Chapter 84 The weather is getting colder and colder, and so is my heart.

Sun Jianguo was clearly having a blast, and asked Jiang Nian if he would post it on Douyin.

After Jiang Nian shook his head, he awkwardly made a request. Seeing Jiang Nian nod, Sun Jianguo chuckled and ran to take photos posing with the fish keeper, then posted it on Douyin.

The caption read: “Seeing through all people and things, accepting fate’s arrangements. The weather gets colder, and so does my heart. A middle-aged person’s greatest kindness is to remain silent.”

Jiang Nian saw it, laughed, and gave a big thumbs up.

“Brother Sun, that’s profound.”

Anyway, he didn’t post it on his social media, and the fish and money were all his. Sun Jianguo spent a little money, not only did he show off, but he also got three wild big fish for free.

A win-win.

As for whether Sun Zhicheng in the class group was embarrassed, that had nothing to do with Jiang Nian.

Your dad is happy.

Hmm, both dads are happy.

At noon, Sun Jianguo enthusiastically drove the fish to Xu Qianqian’s old home. Jiang Nian rode his old motorcycle, putt-putting all the way back.

When the black Mazda pulled up to the door, Xu Qianqian was dumbfounded.

Her grandparents were also confused for a long time, constantly telling Sun Jianguo,

“Master, our family didn’t order fish, the banquet is at the house in front of Miaobei.”

Sun Jianguo waved for a large basin, while dialing Jiang Nian’s WeChat video call. This fellow was still riding his bike on the road, and seeing the two old people appear on the screen, he immediately understood.

After a few words of explanation, the two old people finally relaxed and happily went to get the basin.

Sun Jianguo was also a shrewd person, roughly guessing that Jiang Nian had a close relationship with this family, he just didn’t know if they were relatives or in-laws.

He was afraid the two old people wouldn’t understand, so he turned to Xu Qianqian in the yard and said,

“The fish in the basin won’t live long; they need to be kept in a pond.”

Xu Qianqian was a bit confused, “Our small pond in the vegetable garden hasn’t been used for a long time; it’s completely abandoned.”

Sun Jianguo thought for a moment, then directly took out the backup oxygen pump he bought for over a hundred from his car. He wasn’t short on this money; befriending Jiang Nian was more worthwhile.

Many of his boss friends also loved fishing; grasping Jiang Nian was grasping the future.

And he had already thought of the next Douyin caption.

“The wind is too strong, blowing away my fish, just like it blew away my life.”

Xu Qianqian watched as Sun Jianguo personally put oxygen into the basin for the fish and even taught her how to use it, at a loss for words.

Fortunately, Jiang Nian arrived on his beat-up motorcycle at this moment, and Sun Jianguo greeted him with a smile, chatting for a couple of sentences. Before leaving, he made a gesture for contact, then drove away.

“Are all these what you caught?” Xu Qianqian was still a bit confused, looking down at the fish, then at Jiang Nian, “You didn’t spend money to buy them from that person, did you?”

“Believe it or not.” Jiang Nian had an indifferent expression.

When men usually act this way, what they say is generally true. If the gender were reversed, and a woman calmly said ‘believe it or not,’ it would most likely be false.

Xu Qianqian believed it, “Hey, when did you meet that person? You two seem quite familiar.”

“Just met recently, happened to both be fishing at Xiaolongtan.” Jiang Nian walked to the oxygen pump and glanced at it, then squatted down and said, “Only after asking around did I realize he’s a classmate’s dad from my class.”

“Oh, oh, then how do we return this oxygen pump to him?” Xu Qianqian bent down, looking curiously at the dozen or so swimming fish in the two basins, blinking her eyes.

“Just buy it, I just earned a little from him, I’ll transfer the money to him on WeChat later.”

“Earned?”

“Yeah, sold him three fish.”

Xu Qianqian was almost dizzy from listening, what kind of absurd plot was this?

“By the way, Xu Qianqian.” Jiang Nian stood up, revealing his true intention, “Even with the oxygen pump, these fish might not all survive, so you should pick a few to gut.”

“Why? Why don’t you gut them?!”

Jiang Nian spread his hands, “I’m a guest.”

“What kind of guest are you?!” Xu Qianqian gritted her teeth, suddenly understanding someone’s bad taste, “You have to do it too! Otherwise, you’ll eat instant noodles for lunch!”

Jiang Nian was as steady as an old dog, a peaceful smile on his face.

Sure enough, Grandma couldn’t help but come over to mediate.

“I’ll do it, I’ll do it.”

In front of the outdoor faucet, Xu Qianqian squatted there alone, glumly gutting fish.

The ground was covered in white fish scales, and under the faucet, several fish in a red plastic basin were gutted and cleaned, their bloody water flowing out along the moss-covered ditch.

Jiang Nian sat on the wall, playing with his phone and loudly mocking, almost laughing himself out of Qi.

“Are you trying to die?!” Xu Qianqian held the cleaver and chopped it fiercely on the cutting board with a thud, “Get lost, don’t let me see you!”

“No way, do you know how hard I worked to catch those fish?”

“What does that have to do with me?!” Xu Qianqian was almost fuming with Life Qi, having gutted five fish, her hands were almost numb.

“Of course it has something to do with you, baby.” Jiang Nian laughed heartily, almost falling off the wall, “You look so funny when you’re angry, and your fish-gutting skills have improved.”

“You! I really want to chop off your dog’s head!”

“Holy moly, you’re so brutal, I’m getting depressed just listening to you.”

In the afternoon, Uncle Xu drove back.

