Chapter 123 Teacher Wen Enters the Village
A pleasant weekend holiday has arrived.
This is the good thing about being a teacher. Not only do you have two days off a week, but you also have winter and summer vacations.
Perhaps a big part of the reason why I chose to be a teacher was because of the benefits of winter and summer vacations?
Since she didn't have to go to class this morning, Wen Susu slept in a little and didn't get up until eight o'clock in the morning.
I simply cooked some noodles and ate them as breakfast.
Unfortunately, her cooking skills were limited. She had tried many times, but always felt that the noodles were not as delicious as the ones Fang Wei and Cai Ling cooked for her last time.
However, she has been practicing her cooking skills recently. When she is not busy, she will go to the market to buy vegetables and learn how to cook.
The vegetable sellers in the market were all locals. For some dishes that she didn’t know how to cook, the uncles and aunts were very enthusiastic to teach her how to cook them.
Wen Susu thought that she had made some progress in cooking now! She would cook a meal for her parents next time she went home to impress them!
There was no time to cook today. After breakfast, Wen Susu changed into a sporty outfit, took her camera, carried a small bag, rode her newly bought bicycle, and left the school.
She will start home visits starting this week.
Perhaps for other teachers, this is considered extra overtime during holidays and is hard work.
But for Wen Susu, she was still very interested and quite positive about home visits.
After all, she came from Shanghai, and apart from the students in her class and the teachers and colleagues in school, she had no relatives or friends here.
Especially on weekends, when teachers and students are on vacation, she is often bored alone. She would walk around with her camera and take pictures, or take her drawing board and stay in a small scenic spot for most of the day.
Under the guise of home visits, I can go and hang out with my students and stay at their homes. Probably, future weekends won't seem so boring anymore.
As for the order of home visits, she prefers to do it as she pleases, visiting each home one by one!
The nearest one is of course Baitan Island.
She has lived here for some time and is quite familiar with Baitan Island.
But emotionally, she is relatively close to the four students on Pineapple Island.
So the first stop is Pineapple Island.
Wen Susu has never been to Pineapple Island. She only knows that it is the sister island of Baitan Island. It is connected by the Baitan Bridge, so there is no need to take a boat to get there.
She didn't say hello to Fang Wei and the others. She rode her new bicycle, left Baitan Town, and rode towards Pineapple Island.
It's a little after eight o'clock now, the sun is shining brightly, and it feels warm and comfortable on my body.
Riding on the Baitan Bridge, looking at the gentle waves below, the blue sky above, and the seagulls circling and crying, she couldn't help but pull over, lift the camera hanging around her neck, and capture the beautiful scenery.
This place is really far away from the big cities, but there are scenery everywhere that you can't see in big cities.
Whether it is her daily paintings or the film in her camera, most of them record these.
Maybe when I retire and grow older, I will look through these paintings and photos and recall the time when I came here to teach, and her youth in her twenties!
This is probably another reason why she likes art and photography. It is a gift from fate to meet by chance in this beautiful and vast world, and to spend a special time together because of each other's existence.
Photos may fade and drawing paper may turn yellow, but fortunately, time cannot erase beautiful memories.
Thanks to her wealthy family, she can do what she wants without any worries. Wen Susu has also thought about what she would be like now if she had a different identity.
It's just that this kind of unfounded "maybe" is meaningless no matter what the answer is. People in different situations have different pursuits, and who can tell for sure?
The teaching life here has brought her an indescribable sense of satisfaction and pride. She doesn't dare to say that she is great. There are thousands of kinds of people in the world. Some pursue material things, some pursue spiritual things. She is just an ordinary person who pursues what can satisfy her inner self.
After taking a photo of several seagulls in different postures standing on the railings by the bridge, Wen Susu was very satisfied. She got on her bike again and rode leisurely towards Pineapple Island.
As bicycles passed by, the seagulls resting on the railings flapped their wings and flew away.
……
After getting off the Baitan Bridge, Wen Susu arrived at Pineapple Island.
Compared to Baitan Island, Pineapple Island is much smaller. It is backed by a hillside and faces the sea, and it retains many original natural features.
