Chapter 95 Lend Me Your Shoulder to Sleep
I stayed behind to be on duty today, and just went to Liu Zhiyi's house to borrow a book, which took up quite a bit of time.
When Fang Wei returned home, his mother had already prepared dinner and was sitting on a chair with his father watching the Olympic Games.
"I am back."
"So late today?"
"Well, I stayed to clean up for a while, and then borrowed a book from Liu Zhiyi."
"Eat, eat."
The TV was not turned off. When Fang Xianfeng and Tian Xilan saw their son come back, they got up and went to the kitchen to bring out the prepared meal.
Fang Wei washed his hands and helped serve the rice. The family of three then ate while watching the Olympic Games.
Perhaps because he was thinking about mussel farming, Fang Xianfeng seemed a little absent-minded even when eating and watching the game.
"Why? Is this bitter gourd very bitter?" Tian Xilan asked.
"No..." Fang Xianfeng ate the bitter melon with an expressionless face.
"Then why are you looking so gloomy while eating!" Tian Xilan said unhappily.
No one knows a father better than his son. Fang Wei said with a smile, "Dad, how are the preparations for mussel farming going?"
"I just got the aquaculture license today. I'm thinking of buying some rafts, ropes, and seedling ropes these days. I don't know which store has cheaper and better quality products nearby. I have to go to other islands to look around. The project is not small, and I'll have to hire someone to help build it..."
"Has the aquaculture area been contracted out?"
"Well, this was done quickly."
"So when do you plan to start planting the seeds?"
"Today is the 16th. I estimate that it will take about half a month to complete all of this. I will plant the seedlings during the National Day holiday!"
Fang Wei was stunned for a moment, and asked curiously, "So early? We can plant the seedlings in October and November, right?"
"Everything must be prepared in advance. This is the first time for our family to do this, and we are not sure about the timing of many things. It is better to start early than late. We can't wait until the last minute to start."
"Then Dad, are you sure you want to farm ten acres first?"
I calculated it yesterday. To cultivate ten acres of mussels, including the expenses of mussel seedlings, labor, various equipment and contracting fees, the one-time investment is about 7,000 yuan.
This is almost all the family’s savings.
"Ten acres is not a small amount. Let's do it first. If it's done well, the income will be double what I earned from collecting fish. It's not like I'll just keep these ten acres. I'll make money next year and then continue to expand the scale of breeding. You have to walk slowly and eat slowly. If you always think about getting fat in one go, you'll easily choke!"
Fang Wei couldn't help laughing when he heard that, and his mother snorted as well.
"What's with that look on your face? Am I wrong?"
"Dad, you're right, but I always feel like I'm just comforting myself when I say it out loud!"
"Hey you kid..."
"dad."
Fang Wei swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "I think, how about you take it easy first?"
"What are you taking so long for? Why are you taking so long to eat?"
"No, I was talking about your mussel farming."
"How long will it take?"
“Wait until the Olympics are over.”
"What kind of excuse is this? What does mussel farming have to do with the Olympics? The Olympics will end in October, and it's only mid-September. Why would I delay for half a month just to watch the games?"
Fang Xianfeng didn't understand the logic here at all, and had completely forgotten about giving him two dollars to buy lottery tickets yesterday.
“Not watching the game.”
Fang Wei awakened his memory: "Didn't you give me two dollars to buy lottery tickets yesterday? I bought one today. Sports lottery, Olympics. The prize will be drawn after the Olympics."
Fang Wei blinked and continued:
"Think about it, if we win the lottery, our family will be rich. Will we still only raise ten acres of crops? We will definitely expand the scale of breeding and make it bigger!"
"..."
Fang Xianfeng rolled his eyes at him speechlessly. Perhaps only at times like this would he feel that this brat of his was really just a little brat who hadn't even grown all his hair yet?
Fang Wei naturally did it on purpose.
Sometimes, due to their youth, wild imagination and innocence, the words they say have the effect of a 'reverse reminder'.
