In Shen Siyuan's memory, Zhang Haibo's home was a Red Brick Tile House. It wasn't dilapidated, but it was definitely old.
It was probably built in the seventies or eighties. Many of the bricks and tiles had cracks, and moss grew in the shady spots.
The wind and sun had created many small holes in the brick walls, and in the spring, bees loved to drill into them.
So, Shen Siyuan and his friends would cover the hole with an IV bottle, then poke inside with a piece of straw.
When the bees flew out, they would fall into the bottle. They could catch a lot in one day.
Why use an IV bottle? Because it had a wide body and a narrow mouth, making it difficult for the bees to fly out once they were inside.
But those were all fond childhood memories.
Right now, what stood before Shen Siyuan was a villa.
A true European Style villa.
And it was very new; it didn't look like it had been built very long ago.
"Looks like Zhang Haibo really struck it rich," Shen Siyuan said with emotion.
"Your family's not bad off either. It's a good match."
Seventh Aunt grabbed him and pulled him inside, not acting like a stranger at all.
"Auntie, are you home?" Seventh Aunt called out loudly.
Then, a short, dark-skinned middle-aged woman walked out from inside the house.
Behind her was a young lady, also not tall, looking to be 1.6 meters at most.
But she had a voluptuous figure, curvy in all the right places. Her face was small and delicate, seemingly flawless with almost no imperfections.
But upon closer inspection, you could see she was wearing a thick layer of foundation that concealed all blemishes.
She was pretty, yes, but her makeup was so heavy that you couldn't tell what she actually looked like.
"Cuixiang, you're here!" the middle-aged woman greeted them warmly.
"Hello, Auntie," Shen Siyuan quickly said.
This woman was Zhang Haibo's mother. Of course, Shen Siyuan knew her.
"Is this Siyuan? You've grown so big! Let Auntie have a good look at you."
Zhang Haibo's mom ignored Seventh Aunt, took Shen Siyuan's hand, and examined him closely.
"Auntie, it's been so many years. You haven't changed a bit," Shen Siyuan said with a smile.
"Nonsense, Auntie has gotten much older." She said this, but her face was full of smiles.
The more she looked at Shen Siyuan, the more pleased she was. He was tall and well-built, with fair skin, and his eyes were bright and full of spirit.
Plus, she knew his family background, so she was very satisfied with him.
But her satisfaction wasn't enough; her daughter had to be satisfied too.
She turned and waved to her daughter standing behind her.
"What are you doing just standing there傻ly? Come over, let Seventh Aunt introduce you two."
"Why would I need to introduce them? Seeing how you are, Big Sister, they must be quite familiar with each other too, right?" Seventh Aunt said with a laugh.
Zhang Haibo's mother nodded and said, "This boy was classmates with our Haibo. He used to come over to our house to play all the time when he was little.
Such a rambunctious kid. The moment you mentioned him the other day, I remembered…"
After speaking, she prepared to introduce her daughter, who had walked over.
"Mom, you don't have to introduce us. Shen Big Head, how could I not know him?" she said, covering her mouth as she giggled.
When Shen Siyuan was little, his head was slightly bigger than others, which was how he got that nickname.
But no one had called him that for many years.
But unexpectedly, since coming back, first it was his Maternal Granduncle, and now it was Zhang Shengnan before him.
That's right, Zhang Shengnan was the name of the girl in front of him.
"It's good that you know each other." Zhang Shengnan's mother was very happy to hear that.
"Auntie, we're more than familiar. When we were kids, I remember she chased me for a whole kilometer with a poop-covered stick.
It left a deep impression. I still remember it to this day, haha…" Shen Siyuan laughed heartily.
Zhang Shengnan shot Shen Siyuan a fierce glare. He was completely ruining her reputation.
"You silly girl…"
Zhang Shengnan's mother looked at her daughter, exasperated.
Her daughter's name was quite fitting.
She had been a Tomboy since she was little, so hearing Shen Siyuan say that, she didn't doubt it one bit.
"Mom, that never happened. Don't listen to his nonsense."
Zhang Shengnan subconsciously wrinkled her nose.
Zhang Shengnan's mother knew immediately that Shen Siyuan wasn't lying, because whenever Zhang Shengnan lied, she would subconsciously wrinkle her nose.