Wen Susu rode along the coastline for a while and soon arrived at Pineapple Pier.
Pineapple Pier is smaller than Baitan Pier and is the only small market on the island. It is very lively at this time in the morning, with transport ships coming and going on the sea, small vendors hawking their wares everywhere, and a strong sense of bustling life.
Wen Susu doesn't know the way, but the way is in her mouth.
She stopped the car and asked an auntie who was selling vegetables:
"Auntie, I want to ask how to get to Donghua Village?"
The vegetable seller looked up at her. Just by looking at her unfamiliar face, she knew she was not from the island. She could even tell she was not a local. After all, her accent and the way she was dressed made her look like a city girl.
There are very few outsiders on the island on weekdays, but occasionally there are relatives coming to visit.
The auntie was also very enthusiastic and pointed with a smile:
"If you keep riding along this road, you will reach Shayang Village not far away. There is a stone tablet at the entrance of the village. Basically, there is only this one road. If you continue riding along the road of Shayang Village, you will reach Donghua Village."
"Okay, thank you, ma'am."
……
Wen Susu rode her bicycle, the wheels rolling over the country's loess path, slowly moving forward along the road.
She was not in a hurry, but rather looked left and right curiously, like a tourist.
The island is full of narrow ramps and stairs, and the houses are arranged in a staggered layout, which looks like a scene from an anime.
Occasionally, when she encounters a perfect angle, she will stop the car, raise her camera and take a picture.
Soon, we saw a stone tablet next to an intersection.
The stone tablet is very small and it is easy to miss it if you are not careful.
There were some weeds growing next to the stone tablet, and on it were some words with some paint peeling off: [Shayang]
This is probably Shayang Village.
She knew that Liu Zhiyi lived in Shayang Village, but she didn't know which household was hers.
There was a house on the side of the road. She looked into the yard curiously. The house was empty and there was no one there. However, she saw the blue and white school uniform hanging in the yard.
Wen Susu blinked her eyes. Could it really be Liu Zhiyi's home?
Seeing that she didn't see anyone, she didn't go up to ask directly. She planned to go find Fang Wei first.
So I started riding again.
……
Coincidentally, after she left, Liu Zhiyi walked out of the house.
Her eyes fell on the back of a young woman riding a bicycle on a country road not far away, and she was stunned.
...Why does he look a bit like Teacher Wen? !
She quickly ran out and took another closer look. The young woman had already ridden far away, but the sense of familiarity became stronger.
Could it really be Teacher Wen?
Home visit... Teacher Wen came to Pineapple Island today?!
Liu Zhiyi blinked and ran back home to report the news. "Grandpa! I just saw our teacher entering the village!"
"what?"
……
At this moment, Fang Wei was at home tinkering with the vegetable garden behind his house.
The batch of Chinese cabbages planted at the end of August have been harvested two or three times. The garlic sprouts and green onions planted at that time have now grown into garlic and shallots.
Fang Wei turned over the vegetable patch and there was a pile of shallots and garlic at his feet, as well as a pile of cabbages. Most of them were very old and were kept to feed the chickens. He only picked the tenderest cabbage hearts, which filled a large basket.
The weather has cooled down now, so these dishes can be kept for several days even without a refrigerator.
In fact, it doesn’t matter if the leaves are wilted, as long as they are not rotten, soak them in water for half an hour and they will become lush green again.
If you have a piece of land at home, growing vegetables is the most economical way. A family of three won’t eat much, and you don’t have to spend too much time taking care of them on a daily basis. You can grow and eat them yourself, and the land is not big, so you can even save on pesticides. They are truly pollution-free vegetables.
Fang Wei was very serious when working. He rolled up his trouser legs, stepped barefoot on the soil, wearing only a vest. He simply wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then picked up the heavy hoe again.
After harvesting the vegetables and turning the soil, he took a shovel, went to the chicken coop nearby, shoveled back some dry chicken manure, and sprinkled it evenly on the ground as fertilizer.
