I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice.

After sleeping groggily for half an hour, Xia Yanchun slowly woke up.

She slept poorly, and she had a premonition that she would be listless for the entire afternoon.

In fact, she had overestimated herself. She only wanted to close her eyes and rest for a while, but she ended up time-traveling straight to the second class.

"So sleepy." Xia Yanchun pinched the cheek of Li Shiyan, who was equally drowsy beside her, looking depressed.

"Wu..."

"Shiyan, do you have any way to make me wake up in a second?"

Li Shiyan pried away Xia Yanchun's mischievous hand, blinked her eyes, and an imaginary lightbulb popped up above her head.

"I do. It might wake you up, but I'm afraid you'll get mad."

Xia Yanchun put her hands on her hips, lifting her head and puffing out her chest, "As long as it's not an insult, say whatever you want. If I get mad, I'll punish myself by sleeping through another class."

"Does that even count as a punishment..."

"Hurry up and say it."

"Hmm..." Li Shiyan nodded her little head, leaned forward, covered Xia Yanchun's ear, and whispered, "I think you like... Shen Nian..."

"!!"

Xia Yanchun definitely woke up, and instantly too. All her drowsiness vanished.

She pursed her lips, grumbling, and only spoke after a long while, "How dare you speak nonsense, you're dead meat!"

"You promised you wouldn't get mad!"

"Just scaring you a bit, I'm not mad."

"Hmph..." Li Shiyan leaned softly against Xia Yanchun, "Has Shen Nian ever confessed to you?"

"No."

"We're almost graduating... Oh, that's right, unlike others who have fewer chances to meet after graduation, you guys can meet whenever you want... Childhood sweethearts have it so good."

"Don't speak nonsense."

"I won't say it, I won't say it."

Li Shiyan mimed zipping her lips, took a breath, and puffed out her cheeks slightly. She was very good at keeping secrets.

Looking forward to the nth day of the friendship between Bestie and Shen Nian turning into something more.

...

10 PM.

Shen Nian took a shower and sat alone on a plastic food stall chair in front of his house, enjoying the breeze.

In this kind of weather, you definitely had to light a mosquito coil nearby, otherwise, you'd just be feeding the mosquitoes. These striped mosquitoes had the most toxic bites; one bite would itch for three days.

The wind in the town was a bit cool, brushing gently through his hair and tickling his forehead.

Miss Xia, stop messing around.

"Shen Nian, want some sweet soup?"

Shen Nian looked over and saw Aunt Wen coming out with a cup of mung bean smoothie.

"It's been a long time since I've had the sweet soup made by Auntie."

"Yeah, it really has been a while."

"So sweet. Having a cup of iced sweet soup in the middle of summer is truly a beautiful thing."

"There's more in the fridge. If you want some, just go serve yourself, but remember to wash the bowl clean."

Wen Zhining ducked back inside.

Shen Nian drank the sweet soup clean mouthful by mouthful, feeling completely delighted.

Xia Yanchun couldn't even drink this.

Shen Nian never treated himself as an outsider. Whether it was the old house in the town or the apartment in the city, entering Xia Yanchun's home was like entering his own.

Most people would just drink a bowl as a polite gesture, but Shen Nian liked to drink until he was half-full. He simply went into the kitchen and scooped up as much as he wanted. Out of a massive pot of mung bean smoothie, he drank more than half all by himself.

In this kind of weather, if someone could resist drinking two bowls of mung bean smoothie, Shen Nian would even believe them if they said they had successfully quit drugs.

"Don't drink it all, I haven't had any yet." Xia Herui, with wet hair, saw Shen Nian eating mung bean smoothie in the kitchen and felt as if the sky had fallen. He quickly grabbed a disposable bowl and scooped some for himself.

"You snooze, you lose, Uncle Xia."

"You're just like your dad." Xia Herui sat next to him drinking the sweet soup, somewhat reminiscing about the bits and pieces of his youth with Shen Shi.

Ever since starting families, he and Shen Shi hadn't acted as crazy as they used to. For the sake of making a living, they had reined in their tempers and everything else. Having been well-behaved for so long, they had forgotten what kind of people they used to be.

"Hey, are you interested in Little Chun?" Xia Herui suddenly remembered what Shen Nian said yesterday and probed.

"How would I dare? You've been fooled by Xia Yanchun. In places you can't see, she's more brutal than a female Tyrannosaurus Rex. She used to bully me a lot."

"Hey you brat, talking bad about Little Chun again."

"Even if I tell you, you won't believe it."

"If you spout nonsense, of course I won't believe it."

"Uncle Xia, you've already been deceived by Xia Yanchun. You can only hear the good things about her, and can't bear to hear the bad. Sigh, I've eaten more salt than you've walked roads."

"?"

Shen Shi, look at the son you raised.

He needs a beating just as much as you do, really.

If one day Shen Nian really managed to woo his daughter, Xia Herui didn't even dare to imagine what kind of smug look Shen Shi would have.

'Hahahaha, your daughter got picked up by my son!'

"My son took your daughter out to play today, did you know?"

"Shen Nian said that Little Chun paid for everything when they went out. Give Little Chun some more living expenses, understand? Don't let Little Chun suffer, and don't let my son suffer either."

The more he thought about it, the darker his face became.

Xia Herui was genuinely frightened. After all, it wasn't like the old days when childhood friends could still get into fistfights with each other. Now they were men in their forties and fifties. They were adults, and problems had to be solved in an adult way.

Like increasing the bride price or something.

He was thinking too far ahead; there wasn't even a shadow of anything happening yet.

Xia Herui coughed twice, "When you said that yesterday, I thought you really liked Little Chun."

"Hehe, when I want to date in the future, if Xia Yanchun still doesn't have a boyfriend by then, I think the two of us might be able to make do with each other."

"If Little Chun is willing, of course that's fine."

"Hey, we haven't even graduated yet. We'll talk about those things after graduation."

"True, the top priority for both you and Little Chun is the college entrance exam. If you guys really get together in the future, I won't have any objections."

"Uncle Xia is this open-minded?"

"Young people have their own ways of living. Times are different, and concepts are different. For many things, it's better to let the young people solve them themselves."

"As expected of Uncle Xia. My dad couldn't say something like this," Shen Nian muttered. "My dad would only sneakily charge me a fifty yuan handling fee. Isn't that ridiculous?"

Damn, this kid actually speaks so nicely.

What else is there to say? Little Chun is marrying you.

Xia Herui laughed from the bottom of his heart. He really did want to play matchmaker for Shen Nian and his Little Chun.

They knew each other inside out, so there was no fear of marrying the wrong person. She wouldn't have to marry far away, there wouldn't be any so-called mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflicts, she could come home whenever she wanted, and during the Spring Festival, she wouldn't have to wait until the third day of the lunar year to visit...

And now, Shen Nian's future was even more promising.

This was probably the most ideal state for marrying off a daughter, right?

"Uncle, I'm heading back." Shen Nian washed the bowl clean, put it in the cabinet, and smiled faintly.

"Mm, when are you going back to school?"

"Hmm... probably tomorrow."

One day was enough for him to ask all the principals from kindergarten to middle school.

"By the time you come back again, it'll probably be summer vacation."

"Probably."

"Mm, do your best. Good luck on the college entrance exam."

"..."

[Received the Village Chief's Blessing (1/1)]

Shen Nian was a bit stunned and blinked his eyes.

No way man, so the town is the beginner's village, huh.

Is Uncle Xia going to be promoted to town mayor?