Locking away my heart and love! Going back to 2000 to be a top student again.

Grandma Xu had two sons and two daughters. Chen Shulan was the youngest, with two older brothers and one older sister. She was doing the best now, after all, she owned a house in the city.

Xu Su's aunt is named Chen Shumei. She married into the next village and had two sons and a daughter. Compared to her biological mother, Chen Shulan, Xu Su felt closer to this aunt.

Chen Shumei's life wasn't easy either. She and her husband toiled in the fields to support their three children's schooling. But every time she went back to her parents' home, she would bring her niece Xu Su some snacks, a few milk candies, and two oranges. She never came empty-handed.

Xu Su's two uncles both lived in mud-brick houses, side by side, which were built by Xu's maternal grandfather before he passed away.

Another family was allocated more than ten acres of land, and they relied on the produce from the land and the occasional odd jobs they did in the city during the off-season to save up their savings.

Life was tough for them, but they treated Xu Su well, including her two aunts, who never gave her a hard time.

For the first sixteen years, even though she was living under someone else's roof, Xu Su was very happy. On the contrary, when she returned to her biological parents, she lived a life where she had to be mindful of other people's feelings.

Aunt Xu was hanging things out to dry in the yard when she saw Xu Su return. Her eyes lit up. “Su Su is back! Come in and sit down. My Nini was just mentioning you. She guessed you would come back for the National Day holiday. I didn’t expect you to actually come back so soon.”

Hearing the noise, Xu Su's cousin Chen Ni ran out and excitedly shouted when she saw her, hugging her tightly: "Sister! You're finally back! Was the city fun? How many days off do you get from school? How long can you stay at home?"

Chen Ni is the youngest daughter of Xu Su's maternal uncle. She is one year younger than Xu Su and is in her third year of junior high school. She has an older brother named Chen Le, who did not get into university after graduating from high school and has gone to work in Shenzhen. He only comes back for the Chinese New Year.

“Our school gives us a three-day holiday, so I can stay at home for two days. I’ll take the bus back on the 3rd.” Seeing her cousin, who looked more than ten years younger, Xu Su’s smile was genuine. She asked, “Grandma isn’t home. Which field did she go to?”

Grandma Xu is in her early sixties. She is very healthy because she has worked hard all year round. She cultivates two acres of land, and her two sons help with spring planting and autumn harvest. She also has several vegetable plots. Xu Su knows the locations of all of them, but she is not sure which plot her grandmother is in now.

Chen Ni said, "After Grandma, my dad, and my uncle finished eating, they went to pick peanuts in the field behind the hill. I'm going to go after I finish my homework."

Chen Ni told her mother and went to her uncle's house next door with Xu Su. She also called her uncle's two cousins, and the four of them went to the field to find Xu's grandmother.

My older cousin, Chen Dong, is also in the third year of junior high school, while my younger cousin, Chen Jun, just entered junior high school this semester.

When Xu Su was studying at her maternal grandmother's house, whenever she was home on vacation, she would explain things to her younger cousins ​​in detail, breaking them down and explaining them to them bit by bit. In their words, she explained things more clearly than the teacher could.

They were all very happy to see Xu Su return, and chattered all the way to the field to find Xu's grandmother.

From afar, I could see my two uncles and my grandmother harvesting peanuts in the field. Actually, the peanut field wasn't very big; the three of them could finish harvesting the peanuts in an afternoon.

Upon seeing Xu Su among the children, Grandma Xu stood up and asked with concern, "You're back? How many days will you be able to stay home this time?"

More than a month later, seeing her living grandmother again, Xu Su couldn't help but shed tears. She forced back her sobs and said, "I have a three-day holiday. I'll take the bus back to the city on the afternoon of the 3rd."

"Why are you crying? Did you get upset in the city?" Grandma Xu frowned. "Did your parents give you a hard time?"

Uncle Chen Guohua was an ordinary rural man. He was bending over and shaking the soil off the peanut roots when he heard this and turned around to look at him: "Tell your uncle that if you really suffer, we'll go back to the county town to study. Don't be afraid, your uncle will support your schooling. Don't let them support you."

Uncle Chen Guoqiang nodded in agreement: "Your parents are really something. They haven't seen their daughter in so long, don't they even think about making up for it?"

Xu Su shook her head, not wanting to look away from the old woman in front of her. "They didn't give me a hard time. I just miss my grandma."

Xu Su didn't come back for the National Day holiday in her previous life. She had just arrived at her new home and didn't dare to ask her parents for anything.

The idea at the time was that Chen Shulan would take her back to her parents' home to pay New Year's respects, but the textile factory only had six days off during the New Year.

It would be too much trouble to go back and forth and transfer, so Chen Shulan didn't go back to her parents' home in the countryside to pay New Year's respects.

After school resumed and she entered the second semester of her first year of high school, her studies became even more demanding, and Xu Su had even less time to come back.

Later, when she was in her senior year of high school, her uncle's family installed a telephone. Xu Su had a lot of living expenses at that time and enough money to call home every few days, but she never went back to see her maternal grandmother in person.

Until the eve of the college entrance examination, I received a call from my uncle. At that time, my maternal grandmother had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and was rushed to Changshi for emergency treatment. Her life was saved, but she suffered a stroke and became paralyzed on one side.

In the years that followed, Xu Su tried everything, but her grandmother still suffered from hemiplegia on one side of her body, could not speak clearly, and could no longer stand up.

Counting the time, Xu Su hadn't seen her grandmother, who could speak clearly, for fourteen years.

Xu Su has always been an introverted person, and it's rare for her to say such mushy things. Her grandmother gave her a reproachful look: "Isn't she back now? If you miss me, just come back and visit me more often. The children are grown up and have their own lives to live. How can they stay in the countryside with this old woman every day?"

"I think she's still being mistreated by her parents," the uncle said directly. "Don't I know my little sister? She only has eyes for her precious son; there's no place for our Su Su at all."

"Alright, stop talking nonsense here." Grandma Xu glared at her youngest son, then turned to Xu Su, took out the front door key from her pocket and handed it to her: "It's very hot in here, you go back first, Grandma will be back in a while."

Xu Su glanced at the peanut field and wanted to stay and help, but was chased away by her grandmother.

Her three younger cousins ​​who had accompanied her also went back home.

In the courtyard of a farmhouse, the four siblings sat together chatting. Despite not having seen each other for more than a month, they felt no awkwardness at all. Midway through the conversation, their aunt brought over a large watermelon, placed it on the table, cut it up with a knife, and invited them to eat.

The watermelon was from our own garden; it was chilled in the well, making it sweet and refreshing.

Chen Ni took a bite of melon and asked curiously, "Sister, have you met your dad's relatives? How are they treating you? Do you have any cousins?"

"Why do you have so many questions?" Although her tone was somewhat disdainful, Xu Su still answered them one by one.

Hearing that Xu Su has two younger cousins ​​and two younger cousins, Chen Ni asked with a hint of jealousy, "Won't you like your younger cousins ​​and not like me anymore?"

These words reminded Xu Su that she had almost forgotten that the younger sister in front of her would grow up to be a hopeless romantic.