Chapter 19 The Girl is a Little Timid August 31st, the last day of summer vacation. Because he had made a plan to run, Fang Wei got up early today again. When I changed my clothes and walked out of the room, my mother was sitting at the dining table eating breakfast. This scene seemed like a repeat of yesterday. However, with yesterday's explanation, Tian Xilan was not as surprised as before when she saw her son going out for a run early this morning. "Eat something first?" "No, I'll eat when I get back." "Let's go back to grandpa and grandma's house to have dinner tonight. You and Asheng will start school tomorrow, and your grandma said she would kill a chicken for you two to eat." "Okay, by the way, Mom, our chicken laid an egg yesterday, and I picked one up." "Then when you have breakfast, you can crack an egg and put it in the porridge to cook, and have egg porridge." "Hey, save it for now and make fried oysters with it some other day!"
Fang Wei stretched his body while walking slowly out of the door, took two deep breaths of the air mixed with sea breeze and earth scent, and then jogged along yesterday's route from Donghua Village to Shayang Village, to the pier, and finally to the beach. During this time, I slowly started to increase my running speed and greeted every villager I knew warmly and politely. The oldest man in Donghua Village is Grandpa Li. He is so old that even Fang Wei’s grandfather has to call him Uncle Li whenever he sees him. Mr. Li didn't have many hobbies in his daily life. Whenever he had nothing to do, he would move a small stool and sit under the big lychee tree at the entrance of the village to enjoy the cool air, and he would sit there all day long. "Master Li!" When he ran to the big lychee tree at the entrance of the village, Fang Wei greeted the old man. The old man was really old. I heard that he was already 98 years old. His gray hair was almost all gone, and his teeth had all fallen out. His mouth naturally shrank inward, and his face was full of wrinkles like old tree bark. He leaned in the chair without moving, as if he planned to spend the rest of his life lying like this. "Master Li!" "..." Fang Wei called him twice before the old man reacted. He slowly opened his eyes, and his eyeballs were like cloudy glass marbles, dull and lifeless. "Oh...Awei." "Master Li, you came out to enjoy the cool air so early? Didn't you sleep well?" "I've eaten, I've eaten. What are you doing..." "Run! Just like yesterday, run!" "Oh, yes, yes..." Unlike other villagers, Master Li was the calmest about Fang Wei getting up early to run, so much so that Fang Wei even doubted whether he understood what he said, or even if he didn't hear it at all. In short, from my impression, the old man has such a simple and plain personality. Except when it is windy and rainy, there will always be the old man sitting under the big lychee tree at the entrance of the village to enjoy the cool air. In the past, I didn’t understand the meaning of sitting like this, but after experiencing more, I gradually understood. Perhaps this is what is called: everything you see is memories, and everything you think about is the past. It is worth mentioning that the large lychee tree with lush branches and leaves at the entrance of the village has a history of 92 years.
Why do we know it so clearly? Because it is said that this lychee tree was planted by Mr. Li when he was six years old. Perhaps when it was first planted, the litchi tree was just a small seedling that was not even as high as his knees, but now it has grown into a towering tree that provides shelter from the wind and rain and a place for rest and cool down. Fang Wei is not yet of this age, and cannot understand the feeling of Mr. Li enjoying the cool under the lychee tree he planted himself. I think the feeling of the changing times and the changed people and things must be very strong... Perhaps there will also be pride. It is foreseeable that even if Mr. Li passes away, this century-old lychee tree will continue to exist for a long, long time. After all, the vast majority of people's lives leave no trace in this world, as if they had never been here. Fang Wei seemed to be thinking about something. He said goodbye to Master Li and continued running along the planned route. …… "Huh, huh..." On the beach, the boy bent over and supported his knees, sweat soaking his tender face. He raised his head, and the eternal star finally revealed its outline, first a pointed corner, then a semicircle, until the entire fireball jumped out of the sea level. At this moment, the world seemed to be lit up. The waves beat against the rocks, countless seabirds soared in the morning light, and the boy's face, dyed golden, also showed a bright smile. He raised his left wrist and saw the pointer ticking on the simple dial. Five twenty-six. In standard time, it should be 5:21, because Fang Wei is used to setting his watch five minutes forward. The muscle lactic acid accumulated from yesterday's running has not yet dissipated. Today, Fang Wei was exercising with sore muscles all over his body. There were many moments when he almost couldn't hold on. Fortunately, I gritted my teeth and ran to the finish line. After seeing such a brilliant and spectacular sunrise, everything became worth it. Everything is difficult at the beginning, and it is even more difficult to persist, especially this kind of exercise that requires long-term persistence to see results, which is quite a test of one's will. With a table, time becomes visible. Fang Wei wasn't sure how far it was from home to the beach, but he estimated it shouldn't be more than three kilometers. As for the time, it took him more than sixteen minutes, which was barely a beginner's level... In short, it doesn’t matter how long it takes now, as long as he can make a little progress every day compared to the day before. At his youth, the thing he has the most is time. After the rest, in order to relax the sore muscles, I slowly ran back along the return route. Unlike when he came here, the return trip was much more leisurely, and he had more leisure time to enjoy the scenery along the way. When passing the dock, his father stopped him and handed him two hot buns. "Barbecued pork buns, take them back and eat them." "Mom left some breakfast at home, you can have some." "I've eaten it, you can take it back." "That's fine."
