Chapter 77: At such a young age, he is quite capable
During the last ten minutes of the Chinese class, Wen Susu chatted with everyone about Mid-Autumn Festival.
Listen to them talk about the Mid-Autumn Festival on the island, and the students also listen to her talk about the Mid-Autumn Festival in distant big cities.
The same festival has different atmosphere in different places.
The young boys and girls were curious about everything in the distance, and even if many things seemed insignificant to Wen Susu, they still listened with great interest.
Fang Wei turned around and looked at Liu Zhiyi who was quietly beside him.
She sat on a chair, holding the pen in her little hand motionlessly, listening to what Teacher Wen was talking about with everyone, her eyes lost in thought.
"What are you thinking about?" Fang Wei deliberately asked, interrupting her.
"what?"
Liu Zhiyi was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses and shook his head, "Nothing..."
"I've been in a daze for a long time."
"Well."
Liu Zhiyi turned around and looked at him. Even though they were of the same age, Fang Wei's eyes seemed to see through her.
Seeing that she could no longer hide it, she whispered, "Nothing, just thinking about something... um..."
"Missing mom and dad?"
"..."
This was the first time Fang Wei mentioned these two words in front of her since they had known each other for so long.
Liu Zhiyi had never told anyone about her own affairs, but she could guess that Fang Wei, Cai Ling and A Sheng must have known about it a long time ago.
In fact, she had been waiting for them to ask her a long time ago, but they were very considerate of her feelings and never asked.
Until today, Fang Wei finally brought it up.
She didn't know how to say the answers she had prepared, and she didn't even know where to start.
After being in a daze for a long time, she nodded gently: "Yeah."
Liu Zhiyi's reaction was calmer than expected.
But after all, she is just a girl of twelve or thirteen years old. Who knows what kind of waves are in her heart beneath her calmness?
But, she admitted it.
All Fang Wei needed was Liu Zhiyi's "hmm".
It is very normal to miss your parents. People are often strange. The more you deliberately avoid a thought, the easier it is to think of it; the more you force yourself to forget something, the harder it is to forget it.
“Do you think about it every day?”
"think."
A hole opened up in my heart, and the words that had been suppressed for a long time finally had a place to be released.
At home, she didn't dare tell her grandfather that she was missing her parents; at school, she didn't dare tell her teachers and classmates that she was missing her parents; even in her own dreams, she didn't dare to think about it, for fear that the next dream would be one of separation in loss.
But she was really thinking about it, thinking about it every moment she was quiet.
Perhaps it was the atmosphere before the festival, or perhaps the longing in her heart had accumulated to the point where she had to say it out loud. When faced with Fang Wei's question, she finally nodded and admitted that she was thinking about her parents.
"Are you thinking about it today in particular?"
"I miss it especially today."
It's amazing that after admitting that he really missed his parents, Liu Zhiyi inexplicably felt that the depression in his heart had dissipated a lot.
"Because Mid-Autumn Festival is coming, it's normal for you to miss mom and dad especially today."
"Should I not..."
"How could that be? This is your truest feeling."
Fang Wei did not deliberately avoid this topic, and asked again:
"Can you tell me how you spent the Mid-Autumn Festival in the past? In Shanghai?"
"no……"
Liu Zhiyi shook her head and said, "I will come back to Pineapple Island with my parents to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival."
“Is it like this every year?”
“Yeah, every year.”
In fact, what Fang Wei asked her were exactly what she had just been thinking about.
She also did not avoid the question anymore. She was usually silent, but now she started talking again. She recalled the past in a low voice:
"Every Mid-Autumn Festival and Chinese New Year, my parents would take me back to Pineapple Island to spend time with Grandpa."
"I even asked my father out of curiosity, saying that the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday is so short and the journey is so long, why do you have to come back..."
"Every time we came back, grandpa was very happy. He would kill chickens and ducks, and nag about why dad bought so many mooncakes, saying they were too expensive and he didn't like them. Dad said they were given by the company, but in fact the company only gave one box, and the rest were bought secretly by him and brought back to give to others..."
The girl's voice became smaller and smaller, and her eyes became redder. At a certain point, she stopped talking, as if she would burst into tears if she said one more word.
It was still class time and she didn't want to embarrass herself in class.
