Li Long rode home with Li Juan on the back of his bicycle, under the envious gazes of the students and even the teachers.
Whenever he came across students fooling around in the middle of the road, Li Long rang his bell. They immediately darted to the roadside like startled rabbits, then watched the people on the bicycle curiously.
When children from the village saw that Li Long was riding the bicycle, they often shouted to him excitedly. They would happily run alongside for a while, then stop by the roadside, panting, laughing, and fooling around.
In those days, happiness was that simple for children.
As Li Long rode into the village and passed the primary school, he saw the village schoolchildren and preschoolers coming out of their classrooms after school, so he turned toward them.
The village school only had two grades, with one class in each. There was also just one preschool class. Li Qiang was in preschool, and he was walking out at the back with another child, their arms around each other's shoulders.
Mao Hai spotted Li Long first and turned to shout:
"Li Qiang! Qiangqiang! Your uncle's here to pick you up! He's come on his bicycle!"
Li Qiang whipped his head around. Seeing Li Qiang and Li Juan sitting on the back seat, his face broke into a brilliant smile of surprise. He abruptly shook off his little friend and ran toward Li Long, shouting as he went:
"Uncle! Sis!"
Once Li Qiang reached him, Li Long let him climb onto the crossbar, then pedaled home.
As he turned, he happened to see Wu Shufen coming out of the first-grade classroom carrying books. Both froze for a moment. Wu Shufen recovered first, raised her chin, and turned toward the office like a proud swan.