Huihui

When Liu Chang'an arrived at Gao Dewei's house, it was almost lunchtime. Gao Dewei came out to greet him, and Liu Chang'an saw a Strong Deer Tractor driving by from afar. Gao Dewei waved from the driver's seat.

"Isn't my tractor cool? I just ran over a bunch of toy cars." Gao Dewei stopped the tractor next to Liu Chang'an, jumped off, and patted the wheels as he spoke.

"Tractor racing or drifting?" Liu Chang'an laughed, climbing into the cab. "I'll give it a try."

The tractor had only one seat in the cab, so Liu Chang'an sat down, while Gao Dewei, standing on the foot pedals and hanging outside, said, "No, my brother and the others found a road with big puddles and muddy slopes, so they went to test the off-road capabilities of their vehicles. They were competing with each other on that muddy slope, and in the end, I drove this tractor over and beat them in a flash. They got bored and came back to prepare for dinner."

Men's happiness is so simple; they can play in puddles and dirt slopes for a long time.

There's no need for large tractors to be optimized for off-road capabilities; they simply rely on their size and horsepower to crush normal off-road vehicles. Gao Dewei's brothers are clearly normal men, and normal men like to argue about which type of off-road vehicle is more capable.

Some hidden psychological research suggests that men's desire to verify the off-road capabilities of SUVs is similar to their enjoyment of verifying and boasting about their masculine abilities. Therefore, when they have the financial means to choose their favorite SUV, they like to compare the off-road capabilities of their vehicles with each other.

It's rather vulgar for people to directly compare their male abilities, but comparing them in a different way is more respectable and can satisfy men's desire to compare.

In other words, adult men comparing car performance is essentially no different from them comparing who could pee the farthest when they were kids.

Men are so naive.

Gao Dewei's tractor shouldn't be involved in this kind of competition. Liu Chang'an was driving this Strong Deer Tractor, and there was nothing that Gao Dewei needed to give him special pointers on, because the main function of this thing was not racing. The structure and layout of the cab were not much different from decades ago, still with the same levers and buttons.

After all, Liu Chang'an was someone who had driven a tractor to build a new socialist countryside in fertile fields.

If other classmates wanted to play with his beloved tractor, Gao Dewei would definitely not allow it. Liu Chang'an could drive it as soon as he sat on it, but Gao Dewei didn't find it strange at all. What couldn't Chang'an do?

Gao Dewei was always very proud of his friend. He pointed Liu Chang'an to the parking lot, where Liu Chang'an saw several off-road vehicles that looked like they had rolled around in mud. There were also two familiar faces next to them, Gao Cunyi and Gao Yening.

"Gao Yening is your cousin?" Liu Chang'an said with some surprise. This guy doesn't seem to be pursuing Liu Yuewang anymore recently. He wondered if Liu Yuewang had really blocked all his contact information.

"Yes, you know each other?" Gao Dewei greeted him happily, "Second Brother, come here."

Gao Yening and Gao Cunyi walked over together and greeted Liu Chang'an with surprise.

Gao Cunyi already knew that Liu Chang'an was his cousin's classmate, but Gao Yening only found out recently.

"Did you visit Professor Liu for the New Year?" Liu Chang'an asked Gao Yening casually after greeting them.

Gao Yening scratched the back of his head.

"Brother Liu, come visit the martial arts school sometime. If you're itching for a fight, I'll find a few people to spar with you," Gao Cunyi invited.

"Why don't you go do it yourself?" Gao Dewei laughed.

"Just seeing his fist makes my whole body ache," Gao Cunyi laughed.

"Chang'an could easily take on your martial arts school single-handedly."

"He's our martial arts school's advisor, how could he challenge our school to a duel? Would he challenge himself?"

"Sigh, I also want to be a martial arts master."

After chatting for a few minutes, Gao Dewei and Liu Chang'an went to find their classmates.

The high school reunion was still arranged near the farmhouse. Gao Dewei's father, Gao Yuanshan, felt that the short-term tourism market for city dwellers to take vacations during holidays was on the rise, so he expanded the farmhouse. It was fully booked from New Year's Eve to the third day of the Lunar New Year, and only today did some rooms become available for the classmates to stay overnight.

Especially the New Year's Eve dinner at farmhouses, where you can cook for yourself. Although the rural environment is not exactly the same as your childhood memories, it can still satisfy the feelings of many middle-aged and elderly people. And often, it is they who decide where the whole family will spend the New Year.

"Liu Chang'an, hurry up, we're waiting for you to start eating!"

As soon as Liu Chang'an stepped onto the small bridge in front of the farmhouse, a sharp-eyed classmate spotted Liu Chang'an and called out to him.

Liu Chang'an quickened his pace slightly.

Fewer than twenty classmates came today. As everyone expected, it's practically impossible for us all to reunite after high school graduation.

That's life; many people you turn around and never see again.

Some were casual acquaintances, some were close relatives and friends, and some were the most beloved people for whom they would give their lives.

People throughout history have left behind countless writings with such feelings and sighs. Liu Chang'an thought for a moment, and with the same sentiment, quickly greeted everyone, "Let's eat!"

It's been over eight months since I graduated high school. After a short freshman semester, the familiar impressions I had of my classmates have changed a lot compared to how they look now. Some of them even seem like they've been completely transformed.

Some female students learned how to do makeup and dress up, and they looked like completely different people. The male students mainly changed their temperament, changed their hairstyles and clothing styles, but the changes were not as significant as those of the female students.

