Summer in Octagon is particularly muggy, and no one wants to walk around in the scorching sun without something special. At this time, if Tang Boqiang coincided with the weekend, most of them would move a stool before 4 p.m. and sit at the door of the house, watching the steaming and faint water vapor on the road outside the door become bent and swaying towards the sky under the sunlight. Shortly after about 4 o'clock every day, the sky that had been shining brightly before slowly turned gray, and this gray darkness slowly "colored" and darkened, which was caused by the black clouds drifting over. The dark clouds will be lower and lower, and the octagonal river not far away will also be shrouded in this dark cloud, and soon there will be thunder and lightning, followed by scattered, bean-sized rain hitting the ground, the "water vapor" on the hot ground really steaming, it seems that people can hear the "squeak" sound of water sprinkled on the red-hot soldering iron, and the roof tile surface also began to hear the "drumbeat" beating, such a scene did not last long, the pouring rain completely turned the hot ground into a "dance floor" clearly visible to the raindrops, The raindrops splashed all kinds of water are their graceful dancing. The roof tiles also sounded like thousands of drums being beaten, and the rain soon flowed down the tiles to the ditch in front of the eaves, and the water in the ditch rose rapidly and quickly flowed to a large canal leading to the Bajiao River in the distance. The whole rain usually lasts for about half an hour, and after the rain, the heat is gone, and the air is filled with the smell of water, which makes people feel cool and comfortable. At this time, Tang Boqiang was completely immersed in the magic and beauty of nature, and throughout the summer, when he had the opportunity, Tang Boqiang would never give up his date with this rain, so that such a scene could never be erased in Tang Boqiang's mind and made Tang Boqiang often have an urge to go back to his hometown in Bajiao Town to encounter a long-lost summer rain in the city where he would work in the future.

Tang Boqiang's other favorite pastime in the summer can provide a powerful footnote for him not to be afraid of loneliness in the future and like to think alone.

In front of Tang Boqiang's house, there are two sea porina trees planted on the left and right, which his father did not know planted in that year. This kind of tree is particularly vigorous, the leaves are evergreen all year round, especially in the summer, it will produce bright yellow, petals that are tender to the touch, such as trumpet-shaped flowers, the bright yellow of the tree is particularly dazzling and beautiful in the summer sun, and most of the people who live on the side of the Octagonal River like to plant this kind of tree in front of their homes.

When Tang Boqiang was old enough to climb trees, the canopy was already two stories high. The one on the right side of the door is too straight because the trunk grows up and branches are very scattered, and there is no way to hide from it. The one on the left is quite different, its trunk grows diagonally for a distance, then begins to spiral upwards and branches upwards as it grows, about a meter above the ground, spinning out a chair-like branch that is thick enough to withstand a person sitting or reclining on it. Because the family is very busy, no one has time to take care of Tang Boqiang, so in some summer days when he doesn't need to go to school, Tang Boqiang often climbs to the natural "chair" on the tree on the left before the summer rain comes, and lies quietly alone, neither making a sound nor moving, just lying quietly, looking at the leaves and flowers above his head, as well as the praying mantis hiding on the leaves or branches, and the birds flying in the distance. Often lying down is a morning or a few hours, Tang Boqiang enjoys such a time alone, you can let your thoughts fly, or you can not think about anything, just lie down, if it happens, Tang Boqiang can also see the real version of "Praying Mantis Catches Cicada Yellow Sparrow in the Back" good show, such a good show often gives Tang Boqiang a lot of inspiration, so that he can read more different books in the future to enrich his knowledge, because this let him know that behind the idioms, how much hard work, observation, Summary and wisdom.

Autumn can be said to be the most comfortable season in Octagon Town, at least for Tang Boqiang. In autumn, standing by the Octagonal River, looking up at the autumn sky with light clouds, the cool and dry autumn wind blowing, bringing people a feeling of relaxation and happiness. For Tang Boqiang, the Bajiao River Wharf in autumn is simply a paradise for him to play.

Autumn is crisp and sunny, perfect for kite flying. Little Tang Boqiang likes kites very much, but no one in the family knows how to make kites, and when he saw the kites made by the big brother next door flying in the sky, his heart was itchy, and he decided to "steal the teacher and learn the arts". So, whenever the brother next door made a kite, he always watched it carefully, and the brother next door didn't care too much, thinking that the little Tang Boqiang couldn't learn it, because there was a link that was not done well, and it was difficult for the kite to fly to the sky.

