They waited a while after finishing their noodles, and Jiang Han arrived.

Soon after, Zhang Hao and Kang Xue'er also came to the shop, hand in hand, genuinely enviable.

They set off.

Brother Nan drove her father's car, carrying three classmates, while Zhou Li drove his own car, carrying Huai Xu, heading towards her hometown.

"Will you be nervous when you meet Brother Nan's grandparents?" Huai Xu asked in the car.

"I don't know," Zhou Li replied.

"Will Brother Nan's other siblings be coming back too?" Huai Xu asked again. "You should at least know this."

"I don't know."

"How can you not know anything?"

"I just don't."

"Can we go catch crayfish this afternoon? How will we eat them if we do?"

"I don't know."

"Do you realize you're actually a fool?"

"..."

Zhou Li had traveled this road before. After leaving the county road, it led onto a narrow, winding village road.

Fortunately, his driving skills had improved by now.

"Look, by the roadside!"

Huai Xu pointed out the window where villagers were bent over, working in the fields. "They're planting rice seedlings, and others are planting... what is that? Do you think Brother Nan called us back here to farm?"

"I don't know."

By the time they arrived, it was almost noon.

Brother Nan's village had a small street, and her house was at the very end of it, right next to the main road, which made buying groceries convenient.

Rural life could seem dull. Several elderly women, neighbors, were sitting on a doorstep chatting. When the two cars pulled up one after another in front of the Li family home, their gazes immediately shifted. For the stay-at-home elderly who had little to do all day, the return of someone's younger generation was always an event worth noting and envying.

When they saw Brother Nan get out of the car with several people, their expressions immediately turned peculiar. They started smiling and whispering among themselves.

Zhou Li frowned slightly and discreetly pricked up his ears—

"Li Baoguo's granddaughter is really capable, oh! Look, she's brought some classmates back again!"

"Isn't that the truth! Every year she brings classmates back, either for planting crops or for threshing rice and hauling corn!"

"..."

Zhou Li breathed a sigh of relief. So, they weren't speaking ill of anyone... Wait a minute! Hmm?

By this time, Brother Nan was already leading everyone inside. In the countryside, houses typically had their doors open. She told Zhou Li and Huai Xu, "You two haven't been here before, but the others have. Just make yourselves at home. I'll take you out for a look around this afternoon."

Zhou Li and Huai Xu exchanged glances and nodded.

The faint aroma of cooking wafted from an inner room.

A sturdy-looking elderly woman walked out. She smiled upon seeing everyone, her wrinkles bunching up. "You've arrived!"

"We're here," Brother Nan smiled, quickly making introductions. "These are my classmates, visiting for a few days! This is Jiang Han, you know him. And these are Zhang Hao and Kang Xue'er; they've been here before, do you still remember them?"

"I remember, I remember. They've come several times..."

"Hello, Grandma," the others greeted.

"Yes, yes, hello to all of you..."

"These two here—this is Zhou Li, my deskmate from high school and a college classmate. And this is Huai Xu, also my college classmate."

"His surname is Zhou, is it?" Grandma seemed to have heard some rumors. She tilted her head, trying to get Brother Nan to confirm.

"That's right," Brother Nan affirmed.

"Hello, Grandma," Zhou Li called out.

"Good, good. Have a good time, have a good time. Just tell Grandma whatever you feel like eating." Grandma scrutinized Zhou Li.

"Okay."

"A handsome young man, very good, very good!" Grandma nodded affirmatively several times.

Zhang Hao, Kang Xue'er, and Jiang Han couldn't help but chuckle from the side. Huai Xu also laughed, winking and making faces at Zhou Li. Even Brother Nan laughed, leaving only Zhou Li standing there, momentarily unsure of what to say.

Brother Nan's grandfather was in the kitchen, stir-frying dishes.

Brother Nan also took them in to meet him and exchange greetings.

Lunch was very substantial. The elderly couple had even specially bought some cold dishes. During the meal, their gazes made Zhou Li quite uncomfortable.

After lunch, Brother Nan took the group up to the back mountain to play. She was a considerate person; after all, they were nominally here to have fun, not to start working the moment they arrived.

Water pooled in the paddy fields.

The land had already been tilled.

People were working in the fields. Brother Nan recognized some of them and greeted them from afar on the mountainside.

With its green mountains and clear waters, it was indeed a picturesque pastoral scene.

"Are your other siblings coming back?" Zhou Li asked.

