When others were around, it was obvious that Miao Jiayan was very reserved. His chin was always slightly tucked in, he wouldn't speak, and his expression appeared cold and distant.

He had a clear demarcation for his small circle of familiar people. Inside the circle, he was comfortable and relaxed; outside, he was guarded and reserved.

During the few days the little brother was here, he wouldn't come over unless Chen Chao called for him. After the little brother left, Miao Jiayan came over, cheerfully munching on a persimmon.

He held a persimmon to his mouth with one hand, munching on it, while carrying another one in his other hand.

Chen Chao glanced at him and was amused by the giant persimmon, saying, "That's almost as big as your face."

"This one's bigger." Miao Jiayan held up a tomato and offered it to Chen Chao, his hand still dripping with water from washing the persimmon just now.

No matter how far he'd fallen, Chen Chao would never munch on such a large tomato raw, same as with a cucumber.

"It's very sweet, you should try it," Miao Jiayan, not giving up, urged, "Really."

Chen Chao just said, "Just put it there. We can stir-fry it for dinner tonight."

"It's a waste to stir-fry it," Miao Jiayan said, waving the giant tomato in front of Chen Chao's eyes. "Just have a taste."

He himself was munching away messily, getting it all over his face. Seeing him eat like that, Chen Chao was even less likely to eat one. He shook his head and said, "No."

Miao Jiayan had a regretful look on his face as he turned and walked away with it.

Chen Chao was in his room memorizing vocabulary. Before he could even finish one unit, Miao Jiayan came back.

He pushed the door open and came in. He still hadn't finished his own tomato, and in his other hand, he held a plate.

"Eat up." Miao Jiayan brought the plate out from behind him and placed it by Chen Chao's hand. Inside were slices of tomato with a toothpick stuck in them.

Chen Chao looked up. Miao Jiayan stood beside him, looking down at him, and said flatly, "You're so much trouble, brother."

Chen Chao laughed out loud. Miao Jiayan shot him a glance and sat down on the edge of his bed.

The tomato was indeed sweet, Chen Chao had to admit. He picked up another slice with his hand and put it in his mouth. Miao Jiayan pointed at the plate and said, "There's a toothpick."

Chen Chao looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "You even dare to mock me now?"

Miao Jiayan's expression was blank. He looked at Chen Chao while munching on his tomato.

Chen Chao looked at his innocent eyes and was left speechless. Miao Jiayan had thin eyelids, and when he blinked, you could see the fine, bluish veins on them, which gave him an inexplicable look of honesty and pitiableness. Chen Chao flicked his forehead and went back to memorizing his vocabulary.

Those tomatoes were from the Miao Family's back garden. Homegrown ones were definitely tastier than store-bought. The last two plants were hidden in the very back and had gone unnoticed, so they were missed during picking. The season was over and the plants had already withered, but thankfully the tomatoes were still fresh. Four or five of them had secretly grown to be this big.

The Miao Family was considered a prominent family in their hometown area. Grandpa Miao had a large cotton field, and Grandma Miao managed their household very well. The Miao Family's backyard garden was huge, containing a flowering crabapple tree and a plum tree. There were neat rows of vegetable beds in the garden, with all sorts of vegetables. The Miao Family also had a greenhouse for growing ornamental flowers for the flower market. Last year, next to the greenhouse, Grandpa Miao built a new hoop house, but it wasn't for flowers. That was where Grandma Miao had planted strawberry seeds in the beds last year; they would probably bear fruit next year.

Miao Jiayan could start picking things from his family's garden to eat from early summer, and could leisurely continue picking all the way into autumn. By late autumn, when the vegetables were all harvested, there was still a row of sweet sorghum and sunflowers left at the very edge of the garden. In winter, Miao Jiayan would hold a large sunflower head and pick out the seeds one by one.

Of course, Chen Chao was so particular, he would never pick sunflower seeds with Miao Jiayan, nor would he stand in the garden peeling sweet sorghum. Miao Jiayan was already used to him and didn't even bother asking anymore. He would directly peel the sweet sorghum for him by biting off the rind, leaving only the core, and then break off the top part that he himself had bitten.

