On the night of the 29th, the three of them slept together. Shu Yan's bed was two meters wide, so it wasn't crowded even with three people.

"Mom, can I sleep with you from now on?"

After moving to the new house, Shu Yan stopped sleeping with Tian Bao and let him have his own room. However, he would still occasionally come to her room with his little pillow when it thundered or rained.

“Tianbao is a man now, he should sleep alone.”

"Tianbao doesn't want to be a man anymore." Tianbao pouted.

Shu Yan pinched his nose, "Aren't you ashamed?"

Since arriving in Nancheng, both children have changed a lot. Jingjing has become more cheerful and bolder. Tianbao used to be very fussy, but after being disciplined by Shuyan a few times, he is no longer so unruly or unreasonable. He has become closer to Shuyan and Jingjing, especially his relationship with his older sister, which has changed dramatically.

The siblings are keeping a secret from Shuyan, and although Shuyan pretends to be jealous, she is actually very happy inside.

Jingjing absolutely did not want to go back to her hometown, and she would never bring up her grandparents or father. Tianbao would occasionally mention his grandparents. Although Shuyan didn't like them, she wouldn't speak ill of them in front of the children. After all, they were their relatives, and Grandpa Ye and Grandma Ye truly loved Tianbao to the core.

In Ling'an Township, Ye Zhiqiang took Li Jiaojiao back to his hometown for the Spring Festival. Old Mrs. Ye disliked Li Jiaojiao terribly and couldn't stand anything about her.

When Ye Zhiqiang and Li Jiaojiao got together, Old Mrs. Ye already knew. At that time, she was quite proud of herself. After all, Li Jiaojiao was a college student with a stable job. It would be strange if she wasn't proud that such a person was with her son who had only graduated from junior high school.

But she knew that Shu Yan had used her to divorce her son and forced him to leave with nothing. Not only did he lose his company, but Shu Yan also took away her eldest grandson, who was the eldest grandson of the Ye family and her lifeline. If Li Jiaojiao hadn't instigated him, how could Zhiqiang have been given to Shu Yan?

"Still haven't found Shuyan's phone number?" Old Man Ye took a drag of his cigarette, his face full of worry. "You said she didn't come back for the New Year, where did she take the child? I wonder how our Tianbao is doing now?"

"What can she do? She's completely illiterate; it's a miracle she hasn't been scammed. And with her personality, can she really hold on? What will happen to Tianbao if she remarries and has another child?" Thinking about it, Old Mrs. Ye's eyes reddened again. "Oh! My darling, I never let you suffer a single hardship at home, and now you're going to suffer. I suggested she get a tubal ligation, but you insisted on having another grandson. What will happen to Tianbao when she has children?" Finally, Old Mrs. Ye complained to Old Mr. Ye.

"You agreed to what I said back then." Old Man Ye was unhappy. Back then, the family planning policy was strictly enforced. In order to prevent Shu Yan from being forced to undergo sterilization, he even gave gifts to the village chief and the women's director.

"Alright, I've finally come back for the New Year, can you guys stop nagging?" Ye Zhiqiang and Shu Yan had changed a lot when they first met, mainly because he wasn't as radiant and seemed to have aged ten years.

"You think we want to nag? How could you be so careless? You got tricked by Shu Yan and left with nothing? You should have told me then, and I would have torn her apart. In the end, you even lost your grandson. I think it was Li Jiaojiao who prevented you from having him. And what happened? You lost the baby too, and the doctor said it will be difficult for her to have children in the future." Old Mrs. Ye glanced outside, then leaned close to Ye Zhiqiang's ear and whispered, "I saw Wu Xiaomei's daughter the other day. She's fair-skinned and has a round face—she looks like she'll bring good fortune to her husband. Unlike that Li Jiaojiao, her chin is so sharp it could kill someone. She looks like she'll bring bad luck to her husband. You've had so much bad luck since you got together with her. What else could it be but her bad luck? And her reputation..."

"Don't talk nonsense. What era are we living in? This is all feudal superstition." Although he said that, Ye Zhiqiang was clearly persuaded.

After getting together with Li Jiaojiao, things really didn't go smoothly. First, Shu Yan threatened him to leave with nothing, then someone stole the company's project. He spent a lot of effort barely breaking even, and when he took the remaining money to Xinjiang Province to develop his business, it was also extremely difficult.

Most importantly, Li Jiaojiao has changed completely since her reputation was ruined and she lost her child. She's become petty and suspicious all the time, always suspecting that he has another woman. She makes a huge fuss if he comes home a little late, driving him crazy at home. It's not as good as Shu Yan back then, who didn't care about anything and took good care of him.

