Leisurely mountain village

"What? You're Xu Tingting? How is that possible?" Ye Huan immediately pictured a girl who loved to laugh, but was short, chubby, and had a face full of acne.

"Haha, that's me." The woman was very satisfied with Ye Huan's performance.

"Wow, you went to get plastic surgery?" Ye Huan said, then quickly added, "That's not what I meant... I..."

"It's okay, but I haven't had plastic surgery."

"She really has changed a lot as she grows up. If you didn't tell me, who would recognize her?" Ye Huan exclaimed, the difference was too great.

"What are you doing?" Xu Tingting asked, looking at the two large cardboard boxes he was carrying.

"Oh, I'm at my hometown. These are convenience foods. Hehe, I sometimes go into the mountains, so I bought a lot," Ye Huan said.

"Come on, let's add each other on WeChat. We're only five people short of completing our high school group." Xu Tingting took out her phone, and Ye Huan put his things down. They added each other as friends, and then Xu Tingting directly added him to a classmate group.

"I've added you to the group, we only need four more people," Xu Tingting said with a smile.

"Oh? Who's missing?" Ye Huan was quite curious. In every classmate group, there are always a few enthusiastic classmates behind the scenes.

“Da Niu, Yan Pao, Ling Dang, and Xiao Mei. I heard that Ling Dang and Xiao Mei went abroad. I don’t know if it’s true, but someone went to their house and they’ve moved.” Xu Tingting said.

"Didn't you find Da Niu either?" Ye Huan asked. Why did he ask about this in particular? Because Da Niu was his deskmate for three years in high school, a man as imposing as a mountain.

"Hmm, I heard he went back to his hometown in Northeast China with his family, but they couldn't find him either. Did you two exchange contact information?" Xu Tingting asked.

“Back then, cell phones weren’t common, and we weren’t well-off, so we couldn’t afford one. I wonder if he’s still using his QQ account?” Ye Huan said.

Ten years ago, although there were quite a few mobile phones, they were not yet widespread among high school students. Occasionally, some students from well-off families would have mobile phones.

"Why don't you ask?" Xu Tingting was one of the few enthusiastic classmates in their group chat, and she was very keen on this.

"Mom, come quick, I want to buy this!" a little boy shouted. "Coming!" Xu Tingting replied.

"Wow, your son is so big already? You're married?" Ye Huan asked in surprise, looking at the boy who looked about three or four years old.

"Haha, let me introduce you. This is my husband, Chu Zeng. He works at the county government. Chu Niuniu is my son. My son calls him Uncle." Xu Tingting said with a smile.

"Hello, hello." Ye Huan shook hands with Chu Zeng. "Hello, Uncle." It was clear from the little boy's upbringing that he was well-mannered.

"Oh, nephew, look at me, I didn't bring a gift. Go pick one out, Uncle will pay, haha." Ye Huan squatted down and patted Niu Niu's head.

"That won't do," Xu Tingting declined.

"It's okay, it's the first time, don't stop me, otherwise we won't be able to be classmates," Ye Huan said with a smile, and then paid for the toy that Niu Niu had chosen.

"Thank you, Uncle." Niu Niu immediately took a liking to this uncle; he was very generous.

"You've gone to so much trouble," Chu Zeng said with a smile.

"Hehe, it's nothing. It's only natural since it's our first meeting," Ye Huan said with a smile. He could tell that his old classmate's husband must hold a high position and had a calm demeanor.

After chatting for a few more minutes, they said goodbye to each other. Ye Huan got into the car, put her things into her spatial storage, and headed home. She hadn't even had a chance to say hello to her classmates in the group chat.

When we got home, I waited for him to start dinner. I ate quickly, and after everything was settled, I went back to the little house, covered Jingjing with the blanket, and only then did I have time to take out my phone and lie down on the recliner.

Seeing 99+ unread messages, he shook his head. Normally, he wouldn't send a single message all day, but now, he only started replying when he opened his high school classmates' group chat and saw that someone had tagged him.

"I'm so sorry, I've been driving and eating since I parted ways with the beautiful Tingting, and I only just had a moment to myself."

"Holy crap, where have you been all these years? I haven't seen you in ages!" said a classmate named Lu Xiao.

Lu Xiao was Ye Huan's closest friend during his three years of high school, besides Da Niu. He helped Ye Huan fight off thugs outside the school along with Hu Zi and the others.

"I've been in Shenzhen the whole time, and only recently went back to my hometown. Where are you?" Ye Huan smiled knowingly, thinking of the old days of friendship.

"I'm in the provincial capital."

"Oh well, I missed it. I'm going to the provincial capital this afternoon," Ye Huan said with a helpless smile.

"You little rascal, come and greet me next time you come over."

Then Ye Huan received a friend request, which he accepted immediately. However, they didn't chat privately; instead, they started chatting in the group and talked about their experiences over the years.

Ye Huan looked at some other chats. If someone mentioned him, he would reply. If not, he wouldn't engage in awkward small talk. He mainly chatted with Lu Xiao. Later, Xu Tingting probably finished her work and joined in.

With Xu Tingting joining, the number of people increased, and many spoke to her with respect, both openly and subtly.

Ye Huan understood. Everyone probably knew about her husband's situation. That's just reality. Even classmates are no exception. Maybe those who live far away are a little better off.

Fortunately, Xu Tingting was still quite sensible and didn't have those bad habits. "Ye Zi, you said you went back to your hometown, to Willow Village in our county?"

"Yes, you know him?" Ye Huan replied.

“I know, I just heard my husband mention it. He said there was an old man in your village today who drove away foreign businessmen and beat up county officials?” Xu Tingting asked.

"Well, our village has a blood feud with the Japanese, so the villagers got a bit agitated, haha." Ye Huan didn't go into details.

"What era are we living in? Why are you still talking about life-and-death feuds? Ye Huan, you guys are taking this too seriously!" said a classmate named Wang Gang.

"No matter what era it is, our village and the Japanese are enemies, understand?" Ye Huan replied expressionlessly.

"Tch~ You think you're so high and mighty, just like you were in high school," Wang Gang sneered.

"If you can't speak properly, then shut your stinking mouth. You think you're so great?" Ye Huan wasn't going to put up with this guy. They were rivals back in high school, and he always spoke in a sarcastic tone.

"Alright, everyone, say less. Wang Gang, you've gone too far," Xu Tingting said. "Your history grades weren't bad, were they?"

The students laughed. They might have thought Wang Gang's comments were acceptable if he talked about other countries, but when it came to the Japanese, most of them had a reasonable moral compass.

Wang Gang dared not speak. He dared not confront her; her husband held a powerful position in the county. He was a 27-year-old section-level official with real authority.

Ye Huan lost the will to speak, opened a bottle of "Chuang Tian Ya" (a type of Chinese liquor), threw her phone on the bed, and started drinking.

He's growing to love this little house more and more, and he plans to live here from now on. Anyway, it's not far from home. After drinking four cans of liquor, Ye Huan finally picked up his phone to check the time. It was only ten o'clock, and there was still plenty of time to go to bed.