Age: My Small World

The weather was quite nice that day. After getting on the bus, he found a window seat and prepared to enjoy the scenery outside all the way home.

Not long after, a familiar figure appeared in his line of sight.

The man also noticed Yang Jun, who stood out from the crowd in the car, and exclaimed in surprise, "Yang Jun, it's you!"

"What a coincidence, Yu Li, I didn't expect you to be taking this train home too."

"Yeah, it's quite a coincidence."

The person who came was Yu Li, my classmate for three years. She was still the same as I remembered, with a round face and two braids.

However, unlike her former naivety, Yu Li, now in her early twenties, looks more mature and poised.

She went straight to the seat next to Yang Jun and sat down. Immediately, the scent of gardenias reached Yang Jun's nose.

"It's been a long time. How are you doing in the capital?" Yu Li brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and looked straight at him.

"That's great. What about you? Did you stay in the provincial capital to work after graduation?"

Yu Li was admitted to Shandong Normal University, and she will naturally graduate around the same time as him.

"Yes, I'm currently teaching at a high school in the provincial capital."

She nodded.

"You've become a teacher! That's a bright future." Yang Jun gave a thumbs up. Teaching is a sacred profession; the gardeners of the future flowers.

"Hehe, I'm alright. How about you?"

The two talked back and forth, and gradually got to know each other's situation.

When Yu Li learned that Yang Jun and Cheng Xiaoyu were already married, she felt a little uneasy.

"Congratulations! I could tell back in high school that you and Xiaoyuer were a match made in heaven."

"But you didn't invite me to your wedding, that's too much," she said, seemingly jokingly.

Yang Jun shook his head: "We didn't have a wedding ceremony. We just got our marriage certificate and then had a simple meal with some relatives."

"Oh."

For a moment, there was a quiet silence between the two.

The car seemed to be the same one as before, its dilapidated body swaying precariously on the road, sometimes even shaking and flying when it hit a pothole.

Before she knew it, Yu Li gasped and instinctively grabbed Yang Jun's arm.

She didn't let go even after the car entered a level area.

Yang Jun tried to pull his hand away, but she gripped it tightly again.

Then Yang Jun noticed that her head had also leaned closer.

"Yang Jun, do you know..."

The girl's soft murmurs echoed in his ears, as if she were telling him her innermost thoughts.

She hasn't gotten married yet, not because she hasn't met good people, but because someone left such a deep impression and such a profound mark on her heart that she can't stand anyone else.

"You know what? I'm actually very jealous of Xiaoyuer. I'm jealous that she grew up with you, and I'm jealous that she married you..."

"Yu Li, you will meet the right person in the future."

After a long while, Yang Jun said this.

He really didn't want to cause any more trouble. His family was already in complete chaos, and there was even another one in Hong Kong. However, his relationship with Xu Shanshan was more of a collaboration. That woman was just after his body, yeah, I guess.

"Let's talk about the rest later."

The girl suddenly looked up and smiled.

She released Yang Jun's arm: "Don't take what I said earlier to heart. Just consider it a regret of mine. It feels so good to have all my thoughts out now. Thank you."

Yang Jun shook his head; he could tell that Yu Li's smile was extremely forced. "You can write to me and Xiaoyuer anytime if anything happens." He left Yu Li his address in Beijing.

In fact, when he was at Peking University, he did receive letters from Yu Li and replied to them, but their letters were mostly just normal greetings.

"Well, I will."

As she got off the bus, she still smiled and waved goodbye to him.

The two parted ways at the station and went in opposite directions.

Yang Jun sensed that her eyes became a little red after she turned her head, and then she slowly walked back towards the village.

A short while later, Yang Jun stopped his bicycle next to her.

"I borrowed a bicycle from my brother-in-law. Get on, I'll take you home."

Yu Li was carrying two large bags, and it would be too hard for her to carry them all the way back up the mountain.

Although she was already used to it.

But when she saw Yang Jun appear beside her again, she got into his car without hesitation.

This time, Yu Li openly hugged his waist, while Yang Jun hung the two large packages on the back of the car, so he wasn't worried about them falling off.

"By the way, where's your package? You went home without taking anything?"

Yu Li was in a good mood at that moment, for some reason.

"I came back this time to take my aunt and the others to Beijing to celebrate the New Year together, so I don't plan to stay at home for too long."

"Oh right, I forgot you're already working in Beijing, you've practically settled down here."

"And what about you? If you work in the provincial capital, your family can move there with you, right?"

"Hey, I get really angry just thinking about it."

Yu Li pouted, as if she had remembered something unpleasant.

“After I started working, I could indeed bring my family to live in the provincial capital, but there are only three spots available. My parents and grandfather are the three, and there are also my maternal grandparents.”

She was the only daughter in both families, so nothing they did seemed quite right.

After discussing it, the two sets of grandparents decided to let her parents move to the provincial capital with her, while the three elderly people in her own family remained unmoved.

According to the old man, he had spent his whole life struggling to make a living in the countryside, and he couldn't adapt to going to the provincial capital. Fortunately, he didn't go.

That's true. Even Li Xiaohua took quite a while to adapt.

In recent years, I've become friends with Aunt Xie. We often go shopping and chat, which has made things much smoother.

Anyway, Li Xiaohua has adapted well to life in Beijing now.

Perhaps it's also related to the relatively stable lives of her children.

"It's nothing, I just come back to visit the elderly whenever I have some free time."

"Yes, that's why I came home specifically to visit my grandpa and maternal grandpa this time."

"Your grandfather also keeps bees?"

"Yes, he tries to raise it, but he always says he can't get the same kind of royal jelly as you. He's always been thinking about it." The girl couldn't help but laugh as she talked about it.

"Hehe, I'll bring Grandpa another jar sometime. Royal jelly is good for the old man's health, so I'll let him drink more of it."

“Okay, then I’ll bring you some local specialties too, I can’t let you suffer a loss.” Yu Li said matter-of-factly.

"Old classmate, we've arrived. See you later."

At the next intersection, the two parted ways. (End of Chapter)