The brother next door was too careless, and he underestimated Tang Boqiang's learning ability. Tang Boqiang's observation ability is very strong, and he will not let go of every step in the learning process, especially in the details such as the length of the debugging line, Tang Boqiang also observes very carefully, so that the brother next door thinks that the most difficult link is not the key to the problem in Tang Boqiang. When Tang Boqiang thought that he had learned about the same, he realized that the most difficult part was in the materials.

In the town of Octagon, the following materials are required to make a kite: rice paper (because the paper is soft and tough, and light weight, it is the first choice for making kites, but it is more expensive. ), bamboo strips (and must be with bamboo skin), paste, line (kite making and kite flying need to be used). These are the most basic, if you want to make a kite looks good and vivid, you can use paint some patterns on it, and the pattern should be exaggerated and large, so that you can fly to the sky and see clearly, but also to make the kite and kite people feel enjoyable, of course, this link is mostly omitted, only some people with good family background, have always liked to fly kites to maintain this practice.

For Tang Boqiang, he can only find some low-grade materials or can only find some substitutes. For example, Tang Boqiang generally uses waste newspapers to replace rice paper, occasionally lucky, you can spend a few cents to buy a large, thin white matter, this is already a "luxury", bamboo strips can only find some ordinary people to bundle things, not too straight and not too regular to bother to choose and will, the paste is better, Tang Boqiang can find sweet potato flour at home to do, it is true that you can't find it, the easiest way is to use some rice instead, as for the thread, most rich people use thin nylon thread, which is both light and tough, But Tang Boqiang can only use the line used to make clothes at home, the disadvantage of this kind of line is that it is easy to break, when the kite flies higher and higher, the more the bearing capacity of the line, to a certain extent or happens to be collided by bats flying over the Bajiao River, the kite will be broken and the kite will be lost. Unfortunately, such things often happen to Tang Boqiang, which cannot be blamed for Tang Boqiang's poor skills, on the contrary, the more to the end, the higher the kite Tang Boqiang makes, the more opportunities for breaking the line, this is a later story.

At the beginning, Tang Boqiang used old newspapers to make it, but he must be strict in selecting bamboo strips, if there are no good, long enough bamboo strips, he will never settle, he is willing to remove the bad parts, make the kite smaller, because through observation he realized that if the bamboo strips are unevenly thick, it will make the balance of the kite out of balance. Despite this, the first few kites ended in failure: either they could not fly, or they did not fly high, and then fell diagonally into the octagonal river.

When Tang Boqiang was making kites, the brother next door was also watching from the side. From the slight sneer on the corner of his mouth at the beginning, to the non-stop nodding affirmation, Tang Boqiang's confidence became more and more full, and he believed that the kite he made would soon fly over the Bajiao River!

After several failures, Tang Boqiang decided to stop. One is that he doesn't have so many materials to waste like this; The second is that he must calm down and think about why he failed.

Once calmed down, Tang Boqiang's ability to find mistakes and analyze was fully displayed and brought into play. He found that his heart was still too anxious, and he always hoped that the kite he made could fly in the sky as soon as possible, and he ignored two structural issues that were important for the kite: one was the balance between the left and right sides of the kite. It is difficult for a kite to fly into the sky if it is unbalanced from side to side, and even if it barely flies, it will quickly fall crookedly. The balance involves whether the use of paper, bamboo strips, and paste on both sides of the kite is symmetrical, and the brother next door doesn't seem to spend effort on this step, because they are familiar with the work, and they know whether it is balanced when they get it, but Tang Boqiang himself has not yet reached this level, and he must carefully work on the balance; However, after the kite is done, the line tied to the kite to pull the kite to take off is not done, and this result often leads to the kite not being able to fly or not flying at all.

After thinking about the reason, Tang Boqiang started again. This time Tang Boqiang got his wish, the kite he made flew higher and higher in the autumn sky, and finally because of the length of the line, Tang Boqiang firmly stayed it in the air, and he slowly dragged the kite to the river and sat down. The autumn day, the wind, the clear sky, the kite and the octagonal river flowing quietly around him made Tang Boqiang very intoxicated. In that successful autumn, Tang Boqiang would take out a kite to fly by the river every afternoon after school, he always sat quietly by the river, watching the kite flying steadily in the air, watching the sunset slowly sink westward, watching the night slowly roll over, watching the bats that came out after nightfall, he slowly recovered the thread in his hand.

He likes the freedom, the success that comes with his own efforts, the feeling of being in control. Sometimes he would look at the blood-red, huge sunset slowly sinking on the distant surface of the water and wonder: Is the place where the sun sinks at the water's edge? What will it be like there? Why did the sun go to that place? Is there really a god there that adults say? All this, the little Tang Boqiang can't answer, and the adults around him can't answer either, and it is also a secret in Tang Boqiang's heart that he likes to go home with such curiosity every day.