Sure enough, after hearing his rather 'immature' speech, my father said in a mature and calm manner:
"Awei, remember, you have to be down-to-earth in everything, especially in your career. It's not something you can take for granted. If you really rely on luck for your life, what's the difference between you and a gambler?"
"Everything that needs to be prepared has been prepared. Even if you really win the lottery, it's only October now, so I still have enough time to expand the scale of breeding."
Fang Wei nodded secretly.
Many people find it difficult to maintain their original intentions when faced with sudden wealth. Some people can make money from money, but for others, they will eventually lose the same wealth as it came.
This was the first time my dad started mussel farming. Now it seems that this was not just an idea he came up with on impulse, but he was doing it with a purpose and plan.
Knowing this, Fang Wei felt relieved.
It was a rare opportunity to instill some life lessons in his son. Fang Xianfeng felt refreshed and his back straightened up. He felt that he, as a father, was a really good role model!
Continuing to eat, Fang Xianfeng casually asked, "What lottery tickets did you buy?"
"Sports lottery is all about guessing the Olympic gold, silver and bronze medals."
"Haha, can you guess this?"
Fang Xianfeng picked up a soybean, put it in his mouth, chewed it, shook his head and smiled.
Naturally, he had bought lottery tickets before, and he knew how low the probability of winning was. It was okay to play once in a while, but expecting to get rich overnight was just wishful thinking!
"What number did you guess?" Fang Xianfeng asked curiously.
"Twenty-eight gold medals, sixteen silver medals, and fifteen bronze medals." Fang Wei said.
"Well, the silver and bronze medals are still within a reasonable range, but your guess for the number of gold medals is too high, isn't it? When have we ever won more than 20 gold medals?"
Fang Xianfeng listened and shook his head, well, two dollars wasted.
His family only installed a TV a few years ago, and he had only watched the 1996 Olympics. Like most people these days, he could no longer remember how many gold, silver and bronze medals he won, it seemed like it was around ten or so.
People always tend to look for patterns through history. If there is no information to check, they will look up their memories. Anyway, he doesn't think he can win so many gold medals.
"It looks like our national team is very strong this year. Dad, don't you support it too?"
"Support is support, but we must always consider the reality."
Fang Xianfeng put down his chopsticks and stretched out his hand to him: "The ticket didn't fall, did it? Let me see it."
"Give."
Fang Wei unzipped his trouser pocket and handed the lottery ticket inside to his father.
"Gold medal twenty-eight, silver medal sixteen, bronze medal fifteen... three in one? Haha... five bets, ten dollars?!!"
When Fang Xianfeng saw the number on the bill, his face twitched and he reached out to touch his belt.
"Dad, Dad! Why are you taking off your pants?!"
"I will teach you a lesson today!"
"Hey, hey! Mom! Mom! Look at him!"
"Fang Xianfeng, what are you doing?"
Tian Xilan glared at him unhappily, and Fang Wei quickly hid behind his mother.
"Look at how brave your son is. He dared to spend ten dollars to buy lottery tickets! If he had more money in his pocket, he would definitely go to Macau!"
"Fang, Wei!"
Hearing this, Tian Xilan's expression became serious.
Fang Wei looked innocent and quickly explained, "Dad, this is really not my fault! I wanted to buy two dollars, I handed the boss ten dollars, and was waiting for him to give me the change when he placed five bets on me. I asked him to return it, but he couldn't. I feel wronged!"
Fang Xianfeng looked at him doubtfully.
Come to think of it, after all, ten dollars is a huge sum of money for a kid of this age. I don't think this brat would dare to just throw it all in like this...
Tian Xilan began to protect her child, leaning towards Fang Wei and said, "Did you hear that? Ah Wei didn't do it on purpose. If you have the guts, ask the boss to leave."
"…Why should I return it? I'm running a business, there's no reason to return lottery tickets."
Fang Xianfeng waved his hand and buckled the belt he had just unbuckled, and the matter was over.
He had already thought of some way to teach this kid a lesson, but he held it back, which made him very depressed.
"Don't even think about pocket money for the next two months!"
"... Come on, Dad! Do you really have no money left?"
"Gone!"