Actually, Gao Dewei is one of the male classmates who has changed quite a bit. He is much more muscular than when he graduated from high school, but he still wears glasses and has a buzz cut. The change in his physique is greater than the change in his temperament.

Bai Hui's transformation was expected, because in high school, all the pretty girls wore school uniforms, and everyone could imagine that a girl like her would be completely different in college, like a poodle getting a full makeover.

Grooming dogs is common, but among common pet dog breeds, the Poodle's coat has the most malleable coat. The improvement in a Poodle's appearance and temperament brought about by grooming is as significant as the difference between a girl with and without makeup.

Miao Yingying seemed to have gone through a second puberty; she was wearing a down jacket over a tank top, showing that her curves were surging compared to her high school days.

Lin Xinhuai hasn't changed much, except he's become more confident and cheerful. After all, he's doing what he loves, and the income is good. He's gained some fans through his work. The collaborative sneakers he's wearing remind people of the time he gave shoes to Miao Yingying, only to have her throw them away, box and all, which is a bit of a sad story.

Liu Chang'an and Gao Dewei sat down, Miao Yingying beckoned Bai Hui, who was standing by the fishpond, bending over to poke the carp with a small fishing rod, to come and sit down.

At classmate gatherings, seating arrangements aren't strictly regulated, and there's no distinction between the most senior and junior seats. Generally, those who arrive first sit together, and the last few to arrive naturally sit together as well.

There were no other seats available besides the one next to Liu Chang'an, so Bai Hui looked left and right and had no choice but to sit down next to Liu Chang'an.

"Hi, long time no see." Bai Hui waved slightly, maintaining the familiar tone of a friend chatting with her classmates—neither overly enthusiastic nor overly formal. "We often hung out around Baolong Center during winter break, but I didn't see you. You must have been quite busy?"

"Chang'an went to Antarctica." Gao Dewei looked past Liu Chang'an at Bai Hui and said knowingly, "You didn't know?"

"I don't know." Bai Hui actually knew, but Liu Chang'an hadn't told her, so of course she didn't know. He hadn't even considered telling her, so why should she reveal that she had specifically inquired about his whereabouts? So Bai Hui asked again, "Is Antarctica fun?"

"Of course it'll be fun! Do you even need to ask? It's much more fun than those malls and shopping centers you guys usually go to," Gao Dewei added.

"When did you get back? My cousin wanted to have a drink with you," Bai Hui said again.

"She came back on New Year's Eve. I just asked her. Is your cousin a good drinker? Chang'an could drink your whole family under the table," Gao Dewei added.

Bai Hui took a deep breath and looked straight ahead, but there was Qian Ning right in front of her. She had no choice but to lower her head and pretend to look at her plate, but the plate disappeared again. She quickly stepped back a little before she could see her plate.

"Gao Dewei, is Huihui talking to you?" Miao Yingying glared at Gao Dewei, who really had no sense of propriety at all.

That's normal, though. In Gao Dewei's eyes, only An Nuan is worthy of Liu Chang'an. He never even considered that other girls might like Liu Chang'an.

"Huihui?" Liu Chang'an laughed when he heard Miao Yingying's novel way of Bai Hui.

"Isn't he cute?" Bai Hui pursed her lips, a little unhappy. After all, so much time had passed since the winter break, and this was their first meeting. He didn't even give her the tender look one would expect after a long separation.

This is Liu Chang'an under normal circumstances; on the day I confessed my feelings, he showed me a little bit of tenderness.

"This title reminds me of something. The book 'Guixin Zashi' records that Song Dynasty groomed their pet dogs. It says that girls liked to crush balsam flowers to extract the juice and dye their fingernails."

"Pound the leaves of red balsam flowers and add a little alum. Wash your fingernails, apply this to them, and wrap them with a piece of cloth overnight. The initial color is light, but after three to five applications, the color becomes like rouge and cannot be washed off. Many Hui women enjoy this, and sometimes use it to dye their hands and even their cats and dogs as a game." Liu Chang'an still remembers many aspects of life during the Song Dynasty clearly. At that time, women's entertainment and the cosmetics industry were already highly developed.

"Is that Huihui the same as me Huihui?!" Bai Hui exclaimed in annoyance, admiringly remarking on how this person could spout such nonsense.

"So when I heard the name Huihui, I thought of Zhou Mi's records and connected it to pet grooming. And then... I just felt that you've changed a lot since high school, like how a regular poodle looks completely different after a grooming session." Liu Chang'an explained, "Human thought often jumps around so naturally and logically, isn't that normal?"

"Are you insulting me... or praising me?" Bai Hui was a little unsure. A poodle with poor grooming looks like an ugly duckling, but after grooming, it becomes as elegant and beautiful as a Cygnus. The key point is that comparing a person's transformation to pet grooming feels a bit inappropriate.

But Liu Chang'an always used strange metaphors, and they weren't necessarily insults towards her, so Bai Hui just pressed her chest slightly and didn't decide to get angry immediately.

"Of course he's insulting you!" Miao Yingying said with absolute certainty, "Liu Chang'an doesn't know how to praise people."

Hearing this, Bai Hui suddenly realized that although she had known Liu Chang'an for so long, he had only occasionally praised her for her large breasts, and most of the time he had been scolding her!

"You called me a dog, I'll bite you later." Bai Hui decided to get angry and didn't want to talk to Liu Chang'an anymore. She took out her phone and sent him a text message, then pointed to her phone, indicating that he should check the message later.

"Have some rice, have some rice," Gao Dewei warmly greeted everyone.