"Remember to save some lunch for me. I'm going home for lunch today. You can cook when I get back." "OK." "You little brat...oh what the hell, you're so fancy..." Like Tian Xilan, Fang Xianfeng didn’t quite understand why this brat was running, but it wasn’t a bad thing after all. Although he didn’t quite understand it, he had gotten used to it. After all, the behavior and thinking of teenagers were always unpredictable. …… After leaving the dock, Fang Wei started jogging again. When passing Shayang Village, he glanced curiously at Liu Zhiyi's house. Liu Zhiyi had moved into the village two days ago, but it was not until today that Fang Wei got to see her true appearance. After the first ray of sunlight rose from the seaside in the early morning, it quietly penetrated into her yard, covering this quiet corner with a layer of soft golden gauze. It was in such a quiet moment when everything was just waking up. A girl stood quietly in the yard, as if blending into the surrounding scenery. She was wearing home shorts and a T-shirt, revealing her straight and slender legs. The morning light fell on her skin, making it look particularly white. Different from Xu Cailing's lively shoulder-length hair, the girl had long black hair that fell down her back. Occasionally, when the wind blew, a few strands of hair would gently brush across her pretty cheeks, but she didn't seem to care at all and just casually fiddled with it with her slender fingers. Liu Zhiyi's posture was not ostentatious, and even had a hint of subtle restraint. All the sounds around her - the singing of birds in the distance, the rustling of leaves nearby, the chirping of cicadas that could not be seen - seemed particularly clear on a morning like this, and she maintained her silence in this undisturbed morning symphony, as if listening, as if searching, and as if thinking. Fang Wei couldn't help but slow down his pace and look at her twice more. Of course, this was not because of how beautiful she was, but he just couldn’t quite understand what Liu Zhiyi was doing? Look at the village and where you live now? But she had moved into the village two days ago, but she seemed to have hardly left the house. After all, the island was so small that if she went out for a walk, she would always meet him occasionally. She’s obviously quite curious about this place, but she’s unwilling to go out and take a look... This girl is indeed quite... a homebody? Well, it's possible. In big cities, it seems normal to be a homebody. It's just that I live in the countryside, and there are basically no homebodies among my peers. Thinking back to my impression of her in my previous life, because we had very little contact, my memory has become blurred as time went by. I only remember some label-type evaluations - good grades, cold, quiet, and unable to get along with country people. This is not what Fang said for himself, but it is what his classmates of the same age said. Now, with a more mature perspective, perhaps these evaluations of her don’t seem quite accurate? While Fang Wei was still thinking on the country road, Liu Zhiyi in the yard seemed to hear footsteps, turned his head to look over here, and then found him. So the girl's next behavior left Fang Wei speechless again - She is like a timid sand crab on the beach. When no one is around, she will boldly run to the beach to feel the sea breeze and listen to the sound of the waves. But when someone appears in her sight, she will hurriedly dig in the sand and hide herself back in the sand. This was probably what Liu Zhiyi did. After seeing Fang Wei appear on the roadside not far away, she turned around calmly and went back to the house quietly. "...?" This scene made Fang Wei feel a little unconfident. He raised his head and touched his face. Could it be that he was too ugly and scared people? ! Anyway, I don’t understand…
Fang Wei shook his head, continued jogging, and left Shayang Village. It was not until he had been gone for a while that Liu Zhiyi came out of the house and returned to the yard. She squatted in the sun, looking at the dewdrops on the weed leaves. They were pure and transparent, reflecting the colorful surroundings. The girl stretched out her fingers and tapped lightly, causing the three adjacent dewdrops to embrace and merge into one larger dewdrop. She just stared blankly. Grandpa's voice came from the room: "Zhiyi, time for breakfast." "okay." Liu Zhiyi responded, got up and went back into the house. (End of this chapter)