Chapter 13 Falling Dandelions

In August, after the harvest of the mid-season rice, there was basically no farm work left after the plow and hoe were hung up. Zhang Yunqi finally lived the life he had always dreamed of, where he could eat and wait for death.

After living for two lifetimes, he finally understood that nothing is more practical than lying in bed counting money after eating and drinking to one's heart's content. However, in the past two months, he had to get up early and go to bed late every day, torturing himself to the point of being unrecognizable, with dark skin and a height of only 1.68 meters. A big reason for this was that his family's conditions were poor in the past, which led to extremely malnutrition during adolescence.

I remember when I was in technical secondary school, I watched my classmates who were shorter than me grow taller, but I was unmoved and stayed at a height that was considered a third-class disability. Zhang Yunqi was particularly distressed. He did not judge others by appearance, nor did he judge himself by appearance. The only regret was that it brought great inconvenience to him in the future when he was trying to pick up girls, especially for tall girls. He had almost no way to deal with them, and tall girls happened to be his favorites.

The seeds of life's regrets are all planted during adolescence.

In order to make up for this regret, Zhang Yunqi felt that his first priority now was to eat well, drink well and keep exercising to increase his height. So he still got up early and climbed mountains to exercise like he did when he was selling flue-cured tobacco.

For many young people, getting up early is a painful thing, but for him it is different. It has become a common thing for him.

I remember when I was in boarding school in junior high school, in order to read more books than others, I got up from bed at 4:30 in the morning every day. However, there was no light at that time, so I ran to the toilet, smelled the smell of feces and urine, and read books under the light of the toilet. Especially during the period approaching the high school entrance examination, in order to get a good score, I was really crazy about memorizing every knowledge point, like a nymphomaniac who would not let go of any type of woman, English words, Chinese paragraphs, and historical and political details that no one noticed.

At that time, I recited these things not to make new contributions to the Four Modernizations, but purely to betray the countryside and move to the city to live a good life. Looking back, I didn't live a good life, but I did develop a good habit of getting up early. I wake up very early every day, more punctual than a rooster in heat.

There is a high mountain behind Yunxi Village. Because its shape resembles a man holding a sword, it is called General Ridge by local people. Zhang Yunqi took his books and notebooks and it took him almost two hours to reach the top of the mountain. He listened to the wind blowing through the birds and watched the sunrise over the sea of ​​clouds, and felt a sense of peace in his heart.

When he was in the mountains, he would read some books on economics and reform, and write down some things that were important for the future but he was afraid of forgetting, but most of all, he was thinking about how to go in the future. Studying was one thing, but it must not interfere with making money, making a lot of money. He wanted to be a rich man, preferably the kind of rich man who could put his principal in the bank and the interest would be enough for his annual expenses.

This may sound vulgar, but he has suffered so much in society and experienced so many hard times that he really doesn't want to live that kind of life anymore, with a mortgage and a car loan, working so hard all year and not even having the courage to take his family out for a trip. He knows that only by achieving financial freedom can he have freedom in life and be qualified to talk about ideals and ambitions.

Apart from climbing the mountain in the morning, Zhang Yunqi has most of his time free. When he has nothing to do, he takes the fourth and fifth children in his family to Longwan Town to go to the market and buy delicious food.

At this time, the fifth child, Zhang Xiaoxiao, was the happiest.

Once, Zhang Xiaoxiao was still dozing in bed, and Zhang Yunqi said he would take her to the market. She jumped up from the bed, hugged Zhang Yunqi's neck and said sweetly, "Second brother, you are so nice!" For this little girl, going to the market in Longwan Town is like strolling in the city, or like people in the city strolling in the park.

On weekdays, Zhang Yunqi still gave Ji Ling extra lessons as usual, but most of the summer vacation had passed and Ji Ling had finished most of his homework. There were very few extra lessons, and most of the time he was just playing, just like in his previous life, doing things that only children would enjoy doing.

Once, Ji Ling heard from Chunlan that Zhang Yunqi climbed Jiangjunling every day to watch the sunrise. She was very interested and asked Zhang Yunqi to take her to climb once.

Zhang Yunqi told her: "Jiangjunling is very difficult to climb, and if you want to see the sunrise you have to get up very early. It's still dark then, so you need a flashlight."

Ji Ling said that he also had to climb.

Zhang Yunqi smiled bitterly and nodded.

The next day, Zhang Yunqi got up on time at 3:30. After washing up, he ran to Zhang Xiaomei's house next door. The gate of Zhang Xiaomei's yard was not locked. He knew where Ji Ling's bedroom was, but he knocked on the door for more than ten minutes before the girl came out with squinting eyes. After she finished washing up in a hurry, the two of them climbed Jiangjunling in the dark with flashlights.