She blinked her eyes quickly, took a few deep breaths, calmed herself down, and didn't let a single tear fall out.
What Liu Zhiyi just said was very scattered and disorganized, completely different from her fluent composition.
Although Liu Zhiyi's emotions were somewhat difficult to conceal when she spoke deeply about it, at least she finally said it out.
Fang Wei knew that this was probably what she had been thinking about just now.
Liu Zhiyi also felt much more comfortable after speaking it out. His emotions came and went quickly. At least for the moment, he didn't have too many random thoughts.
She secretly glanced at Fang Wei standing beside her.
He didn't interrupt her just now, but just listened quietly.
The two looked at each other, and Liu Zhiyi's pretty face turned slightly hot - she felt that she had made a fool of herself in front of him.
Fortunately, Fang Wei did not laugh at her. Seeing that she had stopped talking on her own initiative, he did not ask her about what she had just said. Instead, he asked her casually:
"So when you spent the Mid-Autumn Festival on the island, did you ever go to the beach and release sky lanterns?"
"I let him go once..."
"Then let's go and light lanterns together this year. Cailing is the most enthusiastic about this. Let's celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival together this year."
[This Mid-Autumn Festival, let’s celebrate together]
Liu Zhiyi repeated his words in his mind and nodded slightly.
……
"Then, I won't assign too much Chinese homework during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday."
"it is good!!!"
"Haha, don't be too happy too soon!"
Wen Susu had the students in the class under her control, and then she changed the subject and said:
"It's the same as last week. Everyone has to write a picture composition for the Mid-Autumn Festival. This time, the theme is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Everyone can write about the characteristics of the Mid-Autumn Festival on their island, the customs and people, or what they saw, heard, and thought during the Mid-Autumn Festival. It shouldn't be difficult, right?"
"Teacher Wen, can you write about the moon?"
"of course can."
Wen Susu was smart and quickly realized: "You were thinking of drawing a circle as the moon, right?!"
"Hahaha--"
The classmates burst into laughter.
As the bell downstairs rang, Wen Susu didn't want to waste anyone's time.
"Stand up!" Fang Wei stood up.
Immediately afterwards, all the students in the class stood up. Such an orderly and uniform standing scene was something that other teachers would not experience during class or after class.
Wen Susu might have thought that everyone behaved like this in other teachers' classes, but Fang Wei knew that except for her class, these guys in the class were not so active in standing up in other teachers' classes!
"Okay, get out of class is over. Let's go eat."
"Thank you, teacher - goodbye, teacher -!"
The uniform voice was loud and deafening. "Goodbye, classmates. I wish you a happy Mid-Autumn Festival~"
"Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, Teacher Wen~~!"
Everyone then stood up, some went home, some went to the cafeteria.
The four-member team from Pineapple Island naturally ate together.
Liu Zhiyi has completely adjusted her emotions. In fact, if she doesn't say anything, it is difficult for others to tell anything from her plain facial features.
Although Cailing and Asheng are usually carefree, they are often very thoughtful. When they eat together, they try to avoid mentioning things like Mid-Autumn Festival and family reunion, intentionally or unintentionally.
On the contrary, Fang Wei, who has always been mature and steady, was out of his mind today. He kept talking about things related to the Mid-Autumn Festival.
But Cai Ling was so angry that she sat opposite Fang Wei and kept stepping on him with her little feet under the table.
Fang Wei seemed to be paralyzed and did not respond at all to the girl's reminder of stepping on his foot.
Xu Cailing had no choice but to secretly observe Liu Zhiyi's reaction.
However, she didn't expect that Liu Zhiyi would be much calmer than she had imagined when facing such a sensitive topic of conversation.
How long can you keep avoiding problems?
Fang Wei knew this truth, so he made the matter clear today. Not only did he want Liu Zhiyi to face his own heart, but he also wanted Cai Ling and A Sheng to not be too cautious, otherwise it would be a burden.
"It's Mid-Autumn Festival, Cailing, you have a lot of ideas, what do you think we should do then?"
Ignoring the little foot that was stepping and rubbing hard on his shoes, Fang Wei looked at Xu Cailing with a smile.
Fang Wei threw the task of holiday arrangements to her, and Liu Zhiyi and A Sheng also looked at her.
"Uh...ah...this..."
