Free Web NovelChapter 162: Chapter 128: Reminiscing at 18? You Must Have Liked Her for Too Long
Around 9 a.m., Shen Yuan’s uncle’s house suddenly became much more crowded.
Shen Yuan’s family was quite large, all things considered.
Shen Songde had four children. Shen Yuan’s father was the third, followed by an aunt.
"Bro!"
Zhao Yueyang ran over excitedly the moment he saw Shen Yuan.
Watching his younger cousin run toward him, Shen Yuan broke into a brilliant smile.
"Full of energy, I see!"
Zhao Yueyang chuckled. "You know it!"
Shen Yuan’s smile grew wider. "What did you get on your last monthly exam?"
Zhao Yueyang’s smile immediately vanished. "Bro, it’s a holiday. Can we not talk about this?"
"You’re a damn first-year in high school now. Don’t you care at all?"
Shen Yuan had barely finished speaking when his younger aunt came over, poked Zhao Yueyang on the head, and said earnestly, "Exactly! Listen to your cousin! You need to focus more on your studies! Look at him, his grades are so good. You need to learn from him!"
Under the weight of his aunt’s lecture, Zhao Yueyang’s cheerful mood vanished without a trace.
After his aunt and uncle went inside, Zhao Yueyang finally looked up, pouting at Shen Yuan, and complained, "Bro, why’d you have to get such good grades?"
Before Shen Yuan could answer, SMACK! A hand slapped Zhao Yueyang across the forehead.
"Ow!" Zhao Yueyang cried out in pain. He turned to see Yang Yishui standing behind him, a smirk on her face.
"Why get good grades? To get Mom to stop nagging, of course!" Yang Yishui said with a laugh.
The moment he saw his older sister, Zhao Yueyang put on a fawning smile. "Sis."
Just like Shen Yuan, Zhao Yueyang had also been subjected to his Eldest Female Cousin’s brutal study regimen.
The only difference was that Shen Yuan had ultimately emerged successful from it, while Zhao Yueyang had only made it halfway.
"Your damn English is terrible, and you still won’t study. You dumbass, if you just got serious, you could even get into the branch campus!"
Zhao Yueyang shrank back and shot Shen Yuan a look, begging for help.
Seeing this, Shen Yuan immediately offered some words of comfort.
"Don’t worry, sis. He’s in his first year of high school now. You can break out the high school vocabulary lists. Learning is learning, no matter where you do it, right?"
Upon hearing this, Yang Yishui nodded. "Mm, I’ll go talk to our aunt about it in a bit."
Zhao Yueyang felt his world go numb.
’Wait, is this still the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday?’
’What happened to the happy family reunion we were supposed to have?’
Before long, Shen Yuan’s eldest uncle returned.
As the family appeared, Shen Yuan immediately spotted the familiar figure of his eldest cousin.
"Ming the Blockhead!"
As soon as Shen Ming heard this, he shot a Great Wilderness Heaven-Imprisoning Finger at Shen Yuan, and from the shape of his mouth, he was probably asking about Shen Yuan’s grades.
The petite woman next to Shen Ming was probably Shen Yuan’s future cousin-in-law.
As for her name, Shen Yuan had no idea.
His eldest cousin gave a simple greeting to his younger siblings and cousins, then went to the old house to see their grandparents.
The moment his eldest cousin was gone, Shen Yuan eagerly huddled up with Yang Yishui and Zhao Yueyang to start gossiping.
"When is Shen Ming getting married? Any news?" Shen Yuan asked, his face full of curiosity.
Yang Yishui shook her head. "I don’t know either. I don’t think they’ve picked a date yet. But since they’re already talking about it, it’ll probably be around the end of the year or the beginning of next year." frёewebηovel.cѳm
After Yang Yishui finished, Shen Yuan turned to Zhao Yueyang and said with a smile, "Looks like you’re going to be a groomsman."
Hearing this, Zhao Yueyang looked at Shen Yuan, confused. "Bro, why aren’t you the groomsman?"
"I don’t have time. The college entrance exams are right around the corner. Do you think I can take a day off to be a groomsman?"