"Auntie, let the kids chat by themselves. We adults shouldn't get involved."
Seventh Aunt pulled her aside.
They were here for a blind date, not to watch her discipline her daughter.
"Are you staying for lunch?" Zhang Shengnan's mother asked, taking the cue.
She was just being polite.
"We wouldn't want to trouble you…"
The two of them walked towards the house as they spoke, leaving only Shen Siyuan and Zhang Shengnan behind.
"Are you happy now?" Zhang Shengnan said, displeased.
"Who told you to call me Shen Big Head?"
"Well, am I wrong? I didn't give you the nickname. I'm just stating a fact."
"I was stating a fact, too."
"Tch~, for a grown man, you're so petty," Zhang Shengnan said disdainfully.
Shen Siyuan didn't want to keep arguing with her about this. He would just make some small talk to complete the mission and report back to his mom.
So he changed the subject and asked, "Is your brother not back?"
"No."
"I heard he got rich.
What kind of business is he in over in Coconut City?"
"Are you here on a blind date with me or my brother? Why do you keep asking about him?"
"Alright then, tell me about yourself. You just graduated from university this year, right?"
"Mhm…"
Zhang Shengnan didn't hide anything and told Shen Siyuan everything about her situation.
Of course, there was no point in hiding it; this information could be easily found out.
Neither Zhang Shengnan nor her brother Zhang Haibo were the academic type.
Zhang Haibo didn't even get into university and eventually chose to try his luck in Coconut City.
Zhang Shengnan did a bit better, getting into Qionghai Normal University, a second-tier university.
She was an Elementary Education Major, a field where graduation basically meant unemployment.
"So what are you planning to do in the future?" Shen Siyuan asked curiously.
But since her brother was so successful, he figured she would probably go to Coconut City to join Zhang Haibo.
"I signed with an MCN to do Short Video Content Creation.
You have Douyin? Follow me," Zhang Shengnan said.
Of course, Shen Siyuan had Douyin.
He scrolled through it like crazy whenever he was slacking off at work.
Zhang Shengnan's Douyin name was [Zhang Dali], and she had eighty thousand followers.
Shen Siyuan randomly clicked on a video and immediately thought, 'Holy cow…'
He saw her, dressed in a Maid Outfit, crushing a Soda Can with her bare hands…
Shen Siyuan looked at her in astonishment.
She immediately raised her arms, struck a strongman pose, and said fiercely, "What are you looking at? Watch out, or I'll punch you."
Seeing her act like this, Shen Siyuan felt a little like laughing.
Who would've thought this petite girl was not only a violent woman but also a comedian.
"Do you think I can get famous?" Zhang Shengnan asked.
"You can get a little popular, but it'll probably be hard to get really famous," Shen Siyuan said after thinking for a moment.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because you don't have any substantive content. It's hard for people to remember you."
"What do you know."
Obviously, Shen Siyuan's words had made Zhang Shengnan very unhappy.
Those girls on Douyin who just wiggle their butts have millions of followers. What kind of content do they have?
Alright, she had countered him into silence.
Actually, the two of them got along quite well, bonded by their childhood friendship after all.
But it was obvious that Zhang Shengnan didn't want to get into a relationship and get married so soon.
What she wanted most right now was to get famous and become a big internet celebrity.
Shen Siyuan expressed his understanding.
So after exchanging contact information, he didn't stay for lunch and just went straight home. As for Seventh Aunt, she was long gone.
Seeing her son return, his mom Huang Huijuan immediately came over with an excited look on her face.
"How was the girl? Did she catch your eye?"
"Nope, we're not a good match," Shen Siyuan said.
Huang Huijuan, who had just been all smiles, immediately changed her expression upon hearing this.
"You didn't even try to get to know her.
How do you know you're not a good match?"
Shen Siyuan took out his Mobile Phone and opened Zhang Shengnan's Douyin to show her.
"Isn't this great? She's strong, which means she's healthy. Your future kids will definitely be healthy too. And I won't have to worry about you committing domestic violence against her."
"Mom, what are you talking about? She won't be afraid, but I will be!" Shen Siyuan said, speechless.
"Pah, you useless thing! What's the point of having you? You got my hopes up for nothing. Get your butt back to Binhai. Just looking at you annoys me."
His mom gave him a disgusted look and turned to go back inside.
Shen Siyuan: …