Chapter 65 What's the difference between this and a cat on a leash? (asking for monthly tickets)
On campus, when the last bell rang, students rushed to the school gate like released birds, with expressions of relaxation and joy on their faces. The pressure of a week's study seemed to disappear with the ringing of the bell.
The first week of school ended like this, and for the other party, the mood was quite strange.
The class was noisy and no one had the heart to play Go anymore. Everyone packed up their things and left the classroom. The most unlucky ones were the two students on duty today, who had to stay behind to clean the classroom.
Xu Cailing and A Sheng moved very quickly. In the blink of an eye, they ran over to Fang Wei and Liu Zhiyi with their schoolbags.
"Hahaha! Fortunately I was on duty yesterday!"
The duty roster was arranged according to seating order. Cai Ling, who was in the fourth row of the first group, happened to be on duty yesterday. However, the four-member Pineapple Island team did not leave her alone and waited for her to finish her duty before leaving.
"Wow, Zhiyi, are you going to bring so many things home?"
"Yeah, all the books and homework for the weekend."
Fang Wei took a look and was afraid that there was more than that. The girl stuffed handfuls of books into her schoolbag, as if she was going to stay at home and read to death on the weekends.
"Hey! You want to take the pillow back too?"
"Uh...then don't bring it."
Liu Zhiyi thought about it and then put the small pillow in his hand back into the drawer.
Because she always stayed in the classroom for lunch at noon, her face hurt from sleeping on her arms the past two days. Later, she saw Fang Wei and Cai Ling brought small pillows, so she also brought a small pillow.
Liu Zhiyi’s small pillow is filled with buckwheat husks. She doesn’t sleep well, so her grandfather made it specially for her.
She didn’t know if it was the effect of the pillow or the special atmosphere in the classroom during lunch break, but she slept very soundly at noon every day and always had to trouble Fang Wei to wake her up, which made her feel embarrassed.
So I thought of bringing the small pillow for nap back home to see if I can sleep as soundly at home... But the pillow at home is also made of buckwheat, and it seems that the quality of sleep has nothing to do with the pillow.
Seeing that Cailing had packed Asheng's things, Liu Zhiyi felt embarrassed to dawdle too long, so he zipped up his heavy schoolbag, and the four of them walked out of the classroom together.
She didn't hate reading, she even liked it very much, but when she thought that tomorrow and the day after tomorrow were weekends, Liu Zhiyi couldn't help but feel a little relaxed.
I came here by bike this morning, so I will ride back by bike as well.
The evening sky was dyed with a gentle orange-red, the afterglow of the setting sun outlined a golden edge on the clouds, and the whole world seemed to be coated with a layer of warm glow.
Just like when they came here, Fang Wei and A Sheng rode in the front, Cai Ling and Zhi Yi followed behind, protecting the little rookie in the middle of the team.
"It's a rare weekend, have you thought about your plans?" Fang Wei asked.
"Ah! I'm going to my grandma's house to help dig sweet potatoes on the weekend!" A Sheng said first.
"Does your grandma also grow sweet potatoes?" Xu Cailing asked curiously.
"Yes, the ones I planted this year seem to be growing well. It's such a large field! I guess I'll spend my weekends in the sweet potato field!"
"Will you be back tonight?"
"I will definitely come back after I finish work. My grandma's house is not far away. Why, you want to wait for me to play together?" A Sheng was very touched.
"Then remember to bring some sweet potatoes when you come back! Then we can roast them together!"
“…So the sweet potato you’re after is actually my sweet potato, right?”
"You also have a share of the roasted sweet potato. I'll give you the one I roast when the time comes."
"Come on, Xu Cailing, it's a good thing you didn't burn the sweet potatoes into charcoal."
"What are you talking about! If you don't eat it, Fang Wei will rush to eat it!"
Fang Wei: “???”
No, am I a cheap thing? Why do you throw all this garbage at me?
Fang Wei thought about it and said, "Since we are going to roast sweet potatoes together at night, we can go to the beach during the day to see if we can find something to eat and then roast it together."
It was a rare weekend, so Fang Wei was willing to relax. There weren't many activities on the island, no internet, no games. What excited him most were beach hunting and barbecuing.
“I think so!!”
"Then I can't go with you during the day. I'll bring back the sweet potatoes in the evening."
"It's okay, Asheng. As long as the sweet potatoes arrive, it'll be fine." Fang Wei also comforted him.
"I can't be left out of the delicious fish and meat!"
