After carrying their daughter back to her room, Su Shen emerged to find that Su Bing had also turned in for the night—taking little Su Li with him. At long last, the living room was theirs alone.
Gu Zi, now several months into her pregnancy, had developed a rather consistent craving for midnight snacks. Right on cue, she rubbed her belly, and Su Shen asked with casual familiarity, "Want something to eat?"
"I’m actually a little hungry," Gu Zi admitted, looking up at him. "Something simple—maybe a piece of steak? And a glass of warm milk."
Su Shen didn’t hesitate. He disappeared into the kitchen, and in no time, the aroma of searing beef wafted through the apartment. He returned shortly, not only with a perfectly pan-seared steak and a warm glass of milk, but also a sunny-side-up egg and a few cherry tomatoes arranged artfully on the side.
Gu Zi was thoroughly pleased. She curled up on the sofa with her meal, flipping channels while nibbling contentedly. When she couldn’t quite finish the second half of the steak, Su Shen took over without a word, polishing it off with quiet efficiency.
The two nestled together on the couch, letting the television flicker into the early hours. At some point past midnight, Gu Zi dozed off without realizing. Su Shen looked over, smiled, and gently lifted her into his arms. He tucked her into bed, pulled the blanket up to her chin, and only then returned to tidy up the mess in the living room.
He knew how much she loved a neat space—chaos simply wasn’t an option.
Maybe it was the late night, but Gu Zi didn’t stir until nearly noon the next day. The moment she woke, she could already hear children’s laughter and chatter drifting in from the courtyard.
"Gao Ming, why are you back so soon?" she heard Su Li’s voice ring out brightly. "Did you miss me or something?"
"Of course not!" Gao Ming scoffed. "I came back early because I missed Lele! e on, Lele, let’s go build a snowman. Su Li, I’m serious—I can make all kinds now. My dad taught me!"
The giggles and footsteps faded as the children dashed off.
Gu Zi slowly got up, washed up, and stepped out of the room just in time to see the children racing back toward her, cheeks pink from the cold, their clothes dusted with snow.
In perfect unison, they shouted, "Good morning, Mommy! Happy New Year, Mommy!"
Even Big Yellow, the family’s large, lumbering dog, bounded over with a few hearty barks, circling her enthusiastically.
Gu Zi bent down, scratching his furry head with affection. "Happy New Year!" she beamed. Then she called out, "Gao Ming, e here! Auntie has a red envelope for you—wishing you a very happy new year."
The boy obediently followed her indoors, and she carefully prepared a red envelope with fifty yuan for him. Gao Ming lit up with joy. He had already received quite a few red envelopes this season, but somehow, Auntie Gu Zi’s felt especially precious. He clutched it like treasure and ran back home, only to return moments later with three more red envelopes in his hand.
"These are from my parents," he explained seriously, handing them to the Su siblings. "They’re not ing over because they caught a cold. They asked me to bring these instead."
Then, without waiting for a reply, he bolted off again to the courtyard to continue building snowmen.
Su Bing dutifully collected the red envelopes for himself and his younger siblings, handing them all over to Gu Zi, who glanced inside—each held a crisp fifty-yuan note. She put them away carefully.
Su Shen, it turned out, wasn’t at home. Curious, Gu Zi went to the kitchen and discovered that the rice was already cooked, the meat and vegetables neatly prepped and ready to hit the pan.
Where had he gone?
Before she could investigate further, Su Li came hopping in excitedly. "Mommy, Uncle Chen and his family are here to wish us a Happy New Year!"
Gu Zi stepped out and saw Su Shen leading the Chen family through the gate, their arms laden with gift boxes and festive goods. Clearly, he had gone to pick them up himself.
"Chen Yu, Sun Yi—Happy New Year! e in, e in!" she greeted them warmly.
At the very back trailed Chen Xi, waving enthusiastically. "Gu Zi! I’m here too! Why didn’t you call me?"
Gu Zi gave him a quick once-over. He was carrying the most bags of anyone, trudging behind his brother and sister-in-law like an overworked assistant. Poor Second Young Master of the Chen family—always the tagalong.
"e in and sit," she said with a laugh.
But he barely had time to set the bags down before the children seized him by both arms. "Let’s go have a snowball fight!" they cried, dragging him out the door.
Moments later, Chen Xi was dodging snowballs with exaggerated squeals as the children gleefully chased him.
Su Le lagged behind a bit, her short legs no match for the boys. Instead, she plopped down beside Big Yellow and joined the fray from a distance—rolling tiny snowballs and launching sneak attacks whenever someone passed by. Each successful hit was celebrated with triumphant claps.
Seeing the kids so blissfully entertained, Gu Zi didn’t interfere.
Inside, Su Shen and Chen Yu were already deep in conversation—something work-related, she guessed. Sun Yi sat nearby, sipping tea with effortless elegance.
Gu Zi joined her, and not long after, the two men headed into the kitchen together.
Surprised, Gu Zi turned to Sun Yi. "Didn’t you once say Chen Yu never lifts a finger in the kitchen?"
Sun Yi rolled her eyes and cracked a sunflower seed with practiced ease. "He used to be like that. But recently I threw a fit—scared him half to death. God knows where he got the idea, but now he’s been cooking, cleaning, even taking care of the kid. Says if he doesn’t, I won’t e home for New Year’s."
Gu Zi raised a brow, the pieces falling into place. No wonder the Chen family showed up in such synchronized harmony this year—someone had finally relented.
And honestly? That was probably for the best.
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