Fang Yusheng racked his brains but couldnât come up with an answer.
Tossing the two coins he had found as spare change, he walked out of the mall. Then, he looked up at the sky with a confused expression. At this moment, a bus drove past him. Fang Yusheng saw a group of students sitting on the bus and suddenly got an idea.
First love!
Oh yes, first love usually happens on campus!
He lowered his head and looked at the two coins in his palm. Then, he walked to the bus stop dozens of meters away and looked at the bus route map.?If I take a bus from here, I can reach Binjiang Cityâs Third Middle School with two dollars.?Fang Yusheng didnât hesitate any more and got on the bus.
Many students had taken the bus in the morning, and the bus also had elderly people who liked to visit the park to practice their swordsmanship. The bus was very crowded. Let alone the seats, even the carriage aisle was filled with people.
When Fang Yusheng got onto the bus, the boys and girls inside it looked at him a few more times. A girl who was dozing off saw him and instantly became awake. She quietly took out her phone and secretly took photos of him.
Fang Yusheng was tall. He reached out a little and grabbed the handle of the bus, standing steadily. As the bus was crowded, when the driver applied the brakes, people would always lean on him. Fang Yusheng had reason to suspect that the girls in front of him were taking advantage of him.
Fang Yusheng quietly moved back and stood in the middle of a group of boys.
He was 1.84 meters tall. As he stood among a group of 15- or 16-year-old middle school students, he towered over them.
Finally, he made it to Third Middle School. All the students squeezed out of the bus. After they all got out, Fang Yusheng adjusted the corner of his shirt that had been messed up by the crowd, then walked out as well. He stood at the entrance of Third Middle School and looked around. A confused expression again appeared on his face.
âThisâ¦â
What should I do next?
Third Middle School was enormous. It was impossible for Fang Yusheng to find any clues. He simply sat down on the stone block at the school gate.
Hence, many students saw this scene.
A man wearing a black windbreaker and a burgundy scarf was sitting on the stone block at the school gate. He had long brown hair. Although he was leaning forward and his long hair was a little messy, his handsomeness was unaffected.
He sat there, his long left legs resting on the ground. His right leg was leaning on his left leg.
The morning sun shone on him, casting a long shadow on the school gate that landed on the words âThird Middle Schoolâ in Binjiang City.
The students and teachers passing by could not help but steal glances at this man who had exquisite facial features. Occasionally, the man would raise his head and look at them with his soul-stirring eyes. Regardless of whether one was male or female, married or unmarried, oneâs heart would beat faster.
On this day, all the students and teachers who had seen that man were especially energetic in their lessons.
Fang Yusheng sat at the entrance of Third Middle School for nearly forty minutes. He finished the hot cocoa in his hand, and his fingers, which were holding the cup, started to feel cold. He still hadnât found any new clues.
He started to panic.
Where is the new clue?
At about 9 am, some food vendors drove their tricycles over to the school. They occupied the space at the entrance of Third Middle School and hurriedly started to burn their furnaces for business. Fang Yusheng took a closer look. These people were selling spicy hotpot, fried food, cotton candy, and sugar figurines.
A limping old lady pushed a two-wheeled wooden cart. She placed the cart beside Fang Yusheng and took out dozens of sweet potatoes from a sack. After placing them in a small crack near the stove, she roasted them. Fang Yusheng looked at her for a few more seconds, his gaze lingering on her limp leg.
At 10 am, a student ran out and bought a bowl of spicy mala soup. He slurped it up and went to buy fried food. Fang Yusheng realized that this old ladyâs sweet potato business was the worst.
The old lady kept shouting, âSweet potatoes! Roasted sweet potatoes! Sweet sweet potatoes! Six yuan for one! Two for ten yuan!â
Although the old lady didnât sell the sweet potatoes at a high price and her attitude was warm, very few people bought her sweet potatoes.
Fang Yusheng couldnât help but ask her, âAuntie, why isnât anyone buying your sweet potatoes?â
The old lady narrowed her eyes at him. When she saw that it was a good-looking man, she chuckled and said with a worried expression, âThey say that the children are afraid of making fools out of themselves after eating too many sweet potatoesâ¦â
Fang Yusheng was speechless.
