Chapter 144 That Orange

Whether before or after transmigrating into the book, Shen Zhixia never observed the New Year's Eve celebration.

She found it very interesting to have such a large group of people gathered around the fire, chatting and eating.

There was some firewood burning in front of them, its light faintly glowing.

Shen Zhixia buried a few small sweet potatoes inside, and then she roasted a few small oranges.

However, she is usually an early riser and has never stayed up this late before. By midnight, she was so sleepy that she could barely keep her eyes open.

She yawned several times in a row.

Seeing this, Huo's mother quickly said, "Zhixia, if you can't stay up any longer, then go to sleep now."

Shen Zhixia shook her head: "No, I can still manage. I have to follow the rules."

It's not that she has to follow the rules, but everyone else is still staying up late on New Year's Eve, and she also thinks staying up late is quite fun, so she can stay up a little longer.

Mother Huo said, "We're not that strict. Look, Xiuhe didn't come today, so it's nothing. If you're sleepy or don't want to stay up all night, you can go back and rest. This kind of thing is just for good luck."

Shen Zhixia smiled and said, "Since we're already here, we might as well hang in there a little longer. I think there's not much time left before New Year's Eve. If I really can't hold on any longer, I'll go to sleep."

After she finished speaking, she picked up an orange in front of her. The orange had been roasted for too long, and the peel was burnt. It gave off a citrus aroma and was very hot to the touch.

She waited until the peel wasn't so hot before peeling the orange, then broke off a piece and put it in her mouth.

At that moment, Shen Zhixia was completely wide awake.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

I almost screamed.

acid!

It's so sour!

It's too sour!

This was the sourest orange she had ever eaten.

She didn't know if it was because it had been roasted that the oranges were so sour, but the sourness made her shiver.

Huo Chenzhou noticed that something was wrong with her and immediately asked, "Wife, what's wrong?"

Before Suan could finish speaking, Shen Zhixia suddenly realized what Suan meant.

She composed herself, a look of pure enjoyment spreading across her face: "This orange is so sweet! It's the sweetest orange I've ever eaten! Honey, do you want to try some?"

Huo Chenzhou looked at her suspiciously, his face showing disbelief: "Are you sure this orange is sweet?"

These oranges are very small, don't look sweet, and have been roasted.

"Of course, why would I lie to you? This is the sweetest orange."

To convince Huo Chenzhou, Shen Zhixia broke off another segment of the orange and ate it, a look of enjoyment on her face. Then, she generously handed the orange to Huo Chenzhou.

After Huo Chenzhou ate the orange without any suspicion, Shen Zhixia quietly clutched her clothes.

So sour...

She glanced at Huo Chenzhou, only to find him eating an orange with a blank expression.

Shen Zhixia: "?"

"Is it good?"

Huo Chenzhou gave her a meaningful smile, confirming her words: "It's delicious. This is the best orange I've ever eaten."

At this point, Shen Zhixia was starting to doubt her own sense of taste. After all, Huo Chenzhou was enjoying the orange so much. Could it be that her sense of taste was different, which was why she couldn't appreciate its deliciousness?

Just as she was having doubts, Huo Chunyan suddenly said, "Brother, is this orange really that delicious? Let me try it."

Huo Chenzhou hesitated for a moment: "This was given to me by your sister-in-law."

"You're so stingy. I'm your sister. So what if I eat your orange? Why are you hiding it from me?"

As Huo Chunyan spoke, she said to her mother, "Mom, look at him, he won't even give me an orange."

Mrs. Huo yawned and said, "There are still many oranges on the ground. You can eat whichever one you want."

Huo Chunyan was unconvinced, and she suddenly became serious: "I want to eat what he has in his hand."

She didn't really want to eat oranges, but Huo Chenzhou said that those oranges were the best-tasting, which piqued her curiosity.

How delicious must an orange be to be considered the best?

Curiosity killed the cat.

The more Huo Chenzhou tried to resist, the more she wanted to eat.

In the end, Huo Chenzhou compromised: "Fine, you can have it if you want."

This time, he handed the oranges over.

Having just experienced that, Huo Chunyan had no doubts whatsoever. She immediately put the orange in her mouth, then her eyes widened: "Ptooey! It's so sour!"

Huo Chenzhou then poured the boiled water from the side into his mouth.

Shen Zhixia also grimaced. She quickly grabbed a sweet potato, took a few bites, and then the taste changed, and she felt that her mouth was not so sour anymore.

Huo Chunyan said incredulously, "You actually ate so many oranges yourselves just to trick me into eating such awful ones?"

"So all that acting was just to fool me?"

Shen Zhixia shook her head: "No, I was just trying to deceive Huo Chenzhou, not you."

Huo Chenzhou said aggrievedly, "You used to call me husband, but now you call me Huo Chenzhou. Why are you calling me so fiercely?"

Huo's mother watched the show from the sidelines.

She actually knew these oranges were very sour, since she was the one who bought them.

By 1:30 a.m., everyone couldn't stay up any longer, so they all went back to sleep.

Shen Zhixia slept very well and felt very energetic.

Early the next morning, Feng Xiuhe shouted, "Huo Hua, what do you mean by this? Why aren't you talking to me first thing in the morning? Are you expressing your dissatisfaction with me?"

Her voice was loud, almost penetrating the room.

Howard remained calm, unperturbed by Feng Xiuhe's words. He asked, "Why didn't you tell Mom you didn't stay up to welcome the New Year yesterday?"

Feng Xiuhe was stunned for a moment, then became very unhappy.

She knew that the Huo family had the custom of staying up all night on New Year's Eve every year. She used to stay up all night with Huo's mother, and it was always a happy occasion. However, she was not in a good mood yesterday, and she only ate the meal without interacting with Huo's mother or the others. So when it was time to stay up all night, she naturally went back home.

She didn't stay up all night for the New Year, nor did she intend to tell Huo's mother.

After all, the relationship is very strained right now.

Besides, staying up all night on New Year's Eve isn't anything very important, so why did she have to stay up all night?

She hadn't expected Howard to bring up such a small matter, and even to deliberately target her, which made her somewhat dissatisfied.

"It's just staying up all night on New Year's Eve. You're blaming me for such a small thing. I didn't stay up, but neither did you. Why are you saying this to me?"

Howard said, "Staying up late on New Year's Eve isn't important, but you should have told my mom."