Three months had pa.s.sed.
Time flew fast. In recent months, Lin Wenxi had worked very hard day and night, but his body was much better than before. He taught Chinese, mathematics, English, music, labor, and physical education for more than one hundred students of this school, and had already become very popular among students. In these three months, besides Huang Xiya who contacted him three times, no one contacted him, including his father.
On this day, Lin Wenxi sat silently in the bamboo forest, stroking the only high-end electronic organ that the president had applied to superiors for a long time. When the wind blew through the bamboo, the bamboo shadow cast on the wall. Lin Wenxi played the organ, singing gently. "You will feel love, hatred, and forgiveness. Life will not only be full of sadness. The lover can"t take away your paradise..."
It was said that people born on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month were lucky boys. Magpie Bridge blessed them. Their love affair would be smooth and stable, and they would be happy all their lives. But there was also another saying, the Chinese Valentine"s Day was the day of separation. If they were born after midnight, they would have an unsmooth love affair and encounter misfortunes. Lin Wenxi was born at midnight on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. And this Chinese Valentine"s Day was his eighteenth birthday.
Over the years, Lin Wenxi celebrated his birthday with parents almost in the same way. His mother Huang Xiya would cook some dishes and buy some drinks. His father Lin Ziwei would rest at home on this day no matter how busy he was. When he was a child, Lin Wenxi always thought that his father loved him. But when he grew up, he began to wonder why there was no birthday cake or candles for his birthday every year, but there was a bunch of beautiful red roses.
Sensible Lin Wenxi was angry about that. So one year, he shook off the petals and enjoyed a footbath with petals. At that time, his father and mother had come into the bedroom early. By the time his father came out in satisfaction, only stems were left. Fortunately, his father seemed to be in a perfect mood. He only asked Lin Wenxi to write Everlasting Hatred ten times. So Lin Wenxi wrote a note and put it in his father"s bedroom. It said, "On the seventh day of July when none was near, at midnight in Long Life Hall he whispered in her ear." His father was angry, but he couldn"t blame him. Later, Lin Wenxi felt that he had learned something that night.
Lin Wenxi didn"t remember the real sense of celebration of his birthday. He only remembered that when he was four or five, an elder brother played games with him. They pretended to be a wife and a husband. "Why I can"t remember." Lin Wenxi sighed again, lying on his side with the calendar. "I just need to remember the happiness at that time; I needn"t recall all the details."
The next day, it rained so heavily. The Chinese Valentine"s Day happened to be the first day of the fifteen days summer vacation. This also meant that Lin Wenxi"s teaching career was coming to an end. Several days ago, Hong Xuan had called to tell that he would pick up Lin Wenxi in the afternoon of the next day of Chinese Valentine"s Day.
At the end of the second cla.s.s in the afternoon, parents were crowded on the steps of the school gate, waiting in line for their children. At ordinary times, they had already rushed into the courtyard, chatting in groups about how to educate children. However, they heard that the new teacher came from a famous university, so this time they waited quietly with farm specialties in their hands to show their respect to the new teacher.
Lin Wenxi wanted to refuse all the gifts, but he didn"t know that the villagers in this small village were so forthright that they thought he only accepted expensive gifts when he refused. They anxiously asked him if their children behaved badly. If so, Lin Wenxi could punish them severely. Some parents even pulled the child over directly and slapped him in public, scolding him for not listening to the teacher. Lin Wenxi pulled over the innocent child and helplessly received gifts one by one. They were all delicious delicacies that he and his playmates loved when they were children.
"Oh, G.o.d, I"ll completely recall my childhood." Lin Wenxi looked at each student with a happy and slightly bitter smile, thinking in mind.
"Erniu has with good memory and can remember knowledge quickly. He must be very promising when he grows up."
"Yumei is good at hand-making. She can make all the origami I teach them."
Lin Wenxi talked about every student with their parents. To everyone"s surprise, Lin Wenxi had remembered every student in the past few months. He also remembered their preferences and advantages.
"The children are obedient and well-behaved. Xiaofeng is a little naughty and likes fighting, but as long as I reason with him, he will obey and not bully the junior children. Besides, he"s good at sports. He has a good physical body and can do sports in the future." Lin Wenxi grabbed a taller, dark-skinned child and wiped his nose with a smile.
