Chapter 62: Chapter 62: The difficult journey home
This year, the rain has been particularly heavy, falling every day since late June. Most of the time, it is a shower, which comes quickly and goes just as quickly, but sometimes it doesn't, and it pours for half a day.
Despite the rain, the heat remained the same. The river rose in water level, making it impossible to go bathing in the river. The potholes on the ground were full of stagnant water, and the roads were muddy.
The classrooms and dormitories are both tiled, and the classrooms are fine, as they are inspected and repaired frequently. The dormitories are a different story. Every room has a leak somewhere, and the neatly arranged beds are now all over the place. But I guess everyone's family has experienced rain leaks before, and young people are not easily bothered. On the contrary, they feel a bit of a novelty when the beds are moved to a new place.
Seeing that the weather was a bit unusual, the school didn't dare to be careless either. A few leaders held a meeting and found a few people in the neighbourhood to search the dormitories and unblock the ditches in front of and behind the rooms while everyone was at class during the day.
This decision was very timely. Just as the outside contractor had left, it started raining heavily a few days before and after the Dragon Boat Festival.
With rain like this, Feng Yiping was not at ease about the house, and it was better to go back and have a look. So on the afternoon of Saturday, he went home for the first time this semester.
It was not an easy trip home.
The water in the river in front of the school had risen very high, and the widened river looked nearly 200 metres across to the naked eye. The makeshift wooden bridge and the riverbank that appeared during low water were completely submerged.
Fortunately, the villagers from Linjiawan on the opposite bank walked past here every day. Seven people from the village, three from each of the three grades from the first to the third day of the Dragon Boat Festival, waited by the river for a while before a villager from Linjiawan crossed the river.
They watched him take off his trousers and followed suit, relieved that they were all boys and there was nothing awkward about it. Wearing only their underwear, they followed him into the water, one hand holding their schoolbags and trousers. Feng Hongbing walked in front, Feng Haitao at the back, Feng Yiping and the others in between.
The villager from Linjiawan didn't walk fast either, but he didn't stop to wait for them either. In the countryside at this time, it didn't worry the adults when a few children crossed the river like this. In the words that would become popular later, 'it was no big deal.'
Although this section was already in shallow water, the average water depth was still above the knee. The deepest place was already at the root of the thigh. As soon as the river washed over them, they all fell over, and they only managed to get across by holding hands.
Everyone was quite excited instead. After crossing the river, they dried themselves on the bank for a while, chatting and laughing. After their bodies had dried somewhat and they had put on their trousers, they continued walking home.
When they climbed over another mountain and reached the second river, the real test began.
The river was not wide, only about 20 metres, but the section they often crossed was divided into two parts, with a drop of more than one metre between the upper and lower parts.
The upper part of the river was made of a single slab of stone, which had been polished smooth by the river over the years, and couldn't hold a single grain of sand. In spring and summer, moss would grow on these slabs, and if you stepped on it carelessly, you could easily slip.
At the end of this section, it looks like a natural stone embankment, more than a metre higher than the lower section. Below the embankment, near the middle, there is a circular pool about three metres in diameter. I don't know how it formed. With this drop of more than a metre, the river water can't drip down to form such a big, deep pool.
The pool is bottomless, and no matter when you look, the water always looks blue-green. No one really knows how deep it is, and no one has bothered to measure it so far.
The river below is a mess, with big rocks and muddy patches. So normally, people cross the river from above. When the water is shallow, they step on the slabs of stone that are exposed, and when the water is deeper, they don't mind at all, they just throw a few stones in the middle and step on those. Anyway, most of the year, you don't need to take your shoes off when crossing the river.
Usually the water in this upper part of the river is cool and clear, and at most it doesn't reach the tops of the feet. When they're not cold, many children like to run around in this upper part of the river, stepping on the smooth stone slabs with their bare feet.
Now it's different. The river is far away, and the roar of the water and the steam from it hit you in the face. You can no longer see the middle drop, the upper and lower sections have become one, and you can't see the familiar riverbank either. The river is spreading, flooding two of the fields on this side of the river.
The water surface was not calm, and because the river was narrow, it felt quite turbulent. In particular, at the place where the river made a bend, the water from upstream rushed down, slapping against the stone wall of the bend, sending high water spouts into the air.
Seeing this, Feng Yiping was a little daunted. The river was so deep and fast, and he was such a poor swimmer, so going in would be like offering food to the river god.
His companions did not share his concerns. A few of them waved their schoolbags and ran towards the river, shouting excitedly. They were truly fearless.
It was normal. At this time, these children, apart from their parents and teachers, were somewhat awe-inspiring. As for other aspects, they should not yet have the concept of 'fear'. If there were really a tiger in front of them now, not to mention such a trivial matter as touching its butt, it is estimated that many people would still press its head and rub it hard.
So when faced with such a scene, Feng Yiping, who is in his thirties in terms of age, is a little unsure and a little scared. Other people are different. These kinds of things don't happen every year, and they are quite happy to encounter them once in a while. As for being scared, they might get swept away by the river, but these thoughts never even cross their minds.
Men are probably the most daring, most authentic, and most fond of challenges when they are young. They like to rise to the challenge and never think twice about the consequences. They just charge ahead instinctively.
As they grow up, they learn more and weigh more, and they think twice about everything. Sometimes it's hard to tell if this is maturity, progress, or regression.
Everyone was excited, but not reckless. In the current situation, of course, they could not just go from the top. If they were not careful, they might slip and fall, or be washed away and fall into that pool. Even if they were good swimmers, they would not be able to get out.
Among the seven people, only Feng Yiping and the other person did not know how to swim. The others were okay, but I don't know if it had anything to do with their names. Feng Haitao was the best swimmer.
In the eyes of everyone, he quickly stripped down to his underwear. He really was thin, with visible ribs.
With his memory, everyone chose a relatively flat place below the surface, and Feng Haitao laughed as he prepared to go in.
Feng Yiping immediately called an emergency halt, and everyone was taken aback, looking at him in puzzlement.
Feng Wen was also undressing, and upon hearing this, said, 'What's wrong, Yiping, do you want to go first?'
Feng Hongbing said, 'Don't do that, he's too dense, he'll sink as soon as he enters the water,' and everyone laughed.
Feng Haitao's hands were covered in river water, so he patted his chest and said, 'Don't worry, I'll go and test the water first, and then I'll bring you across.'
Feng Yiping went over and held him back, saying, 'Wait a minute, let's take some safety precautions!'
Everyone was undressing. Feng Hongbing and Feng Wen came to the river wearing underwear, carrying clothes and schoolbags. Feng Hongbing said, 'What kind of safety measures do you need? This is not the first time we've crossed the river like this.'
Feng Wen said, 'Besides, what safety measures can we take now?'
Although the other six people were all older than him, Feng Yiping always regarded himself as the only adult here, and as such, of course, he was responsible for everyone's safety. He earnestly advised everyone, 'There's no harm in being on the safe side, go over there and cut some kudzu vines, pull them when you go into the water, so that if there's a big wave or something, people won't get washed away.'
Feng Wen laughed at him, 'Yiping, do you watch too much TV or read too many novels?'
The older Feng Hongbing and Feng Haitao also felt that it was unnecessary, but Feng Yiping insisted, because of his various performances, his opinions still had some weight. In the end, Feng Haitao made peace, saying, 'Yiping is right, there is no harm in doing this.'
After the incident at the barber's, Feng Hongbing also changed his opinion of Feng Yiping. So, in the end, it was Feng Hongbing who got dressed and went with Feng Yiping and Feng Haitao to cut the kudzu.