Chapter 170 Catch the Cicada
When I was studying, I always felt that a semester was very long. Now that I think about it, it just spans less than two seasons.
June 29th is the last day of the final exams.
After checking the last math problem, Fang Wei gently closed the pen cap.
The cicadas outside the window were chirping and the fan above his head was spinning. He held down the test paper in his hand to prevent it from being blown away by the wind.
I turned my head and looked out the window. It was still midsummer, which brought a perfect end to my first day of the new year.
Two days later, on July 2nd, the final exam results were announced, and like last semester, Fang Wei returned to school to receive his student handbook and attend the end-of-term ceremony.
It’s so hot in July.
The whole school was busy cleaning the campus and pulling out the weeds along the wall. The ripe mangoes were scattered all over the ground under the trees, but there were still a few hanging on the branches and refusing to fall. But one thing is certain, when we come back after the long two-month summer vacation, we won't see any more mangoes.
In addition to Mango, what you will never see again after the summer vacation is the seniors in the third year of junior high school.
They have completed the most important exam in junior high school. No matter whether they go to high school, technical secondary school, or leave the campus to work outside, today is probably their last day at Baitan Middle School.
It is difficult for Cailing and her classmates to understand the feelings of the seniors in the third year of junior high school. For the first year students, they are more excited at this moment. After all, the long summer vacation of two months is coming, and the next time they come back to school, they will officially become second year students.
Baitan Middle School’s high school entrance examination results this year seem to be pretty good.
Among the more than 160 students in the third grade of junior high school, 48 reached the high school admission line, and four of them were admitted to No. 1 Middle School, one more than last year.
The final exam results of Class 1 and 2 were also good, and the average score was still far ahead of the other three classes.
Fang Wei is still top of the grade, followed by Liu Zhiyi and Wang Yushan.
Cai Ling did quite well in the exam this time, but she was not very satisfied because her ranking had not improved. Just like the midterm exam, she was still ranked seventh in the class. So she inexplicably felt frustrated, as if she had reached the ceiling of her studies...
Fortunately, the excitement brought by the two-month summer vacation has somewhat diluted this little frustration. I can only continue to work hard after entering the second year of junior high school!
In the scorching hot summer, the end-of-term ceremony did not last too long. After a brief announcement of grades and award presentations, each class dispersed and returned to the classroom.
Just like before, Wen Susu asked Fang Wei to bring two boxes of snacks and drinks and held a small celebration in the classroom.
"When we come back from summer vacation, everyone will be in the second grade of junior high school!"
"Did you hear what the principal said just now? Your high school entrance exams will be here soon! You can't just play around during the summer vacation! You have to do your winter vacation homework and remember to review your textbooks regularly!"
"Got it~!"
"Okay, clean up the classroom. Remember to report to the second grade class on the third floor when the next semester starts!"
"Change classroom!"
"Haha, it's fine as long as Teacher Wen doesn't change!"
"Goodbye, Teacher Wen!"
"See you next semester, have a great summer~!"
At Fang Wei's invitation, Wen Susu did not return to Shanghai on the 2nd and went to his house for dinner in the evening.
Early in the morning on the 3rd, Fang Wei rode his bicycle to the school to help her pack her things and carry her luggage, and then took her to the pier to catch the boat.
"Oh, I told you not to bother making the trip. You don't have much to bring."
"Then I have to go back to Shanghai, so I have to come and see you off! The next time we see each other will be in September!"
"Fang Wei, take these home and eat them, and bring some for Cai Ling and the others."
While packing up, Wen Susu took out a few bags of snacks.
"Sister, why don't you just take it back and eat it yourself?"
"I won't need this much food when I get home. It's troublesome to carry it with me. I'm afraid it will go bad if it's been in the dormitory for too long. You can take it all back and eat it."
"Okay, then I won't be polite."
Having experienced the rat infestation before, Wen Susu cleaned the dormitory extra carefully this time. She closed all the doors and windows tightly, and blocked any places where rats might get in.
She had a two-month vacation, but she didn't bring many things back with her. Most of her clothes were still in the dormitory, not to mention daily necessities.
I also took away her camera, photo albums, picture books, a few clothes and other things.
Judging from the way she packed her luggage, she will definitely come back next semester.
This is obviously an obvious fact, and even the person involved himself thinks that he will definitely come back, but Fang Wei still can't help feeling a little worried. After all, according to the trajectory of his previous life, Teacher Wen never came back after this time.
Fang Wei was certain that no matter whether it was Cai Ling, Zhi Yi or Wen Su Su, they had all undergone different changes in their lives due to his influence, but he had no idea how big the impact of such changes would be, and whether Teacher Wen would be able to return to Baitan Middle School to teach in the next semester after experiencing some things this summer.
