Cousin's Friends

In the afternoon, the sound of motorcycles rose and fell in succession.

It was clear they weren’t first-time visitors, as they casually walked in without hesitation.

"Hey! Bin! Come greet your honored guests already!" The loud voice belonged to the chubby guy leading the pack.

He barged in, shouting without restraint.

Feng Binbin, who was busy skewering meat, immediately responded, "Second Aunt is sleeping. Keep it down."

The chubby guy instantly lowered his voice, nodding obediently.

The others filed in, many of them noticing Lin Mo sitting at the table, skewering meat. But no one spoke, waiting instead for Feng Binbin to introduce him.

Once everyone had arrived, Feng Binbin finally made the introductions.

"This is my cousin, Lin Mo. And these are my childhood friends."

Feng Binbin was now a university student, so naturally, these friends were all over eighteen and also in college.

The chubby guy thumped his chest. "Hey there, cousin! I’m Fei Long."

"Nice to meet you, Brother Fei Long," Lin Mo replied politely.

Behind Fei Long stood two girls.

One had slightly darker skin but striking, well-defined features, her long legs accentuated by the jeans she wore.

The other wore round-framed glasses, her fair complexion giving her a quiet, scholarly air.

Lin Mo instantly recognized the bespectacled girl—wasn’t she his future sister-in-law?!

But he kept that thought to himself.

Since the girls didn’t introduce themselves, Feng Binbin took the initiative.

"The darker one, you can call her Sister Qi. The fair one, just call her Sister En."

Lu Jingqi shot Feng Binbin a glare, then rolled her eyes dramatically.

"This is called a wheat complexion—a healthy tan! What do you mean 'darker'? You make us sound like the Black and White Wandering Spirits!"

Fei Long laughed. "Who doesn’t know you two were the infamous 'Black and White Duo' back in our No. 4 High School days?"

Lin Mo continued his greetings. "Sister Qi, Sister En. Sister En, is your name Lv Ning’en? I think I saw your name in my cousin’s book."

The moment those words left his mouth, Lv Ning’en looked up at Feng Binbin, her eyes filled with suspicion.

Feng Binbin, meanwhile, short-circuited on the spot.

But Lv Ning’en recovered quickly. She smiled at Lin Mo. "Care to tell me what else he wrote about me?"

The others immediately turned teasing gazes toward Feng Binbin.

This gossip was way too juicy.

Even though it was the twelfth lunar month and everyone was bundled up in layers, Feng Binbin’s forehead glistened with sweat.

Lin Mo chuckled. "No, no—it was just a signed book. Brother Fei Long, your name’s Gu Zhilong, right? Everyone’s signatures were probably in there."

Hearing this, the group collectively sighed in understanding—ah, just an autograph book.

They’d been hoping for some scandalous tea.

But Lv Ning’en pressed further. "Then how did you know I was Lv Ning’en? There were several girls in our class with 'En' in their names."

Lin Mo glanced at Feng Binbin, whose sweat was now practically pouring.

Truthfully, in that book, Lv Ning’en’s name had been circled with a heart. So...

Still, Lin Mo simply smiled. "Isn’t it obvious? The names at the front would naturally be the closest friends. So I just ruled them out first."

That explanation made perfect sense.

Everyone nodded in agreement—except Lv Ning’en, who still eyed Feng Binbin skeptically.

The introductions continued.

Just as they finished, Grandma came downstairs, muttering to herself.

"Oh dear, when did I even go up to nap?"

Then she spotted the crowd gathered in the living room.

"Hello, Second Aunt," they chorused.

"Hello, hello! I haven’t even brewed the herbal tea yet—hold on a moment."

She immediately headed for the stairwell to dig out the ingredients.

A few of the guys, carrying cases of beer, called out, "No need, Second Aunt! We brought 'foreigner’s herbal tea'—just as effective!"

Second Aunt waved them off. "How could it be the same? I’ll just brew enough for one cup each."

In the end, she still gathered the herbs and set to work.

With the crisis averted, Feng Binbin clapped his hands. "Alright, alright—no slacking off! Gloves on, let’s skewer!"

Everyone settled in, chatting as they worked.

Most of the conversation revolved around old memories.

From their stories, it sounded like schools in the county were far rowdier than those in Goat City.

Teen pregnancies, brawls that landed kids in jail, and all sorts of bizarre incidents—Lin Mo could hardly believe these were schools.

In his past life, after graduating, he’d heard even crazier tales from troublemakers about vocational schools—more absurd, more chaotic.

This wasn’t exaggeration; it was reality, especially in privately-run vocational schools with lax discipline.

Compared to those, the county schools seemed almost decent, while the city schools were practically temples of learning.

Before long, Grandma returned.

"The tea’s brewing. You kids have fun tonight!"

Fei Long immediately stood, pulling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and offering one to Grandma.

Yes, Grandma smoked.

As far as Lin Mo could remember, she’d always smoked.

Naturally, Feng Binbin smoked too—monkey see, monkey do.

Back in university, Feng Binbin had started sneaking cigarettes, hiding it from Grandma. Only later did he smoke openly.

Now, it didn’t matter—Lin Mo had used spiritual energy to restore Grandma’s health. She could smoke as much as she wanted without harm.

Sure enough, Grandma took a drag and immediately gave Fei Long a look.

"What kind of cigarette is this? It’s strong!"

Fei Long scratched his head. "Really? It’s just Wuye Shen, nothing special."

Ah, the perks of a brand-new set of lungs.

Fei Long then offered a cigarette to Lin Mo.

Feng Binbin cut in. "My cousin doesn’t smoke."

Fei Long shot him a disbelieving look—as if to say, I know what you were like. And your cousin doesn’t smoke?

"Seriously, he doesn’t. Ask him yourself."

Lin Mo, skewering chicken wings, shook his head and waved his hands. "Sorry, Brother Fei Long. I really don’t smoke."

Hearing this, Fei Long withdrew the offer. "Good on you. Once you start, it’s hard to quit."

Lu Jingqi huffed nearby. "Why do you boys love smoking so much?"

"Hey, Second Aunt smokes too!" Fei Long retorted, pulling Grandma outside.

"Second Aunt, ignore them. Let’s smoke out here."

Lu Jingqi looked ready to explode.

The other guys followed, heading outside for a smoke break.

That left just the girls—and Lin Mo, the only guy still skewering meat.

Lv Ning’en studied Lin Mo, noting the lack of childish immaturity in his expression.

"Where did you go to school?" Lu Jingqi asked offhandedly.

"Guangba."

One of the girls piped up. "Isn’t Guangba in Goat City?"

"Yeah, I studied there. I just come back here during holidays."

Lin Mo answered such questions with earnestness.