As the setting sun cast its golden glow over the street, a young couple rode side by side on bicycles.
"Tell me, what brand of shampoo do you usually use? It smells so good!"
"Does it? Come over to my house and take a bottle."
"Oh, I'd be too embarrassed!"
"Hehe, our esteemed young master Su is actually being polite with me."
Hearing this, Su Ming scratched his head.
It seemed in his memory that the two of them were about as close as two people could possibly be.
Their families were on very friendly terms and visited each other often.
Su Ming wasn't from some wealthy family; his parents were ordinary factory workers.
They earned just enough to keep from starving, getting by day after day.
"By the way, your birthday is in a few days. Is there anything special you want?"
At the mention of this, Shen Ruoyan's eyes lit up.
Every girl in the world hoped to receive a pleasant surprise on an important day.
Still, after thinking about it for a moment, Shen Ruoyan gave a slight shake of her head.
"You're not some rich young master, so forget about it."
"Too small! Your mindset is too small! Can't a person buy a gift without being rich?"
Su Ming shot back fiercely, then let his hand wander mischievously to trace circles on her back.
"You—you, it tickles... Whatever! Do as you please, I'm done arguing with you!"
"So tell me, what do you actually want?"
After a brief moment of thought, Shen Ruoyan wasn't a particularly materialistic girl.
"I don't want anything in particular. I just hope to be happy on my birthday. It would be even better if a lot of people wished me well!"
In the warm sunlight, the girl's radiant smile was bathed in golden light.
Just looking at her profile, Su Ming was already hopelessly captivated.
"Let's go!"
"I'll treat you to spicy strips!"
Pointing in a certain direction, the two of them set off to spend some money!
The Happy Convenience Store.
"Auntie, get me two packs of spicy strips!"
Hearing Su Ming's voice, anyone could tell he was a regular here.
From inside the shop, a kind-looking middle-aged woman poked her head out.
"Oh!"
"Ruoyan is here!"
With that, the proprietress handed two packs of spicy strips over to Shen Ruoyan.
"Auntie! I'm right here, why are you only looking at her?"
As the saying goes, the customer is king, but Su Ming felt zero respect coming his way.
"Why should I look at you? All you do is cause trouble all day long. Look at that, your foot is swollen. Your mom is going to beat you when you get home!"
"Er, you can't put it that way. After all, I'm the one paying, show a little respect."
"Not a shred of respect to give. Besides, isn't it your dad who always comes to pay the tab?"
Su Ming curled his lip, thinking he really must have been a little punk back then.
Still, boys will be boys.
"There are small stools outside, finish eating them before you head home."
And so, Shen Ruoyan and Su Ming sat side by side, sharing their treats.
"Give me some more, I'm totally hooked on these things!"
The spicy strips came in a bag packed with many thin, bite-sized pieces.
They were tinglingly spicy and completely impossible to put down.
"No way! They're all mine! Who told you to take advantage of me all day?"
Shen Ruoyan pouted her lips, starting to guard her food.
She had been hugged and touched by Su Ming, so taking a little interest on the debt was only fair!
"Fine, fine, eat them all, they're all yours."
Just as Su Ming was left speechless, that human lightning rod Zhang Wei suddenly charged over from out of nowhere.
"Brother Ming, what are you sneaking a snack of? And you didn't call me!"
"Please, Ge, I want to eat too, but I can't even get any!"
Since they were close friends, they kept their own rules of address.
You call me older brother, I call you older brother.
The moment Zhang Wei arrived, Shen Ruoyan unconsciously adopted a much more ladylike demeanor.
Her subtle little habits and expressions were things only Su Ming could see.
"Auntie, get me another pack, put it on my old man's tab."
"Forget it, I won't charge you for the third pack, you little spendthrift!"
"Hehe, Auntie, you really are a great person!"
Taking the spicy strips, Su Ming shared them with Zhang Wei.
"Brother Ming, let's split this fifty-fifty, I can't just stand here watching."
"No need, I'll have something to eat in a second."
Sure enough, after eating half a pack, Shen Ruoyan handed the rest over to Su Ming.
This was routine procedure; Su Ming had eaten countless "leftovers" from Shen Ruoyan over the years.
"Aren't you two basically kissing indirectly?"
Zhang Wei was utterly dumbfounded. If the jealous kings in their class ever saw this, the classroom would explode!
"Don't—don't talk nonsense!"