âThen how much do you sell in a day?â
The old lady said, âAt most fifty to sixty sticks.â
Fang Yusheng asked again, âYouâre so old, yet you still come out to sell sweet potatoes. Donât you have to care about your children?â
The old lady helplessly smiled and said, âI donât have any children.â
Fang Yusheng was surprised.
Perhaps, the old lady was a lonely person. When she saw that Fang Yusheng was curious, she told him as she roasted the sweet potatoes, âWhen I was young, I had uterine tumors and had to get half of my uterus removed. Since it was removed, I canât get pregnant.â
She sighed and thought of something. Her ancient eyes had a touched yet a little guilty look. âMy husband is a construction worker and isnât well-read, but he treats me really well. Even though he knew that I wouldnât be able to give birth to his child after having my uterus removed, he insisted that I undergo surgery.
âThe even rarer thing is that he has always been very good to me throughout my entire life.â The old lady stared at the sweet potato and revealed a gratified expression. âHe has never let me down. Even though Iâm useless and unable to give birth to his child.â
A silence fell between them.
For a woman, losing fertility was a fatal blow. However, this old lady was lucky that her husband loved her.
Fang Yusheng looked at the old ladyâs hands. There were age spots on her hands, but she was wearing an old platinum ring on her left hand. The design of the ring was simple. However, Fang Yusheng felt that this ring was more precious than the diamond rings and the gold rings he had seen before.
âIâve thought of divorcing him in the past and asking him to find someone else to give birth to his kids. But the old man gets angry the moment he hears about it.â The old lady tucked her white hair behind her ears and continued, âI told him to go to the orphanage to adopt a child, but he didnât agree either. After all, that kid wonât be my biological child.â
âNo wonder.â Fang Yusheng was deeply moved.
âNow the government has subsidies for the elderly, right? In situations like yours, there should be subsidies of a few thousand yuan a year, right?â Now that the days are getting better, the governmentâs support for the elderly has increased. Every year, the poor elderly receive about two to three thousand yuan.
The money alone was not enough, but the elderly would usually save up for retirement in their youth. The pension and government subsidies could barely sustain their lives.
When the old lady heard that, she bitterly smiled. âHow is that enough? I have high blood pressure and have to take medicine every day. My husbandâs health is getting worse and worse. Last year, he even had minor surgery. Now that he canât work anymore, I have to come out and earn some extra money. Otherwise, when we go to the hospital one day, we wonât have any money.ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Everyone had their own difficulties.
Fang Yusheng had never experienced a tough life where he couldnât even pay the medical bills. After hearing the old ladyâs words, he felt rather bitter.
âItâs pretty hard.â
The old lady did not reply.
In the morning, the old lady sold only 23 sweet potatoes. Fang Yusheng started to panic. He still could not find any further clues. He wanted to call Qiao Jiusheng to ask, but he held his breath and refused to admit defeat.
At noon, the students finished school. The old lady suddenly said, âWe have to sell 200 of them today to complete the mission.â
Fang Yusheng was too anxious to listen to her.
After a while, a few students came to buy sweet potatoes. Once they left, the old lady said, âWe have to sell 200 sweet potatoes. It looks like we wonât be able to complete this mission.â
Fang Yusheng glanced at the old lady, puzzled. âIf you want to sell them, then sell them. Why do you keep telling me?â
After about ten minutes, the old lady spoke again, âSelling 200 will be considered completing the missionâ¦â
Fang Yusheng couldnât take it anymore. He said to the old lady, âYou can only sell fifty to sixty a day at most. Two hundred is too big of a target for you. Thatâs impossibleâ¦â Fang Yusheng suddenly became hoarse.
Two hundred sweet potatoesâ¦
An old lady who normally sells at most fifty to sixty sweet potatoes a day suddenly said that she has to sell 200 to complete the mission. Isnât that strange?
Also, completing the mission is a strange saying.
Fang Yushengâs eyes flashed. He immediately stood up and walked to the old ladyâs side. Amiably smiling, he said, âAuntie, let me help you sell it.â
The old lady replied, âYouâre a good lad.â
Fang Yusheng put on his apron and charmingly smiled. Then, he shouted at the students.