Fang Wei had no choice but to cooperate and sighed, looking melancholy.
It is much more difficult to help his father become rich than he imagined. If he knew how to manage his father, he felt that he could compile his thoughts into a best-selling book.
Although this lottery ticket was bought with the brat's pocket money, Fang Xianfeng couldn't help but feel a little painful holding the ticket in his hand.
That’s ten dollars, enough to buy fifty kilograms of mussels at the dock!
But I've already bought it, what else can I do...
"How much money can I get if I win?" Tian Xilan asked curiously.
"According to the estimated odds, it should be around 80,000 or 90,000," Fang Wei said.
"Eighty or ninety...ten thousand?!"
Tian Xilan was stunned when she heard this. If she calculated that a 10-acre aquaculture area would cost about 7,000 yuan, if she won the money and invested it in mussel farming, wouldn't that mean she could become a large-scale mussel farming company with a 100-acre aquaculture area in one step? !
If we calculate based on the annual net profit of 2,500 yuan per mu, for a breeding scale of 100 mu, the annual net profit will reach more than 200,000 yuan!
More than 00! More than in !
There is not a single "100,000 yuan household" on the entire island. If you work like this for a year, you will be a "200,000 yuan household"! What a concept!
"That has to work if you can succeed!" Fang Xianfeng poured a basin of cold water on him at the right time.
Tian Xilan: “…”
Right.
After a while, she finally stopped daydreaming and sighed, "Whatever! I don't mind spending ten bucks. I've already bought it. I'll just buy it for a blessing. Our family is still blessed. Who knows, maybe Mazu will bless me and I'll win."
Fang Xianfeng: “…”
Fang Wei: "Dad, do you want to keep the lottery ticket yourself or should I keep it?"
Fang Xianfeng silently locked the lottery ticket in the drawer.
It’s time, it’s fate, many things are really hard to predict.
Although I don't believe in my heart that I can win the lottery, it is still a hope after all.
Isn't it that people live for the sake of their hopes?
after dinner.
After Tian Xilan finished cleaning up, she lit another stick of incense and muttered to herself in front of the statue of Mazu for a long time.
Without her saying anything, Fang Xianfeng also came over and lit a stick of incense.
It has nothing to do with the lottery, I just want to ask Mazu to bless the mussel farming to go smoothly.
……
After taking a shower and changing clothes, Fang Wei returned to his room.
When he looked up, he saw that the light in the stupid girl's room next door was also on. In fact, it was earlier than his. Xu Cailing was currently doing her homework on the table by the windowsill.
"Wow! You're so diligent today? Even earlier than me. Aren't you going to watch the game?"
Fang Wei smiled and moved his desk over, took out his homework from his schoolbag, and put the book "The Golden Age" aside.
"I'm reading now, don't bother me, I need to finish writing quickly, I'll go out and read again later."
It was just an assignment, but Xu Cailing was as nervous as if she was in a hurry to take an exam. She frowned and bit the tip of her pen, talking to Fang Wei while writing and calculating on the draft paper.
It seemed that she was stuck on a math problem. She looked like she had to pee urgently and her legs couldn't help flexing under the table.
"Where is the break?"
"Oh my, I just had an idea, but you made me confused again!"
"Can you blame me for this?" Fang Wei said with a smile: "Why don't you just finish watching the game first and then come back to do your homework."
"No! I don't enjoy watching the game as much when I think about the homework I haven't done yet!"
"Why don't you just finish your homework before going to watch the game?"
"No! I can't do my homework when I think about the exciting game!"
"then you……"
"Ah! The game is about to start! I'm going to watch a game first!"
Before Fang Wei could finish his words, Xu Cailing heard the sound of the TV outside and hurriedly ran out without even putting down the pen in her hand.
"..."
Well, probably only Xu Cailing would use the break time to finish her homework.
……
When Fang Wei saw her again, the girl had already finished watching the game she wanted to watch. She was finally satisfied. She returned to her room without any worries or burdens and did her homework peacefully.
He was jumping and skipping as he walked, until he faced that math problem that he was stuck on, and then his face fell again.