"Oh, Mr. Lin, don"t get your hands dirty. My boy is very naughty. You can beat and swear at him if he doesn"t listen to you. You needn"t treat him too well." Xiaofeng"s mother smiled, twisted her child"s mouth and scolded, "How kind Mr. Lin is to you. If you bully your cla.s.smates again, I"ll break your leg!"
A child next to him cried and sobbed. "Mr. Lin, he doesn"t bully the junior cla.s.s but bully us. Www..."
Lin Wenxi laughed and picked him up, his forehead against his nose. He said with a smile, "Little Gan, if he bullies you again, you can race with him. No one can match you in long-distance and short-distance race. You can beat him, then run away, beat him again and run away." Hearing that, Little Gan burst into laughter. The parents did not expect Lin Wenxi to teach their children this way, feeling curious and funny.
Xiaofeng turned back and said, "For Mr. Lin"s sake, I won"t hit you, but you can"t always pull Cuihua"s braids!"
After hearing that, Little Gan felt ashamed and wanted to cry again. Lin Wenxi gently beat him on his head and said, "You"re eight years old. You should like a man. A man never cries often. If you want to cry, raise your head and look at the blue sky, then you won"t want to cry."
"You"re my son. From today, I don"t want to see you cry again! Raise your head and look at the sky if you want to cry!" His father once told him.
When Lin Wenxi returned alone, the campus was empty. There was only an old security guard at the door, who was packing things. When Mr. Lin left tomorrow, the school would be locked for half a month. He heard that a new teacher was coming.
"Mr. Lin, you teach so well that we are all reluctant to part with you. My little grandson has improved his performance since you came. He has been admitted to the primary school in the township in the second half of the year!" The old security guard took Lin Wenxi"s hand and talked in a floppy way.
"He"s brilliant. I just helped him." Lin Wenxi said politely.
"If my son had ever met such a good teacher as you, he would not have become a farmer!" The old man"s eyes were red with excitement and he couldn"t stop thanking him.
"I believe the new teacher will be very good. The government cares about you. There will be a lot of teachers like me." Lin Wenxi said solemnly.
"Well, since you said so, I can put my mind at ease!" The old man tidied up the campus courtyard in high spirits. Lin Wenxi pulled his trousers, bent down and cleaned up the blocked drainage ca.n.a.l in the playground in the rain.
At dusk, the night was gloomy as if the eternal night was coming. The wind in the corridor blew toward Lin Wenxi with heavy rain. He didn"t hide and let the rain pour himself through. The dim light bulb in the room slightly swayed by the unknown wind, and the shadows of the light were swaying. Lin Wenxi looked at the light, thinking. "Which university I"ll go to after a few days? Will I have time to go back to Jifu University? What is Zhao Yuan doing? Is Gu Xi still sad for Zheng Kai? But, what"s the meaning of going back? When will we reunite after this separation?"
In the quiet night, Lin Wenxi was shocked by the sudden sound of the phone which was like ghosts" crying. He answered. It was the Village Head who was worry about Lin Wenxi"s safety due to the heavy rain. He wanted to send someone to take Lin Wenxi downhill for rest. But Lin Wenxi refused and said everything was okay.
If Lin Wenxi went down, he might be invited to have a drink with the village cadres. He wouldn"t refuse. As a child of Lin Ziwei, he had thought that there would be such a moment he lifted his cup on behalf of his father. According to his father"s original plan, he would graduate from Jifu University and study abroad. Then he would return to take part in the civil service examination, being promoted step by step. Or maybe he would succeed in one step just like Chen Wanxin. Lin Wenxi did not know what his future would be like. But he thought it would not be different from father"s plan for him. It was a closed ring. He could not escape, and never thought about escaping.
After answering the phone, Lin Wenxi suddenly felt very cold. He checked the stove. The fire was burning and he could boil water.
Lin Wenxi recalled that he had taken cold baths for more than a month in the winter of last year. But to his surprise, he hadn"t had a cold. So he believed that he wouldn"t have a cold in the summer. Suddenly, he remembered Zhao Yuan who deliberately imitated him to sing while taking a cold bath in the bathroom. Thinking of this, Lin Wenxi felt somewhat embarra.s.sed.
But he surprisingly found himself was smiling from the mirror.
Lin Wenxi made faces at the mirror and stroked his forehead gently. At the age of eighteen, he was no longer young. Stubble had appeared on his face. He was not as young as he was in high school. Looking up again, Lin Wenxi suddenly found that besides himself, a blurred figure appeared suddenly in the mirror.