Even so, when Miao Jiayan held the bottom of the sweet sorghum stalk and passed it over, Chen Chao still took a step back in disgust.

"Not eating it," Chen Chao said.

"You won't even eat it after it's peeled? It's very sweet." Miao Jiayan offered it forward again. "Just try it."

"I've had it before," Chen Chao shook his head, his expression still full of disdain. "Take it away."

Miao Jiayan didn't really understand his rules, asking him, "You don't eat sugarcane either?"

Chen Chao said, "I do."

Miao Jiayan was even more confused. He spat the chewed sweet sorghum pulp from his mouth into a plastic bag he was carrying and asked Chen Chao, "Is sugarcane fancier than sweet sorghum?"

"..." Chen Chao said, "At the supermarket, sugarcane is sold cut up in a box, without the rind."

Miao Jiayan waved the sweet sorghum in his hand. "Didn't I peel this for you too? You still won't eat it without the rind."

Chen Chao really couldn't answer his question and could only say, "You eat it yourself."

At first, Chen Chao just thought Miao Jiayan was rustic. But later, after seeing more of him and meeting other classmates at school, he gradually felt that Miao Jiayan wasn't that rustic, or rather, his rusticity was of a different kind.

Compared to the classmates at school who sang internet love songs and ate spicy strips, Miao Jiayan's rusticity was more natural, much purer, and more direct.

Chen Chao felt it was a kind of... clean rusticity.

Miao Jiayan had no idea that in Chen Chao's mind, the local rusticity had been divided into levels, and that he himself firmly occupied the highest one.

He only knew that Chen Chao had many rules and was picky about this and that. He had earnestly called him "brother" for over a year, until he himself started middle school.

Once in middle school, he had to leave earlier in the morning and came back later in the evening, so Miao Jiayan no longer let Grandpa Miao take him. He took the school bus back and forth himself.

He didn't walk with Chen Chao either, and hardly spoke to him when they ran into each other at school.

Several times, Chen Chao saw him at school, but Miao Jiayan would just walk past with his head down, pretending not to see him.

Miao Jiayan's hair was long enough to touch his shoulders again. Before middle school started, Miao Jian and his wife both came back, wanting to take the child with them. The couple had originally made up their minds, but it so happened that Grandma Miao's heart had been bothering her all summer and her blood pressure was high. They tried to bring up the subject a few times, but as soon as Grandma Miao clutched her chest, the couple didn't dare to force the issue.

In the end, Miao Jiayan was kept by his grandmother. As soon as Miao Jian and his wife left, Grandma Miao hugged Miao Jiayan, stroking his head with a smile. She lovingly ran her fingers through his hair from the back of his head down to his shoulders and said, "Our Xiao Yan will grow up happily and freely right here with Grandma."

Miao Jiayan was still worried about his grandmother's health and didn't dare to relax.

"Grandma was just pretending for them," Grandma Miao told him. "I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep you."

"Really?" Miao Jiayan didn't quite believe it; his grandma's acting had been very convincing.

"Really," Grandma Miao said with a hearty laugh. "Just to scare them."

Grandma Miao actually wasn't lying to him. At the very beginning, she really had been feeling a bit unwell, but later on, she was just pretending.

She couldn't let Miao Jiayan go with his parents. Perhaps in some respects, one could say the old lady was doting on the child too much, but to her, nothing was more important than the child being able to grow up well here.

As the grandmother, she couldn't say much about this pair of parents. Since some things had already happened, there was no point in bringing up useless talk from the past. But she couldn't let them take the child away and make things difficult for him. The old lady didn't want anything from him; she didn't need him to have grand achievements. Being an ordinary person and living his own life well was more than enough.

Under his formidable grandmother's protection, Miao Jiayan could continue living his happy days. Although middle school meant more classes and more homework, and his playtime was suddenly reduced, he was still free and at ease.

In September and October, the cotton was gradually harvested. During the few days of the National Day holiday, Miao Jiayan spent all his time in the cotton fields. Wearing his wide-brimmed straw hat, he became a little cotton farmer.

