Jiang Chengzhou wanted to say that he hadn’t lied.
His aunt was exactly as his uncle had described her—a fairy.
More than a decade had passed, yet Aunt Lin Zhilan still looked just as she had back then. Time seemed to have treated her with exceptional kindness, leaving her beauty completely untouched.
Linlin was pretty too, but she lacked the unique air Aunt Lin possessed—the charm that the years had bestowed upon Lin Zhilan.
After finishing her meal, Lin Zhilan glanced at her watch. “How many days off do you have? How long can you stay at home?”
“I’m reporting back tomorrow afternoon.”
Lin Zhilan blinked, quickly forcing down her reluctance. “Is there anything you’d like to eat? Your aunt will make it for you.”
Jiang Chengzhou thought for a moment. “Anything is fine, as long as it’s not fish, shrimp, crab, or anything else that comes from the water.”
After eating seafood for the past few years, he was thoroughly sick of it.
“All right.” Lin Zhilan stood up. “The waterway outside has reopened now. I’ll go to the supply cooperative and see if they have anything fresh.”
Jiang Chengzhou wanted to go with her, but Lin Zhilan refused. “Stay home. Your uncle will be waking up soon.”
He knew that Lin Zhilan missed the children, and that her husband did too—he simply never said so.
She changed her shoes and walked to the door, then turned back to Jiang Chengzhou. “Don’t tutor Su Li in his homework. You’re only home for two days, so leave him with some happy memories.”
Tutoring Su Li could drive anyone mad.
Linlin had always had a good temper, yet even she had been brought to tears several times.
All because her little brother was too stupid for words.
In a family full of clever people, Su Li was the sole exception. When clever people tried to teach an idiot, the only result was that the clever people ended up furious.
Jiang Chengzhou glanced at his younger brother and smiled as he agreed.
Lin Zhilan clearly understood Su Lang. She had barely left when he woke up.
The first thing he asked was about Jiang Chengzhou.
“Where’s your aunt?”
Jiang Chengzhou hadn’t been home for several years, yet he felt as though he had never really left.
His aunt was still the same distinctive matriarch, and his uncle was still the same man who always placed his wife first in both his heart and his eyes.
Of course, Jiang Chengzhou knew things weren’t quite the same as before.
Once people reached adulthood, time became a little more generous and stopped rushing them toward old age so quickly.
But the changes in Linlin and Su Li were enormous, reminders of how swiftly the years had passed for the adults.
Jiang Chengzhou smiled smugly. “My aunt went out to buy food for me.”
Su Lang raised an eyebrow but didn’t retort.
Jiang Chengzhou still felt sorry for his uncle, so he brought out his breakfast as well.
Su Lang was eating when Su Li came over.
“What is it this time?”
Su Li grinned and pushed his exercise book over. “I don’t know how to do this problem.”
Su Lang lowered his voice. “Go ask your brother.”
Jiang Chengzhou had sharp ears. His gaze immediately swept over. “Don’t ask me. My aunt said I’m not allowed to do any dirty or tiring work.”
Su Lang choked and began explaining the problem to his son.
That evening, they prepared a lavish dinner. Afterward, the whole family sat in the courtyard to enjoy the evening cool, just as they had in the past.
Su Lang still asked Jiang Chengzhou about his plans.
Jiang Chengzhou said that his mission had temporarily come to an end. He would have to return to the capital for further training, and afterward he would follow whatever arrangements the army and the school made.
Lin Zhilan let out a sigh of relief after hearing this.
Perhaps the families of soldiers were the people in this world who longed most for peace and prayed hardest that there would be no war.
Linlin would be taking the college entrance exam the following year, and Jiang Chengzhou also asked what she wanted to study and which school she hoped to attend.
Linlin’s goal had always been clear: the Capital Aviation and Aerospace University.
It was the country’s first university dedicated exclusively to aviation and aerospace. Directly administered by the Ministry of Aviation Industry and the Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, it possessed the nation’s only collection of laboratories, wind tunnels, and aircraft-testing equipment.