Fang Wei had finished his homework and was now sitting on the windowsill, quietly reading "The Golden Age" in his hand.
Hearing the noise, he turned around and saw Xu Cailing looking deep in thought, so he didn't disturb her.
Ten minutes later, the girl's helpless voice sounded:
"Fang Wei, how do I do the last question in my math homework?"
"Open your math book..."
Fang Wei would not tell her the answer directly, and she never dared to ask Fang Wei for the answer directly.
Whenever she encountered a question she couldn't answer, she would ask Fang Wei, and Fang Wei would patiently and carefully explain the knowledge points of the question to her, and Xu Cailing would listen obediently.
Compared with when she was in elementary school, her attitude towards studying was impeccable after entering junior high school.
This almost became a tacit understanding when the two of them did their homework together every night - when she encountered a problem she didn't know how to solve, she would think about it herself first, and only when she really couldn't figure it out would she ask Fang Wei.
Because they did homework together, Cailing usually handed in her homework with a high accuracy rate. However, Cailing herself knew that there was still a huge gap between her and Fangwei in terms of learning.
If you want to go to No. 1 Middle School together, you have to work harder.
"Stop, stop, stop, stop talking for now, I think I understand!"
"..."
Fang Wei was explaining this knowledge point to her halfway through when Xu Cailing seemed to have an epiphany. She quickly lowered her head and started writing and calculating on a piece of draft paper.
After a while, her voice rang out, tentatively asking, "The final answer is negative three-eighteenths, right?"
"Deduct two points."
"Huh?! I clearly didn't calculate wrong..."
Xu Cailing bit the tip of the pen, frowned, and calculated again. This time her voice was much louder: "That's right! I definitely didn't calculate it wrong! The answer is minus three-eighteenths! Did you calculate it wrong..."
"Deduct two points." Fang Wei said ruthlessly.
"Why? Then what do you think the answer is?" Xu Cailing was unconvinced.
"Negative one-sixth."
“…Ah! I forgot!”
Xu Cailing scratched the back of her head embarrassedly, then divided out the negative three-eighteenths and wrote negative one-sixth on top.
Reducing fractions is something she learned in elementary school, so she knew it, but she was so excited that she forgot it right after she figured it out...
"very important!"
Fang Wei said: "Don't underestimate these two points. Sometimes it's just a little difference from the passing line. If you lose points because of carelessness, do you think it's a loss?"
"Yes, yes, what Teacher Fang Wei said is right."
Xu Cailing nodded in agreement and happily put away all the homework.
"Have you finished your homework?" Fang Wei asked curiously.
"Yes, because I had to watch the game, I did a little during the break, and then I did a little more while watching the game when I got home. This is the only question left!"
"can."
"What are you reading?"
"I borrowed it from Zhiyi."
Fang Wei turned the book over and let her look at the cover.
"The Golden Age? What's it about?"
"It tells the story between the educated youth Wang Er and the female doctor Chen Qingyang."
"Of love?"
"no……"
"what is that?"
It cannot be explained in a few words.
There are indeed many erotic plots and scenes in the book, but he certainly didn't borrow the book for this purpose. Even though he was just reading it for the first time, he was already attracted by Wang Xiaobo's writing as soon as he started reading it.
As for what Liu Zhiyi was worried about, he now understood. Perhaps for boys and girls of this age, at first glance, this really was no different from the little emperor's uncle...
Just as I was thinking about it, there was a noise from the window.
Fang Wei turned his head and looked, his eyes suddenly widened, and he cried out in a lost voice: "What are you doing turning over in the middle of the night!!"
Xu Cailing didn't care about all that. Not long after she finished watching the game, she felt like she had endless energy all over her body. She leaned her little hands on the windowsill, jumped with her pretty body, and like a female knight in the martial arts world, she climbed out of the window of her house, then climbed over the wall and stood next to Fang Wei's window.
Bah! What kind of female hero is this! Those who climb through the window during the day are heroes, and those who climb through the window at night are thieves, right?!
Are you the Thief of Picking Lings or the Thief of Picking Flowers? !