This year, Chen Chao also went to the cotton harvest. The weather was no longer hot or sunny, so Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen no longer had to worry about him getting sunburned.

Chen Chao didn't know the first thing about picking cotton. His grandparents didn't teach him either, as they never intended for him to work in the first place. In the end, they entrusted him to Miao Jiayan, letting Miao Jiayan take care of him.

"Brother." Miao Jiayan waved to him. "Come over here."

Miao Jiayan's face was mostly hidden by the straw hat. Chen Chao walked over and lifted its brim. Miao Jiayan tilted his face up to look at him.

"You follow me." Miao Jiayan said, still in that position, looking up from under the hat's brim.

"You teach me," Chen Chao said.

Miao Jiayan tied a large pouch to Chen Chao's front, knotting it behind him at the waist.

"This is a cotton pouch," Miao Jiayan explained proactively. "Put the cotton you pick in this pouch."

Chen Chao looked down at the large pouch Miao Jiayan had tied on him. It looked like a giant apron.

"This is too ugly," Chen Chao said, looking utterly dejected.

"It's convenient," Miao Jiayan said after tying the straps. He gave Chen Chao a little push forward. "Just like this, you just pick it. But be careful not to cut your hands."

With a light touch and a pinch of his fingers, Miao Jiayan picked two cotton bolls. He pointed to the bracts at the base of the cotton. "This thing can cut your hand, so be careful."

Miao Jiayan had been playing in the cotton fields since he was little, so he was exceptionally skilled at this. When he wasn't even as tall as the cotton plants, his grandmother had sewn a tiny cotton pouch for him, tying it to his waist so he could pick for fun.

He picked very quickly, able to grab many bolls in his hand before putting them all in the pouch at once. In no time, the pouch on his front was bulging.

"Brother." Miao Jiayan turned back to look for Chen Chao.

Chen Chao had just gotten a small cut on his hand. Miao Jiayan took off the gloves he was wearing and said, "If you wear these, you won't get scratched."

Chen Chao didn't take them, telling him to wear them himself.

"It's fine if I don't wear them." Miao Jiayan walked over, intending to put them on for him.

Chen Chao raised a hand, stopping Miao Jiayan from putting them on him, and said, "Just do your work."

Miao Jiayan had no choice but to put the gloves back on, glancing back at Chen Chao from time to time.

This really wasn't a job one could do well right from the start. Although Chen Chao was trying very hard, the amount he had picked was basically negligible.

Miao Jiayan zipped through his row from front to back, then turned back to take over Chen Chao's row.

When he reached Chen Chao, Miao Jiayan asked, "Are you tired?"

Chen Chao said it was okay.

It wasn't that tiring, but having to bend over continuously was uncomfortable after a while.

Miao Jiayan took another pouch out of the large one he was wearing. He untied the nearly full pouch he currently had on and tied it shut securely.

After tying it, he flattened and evened out the cotton pouch in his hands. Miao Jiayan spread it on the ground and sat on it. He only took up half the space, and looking up at Chen Chao, he patted the other half, "Let's sit and pick."

Chen Chao was stunned watching his series of actions. It was just too professional.

"Let's finish picking this section, then move to the next. This way, it won't be tiring." Miao Jiayan said with a smile. "The first pouch of cotton can be used as a little cushion."

That familiar feeling came back again. Chen Chao looked at Miao Jiayan and once again felt that "natural and clean rusticity" from him.

Chen Chao chuckled as he watched him. Miao Jiayan didn't know what he was laughing at, but the corners of his mouth also curved up into a beautiful little arc. He talked to Chen Chao while picking cotton.

He said that hand-picked cotton was very clean, that the cotton was white and soft, and that when others collected it, it could be made into towels.

The cotton fields stretched on and on, seemingly endless.

The two of them sat in the cotton field, surrounded by cotton stalks that were more than half a person tall, as if they had accidentally stepped into a soft, white jungle.

In the jungle were two teenage boys, their backs against each other, each picking the cotton in front of them.

The cotton came in small tufts, like fluffy, fat stars.