Finally, sow some vegetable seeds again and plant some lettuce, cabbage, celery, green beans, radishes and other vegetables suitable for winter.
He picked out a few of the best-growing garlic and shallots he had just harvested, peeled them into grains, used them as seeds, and planted them again on the edge of the vegetable patch.
Perhaps the most leisurely ones are cats.
July had nothing to do, so he stayed in the vegetable garden with them, occasionally chewing some grass or something. Yes, cats also eat grass.
Dogs also eat grass. If a domestic dog is sick, let it out and it will go find various grasses to eat.
According to legend, many prescriptions came from this way.
……
While Fang Wei was busy, July, who was eating grass, suddenly stopped chewing the grass, pricked up his ears and listened carefully for a while.
Then, a shout came from outside the door -
"Fang Wei~~"
"Is Fang Wei at home~~"
The voice was not loud, and there was a hint of uncertainty in the tone.
Fang Wei was stunned when he heard the voice.
He subconsciously thought it was Cai Ling or Zhi Yi calling him, but he quickly realized who the voice came from.
I was used to hearing Wen Susu's voice at school, so when I heard her voice in my own home, I was unable to react for a while.
He put down the hoe, ignored the mud on his feet, put on the slippers thrown aside, and hurried out from the vegetable garden behind the house.
Through the yard gate, I saw a young woman sitting on a bicycle, wearing sportswear that was different from usual. Isn't that Teacher Wen!
It was a strange feeling that the teacher who was supposed to be at school showed up at my doorstep.
Fang Wei hurriedly went forward and opened the gate of the yard.
"Teacher Wen! Why are you here?"
"Hahaha, are you scared? I'm here for a home visit!"
"Teacher, why didn't you tell me you were coming..."
"You didn't listen to me carefully in class, right? Didn't I tell you yesterday that I would start home visits today?"
"I thought you would visit homes in town first..."
"Hey, I just want to catch you off guard!"
Seeing Fang Wei's surprised look, Wen Susu was very satisfied.
Like Fang Wei, I usually only see him at school, so it feels quite interesting to see him at his home now.
She looked at Fang Wei carefully. The young man was dressed quite casually. He was wearing slippers with broken soles and his feet were covered with dirt. His vest was gray and yellow. It was the cool weather of November, but he was sweating all over as if it was summer.
"What are you doing at home? Why are you like this?"
"It's all your fault, teacher, for your sudden attack. I didn't even change my clothes. I was just tending the vegetable garden."
"Vegetable garden? The vegetable garden at home? Did you grow it yourself?"
Wen Susu was very surprised. She just saw him running from behind the house, so he must have been busy doing something there.
"Yes, Mr. Wen, please come in first."
"it is good."
Wen Susu didn't bother to be polite and pushed her bicycle into his house.
Fang Wei stepped forward, took her bicycle, and helped her park it in the yard.
"Teacher Wen came here by bike today? It's a new bike!"
"Yes, I just bought it a few days ago."
"How long did it take Mr. Wen to come here?"
"Hmm, I didn't notice. About forty minutes or so."
"Huh? So long? Did you get lost along the way? By the way, how did you find my house, Mr. Wen?"
"Your home is easy for teachers to find!"
Wen Susu said, "I knew you and Cailing Ah Sheng lived in Donghua Village, but I didn't know where you lived. When I got to the village entrance, I asked people. Then I saw an old man under a tree. He was hard of hearing. I asked him for a long time, but I couldn't understand him and he couldn't understand me... Fortunately, I saw other villagers and asked again, and finally I found your house."
Fang Wei found what he heard funny and could roughly imagine the scene. Fortunately, his name was not Ma Dongmei.
"That's Grandpa Li, the oldest elder in our village. He's 98 years old this year. It's normal for him to be hard of hearing. Besides, he can't understand Mandarin!"
"Hey, it's okay! I'm relieved to have found you!"
Wen Susu chuckled and said, "I'll rely on you to lead the way for me later!"
(Thanks to Luoyuan’s favorite Yuqin classmate, the leader! The boss is generous! The boss made a fortune! Thank you very much for your support~!!)
(End of this chapter)