Along the way, Ji Ling made Zhang Yunqi look at her sideways.

She was very thin, tall and skinny, and looked like a little girl, but she was very energetic. She only rested twice on the way and then jogged all the way up the mountain. Her delicate face was flushed and there were beads of sweat on her forehead. A few strands of bangs were soaked with sweat and hung on her forehead.

When they reached the top of the mountain, it was almost six o'clock and the sky was dark blue. Zhang Yunqi knew that they would soon see the sunrise. He took Ji Ling to sit on an open green grass and gave her the water bottle. Ji Ling drank a sip of water and said, "You are usually not afraid to come up alone. It's so dark and you can't see anything."

Zhang Yunqi suddenly remembered the classic line from "The King of Comedy" and said with a smile: "There's nothing to be afraid of. Although it's dark when you come up, it will be beautiful when the sun rises."

"I have never seen a sunrise in my life. What does it look like at sunrise?"

Zhang Yunqi smiled and said that you will know soon.

The mountain wind was chilly and the stars in the sky had gradually disappeared. Zhang Yunqi took off his coat and handed it to Ji Ling. It was his brother's old coat, big and old. Ji Ling sniffed it, wrinkled his delicate nose and said, "It smells."

Zhang Yunqi was choked to death and stretched out his hand and said, "Give it back to me."

Ji Ling smiled and said she would not return it! She put on Zhang Yunqi's coat, sat on the grass, and looked up at the night sky. The densely covered stars in the night sky had disappeared, and the color gradually changed from dark blue to white. A ray of golden light suddenly appeared from the depths of the sea of ​​clouds.

"Sunrise!"

Ji Ling stood up suddenly, jumped up and pointed to the sky.

Above the East Mountain, there was a golden-rimmed round star, like a lighthouse, which kept getting bigger and bigger, and gradually turned into a big fireball, dyeing the sky red, blowing away the fog on the top of the mountain, and shining on the green grass. When the wind blew, the dandelions blooming on the green grass danced around the girl, refracting tiny rays of warm light, which was so beautiful that it was breathtaking.

Zhang Yunqi smiled and asked, "Does it look good?"

"nice."

Ji Ling nodded and said, "It's a pity that I don't know when I'll see you next time. Xiao Zhang, my dad called me yesterday and said he would come to Yunxi Village to pick me up tomorrow."

Zhang Yunqi laughed and said, "You've been in this remote place for so long, aren't you bored?"

Ji Ling said, "I think this place is pretty good, but I'm afraid I won't have time to come here until the Chinese New Year. I'm studying at No. 1 Middle School, and you're going to the provincial capital to study at a technical secondary school, so it will be difficult for us to meet in the future."

Zhang Yunqi smiled.

At that moment, he really wanted to tell her, "I should also go to No. 1 Middle School."

But he held back.

There is no need to rush for many things. It is best to let things come naturally. Besides, he has not talked to Zhang Xiaonan yet. He may not necessarily go to No. 1 Middle School. He said, "Why think so much? We can talk about the future later. At least we are still sitting here, watching the sunrise and the sea of ​​clouds, the blue sky and white clouds. It's nice."

Ji Ling squinted at the sky and said, "It's good, but I have a knot in my heart. I will feel uncomfortable if I don't tell you."

"what?"

"My dad told me on the phone to be more careful with you."

"Your dad told you not to play with me?"

"That's not the case. I just want to know, are you tutoring me these days just to get closer to my dad? Don't lie to me, I can easily believe your words."

"It's true that I want to get close to your father, and it's also true that I want to get close to you. But I'm giving you extra lessons only because you are Ji Ling, so I want to give you extra lessons."

"That's really nice to say."

Ji Ling suddenly smiled with narrowed eyes. She came close to Zhang Yunqi and reached out to mess up his hair: "Xiao Zhang, let's go somewhere else."

Ji Ling turned around and walked away, his steps as light as a deer.

Zhang Yunqi looked at her silently, watching her walking in the mountains.

There are sparse green meadows everywhere in the mountains and fields, and dandelions are blooming on the grass, one after another, the furry little balls, the wind blows them into the sky and slowly falls, like a shallow mark engraved on Zhang Yunqi's heart, which will disappear as soon as the wind blows. There is nothing worth remembering, but at least at that moment, there is a simple friendship flowing in his heart.

I haven't had that feeling for a long time.

******
　Sorry, I was on a business trip for four days, sat in the car for dozens of hours, and got home very late at night. I started writing immediately. It was a bit rushed. I will resume two updates tomorrow! Please collect and recommend! Friends!!

(End of this chapter)