cowardly girl at the time, she was still feeling uncomfortable in her heart, so she was definitely going to nag him about it.
Seeing that Fang Wei on the other side of the window sill didn't respond at all after she had been talking for a long time, Xu Cailing couldn't help it anymore:
"Hey, are you listening?"
"Listen."
"Then you can do it."
"Oh."
"Then you hum for a moment."
"Uh-huh."
The girl was very satisfied and continued to hold the book in her hand, sitting on the windowsill and muttering...
In fact, it didn’t matter whether Fang Wei answered her or not, as long as he was listening, that was what she needed.
"...And then I was so excited! So many people voted for me! Lu Jialiang and the other two must be so pissed off! Fang Wei, did you choose me?"
"..."
This time, Xu Cailing did not allow him not to answer the question. Seeing that he did not respond, she threw another ball of paper at him.
"What are you doing."
"Let me ask you, did you choose me?"
"You've already been elected as the sports committee member, and there are 32 votes. Even if you're one or two votes short, you'll still win."
"Did you choose me?"
The girl was very persistent, as if she would not give up unless Fang Wei answered her question directly.
"I've chosen, I've chosen you, what are you thinking?"
"Then you swear!"
"I swear."
Only then did she feel satisfied. She looked at the young man on the other side of the windowsill and saw his brilliant smile. She felt as if thousands of pear trees were in bloom, and her whole mood became joyful.
"Then, then did you secretly write me some extra tickets?"
"No, I don't dare. These are your real tickets."
"Really?"
"real."
"hey-hey……"
"Laughing like an idiot."
"I want you to manage."
She suddenly waved her hand and threw something over, but Fang Wei searched for a long time but couldn't find what she threw over.
"What did you throw into my room again?"
"A spider! It'll crawl onto your face while you're sleeping and bite you to death!"
She threatened viciously, then jumped off the windowsill, drew the curtains, turned off the lights and went to sleep.
Until Fang Wei turned off the lights and went to bed, he still hadn't found the biting spider she threw to him.
There was a firefly in the room. In the dead of night, it flew out from the corner, twinkling like stars...
(End of this chapter)