Zhao Yueyang frowned, seeming to find it hard to believe. "No way, right?"
"I don’t live at the dorms, but I still have to go to evening self-study tonight."
Looking at Zhao Yueyang, Shen Yuan was overcome with the feeling that misery loves company.
"Let me put it this way: right now, I only get half a day off on Sunday afternoons, unless it’s a long holiday. And those ’long holidays’ are a recent thing—we get released after the second period in the afternoon, and we’re back for evening self-study the next day."
"But the amount of homework... well, you know how it is."
Shen Yuan looked at Zhao Yueyang with a grin. "My homework for this holiday is six full test papers. On a normal day, it’s six half-papers."
Hearing this, Zhao Yueyang’s eyes went wide. He made a GULP sound as he struggled to swallow.
He stammered to Shen Yuan, "Bro... can you... can you even finish all that?"
Shen Yuan waved his hand dismissively and replied breezily, "It’s fine, pretty easy actually. I get it all done by 11:30 p.m. every night. Life is so fulfilling this way!"
Zhao Yueyang’s face turned pale. With a miserable expression, he asked Shen Yuan pitifully, "Bro, am I going to be like that in the future?"
"Don’t worry, you won’t."
Hearing this, Zhao Yueyang breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately turned to his Eldest Female Cousin, Yang Yishui, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
A faint smile touched the corners of Yang Yishui’s lips as she said softly, "If you don’t get your English up to par, I’ll kill you myself long before you even make it to senior year."
Hearing this, Zhao Yueyang felt a chill shoot up his spine. He was going numb again.
’This was supposed to be a happy and peaceful Mid-Autumn Festival, but it looks like I’m not going to feel any joy at all.’
After sitting at home for a while, the eldest cousin and his fiancée came out to find his younger cousins, saying he wanted to show her the places where he grew up.
Shen Yuan, naturally not wanting to be a third wheel, said, "You go on your own. I just took a walk around."
"With Li Zhi?" Yang Yishui asked.
"Who else?"
His Eldest Female Cousin shot Shen Yuan a disdainful look. "No wonder I couldn’t find you. So you ditched me to go on a date."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what date!" Shen Yuan quickly explained. "I was ’reminiscing about the fleeting years of my youth’!"
"Reminiscing at eighteen? Is it because you’ve liked her for that long?"
Shen Yuan’s eyes flew wide as he stared at Yang Yishui.
"Wh-what are you talking about! What ’like’! Does being childhood friends automatically mean I like her?! This is slander, I’m telling you!"
Seeing his reaction, a smirk spread across Yang Yishui’s face. "Oh, right, right, right! You don’t like her, you don’t like her. You don’t like Li Zhi."
"You—!"
The words died on his lips. Shen Yuan took a deep breath and turned away.
"Whatever. Think what you want."
Seeing him act like this, his Eldest Female Cousin’s lips curled into a slight smile.
Meanwhile, in another old house in the village, Li Zhi was sitting quietly on a chair, chatting with her grandfather.
"Everything’s going well at school?"
Li Zhi nodded. "Yes."
"You’re a senior now. Are you under a lot of pressure?"
"It’s okay. I’m actually not under much pressure. I just need to stay consistent."
Li Yutang nodded.
He had a good idea of Li Zhi’s academic performance.
He didn’t know the specifics, but when Old Li mentioned "Qingbei," he understood everything.
His granddaughter’s grades were excellent.
After a moment of thought, Li Yutang looked at Li Zhi. "That was Shen Songde’s youngest grandson just now, wasn’t it?"
Li Zhi nodded.
"Does he like you?"
At his words, Li Zhi’s fingers, resting on her lap, curled slightly. She subconsciously lowered her lashes, avoiding her grandfather’s probing gaze.
She raised a hand to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear, her fingertips pausing for a moment at her temple, before she replied in her usual calm tone, "The tea has gone cold."
Li Yutang looked at his granddaughter and simply hummed in acknowledgment.
The old man picked up his teacup and took a sip, the rising steam obscuring his lowered face.
In that moment, the old man already had his answer.