Xu Cailing glared at Fang Wei fiercely, then looked at Liu Zhiyi, and saw that she looked very interested.
So he said, "Why don't we go to the beach together tomorrow night to release sky lanterns! Buy a few more and bring some food from home, then we can go to the beach to enjoy the moon, release lanterns, and catch fireflies. How do you think?"
"I think it's okay." Fang Wei said.
"No problem." said Asheng.
"Okay." Liu Zhiyi also said.
"..."
Xu Cailing blinked her eyes, and immediately relaxed. She said with a smile, "Okay! Then we have an appointment! Let's celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival together!"
"Will it be dark at the seaside because there are no street lights?" Liu Zhiyi asked.
"Don't worry, the moon is round and bright, and the sand is white. The beach is much brighter than you think!"
"Then let's have a barbecue then! I have plenty of sweet potatoes at home!"
"Zhiyi, do you want a small lantern? I can make one for you."
"Ah? How to do it?"
"Use a can, cut it open and put a candle inside."
"It's too childish!" Fang Wei complained.
"Shut up!" Xu Cailing stepped on his foot again.
"..."
The atmosphere returned to the past, and the four-member team of Pineapple Island started chatting about the activities on the Mid-Autumn Night.
After finishing their meal, the four of them left the cafeteria together.
The careful Liu Zhiyi noticed: "Fang Wei, why are your shoes so dirty?"
The culprit, Cai Ling, quickly said, "His shoes are originally grey!"
The victim is: "..."
We know who did it!
Also, my shoes were originally white!
……
When they were about to go upstairs to the classroom for lunch break, the four of them saw Wen Susu who had just come down from the teachers' dormitory.
Wen Susu changed her clothes. Perhaps it was inconvenient to travel in a skirt, so she changed into a pair of khaki casual shorts and a white T-shirt, and a pair of sneakers on her feet, revealing her clean and white calves.
She carried a large backpack on her slender shoulders, a suitcase in her left hand, and a number of large and small bags in her right hand.
This was the first time the four of them had seen Teacher Wen dressed like this. She looked no different from a college student who had just had a holiday. If they had met her outside, they would never have thought she was a teacher.
"Teacher Wen~!"
Cai Ling called her from a distance, then trotted over, and Fang Wei, Liu Zhiyi, and A Sheng followed.
"Eh? Cailing, have you all finished your meal?"
"Um, Mr. Wen, have you eaten yet?"
"I just ate a little and was about to go to the pier."
"Ah? It's such a long journey, will you be hungry?"
"It's okay. I brought some food with me."
Since they met by chance, Wen Susu generously took out a bag of squid shreds from a bag in her hand.
It is considered a specialty snack on Baitan Island. It is made from fresh squid that has been pickled, dried or roasted. It has a chewy and elastic texture and can be eaten directly by tearing it open. The packaging is also quite simple, just a transparent bag with a small sealing strip at the opening to prevent the squid shreds inside from getting damp.
"Cai Ling, this is for you to eat."
"No, no! Teacher Wen, we've already eaten. You bought this specially to take home, right? Teacher Wen, you can take it home and eat it."
"I bought a lot! There are squid strips, eel strips, grilled fish fillets, seaweed... I have swept through all the places on the island that sell specialties. This is not a big deal. Take it up and eat it."
"Well, thank you, Teacher Wen!"
"Shh, don't tell other students that I gave it to you."
"Hey, don't worry, teacher."
It seemed that Wen Susu was in a hurry, and she was ready to leave after chatting for a while.
"Then you all should go upstairs and take a nap. I still have to catch the boat. What do you think?"
"here I am."
"I'm not in school this afternoon, please take care of the class!"
"I'll do the work, don't worry."
"Let's go~"
With her hands full of things, Wen Susu had no time to wave, so she just nodded and walked forward.
After walking a few steps, footsteps were heard from behind.
"Fang Wei?"
"Teacher Wen, let me help you with your luggage. I'll take you to the pier."
"It's okay. I can do it myself."
"Isn't the monitor just a secretary who does odd jobs? Why is Mr. Wen being so polite to me?"
Fang Wei took the bag and suitcase from her and smiled brightly.
"Sure, you're quite capable despite your young age!"
Wen Susu also smiled and stopped being polite to him.
Once the burden on my shoulders was lightened, walking became much easier.
(End of this chapter)
