"Muxue isn’t ho. You can co visit another day," said Gu Qingshan, glancing toward the door.
"Alright, Uncle Gu. Uncle Liu, I’ll be going then." Xue Rui wasn’t one to miss a hint. He said his goodbyes and walked out.
Xue Rui figured it out. Gu Qingshan had ntioned him to his colleagues at work and even knew about his recent inco. This showed he was paying close attention to his ga developnt venture.
He also recalled how his old man had been secretly looked after by Gu Qingshan...
’Does Gu Muxue’s arrogance co from Gu Qingshan?’ he wondered.
Kids were setting off firecrackers in the neighborhood. Slling the faint scent of gunpowder, Xue Rui felt a sudden sense of urgency and pressure. He ntally reviewed his plans, trying to see if he had forgotten anything.
It was the kind of anxiety adults feel when facing the holidays.
But then he rembered he was just a high school student. There was nothing to worry about. Even if he made a mistake or forgot sothing, no one would care.
People are always exceptionally lenient with children.
When Xue Rui got ho, he volunteered to hang the red lanterns and helped his mom clean the house.
In truth, the cleaning lady had already tidied up most of the house before her holiday break. They were just going through the motions, for the sense of ritual.
Every ti Xie Jianfeng ca ho, he saw Xue Rui finding chores for himself, though he wasn’t sure what the boy was trying to prove.
In the following days, Xue Rui even went to his old family ho in the countryside to put up couplets for his grandparents...
「On New Year’s Eve, at Xue Rui’s ho.」
"Xiaorui did a lot of work when he ca back to the village this year. The boy’s all grown up." Xue Rui’s grandmother was on the phone with Xie Jianfeng.
"Heh, that he is."
"Mom, we’re heading out now."
Xie Jianfeng chuckled and hung up, ruffling Xue Rui’s hair. "You little rascal. You’re not just being helpful for no reason. Spit it out, what do you want?"
"Dad, how can you think of like that? Can’t I just be concerned about Grandpa and Grandma?"
Xue Rui demanded loudly. Why couldn’t his old man think the best of him?
’Does doing sothing good have to an I have an ulterior motive?’
"Are you trying to get so pocket money?" Xie Jianfeng asked.
"No, I’m not spending New Year’s at ho this year. I’ll co back to the village on the second day of the new year."
He did have a motive. As they say, no one knows a son better than his father, and Xie Jianfeng’s guess was spot on.
Today was New Year’s Eve, which was also Lin Ruoxi’s birthday. He was going to spend the New Year with her.
Xue Rui felt that Lin Ruoxi wasn’t just ill-fated, she was unlucky to the extre.
Her mother died young, her father was a scumbag, and to top it all off, her birthday was stuck on New Year’s Eve.
New Year’s Eve is a day for ringing out the old and ringing in the new, a day filled with anticipation for the year ahead. Who would care about this girl’s birthday?
The villagers only celebrated lunar birthdays, and he had also made a pact with Lin Ruoxi that he would only celebrate his lunar birthday.
As for it being the anniversary of Lin Ruoxi’s mother’s death? A day of suffering? Xue Rui didn’t care about that.
Lin Ruoxi had never even t her mother, so what feelings could she have?
He’d already asked the old lady about this. Lin Ruoxi would just offer a stick of incense and so fruit to the morial tablet during the New Year.
In fact, she had just learned that from the other villagers; Lin Ruoxi didn’t even know what offering incense really ant.
"You little brat, where are you going on New Year’s Eve instead of staying ho? Whose family doesn’t celebrate New Year’s?" Xie Jianfeng was so angry he aid a kick at him.
Xue Rui dodged. "Our family has a huge bunch of relatives. We spend all the way until the sixth day visiting them. If I miss one day, no one will even rember I was gone."
Ren Qunfang heard the two arguing and ca out to listen in.
When she learned Xue Rui wanted to go out on New Year’s Eve, she instantly understood. She, too, rembered that today was Lin Ruoxi’s birthday.
"Jianfeng, just let Xiaorui go. Besides, what do we do in the village anyway besides play mahjong?" said Ren Qunfang.
She felt like it was the sa thing every year. Xue Rui had been ho every day recently; one day away wouldn’t make a difference.
But Lin Ruoxi was all alone. It would be a good thing for her to have Xue Rui’s company.
"Honey, why are you taking his side? Aren’t we a team?" Xie Jianfeng was bewildered.
"Who’s on a team with you?" Ren Qunfang said with a frown.
She wanted Lin Ruoxi as her daughter-in-law, while Xie Jianfeng wanted Gu Muxue. Their goals were not aligned.
Xue Rui was the most shaless; he wanted both.
But the fact that Xue Rui was specifically making ti to spend the holiday with Lin Ruoxi showed he was thoughtful.
If she absolutely had to pick a side in the family this year, she would still stand with her son.
Xie Jianfeng opened his mouth, then closed it again.
Since his honorable wife had spoken, Xie Jianfeng didn’t argue. He said irritably, "Go, go, go!"
Xie Jianfeng suddenly felt a bit dejected, sensing his status in the family had dropped a tiny bit.
"Xiaorui, co here." Ren Qunfang beckoned to Xue Rui.
She took out several red envelopes from her purse.
After a mont’s thought, she took the money out of those envelopes and combined it into one thick, large red envelope, which held about four or five thousand yuan.
She whispered, "This is lucky money for Xixi."
Then, she casually gave Xue Rui a few more red envelopes, each with five hundred yuan inside. "These are for you. Use it to buy Xixi sothing nice to eat."
Xue Rui was dumbfounded. "Mom, how could you do this?"
So it turned out that the only reason he was getting thousands of yuan in lucky money this year was because he was riding on Lin Ruoxi’s coattails.