"My younger brother will be back for Labor Day. I'm not sure about the others; they're afraid they'll be asked to do chores if they come back," Brother Nan said, walking ahead and twirling a random blade of grass she had plucked. "Tomorrow, I'll let you experience some 'farm fun.'"

"Farm fun..."

Zhou Li found it amusing. She really has a knack for naming things, he thought.

"Still planting peanuts, corn, and transplanting rice seedlings?" Zhang Hao asked, already sounding like an expert.

"That's right."

After Brother Nan finished speaking, she explained to Zhou Li and Huai Xu, "Don't worry, it's just a little bit. If you don't believe me, ask them."

"Yes, yes, yes," the others all nodded.

"Besides, we don't have to do things like fertilizing. It's done in no time, it's fun, and it's good exercise. After we're done, we'll spend a few days catching crayfish. I can also take you to the riverside to catch small crabs. Though there's not much meat on them, they're quite delicious when fried. I've taken these guys a few times before."

"Okay."

"We really have no choice," Brother Nan said somewhat helplessly. "We've told them countless times not to plant, not to plant, but they insist. It's better now; they only planted enough for the two old folks to eat: half a plot of peanuts, a few rows of corn, and one field of rice. It used to be much more. We don't know how many times we had to talk them down."

"Old folks are used to being busy."

After their walk, they returned home, and soon it was time to start preparing dinner.

Brother Nan was genuinely considerate of Zhou Li; she even deliberately took him to the kitchen and had him help tend the fire for cooking.

「Nighttime.」

The village night was very dark, filled with the sounds of dogs barking.

Brother Nan's house was quite large and had been renovated in the last two years. Because the family was large and everyone would come back for festivals and holidays, there were many rooms upstairs, decorated like hotel standard rooms or triple rooms.

CLICK.

Brother Nan turned on the light in one of the rooms. It contained three beds lined up side-by-side. She said, "This side is for the girls, the girls' dorm. The three of us will stay here tonight. We can play cards and chat."

She then went to another room, which also had three beds. "This is the boys' dorm. The quilts are freshly washed and have just been changed."

"You'll need to light mosquito coils. Oh, wait, I've already lit them for you."

"Got it..."

Zhou Li lay down on one of the beds.

The three beds were arranged side by side, indeed just like a hotel triple room, except the bed frames were very old and the quilts weren't white.

Right, there was no private bathroom either.

Zhou Li slept in the middle, with Zhang Hao and Huai Xu on either side.

Zhang Hao turned over and asked him, "Want to play King of Glory?"

"No."

"I want to play."

"Ah, never mind," Zhang Hao shook his head again. "Let's just chat. It's been over half a year since we last saw each other... How did you and Brother Nan get together?"

"I confessed to her," Zhou Li answered very briefly.

"When?"

"New Year's."

"And she just agreed?"

"...She thought about it for a while," Zhou Li said, feeling incredibly awkward.

"So how did you two develop feelings for each other? I'm really curious." Zhang Hao was very interested in the gossip about Zhou Li, whom he looked up to.

"I don't know."

"..."

As they chatted, their conversation drifted to the "farm fun" planned for the next day.

According to Zhang Hao, what they had to do was very simple: dig the soil, sow seeds or transplant seedlings, and then cover the soil back up. Digging, however, did require a certain technique, which he had now mastered.

"That was back in our first year of high school. I remember Brother Nan invited a group of us to her family's place in the countryside for the Labor Day holiday, and we were thrilled," Zhang Hao lit a cigarette and began his story. "We were all city kids and had never experienced anything like the countryside..."

Zhou Li listened, but didn't fully believe him. He figured Zhang Hao and the others weren't excited solely about catching crayfish or gathering small crabs, but because they had earned Brother Nan's favor. By the Labor Day holiday in the second semester of their first year, Brother Nan was already quite famous at school. They probably felt that by following her, they could be impressive and avoid being bullied.

Indeed, that turned out to be the case.

The process had been a bit convoluted, but it wasn't worth dwelling on.

Ultimately, Zhang Hao successfully learned how to dig, and even the pampered Kang Xue'er became skilled at transplanting rice seedlings. Zhang Hao also mentioned that the farm work in the first half of the year was quite light. It was the second half, towards the end of summer vacation or the beginning of the school year, when it was time to thresh rice and haul corn, that the real physical labor began. Plus, both corn leaves and rice stalks could cut you. Fortunately, they only planted a little; if they planted a lot, it could tire a person to the bone.

Huai Xu, listening beside them, chuckled non-stop.

Zhou Li, however, remained silent.

He was pondering—just what kind of immortal girlfriend had he found?

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