The key point is that he couldn't tell Wen Susu about this kind of thing.
Feeling that Fang Wei seemed a little silent, Wen Susu, who was folding clothes, looked up at him curiously.
"Why? You don't want your sister to leave?"
“…Haha, that’s right.”
Fang Wei came back to his senses and smiled, "Sister, I had a dream last night. I dreamed that you went back to Shanghai during the summer vacation and never came back."
Wen Susu was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then burst into laughter: "How could you have such a strange dream! But it was indeed a dream, how could I not come back! I haven't even completed my mission yet!"
"Yeah, that's what I said."
"So why did you dream that I didn't come back?"
"I do not know."
"do not know?"
Wen Susu put her hands on her hips, looking disappointed: "You didn't know? Don't you have my phone number? If I didn't come back, you wouldn't call me to ask. You don't care about me at all, right?"
I feel so wronged!
I swear to God, he wanted to know it in his previous life, but apart from her office number, he had no idea of her cell phone number!
However, Wen Susu's words also reminded him that this time was different from the past. He had her mobile phone number and contact information, and he also knew roughly where she lived in Shanghai. Even if she really didn't come back, he could still find out the reason, and they could even meet in the future.
Thinking in this way, Fang Wei felt more at ease.
"Sister, if anything happens, you must call me."
"Good good."
"Do you remember my home phone number?"
"Remember, it's in my phone."
"That's fine."
"Nervous!"
Wen Susu was both angry and amused. She put the last piece of clothing into the suitcase, zipped it up, and packed her things.
The brother and sister carried their things downstairs together.
It was inconvenient to ride a bicycle with a heavy suitcase, so Fang Wei tied her suitcase to the back seat of the bicycle and pushed the bicycle to the pier with her.
The two walked side by side on the campus, and the rising sun lengthened the shadows of the two people and the bicycle.
They saw each other every day in class but Wen Susu didn't pay much attention to him. Now she was somewhat surprised to find that Fang Wei had grown a lot taller without her noticing.
She stretched out her palm curiously, like a real sister, to measure the height difference between them.
"Fang Wei, have you grown a lot taller?!"
"Have it?"
"Have!"
Wen Susu was surprised and said, "I remember when you first entered school, you were only about my height, but now you are almost as tall as me!"
"How tall is my sister?"
" meters."
"Hehe, then I am almost taller than you now."
Fang Wei said proudly: "I'm already meters tall! I will definitely be taller than you when I come back from summer vacation!"
"Is it true that it grows so fast?"
"Not fast enough, I want to grow to meters tall in the future."
"Haha, you're just bragging. There are not many people in the south who are this tall. You're less than meters tall now, and you dare to say that you're going to grow to meters." "I haven't started growing yet."
"hehe!"
After coming here as a teacher, Wen Susu felt the embodiment of youth so vividly. They grow taller every year and every semester. It is a wonderful experience to accompany them through the most important three years of their youth.
The brother and sister walked slowly, chatting as they walked.
They bought tickets for the first ferry of the day. It was still very early and Fang Wei and Wen Susu hadn't had breakfast yet.
When they arrived at the market, they bought some buns and soy milk together and ate them while walking.
After breakfast, the transport ship sailing to Shanghai began to check tickets and board.
Fang Wei pulled the suitcase and walked her all the way to the corridor bridge.
"Let's go, have a great summer vacation, see you next semester~!"
"Sister, remember to call me if you have anything!"
"I know, bye~"
"Bye~"
The brother and sister waved across the river.
The transport boat started, and the waves created by the propeller drew a white line on the sparkling sea.
Summer vacation has officially begun.
……
In the midsummer of July, the sun is scorching and the heat is unbearable.
In order to escape the heat, the dogs in the village like to dig out a piece of wetland near their kennels and lie on it to get some coolness. The dogs' mouths are open almost all day long, with their long tongues hanging out, making a hashing sound.
Cats are much more heat-resistant than dogs. The key is that their range of activities is wider than that of dogs. Various shady corners are natural summer resorts.
In July, it is afraid of cold but not heat. After entering summer, its daily snacks include cicadas in addition to mouse strips.
Cicadas have high nutritional value, firm meat, and taste fragrant and crispy.
Occasionally when he has nothing to do, July likes to run up the tree to catch cicadas. He holds the cicada in his mouth and lets it squeak like he's eating candy.
As a rare delicacy in summer, Fang Wei Cailing Zhiyi and Asheng would sometimes go together to catch cicadas, and they would catch the cicadas that had just been unearthed.
This is Liu Zhiyi’s first time catching a cicada!