He seemed to be in a good mood, circling the fish in the basin with interest a few times, then asked Xu Qianqian to go inside and wake up Jiang Nian, who had slept all afternoon.

The three of them went up the mountain with incense, candles, and yellow paper packets. Jiang Nian carried a chicken, Uncle Xu carried a red plastic bag containing incense, candles, and paper ingots.

Xu Qianqian held a bag filled with thick paper money.

Since Uncle Xu had already swept the tomb yesterday, the surrounding weeds were all completely cleared. There were traces of burnt paper on the ground, and the father and daughter both had calm expressions on their faces, occasionally smiling along the way.

Time makes people accustomed.

Jiang Nian wasn’t too solemn either, like visiting an elder, he bled the chicken while talking. The bright red blood stained the yellow paper, just a little bit, then it was burned.

It was cloudy, and the temperature in the mountains was low.

As the paper burned, scraps flew, and he saw a layer of goosebumps on Xu Qianqian’s arm. So he quietly asked if she was cold, and she shook her head.

Too much yellow paper couldn’t be thrown in at once, as it wouldn’t burn through. Jiang Nian sped up the frequency of throwing paper into the fire. The flames instantly grew several times larger, and the temperature slowly rose.

The mountains are rainy, and ditches get blocked by fallen leaves, or soil accumulates and hardens over time. Slowly, the once flat and smooth tomb would accumulate water.

After lighting the incense and candles, Uncle Xu squatted by the ditch, pulling weeds. He held a small square stone he had picked up by the roadside, patiently clearing the uneven ditch.

After working all afternoon, the area around the tomb was finally cleared completely.

The three rested for a while, then prepared to leave.

Uncle Xu carried the dead chicken, preparing to throw it into the river according to custom. The elders said that this kind of chicken, after being stained with yellow paper, loses its flavor and cannot be eaten; it must be discarded after use.

The extra incense and candles were not taken away, but left nearby, pressed down with grayish-white pebbles. They arrived with hands full of things, and left carrying a dead chicken.

As they walked back, Uncle Xu specifically cautioned,

“Look straight ahead, don’t look back.”

Jiang Nian didn’t know what to say, so he simply remained silent. He suppressed the instinct to look back all the way until they had completely exited the mountain hollow, only then did he I couldn’t help it look back.

Uncle Xu and Xu Qianqian also stopped and looked back.

The mountain itself wasn’t particularly beautiful, even a bit deformed. Many places were like large bald patches, revealing yellow earth, looking like a dark mass from afar.

The cloudy sky was somber, the mountains silent.

Jiang Nian looked for a while, then withdrew his gaze, thinking that Uncle Xu would probably return here someday. Seeing his diligent cleaning, it was as if he was going to lie down there tomorrow.

After descending the mountain, the atmosphere gradually returned to normal.

Someone in the class group suddenly added him. Jiang Nian initially thought it was his “good son” Sun Zhicheng. But it turned out to be Lin Dong, and he immediately remembered the phrase “only an idiot would report.”

After accepting.

(Lin Dong): “Jiang Nian, can I ask you something?”

“Speak.”

(Lin Dong): “Did you take any other photos while fishing today? I have a cousin who heard about you, he really admires you and wants to see the fish you caught.”

“Cousin?”

(Lin Dong): “Yes, what’s wrong?”

Jiang Nian wasn’t too enthusiastic, “Only that video in the group, I didn’t take any other pictures.”

(Lin Dong): “Oh, okay, thanks (grinning).”

“How strange, where did this cousin come from?”

Jiang Nian only found it strange but was too lazy to think about it further. The sky was getting dark, he put away his phone, ready to wash his hands and eat dinner. He had to go back tomorrow afternoon.

The sports meeting ran from Thursday to Saturday afternoon, with evening self-study continuing at night. And starting this week, the school implemented a remedial class system, with classes on Sunday mornings.

This meant that, barring special circumstances, the school’s holiday time would only be Sunday afternoons from now on.

The sports meeting was the last hurrah.

After dinner, Xu Qianqian returned to her room to do homework.

Jiang Nian hadn’t brought any homework and didn’t want to do it. So he turned to Uncle Xu to drink tea together. The two grown men set out hot tea and melon seeds on the second-floor balcony.

Looking out at the dark night, the dim distant mountains merged into it.

Uncle Xu suddenly sighed, “Xiao Nian, you’ve grown up too, and become much more sensible.”

“Haha, pretty much, I’m in my third year of high school already.” Jiang Nian laughed, “Eighteen, I’m already an adult.”

In his heart, however, he thought, I’m not sensible, I’m just lusting after your daughter.

I’ll buy a Ghost Fire motorcycle and park it downstairs another day, to check your heart rate.

The childhood sweethearts buff isn’t necessarily a guaranteed success; these days, it’s a dime a dozen. Even going to the same elementary school counts as childhood sweethearts.

Same elementary school, different villages, does that even count?

A simp will never get into her elementary school.

So, childhood sweethearts in a broad sense is just a title similar to ‘neighbor’; whether it’s ambiguous or not completely depends on both people’s looks and whether they click.

If they look good, childhood sweethearts.

If they don’t look good, then it’s…

“My Ugly as Hell Monkey Neighbor, Often Confesses in Incomprehensible Dialect.”

If they look good and live close by, it’s only natural to have feelings. You might as well try; who cares what happens later? Ambiguity can happen without conditions.

“Speaking of which, you’re eighteen this year, aren’t you? Should you consider enrolling in a driving school or something?” Uncle Xu said, taking a sip of tea, casually reminding him.

Jiang Nian paused for a moment, “I should sign up for a test. Uncle Xu, do you know any instructors?”