âSelling sweet potatoes!
âThe sweet potatoes dug out from our fields are green and clean. Theyâre sweet and big!
âOne for six yuan each, ten yuan for two!
âCome, come, come! Buy sweet potatoes! Give them to your girlfriend, give them to your mother, or give them to your brother. After eating your sweet potatoes, theyâll love you!â
Fang Yushengâs odd way of bidding attracted the attention of many students.
âHandsome guy, are you a celebrity? Are you recording a reality show?â A beautiful girl walked over and looked at Fang Yusheng with starry eyes.
Fang Yusheng shook his head and sternly said, âIâm not putting on a show, nor am I a celebrity.â He was only Qiao Jiushengâs celebrity.
The girl was a little disappointed. She said, âIâll buy one.â
âHere.â Fang Yusheng gave her a sweet potato.
The girl said again, âHandsome, can we scan the QR code to pay?â
She wants my WeChat?
Fang Yusheng shook his head again. âStudent, I forgot to bring my phone.â
The girl was a little disappointed. In the end, she gave him six yuan and reluctantly left with the sweet potatoes.
Everyone saw that the school belle had already found the handsome guy to buy sweet potatoes. If she wasnât afraid of farting, what were the others afraid of?
Soon, a large group of people came to buy sweet potatoes, and all the sweet potatoes that the old lady had roasted got snatched away. The old lady became busy adding sweet potatoes to the stove at the side. In the afternoon, Fang Yusheng helped her roast them as well. In the afternoon, during lessons, someone came to buy dozens of sweet potatoes.
Fang Yusheng was busy all the way until three in the afternoon before he managed to sell over two hundred sweet potatoes.
Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he said, âThe mission is completed.â He handed the money in his pocket to the old lady. Fang Yusheng stared at her smiling face and asked, âAuntie, can you tell me now?â
The old lady chuckled and said, âOriginally, I wanted to tell you directly, but the pregnant beauty said that you have to take the initiative to help me sell sweet potatoes and complete the mission before I could tell you the clues.â The old lady counted the money as she told Fang Yusheng, âThe clues are on the schoolâs cultural wall.â
Fang Yusheng took off his apron and thanked her. He then took his identity card and registered with the security guards. Only then was he allowed to enter the campus. After asking a student, Fang Yusheng found the cultural wall and jogged over to it.
The cultural wall was filled with poems and paintings by art students. Fang Yusheng looked at the wall and calmed down. He looked for clues.
Most of the drawings were cute and didnât look like they were hiding any secrets. Fang Yusheng walked to the front of the poems. These poems incomplete. They were classic sentences from art students and were written on the wall with a brush.
The person who had written the poem had a good foundation in calligraphy and painting. The words they wrote were majestic and their strokes were powerful.
The first line of the poem was â âThe clear and shimmering water is good, the mountains are dark and the rain is strange.â
The second verse was â âWhen we meet, we smile, but when we leave, we weep again.â
The third line of the poem was â âStopped our carriage in a maple tree forest, the frost-stained maple leaves were prettier than the flowers in February.â
When Fang Yusheng saw the third line of the poem, he had a flash of inspiration. He suddenly thought of a place.
After turning around, he ran out of Third Middle School campus. He hailed a taxi at the school gate and headed back to the mall. After finding his car there, Fang Yusheng drove out of the city. He drove for nearly two hours before he finally arrived at his destination at sunset.
He parked the car, raised his head, and stared at the gate of the scenic area in front of him. On top of the gate hung a wide wooden board with two words engraved on it.
Spirit Lake!
This was where Fang Yusheng had first kissed Qiao Jiusheng and confessed to her.
Why did Ah Sheng ask me to come to Spirit Lake?
The winter months were the coldest. When the sun set in the evening, the air was filled with the coolness of the night. Driving was not allowed in the scenic area, so Fang Yusheng had to walk there. At this time, only a few tourists were in the scenic area. And even these people were walking out of the scenic area. Therefore, Fang Yusheng, who was striding inside, looked especially conspicuous.