Tang Ming made a disgusted face, thinking he’d never eat Li Xiaoli’s noodles if his own dumplings weren’t so terrible, but he was hungry.
After Tang Ming finished Li Xiaoli’s dumplings, Liu ngting wiped her mouth and put down her chopsticks: "I’m full, but there’s so many dumplings left. What should we do?"
"Just throw them away, we need to cook new dumplings for the New Year’s Eve dinner anyway."
Li Xiaoli agreed without hesitation.
"No, no, no, throwing them away would be a waste."
Tang Ming hurriedly discarded the frying pan and looked at the several dumpling plates on the table with glinting eyes.
"I’m full, I’m going to watch TV for a bit, you guys continue eating."
Liu Gaoze smiled, got up, and left first.
"Throwing them away really would be quite wasteful."
Liu ngting tilted her head and suddenly raised her hand to shout: "Oh, right, we can give them to Dingdang Dog and Little White White!"
"Yes, yes, yes, they should celebrate the New Year too."
Li Xiaoli nodded repeatedly, looking at Tang Ming: "After all, Brother Tang Ming is a man of his word, once he says he won’t eat, he definitely won’t eat, right?"
"That’s right..."
Tang Ming showed a near-crying expression, thinking they were bullies for preferring to give the food to dogs instead of him.
"Then feeding Dingdang Dog will be Tang Ming’s task. Xiaoli, let’s go watch the Spring Festival Gala with my dad."
Liu ngting glanced at Tang Ming, took Li Xiaoli, and left the table.
"Hee hee, Brother Tang Ming, a man of his word."
Before leaving the table, Li Xiaoli gave Tang Ming a aningful look.
"Damn you."
Seeing everyone had left the table, Tang Ming imdiately attacked the leftover dumplings, eating as if he hadn’t eaten for several days.
While Tang Ming was eating, he heard Liu ngting and Li Xiaoli’s triumphant laughter from the sofa.
"These two girls dared to trick ."
Tang Ming understood that their sche had succeeded; his appetite had triumphed over his integrity, but he thought it was worth it for the food.
After eating and drinking their fill, everyone waited for the Spring Festival Gala to start. Liu ngting and Li Xiaoli kept shooting disdainful looks at Tang Ming, but he quickly beca at ease after a brief mont of awkwardness.
At midnight, Tang Ming and the others went up to the villa roof, where Tang Ming and Liu Gaoze took charge of lighting fireworks, while Liu ngting and Li Xiaoli cheered and admired the brilliant fireworks in the sky.
Though Li Xiaoli tried to muster the courage to light fireworks herself several tis, mories of previous mishaps stopped her, and she restrained her impulse.
"Thank you, Tang Ming."
Seeing Li Xiaoli and Liu ngting’s joy and excitent, Liu Gaoze sincerely thanked Tang Ming.
"Uncle Liu, what do you an by that?"
Tang Ming held a lit incense stick, curiously looking at Liu Gaoze.
"Although I accompany ngting every New Year, she’s never been this happy. All thanks to you."
Liu Gaoze sighed, acknowledging that despite caring for Liu ngting as both a father and mother over the years, so voids couldn’t be filled.
"I’ve never experienced such a New Year either; I’m really happy."
Tang Ming earnestly gazed at the fireworks ascending into the sky.
"You..."
Liu Gaoze looked at Tang Ming with slight surprise, reading a mix of lancholy, sorrow, and indescribable joy and contentnt in his eyes.
"Xiao Tang, can’t you consider marrying ngting seriously?"
Sensing Tang Ming’s change, Liu Gaoze eagerly inquired.
"Let’s go with the flow. Even if I wanted to break off the engagent now, I wouldn’t even know who the third party to the marriage contract is."
Tang Ming sighed helplessly, unsure of his own feelings at the mont.
"Can I tell ngting about your identity then?"
Seeing Tang Ming finally relent, Liu Gaoze nervously asked.
"Forget it, let’s just leave things be. It’s unnecessary to tell her, and I’m still waiting for the third party to show up."
Tang Ming shook his head, feeling angry, thinking if he found out who the third party was, he’d surely beat them up for causing such a troubleso engagent.
"Oh no, we’re out of fireworks!"
At that mont, Li Xiaoli yelled excitedly: "Brother Tang Ming, hurry up and light more!"
"Coming, coming."
Tang Ming quickly continued lighting fireworks, saying without looking up: "Uncle Liu, don’t think too much. No matter what happens, Liu ngting and I are friends; that’s an undeniable fact. New Year brings new hopes; the future will surely be better."
"Yes, yes, yes, that’s already very good."
Liu Gaoze nodded repeatedly, reassured that Tang Ming wouldn’t want to leave just yet, leaving future possibilities wide open.
For Tang Ming, Liu ngting, and even Li Xiaoli, it was an unforgettable New Year, marking the point where many things would quietly start to change.
After New Year’s Eve celebrations, the exhausted group opted for sleep, skipping further activities.
The next morning, Tang Ming was awakened by the sound of car engines before he even fully woke up.
Groggily exiting his bedroom, he found Liu ngting and Li Xiaoli also bleary-eyed, seemingly woken up by the noise.
"What’s going on, why is it so noisy?"
Li Xiaoli yawned, asking with dissatisfaction.
"I don’t know, maybe because it’s the first day of the new year, and residents are busy with new year greetings?"
Tang Ming guessed unsurely.
"It’s not related to us anyway; we don’t need to pay new year visits."
Liu ngting stretched lazily: "Let’s go back to sleep, then visit Wei’er later. We already planned that last night."
"Sweeties, wake up, hurry up and get ready, we have guests!"
Already dressed, Liu Gaoze called from the living room.
"Guests this early? Who is it?" The three asked curiously from the staircase.
"I don’t know either; the security guard at the building entrance told to open the gate, and they should be arriving soon."
Liu Gaoze was unsure who was visiting so early.
"Oh dear, if guests are coming, we must get ready!"
Li Xiaoli exclaid, dragging Liu ngting up to the third floor.
Tang Ming felt a gust of wind pass by, looking at the third floor exasperatedly: "Is it necessary... damn, they’re like the Flash."
Just before, Liu ngting and Li Xiaoli were in their pajamas, but now, they were elegantly dressed like young ladies, coming down from upstairs, fiddling with their hair as they did.
Their speed in changing clothes left Tang Ming amazed and defeated, acknowledging these two feminine skills: endurance during shopping and quick attire changes.
"Tang Ming, don’t just stand there; hurry up and change your clothes."
Liu ngting urged while applying lip color: "Today is the first day of the new year, we mustn’t be rude to the guests."
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