Its admission score was exceptionally high, while political screening and physical examinations were both rigorous.
Yet when Linlin said she wanted to apply, no one in the family doubted that she could succeed.
The girl was both clever and hardworking. Her grades would not let her down.
The next day, ordinary ferries outside the island resumed service. After hearing about the typhoon on the island, Yan Yuan and the others had waited in Yangcheng for several days. At last, they were able to take a boat home.
Naturally, they went home first.
When they heard that Jiang Chengzhou had returned, a group of them gathered at Lin Zhilan’s house again.
They had not seen one another in a long time, and there was endless laughter and conversation as they caught up.
Lin Zhilan had heard Su Lang say that Jiang Chengzhou liked Shen Man. Though she did not interfere, she was a little curious herself.
She often kept an eye on how the two of them were doing.
But today, she began to doubt Su Lang’s claim.
From beginning to end, Jiang Chengzhou showed no special treatment toward Shen Man. Shen Man acted completely natural around him, no different from how she treated anyone else.
After everyone had left, Lin Zhilan asked Jiang Chengzhou, “I heard that before you were transferred away from school, you went to see Shen Man and gave her a bag of plums?”
Jiang Chengzhou thought about it. “I think that did happen.”
Lin Zhilan probed, “Then why did you only give them to her? Why didn’t you give some to Xiao Yuan and Xiao Xuan?”
Jiang Chengzhou scratched his head. “Maybe I forgot. I don’t remember.”
“Damn Su Lang,” Lin Zhilan cursed inwardly. Then she smiled and said, “Never mind. Go chop the meat. I’ll make you a few extra jars of sauce to take with you.”
Jiang Chengzhou raised an eyebrow. As soon as she turned around, he patted his chest.
How could he possibly have forgotten?
Back then, when he went to give Shen Man the plums, he had claimed that he’d bought too many and couldn’t finish them, so he was giving some to her.
Shen Man hadn’t thought much of it. She had simply replied with a folk saying:
“Peaches nourish you, apricots harm you, and beneath a plum tree lies a dead man.”
Then she had advised him not to eat too many plums.
Jiang Chengzhou had been depressed about that for several months, though he had also felt that Shen Man was rather endearing for being like that.
It might not make him sound like a very good person, but Jiang Chengzhou liked Shen Man. He simply had no intention of dating her. He just liked her, purely and quietly, and didn’t want her to know.
He had never told anyone.
At his most self-righteous, he would even think to himself that the noblest form of love was not possession, but protection.
During all the time Shen Man remained completely unaware, Jiang Chengzhou had already written himself a multi-million-word tragic solo drama about unrequited love in his head.
He didn’t dare tell his aunt, either. He felt like a pervert.
Jiang Chengzhou stayed home for two days before it was time to return to school.
As he said goodbye to his uncle, aunt, and sister, Su Li hugged him when his turn came and whispered in his ear, “Bro, you’re finally leaving. Now Mom, Dad, and Sis are all mine again.”
During the two days Jiang Chengzhou had been home, Linlin had followed him around like a little shadow, trailing behind him no matter what he did.
Lin Zhilan and Su Lang had also focused all their attention on him, caring for him with extraordinary devotion and indulging his every whim.
Su Li had never received such treatment.
He was a little jealous.
After hearing this, Jiang Chengzhou hooked an arm around his younger brother’s shoulders, the corners of his mouth nearly reaching his ears. “You’re jealous of me?”
“No, I’m not!” Su Li insisted for two seconds before adding weakly, “Even if I am a little jealous, you’re leaving soon anyway. I’m not afraid of you.”
“Ha ha ha ha ha…”
Jiang Chengzhou couldn’t hold back his laughter.
He was a little petty and somewhat childish.
Li Xuan had once said that he was jealous of the baby in his aunt’s belly. Now, he was willing to admit it. He liked Su Li as his younger brother, but he couldn’t deny that he still felt the tiniest bit jealous of him.
Now that Su Li was jealous of him, Jiang Chengzhou felt that they were even.
Su Li seemed a little more agreeable than before.