"You don’t want it? If you don’t want it, I’m taking it back," Ren Qunfang said with a smile.
"I want it!" Xue Rui snatched the red envelopes.
...
After leaving his house, Xue Rui headed straight for the restaurant.
He had ordered a small cake in advance and had it stored in the restaurant’s kitchen fridge.
In a small city like Hedong, if you didn’t buy what you needed before the New Year, most shops wouldn’t open again until the fifth or sixth day of the festival.
He considered taking the cake there directly, but then thought it lacked a sense of ceremony. Lin Ruoxi hadn’t celebrated her birthday in years; doing sothing so simple would feel too perfunctory.
While he was agonizing over it on his way, he saw a stall selling fireworks in a nearby children’s park.
’They’re not too strict about it these days, so you can find people selling firecrackers anywhere,’ he thought. ’In the future, you won’t be able to buy them anymore.’
"Hey, young man, want to buy so fireworks? After today, you won’t be able to get them," the woman said.
Xue Rui smiled. "You’re right. Who sets off fireworks after today? Who would you even sell them to?"
"I ordered too much stock. If you’re serious about buying, I’ll give them to you at cost," the woman said, realizing Xue Rui wasn’t easy to fool. Her attitude beca a little more sincere.
Seeing the sky darken, she knew if she didn’t sell them at this point, no one would buy them.
Fireworks are also hard to store; they spoil if they get damp.
"Mommy, I want that," a little boy said, pointing at the fireworks stall.
"Buy what? All you know is how to waste money!" the woman scolded.
"Ma’am, it’s the New Year. Buy so for the kid to play with," the stall owner said.
"It’s vendors like you who are a bad influence on children."
"..."
"Hmm... I’ll take them all." With a wave of his hand, Xue Rui bought all the fireworks.
He wanted to set off fireworks with Lin Ruoxi, and the kind that children played with would be just right.
"Really? This whole pile is about five hundred yuan. Just give an extra hundred for travel expenses and we’re good," the woman said in surprise.
"It’s the New Year, so I won’t haggle. I’ll give you a lucky number—six hundred and sixty. And you can sell the pushcart too."
"This..."
After a bit of back-and-forth, Xue Rui bought the whole lot, including her little pushcart.
"Hey kid, this pile is for you."
Xue Rui gave all the loud, explosive firecrackers from the pile to the little boy. He had no intention of playing with those things with Lin Ruoxi.
If he had only bought the fireworks he wanted, the price would have been about the sa as buying out the whole stock anyway. It was better to just take it all.
Plus, this way, he could give the little boy a happy Spring Festival.
The little boy’s face lit up with a huge smile. "Thank you, big brother!"
"Thank you," the little boy’s mother added with a smile.
Xue Rui gave a helpless smile. He had thought she was concerned about her child’s safety, but it turned out she was just reluctant to spend the money.
He pushed the cart to a community police kiosk.
The only ones still open 24/7 during the New Year were these police officers on duty.
"Thank you for your hard work, Officers. Still serving the people during the New Year." Xue Rui placed a few packs of cigarettes he’d bought on the table.
"We can’t accept these." The young officer looked serious and was about to hand the cigarettes back to Xue Rui.
However, Xue Rui was already walking away from the kiosk. He pointed to a large cardboard box and said, "Officers, I’m just going to leave my fireworks here by the door. I’ll be back to get them tonight."
"Don’t worry, no one would dare steal anything from here."
The middle-aged officer smiled, casually opened a pack, and lit a cigarette.
"Master, didn’t you say..." the young officer began tentatively.
"You’re really dense. It’s a holiday, why are you being so fussy about this? You’re not even as sharp as that kid from before."
The middle-aged officer exhaled a cloud of smoke and stuffed all the cigarettes into his pocket.
"Why are you comparing to him?"
"Even if he hadn’t given us cigarettes, if he just left his stuff at our door, wouldn’t you still have to watch it for him?" the middle-aged officer asked.
The young officer paused. That actually made sense.
"Did he give you a chance to refuse?"
The middle-aged officer left it at that. That’s how you deal with people—as long as you understand it in your heart, there’s no need to spell everything out.
People who can’t read the atmosphere always end up making everyone unhappy.
He was afraid that with a personality like this, his apprentice would never find a wife.
The middle-aged officer lit another cigarette, took a few puffs, and stuck it in his apprentice’s mouth.
"Master, I don’t smoke."
"Who knows, maybe smoking will help you see the light."
The young officer thought for a mont. It was true that people were always saying things like that about him.
"Oh, then I’ll give it a try... COUGH, COUGH..."
...
「At Lin Ruoxi’s ho.」
"Xixi, there are only two of us. Why are you making so many dishes?" the old lady coaxed.
If that foodie Xue Rui didn’t show up, her granddaughter would be eating leftovers for days.
"I..."
Lin Ruoxi also thought Xue Rui wouldn’t be coming. Of course he would have to stay ho and accompany his family for the New Year.
But she kept thinking, ’What if Xue Rui does co?’
That was why she had prepared so many dishes in advance, so they could eat as soon as Xue Rui arrived.
Xue Rui hadn’t co by in many days. She had asked him about it on QQ.
Xue Rui’s reply was that his family was very busy with the New Year, and he asked her to keep a close eye on things with the ga.
So, every day, she would move her computer next to the window to work, glancing downstairs from ti to ti.
She couldn’t explain it, but even though she knew Xue Rui wasn’t coming, it felt as if just one glance downstairs could add a little more hope to her life.
"Xixi, don’t worry about him. The Spring Festival Gala is about to start," the old lady said.
"Oh, I just have one more fish that’s almost done stewing."
Suddenly, there was a KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK at the door.
Da Huang started barking too.
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