Chapter 77: Shen Jiamei
As it was getting dark, Li Nuo's grandfather finally returned home.
The basket on his back still contained some vegetables that had not been sold, and in his hand was a cleaned carp that had already been prepared.
The moment he entered the yard, Grandpa Li shouted toward the house.
"Old woman, I'm back! Come give me a hand. I bought a fish today. It was still jumping around when I got it. Let's steam it for dinner."
"Coming, coming!"
Grandma Li quickly answered from inside the house.
After putting the basket down, Grandpa Li carefully stored away the weighing scale he used for selling vegetables. He then sat down on the ground and was about to take off his shoes when he suddenly heard a young voice call out from behind him:
"Grandpa."
Hearing the familiar voice, the old man quickly turned around.
The moment he saw who it was, his wrinkled face lit up with joy.
"So it's Nuo'er! When did you get back? Why didn't you tell us beforehand?"
"I arrived about an hour ago. I called before getting on the bus, but nobody answered."
"Your grandma and I were probably working in the fields at the time."
The old man spoke while taking off his shoes.
"By the way, Nuo'er, have you gotten used to living by yourself in the city?"
"It's been fine."
Naturally, Li Nuo was not going to tell them that he was not actually living alone anymore.
"Has anyone at your new school bullied you or treated you badly? If something happened, don't be afraid. Just tell Grandpa, and I'll stand up for you."
As he spoke, he waved his fist, which was as big as a casserole pot.
Looking at the thin old man waving his fist in front of him, Li Nuo remembered something that had happened when he was in his first year of middle school.
Back then, he had been bullied at school.
Someone had thrown his schoolbag into the girls' restroom.
When he came home looking miserable, he told his grandparents everything that had happened.
The next day, Grandpa Li personally took him to school and fiercely scolded the children who had bullied him.
Although it did not really solve the problem and the bullying continued afterward, Li Nuo had never forgotten that his grandfather had stood up for him.
"No. Everyone at school treats me very well."
"Is that so? Good, good."
The old man laughed heartily.
Later, during dinner, Li Nuo told his grandparents many stories about what had happened during the past six months at Nanqin High School.
Of course, he did not tell them that he had joined The Girls.
His grandfather's thinking was far too traditional.
If the old man found out that he was a boy dressing up as a girl and performing on stage, he would probably get so angry that he would throw him out of the house.
……………………
The next afternoon, Li Nuo left home to visit his eldest uncle and second uncle.
In his hands were New Year gifts prepared by his grandparents, including oranges, cigarettes, tea, and other items.
Although he had repeatedly refused to bring them, he could not argue against his grandparents, who insisted that bringing gifts was basic courtesy when visiting others.
After arriving at his eldest uncle's house, Li Nuo exchanged a few polite greetings, sat for a short while, then found an excuse to leave.
When he arrived at his second uncle's house, however, he ran into the person he least wanted to see.
That person was his second uncle's son, his cousin Li Shuyu.
Technically, Li Shuyu was only a few months older than him.
They had even attended the same middle school.
During the period when Li Nuo lived with his second uncle's family, this cousin had bullied him countless times and constantly found new ways to torment him.
For example, he would turn off the lights while Li Nuo was taking a shower or secretly put bugs into his schoolbag.
There were so many pranks that they were impossible to count.
Even worse, among the students who bullied him at school, Li Shuyu had been one of the main offenders and perhaps the cruelest one of all.
Besides that, he often blamed his own misdeeds on Li Nuo.
Whether it was stealing money from the house or breaking something, he would simply say that Li Nuo had done it.
And his parents, Li Nuo's uncle and aunt, always believed their son without question.
At that moment, Li Shuyu was sitting in the living room playing on his phone.
He did not even notice Li Nuo entering.
Only after his mother pointed it out did he look up briefly at Li Nuo, then lower his head and continue playing on his phone.
Li Nuo did not care.
After handing the gifts to his aunt, he simply said he had something else to do and would be leaving.
His aunt happily accepted the gifts, exchanged a few polite words, and did not try very hard to keep him there.
On the way back, Li Nuo went to one of his favorite places from the past. A reservoir in the village.
Normally, almost nobody came there.
Whenever he felt unhappy in the past, he would come here alone, sit on the grass beside the reservoir, and quietly stare at the mirror-like surface of the water.
Sometimes, he would even sing at the top of his lungs, using the empty space to release all the frustration he had bottled up inside.
Today, however, he found someone already sitting there.
From behind, he could only tell that it was a girl with long black hair.
She was sitting on the grass, playing a harmonica.
The pleasant sound drifted through the air like a gentle breeze and entered Li Nuo's ears.
The beautiful melody immediately drew him in.
Finding a spot not far from the girl, he sat down and listened quietly.
Just as he was becoming completely absorbed in the music, it suddenly stopped.
The girl checked her watch, put away her harmonica, and prepared to leave, as though she had something urgent to do.
After standing up, she brushed the grass from her skirt.
The moment she turned around, she noticed Li Nuo sitting behind her.
A look of excitement immediately flashed across her face.
"Nuonuo!?"
Hearing her voice, Li Nuo looked up.
Only then did he realize that the black-haired girl was someone he knew.
It was Shen Jiamei.
"Jiamei?"
Li Nuo looked at her in disbelief.
"Why are you here?"
With light and cheerful steps, Shen Jiamei walked toward him.
"I only got back yesterday... No, wait, I should be asking you that. Why are you here?"
"After returning to my hometown, staying at home all day felt too boring, so I came out to get some fresh air."
She brushed aside a strand of hair near her ear and smiled.
"Nuonuo, you really haven't changed much. You're still as cute as ever."
"Uh... I guess."
Being called cute did not make Li Nuo happy at all.
Then he added, "But you've changed a lot..."
The Shen Jiamei he remembered from middle school had short black hair, average looks, slightly dark skin, and a few pimples on her face.
The girl standing before him now was completely different.
She had long, silky black hair, fair and delicate skin, and although she was wearing thick winter clothes, her tall and slender figure was still obvious.
She looked every bit like a beautiful long-haired young woman.
Other than her face still resembling the Shen Jiamei from his memories, it was almost impossible to believe she was the same classmate he had known in middle school.