"Okay, okay."
The three of them were chatting enthusiastically about what they were going to do together over the weekend, while Liu Zhiyi, who was riding a bike nearby, just listened quietly.
Firstly, she needed to concentrate a lot on riding her bike; secondly, she wanted to join in the conversation, but she didn't know what to say. After all, whether it was going to the beach or getting together for a barbecue at night, she could imagine the scene, but because she had never experienced the interesting things they talked about, she didn't know what it was like specifically.
The girl was thinking about whether these activities included her, when the three members of the Donghua Village team turned to look at her and asked the same question:
"What about you, what suggestions do you have?"
"what?"
Liu Zhiyi was stunned for a moment, and whispered: "I, I will come too..."
"Of course! We have already agreed to take you to the beach this week. Did you hear our plan just now? We will go to the beach to buy some food during the day, and then wait for Hongshusheng to come back in the evening, and then we will have a barbecue together! What do you think? Do you have any better suggestions?"
"No, wait a minute, what the hell is Sweet Potato Katsu?!"
Liu Zhiyi also smiled, but did not mention his plan to stay at home and read books. He just nodded and said, "I'll listen to you."
Xu Cailing thought about it, and then said, "The days are long. Don't waste your weekend time. I'll teach you how to swim then! Didn't you say you can't swim yet? By the way, Zhiyi, do you have a swimsuit?"
"Ah...no."
"Well, that's fine! I have one! We have similar body shapes, so you can just wear mine!"
"Do you really want to swim..."
"Of course. Living by the sea, how can you not know how to swim? Don't worry, I'll teach you. You'll learn it in less than a day."
"Well……"
Liu Zhiyi's face looked solemn.
The weekend's arrangements were thus settled.
Fang Wei, Cai Ling and A Sheng did not think this was anything special and soon moved on to other topics.
Liu Zhiyi was the only one left, still imagining blankly what swimming, sea fishing, barbecuing... would be like.
She looked up into the distance, and in her view was a brilliant sunset, large and small islands covered with dense forests, and seabirds flying between the sea and the sky...
This was the world she lived in now.
Even weekends have changed.
……
On Saturday, Fang Wei got up early again.
As far as getting up early is concerned, there is no difference between resting on the weekend and going to school on weekdays for him. He even insists on running during the summer vacation, so he will not slack off just because of a short weekend.
When I opened the curtains, the stupid girl next door still had her windows tightly closed. I guess she wouldn't wake up until seven o'clock.
This might be the norm for people of my age. In fact, waking up at seven o'clock seems pretty early...
After entering September, the heat has dissipated a lot compared to August, and it is probably almost autumn. When I got up early at five o'clock, the fog seemed much thicker than before.
Before he started sweating, Fang Wei even felt a little cool when he was running in a vest.
The seasonal changes that he had never noticed before now became clear to him, and the most obvious difference was that the sunrise time was more than a minute slower than a week ago.
Fang Wei thought that probably, except for him, no one else on the entire island would notice this tiny one-minute difference...
In fact, by the time most people noticed that the sunrise time was getting later, the difference was already quite noticeable compared to the beginning.
Just like people aging and flowers blooming, changes always happen silently. When you come to your senses and notice it, you realize that the person in front of you is already an old man and the flower in front of you is in full bloom. [Tread, tap, tap——]
The sound of steady and powerful footsteps echoed on the quiet country road in the early morning.
When running, Fang Wei would use this time to think, no matter whether it was a problem in study or in life. He found that his attention was particularly focused when running, and many things that he could not figure out would become clearer.
This is an unexpected benefit besides the physical exercise.
While he was thinking about it, he saw a girl practicing cycling on the country road from a distance.
A white bicycle, not very skilled movements, and waist-length hair, isn't this Liu Zhiyi?
Fang Wei was a little surprised. It was okay to see her so early on school days, but he didn't expect to see her so early on this weekend as well. And even a little earlier than usual. In the past, when he passed by her door, she was still brushing her teeth.
Liu Zhiyi didn't see him. She had just pulled her bicycle over to the side of the road, bent down and ran to the bushes to look for something.
When Fang Wei got closer, he heard the voice coming out of her mouth:
"Mimi? Meow?"
"Mimi~"
"Strange...where did he go again..."
The girl had a puzzled look on her face. This was the third time she had seen the fat and plump tabby cat. The first two times she had seen it on the wall of her house, and this morning she saw it on the roadside. The cat looked like it had just come back from an all-night stay, yawning and walking slowly. She thought about it and went over to it.