Hearing that, Shen Ruoyan panicked because of a certain unreliable legend—
That kissing a boy would make you pregnant!
If that were true, then she...
"Ge is just teasing you, and you actually believe it? The leftovers I eat every day, I even feed to our dog Big Yellow!"
"Brother Ming, that's reproductive isolation! Even when I skip class, I know that much!!!"
"Get lost, get lost! Always stirring up trouble!"
As the two of them argued, Shen Ruoyan suddenly started putting on a dramatic act.
"Wuwuwu!"
"If anything happens to me, Su Ming, you won't get away with it!"
(⊙.☉)7!
"Big sister!"
"Even he knows that, and you don't?"
"I don't care."
Just as Su Ming was about to continue defending himself, someone suddenly grabbed him by the ear from behind.
The technique was practiced, the strike was swift.
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!"
"Who is it?"
"Oh—Spring's vibrant green willow branches dance by the misty banks..."
An enraged lion one second, a docile kitten the next.
Su Ming's sudden reversal in attitude had Shen Ruoyan doubled over with laughter.
Turning around, standing behind him was a middle-aged woman in her early forties.
It was easy to tell that when she was young, she must have been a great beauty.
Though time spares no one, traces of her past appearance remained.
"Mom! Look at how I can just recite ancient poetry off the top of my head?"
Su Ming's reaction was fast, but his movement was even faster.
He dove right into his mother's arms, as if she hadn't just been twisting his ear a moment ago.
He remembered it all, it was all coming back.
The warmth in his mother's embrace, and that ear-twisting technique.
In his past life, leaving aside Shen Ruoyan and Zhang Wei, he owed his mother an unpayable debt.
She had raised him through every hardship, only for him to eventually drive her into depression.
As the saying goes, Su Ming was definitely no poet.
"You little brat! Not going straight home after school to do your homework, what are you wandering around for?"
"Oh my! Isn't this little Ruoyan? Have you eaten yet? Do you want to come over to Auntie's place for a bite?"
Su Ming's mother, Huang Yuzhen, was no ordinary woman either; her ability to switch expressions was absurdly fast.
To the Su family, Shen Ruoyan and Zhang Wei were both familiar faces, so they just exchanged casual greetings.
"Yuzhen, my dear, little Ming has been quite good. He's been right here with me the whole time, I was watching him, nothing happened."
The proprietress stepped out to chat like old friends. People in this era generally had no malicious intentions.
Everyone wore their hearts on their sleeves, trading genuine feelings for genuine feelings.
"Auntie, I won't go over today. My mom got off work early, she probably already made dinner."
In front of Huang Yuzhen, Shen Ruoyan was the epitome of a good girl—completely different from the impression she gave Su Ming.
A girl with top-tier grades, sweet looks, and an obedient personality like this—even if something went wrong, people would probably assume Su Ming egged her on.
There was no helping it; favoring sons over daughters was just pure entertainment.
"Alright then, Auntie won't keep you. It's close by anyway. Thanks for bringing this rascal back."
"You're welcome, we're all family~"
"Oh my goodness! This girl has the sweetest mouth, simply adorable."
Seeing that Huang Yuzhen was on the verge of forgetting all about her own son, Su Ming gave his mother's sleeve a tug.
"Mom, you gave birth to a son, not a daughter."
"That's why I regret it to death! I told you to behave yourself at school, but you wouldn't listen! You twisted your ankle, so you can suffer through it yourself!"
"I didn't want to either, Xiao Wei can vouch for me."
"Give me a break, between the two of you there isn't a single honest word!"
Long-dead memories came rushing back to attack him once more.
Those two brothers used to frequently use going to the library as an excuse to sneak off and play.
Either digging up bird eggs, or catching loaches and fishing.
They had even used firecrackers to blow up other people's outhouses...
Basically, they did everything except study.
"And another thing, learn from Ruoyan's emotional intelligence. Listen to how nicely she speaks."
"Mom, you have to give me a chance to speak too. Just now you wouldn't even acknowledge me."
"Still talking back! When we get home, I'll have your dad serve you a stir-fried belt and pork strip special!"
"Hiss—it's been so long since I got a beating, should I ask for a thrashing just to get the feeling back???"
As soon as those words left his mouth, everyone present fell silent.
Huang Yuzhen, in particular, immediately panicked and began checking Su Ming all over.
"Ming'er! Why is your brain acting all scrambled? Hurry up and come home with Mom, Mom will make you something delicious."