"What are you going to do with it? Are you going to keep it as a pet?"
"Of course I ate it!"
"eat?!"
When Liu Zhiyi heard that cicadas can be eaten, his expression was extremely interesting.
"Zhiyi, you've never eaten it?"
"It's the first time I heard this... Can it really be eaten..."
"Ah, don't look at me like I'm a savage! It's really delicious! It tastes like chicken and beef, and it smells even better when fried!"
"Come on, I'll take you to experience it tonight!"
Catching cicadas requires careful timing. It is difficult to catch them in broad daylight. At this time, the cicadas that have emerged from the earth have already broken out of their shells and flown away. If you want to catch them, you have to choose after eight or nine o'clock in the evening.
That night, Fang Wei brought Cai Ling and A Sheng to Liu Zhiyi's house and took her to catch cicada monkeys.
It had just rained in the afternoon, and the forest was windless at night, making it feel hot and stuffy.
The four of them acted together, carrying a small plastic bucket, spraying mosquito-repellent Liushen floral water on exposed skin such as their arms and necks, carrying three flashlights and two long bamboo poles with tape tied to the tops to catch cicadas, and like an adventure team, they dived into the dark forest.
"Will there be any snakes?"
Liu Zhiyi was timid and followed Fang Wei with a flashlight in her hand. The beam of the flashlight jumped among the woods, illuminating the dark shadows of the trees. Occasionally, a vine accidentally got caught on her body, and she screamed in fright.
Fang Wei and the other two were also startled by her movement, and the four of them screamed together.
"What happened?"
"It's okay... it's just a vine... I thought it was a snake..."
"...??"
"Don't scare yourself!"
“Will there be spiders?”
"...You are not allowed to speak anymore!"
"Why is it so quiet tonight? Is there a ghost?" Ah Sheng also said.
"……Shut up!"
On nights after rain, newly-emerged cicadas will climb onto tree trunks to shed their shells. This is the best time to catch them. Plus, the weather is hot and humid tonight, so there will be even more cicadas emerging from the ground.
The four of them walked through the dark forest, carefully approaching the big trees and searching every inch of the trunks with flashlights.
The cicada monkeys have just crawled out of the ground, with dirt still on their bodies, and they crawl very slowly. When they climb to a certain height, they will hook their claws on the bark and quietly complete their metamorphosis.
Some of them crawl low and can be grabbed just by reaching out and throwing them into the bucket.
If some of them climbed high, we would use the bamboo poles we brought to knock them down.
Some of them are really out of reach. Maybe after tonight, they will be able to complete the last step in their life cycle and successfully transform into summer cicadas.
Seeing Fang Wei and the other two having a lot of fun catching cicadas, Liu Zhiyi also became eager to try, and took the initiative to stretch out his finger and point at a cicada monkey lying on a tree trunk.
This thing looked ugly and ferocious. She touched it gently and felt the wonderful touch of the shell on her fingertips. Then the cicada monkey moved, which scared her.
After a while, the girl finally mustered up the courage to pick it up from the tree trunk.
"So, so exciting!! It wants to bite me!!"
"..."
They shone the flashlight and caught them accurately. In less than two hours, the four of them caught half a small plastic bucket of cicada monkeys.
A breeze started to blow in the sultry forest, rustling the leaves and branches.
Liu Zhiyi, who was afraid to catch cicadas just now, was the one who enjoyed catching them the most.
Before she could continue sweeping another big tree, Fang Wei grabbed her and pulled her back.
"You're not going to catch me anymore?"
"It's windy! It might rain, let's go back!"
“…Ahhh! It’s already falling! Run!”
"Hahaha……"
Fortunately, the rain was not heavy, but the four of them did not bring umbrellas, so they ran all the way back through the dark forest in the rain with flashlights.
Back at Liu Zhiyi's home, warm and bright lights illuminated the yard. The four people's faces were wet, and for a moment it was hard to tell whether it was rain or sweat.
As they smiled at each other, the rain outside finally got heavier, dripping, and the water drops formed lines under the eaves...
Since Fang Wei and the other two couldn't go home for the time being, they had supper together at Liu Zhiyi's house.
The midnight snack was naturally the freshly caught cicadas, which Uncle Liu cooked himself.
There are many ways to eat cicadas. The simplest way is to fry them. Wash them clean and fry them in a pan until golden and crispy. They taste so delicious.
At the beginning, Liu Zhiyi didn't dare to eat it.
"Zhiyi, try one. It's delicious! It smells so good!"
"..."
After being encouraged by Fang Wei and the other two, she ate one reluctantly, and then the girl's eyes lit up.
A summer in one bite.
(End of this chapter)