The girl tried to fawn on it for a long time, and when she was about to get close enough to touch it, the cat seemed to be frightened by something, and it suddenly disappeared into the bushes nearby.
"What are you looking for?"
Suddenly, a voice sounded behind her, startling Liu Zhiyi who was concentrating on looking for the cat.
"Fang, Fang Wei?"
"Looking for a cat?"
"Ah."
"Is your cat missing?"
"It's not my cat..."
Seeing Fang Wei sweating profusely, Liu Zhiyi knew that he was running. She could see him running at this time almost every day, and she had gotten used to it.
When I don’t have classes, it feels strange to meet my deskmate early in the morning…
Seeing Fang Wei's puzzled look, Liu Zhiyi also explained:
"It's a stray cat. I've seen it several times. It might live around here, I think..."
"Touch it?"
Having his thoughts exposed, Liu Zhiyi nodded embarrassedly.
"There are indeed a lot of stray cats on the island, but some of them are domesticated. After all, it's not like in the city, so it's normal for cats to run around everywhere." Fang Wei thought of his own rebellious son.
“It won’t be lost…” Liu Zhiyi looked surprised and frowned his delicate eyebrows.
"Normally it won't get lost. In a village like this, we can't just tie up a cat."
"Ah."
Liu Zhiyi also thought this was true. If a cat is tied up, it probably won’t look like a cat anymore…
I don’t know what she was thinking about, the girl’s eyes were a little absent-minded.
Fang Wei thought for a moment and asked, "What does the cat you just saw look like? I can tell you next time I see it."
"Well, a very big one, and then there's the tabby cat, which looks like a tiger..."
"??"
The more Liu Zhiyi described, the weirder Fang Wei's expression became.
After a while, the girl also noticed this strangeness and asked curiously: "Have you... seen it?"
"…Um, if I'm not mistaken, you might be talking about my cat."
"Ohhh, your cat...your cat?!"
Liu Zhiyi was also stunned. Fang Wei didn't look like he was joking with her.
"Is it really your cat? Why is it here..."
"Anyway, he's not tied up. He sleeps at home during the day and runs around at night."
Fang Wei was not sure whether the cat she was talking about was July. Anyway, he didn't see July when he woke up early this morning. He thought it was very likely. After all, there was no bigger tabby cat than July on the island.
"If you have time, come to my house and you'll know if it's the same cat."
"..."
Is this a formal invitation or a polite one?
Liu Zhiyi had never been to a classmate's house in his life, so naturally he didn't know how to answer him at this moment. He just nodded and smiled gently.
"Cai Ling asked, are your home and hers very close?"
"Yeah, almost next to each other."
“So close!”
"You haven't been to Cai Ling's house either?"
"No……"
"She should have invited you, why don't you go and have some fun?"
"I'm a little embarrassed..."
Seeing the shy look of the girl in front of him, Fang Wei knew that this was probably her true thought. It was funny to think about it. Liu Zhiyi had lived in the village for some time, but she was really like a virgin. She never went out of the house. Apart from going to school, her biggest activity was limited to learning to ride a bicycle.
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. We're all friends. It's normal to go to a friend's house to play. Donghua Village is not far from here."
"Um……"
Liu Zhiyi nodded. He did the action, but no one knew what he was thinking.
"Why did you get up so early today? Can't you take a rest for a while on the weekend?"
"I woke up naturally and didn't fall asleep again."
Maybe it was because he had an appointment with them to play together today. Liu Zhiyi had been thinking about it since last night. He couldn’t tell whether he was looking forward to it or some other feeling, but he woke up early in the morning anyway.
"Are you still practicing driving?"
"Well, I'm still a little rusty. I want to practice a little more to get familiar with it."
“Have you ever seen the sunrise?”
"……what?"
Fang Wei suddenly changed the topic and Liu Zhiyi was not able to react for a moment.
"Sunrise?"
"Yes, you woke up so early, it would be a pity if you didn't watch the sunrise. Why don't you come with me to Xiaobaisha? When I get there, the sunrise will almost be there."
"I can't run that far..."
"You ride your bike, just treat it as practice. If youth is not a little bit more aggressive, what's the difference between you and a cat on a leash? Let's go!"
After saying that, Fang Wei started running without waiting for her response.
The girl stood there for a while, then quickly got on her bicycle and chased after him.
"Wait for me..."
(End of this chapter)