"hey-hey."
"..."
Fang Wei sat on the windowsill, looking at the girl who was standing beside him.
The cool moonlight made her pretty face look beautiful. The evening breeze blew between the two walls, blowing her naturally spread hair. Her big eyes blinked, looking very lively.
"...What are you doing turning over?" Fang Wei said speechlessly.
"Keep your voice down, or my dad and the others might hear you." Xu Cailing said.
"..."
You know that too?!
Fang Wei was convinced. Fortunately, they were both young at the moment. If they were older, and such a big girl secretly climbed through his window at night, if Uncle Yuan and the others knew about it, he would probably break his legs...
"Sit a little closer, sit a little closer."
“What are you doing…”
"Let's read together."
Xu Cailing didn't care about him. Fang Wei sat sideways on the windowsill, so she bent his legs over, leaving an empty space on the right side. She pushed herself up with both hands and sat on his windowsill.
Fang Wei had no choice but to change his position and sit on her left, just like her, sitting side by side on the windowsill with his legs hanging outside.
The girl was wearing home shorts, revealing her calves below the knees. She crossed her legs and hooked her slippers on her toes, swaying them back and forth. She tilted her head and leaned over, looking curiously at the book in Fang Wei's hand.
"Do you understand?"
"You and Zhiyi both understand it, why can't I understand it?"
"I've read more than ten pages. Can you read the previous ones?"
"No need to look at it. I can understand it directly from here."
"Ha ha……"
Fang Wei smiled, ignored her, and continued reading with his head down.
"Please move the book over a little. I can't read it."
"..."
So Fang Wei sat closer to her and placed the book in his hand between the two of them.
"Hehe, mosquitoes will only bite you and not me." Xu Cailing said with a smile.
"You want me to feed you mosquitoes, right?"
"Don't make any noise, I want to read."
"Who is talking all the time?"
It finally quieted down.
There are indeed many exciting scenes in "The Golden Age", but not on every page. In fact, after watching it without a beginning or an end, Xu Cailing felt sleepy after just a while.
The two of them sat quietly side by side on the windowsill, with the sounds of frogs croaking and insects chirping in their ears.
The Mid-Autumn Festival had just passed, and the bright moon in the night sky still appeared very round, and the sky was full of brilliant stars.
Occasionally, when the cool night breeze blew, she could move her little nose and smell Fang Wei's scent beside her - the smell of his clothes, the fresh scent of clean laundry detergent mixed with the sunlight.
I feel inexplicably calm and peaceful in my heart.
"Sleepy?"
"……No!"
Xu Cailing came back to her senses and, not wanting to expose the fact that she felt sleepy as soon as she read, she sat up straight again.
"Fang Wei, why don't you just tell me the story in the book, so I don't have to read it myself." Xu Cailing said suddenly with an idea.
"I haven't even finished reading it, how can I tell you about it?"
"Just tell me as you watch, just like the way you told me stories when I was a kid."
"There are not so many stories to tell..."
"Okay, I'm sleepy!"
"Then go to bed."
Xu Cailing originally wanted to go back to her room and sleep, but it seemed quite early now.
Cai Ling felt uncomfortable all over when she thought that he was reading and studying while she was sleeping.
unless……
"Go to sleep!"
Xu Cailing said this.
Fang Wei thought she was going to go back, but he didn't expect her head to tilt and she actually leaned directly on his shoulder.
"Hey?"
"Hululu..."
"Don't do the dubbing yourself, eh?!"
"Hululu..."
The snoring gradually became quieter.
Seeing that she really fell asleep, Fang Wei was also shocked and clearly felt more weight on his shoulders.
Xu Cailing didn't tie her hair into a short ponytail like she did during the day. Her shoulder-length hair fell on his shoulders, and occasionally a few strands of hair tickled his neck.
Anyway, there is only this little childhood sweetheart like her, so what else can Fang Wei do but let her be.
Bathed in the moonlight and evening breeze, listening to the sound of him gently turning the pages of a book.
The girl rested her head on his shoulder and slept soundly...
(End of this chapter)