Such is human nature; a concubine is not as desirable as a stolen affair. When they're occasionally together, they only see each other's good points. Most importantly, Li Jiaojiao possesses an intellectual aura that gives men like Ye Zhiqiang a sense of conquest. Now that aura is gone, and Li Jiaojiao has lost her child, it would be a miracle if she left home with him without properly recovering her health. Increasingly insecure, Li Jiaojiao is constantly socializing and trying to rebuild her career. Having risen from a mistress to a powerful figure, Li Jiaojiao naturally can't trust him, not to mention the daily grind of life…

Shu Yan was unaware of Ye Zhiqiang's situation, nor did she want to know. She was preparing tonight's New Year's Eve dinner with the children.

The steamed buns, sweet cakes, and dumplings were all prepared by Auntie before she left. However, Shuyan also prepared a lot of dishes herself, including chicken, duck, fish, and meat. Yesterday, Hu Ruixue sent over a lot of fresh seafood, including lobsters, hairy crabs, shrimp, and fish. She also prepared some of these.

"Mom, you've made so much food, are we going to finish it all?" Jingjing asked as her mother carried out bowl after bowl of food.

"That's because we can't finish them all, so we'll have abundance every year." Shu Yan gave two chicken legs to the two children and told them to go to the living room and eat them slowly. "Come wash your hands after you're done, and wipe them on the sofa cushions."

The doorbell rang, and Jingjing, wearing slippers, ran to open the door. Lin Hui saw it was Jingjing and poked her head out, calling out, "You're already cooking? Why don't you just skip it and eat at our house tonight?"

Shu Yan brought out a bowl of cola chicken wings and a bowl of lobster. "I've already cooked them, I'll just eat them here by myself. You've come at the perfect time, Tongtong loves my cola chicken wings, right? Take a bowl over there, and this lobster too."

"I invited you to my house for dinner, but I ended up taking things from you." Lin Hui took the food without ceremony and left. When she returned the bowl, it was also full of things: a plate of pig's feet that was almost overflowing, and a plate of sliced ​​sausages.

Shu Yan accepted it without ceremony. She didn't really care about the price of the item; the important thing was that there was give and take, and that's how a relationship could last.

"Mom, this sausage is delicious." Jingjing picked up a sausage and dipped it in vinegar to eat.

"If it's delicious, Mom will learn how to make some from Aunt Lin Hui and save some for you to enjoy slowly." Wanting sausages is easy, isn't it? We'll just make some together when Auntie comes back.

With a table laden with dishes, Shu Yan took out her camera, set up the tripod, and the three of them sat down in front of the New Year's Eve dinner for a group photo.

The camera was specially purchased by Shu Yan from Hong Kong by Hu Ruixue after she moved to her new home, so that she could record the little things in their lives.

Enjoying a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner and watching the Spring Festival Gala, the three of them were equally happy, and finally counted down with the people on TV.

"Happy New Year." Shu Yan hugged the two children on either side, kissing them once on the left and once on the right. Taking care of two children alone may be hard, but the happy moments far outweigh the challenges.

The phone rang, and Shu Yan answered it. A pleasant, low voice came from the other end, "Happy New Year, the dumplings are delicious."

Shu Yan smiled, revealing two shallow dimples. These dimples only appeared after she lost weight; they had disappeared when she was too fat before.

Happy New Year to you too!

Just after I hung up the phone, Hu Ruixue called, then Lao Zhang, then Lao Hu, and finally Shu Jianyang called from somewhere using his old mobile phone, offering his New Year's greetings in fits and starts.

The next day was the first day of the Lunar New Year. According to Chinese custom, many things cannot be done on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Shuyan and her two children stayed in bed until they heard the doorbell ring.

"Aunt Shu, I've come to play with Jingjing."

"Tongtong, where are you going to play?" Shu Yan opened the door and let Tongtong in, then took out candy and filled her pockets.

"Let's go downstairs to play with Li Junran," Tongtong said, revealing a smile with two missing front teeth.

"Go ahead, but don't leave the neighborhood, and don't play with firecrackers."

Li Junran was Jingjing's classmate and lived on the first floor of the building next door. After moving here, Jingjing and her friend often went to his place to play. They heard that Li Junran kept two rabbits in his backyard. Anyway, if they didn't go to see them at least once a day, they wouldn't enjoy their meals.

The little kids love to follow the older kids. When Tianbao saw this, he quickly changed his shoes and followed. Shuyan didn't stop him and told Jingjing to keep an eye on her little brother.

She had no relatives in the southern part of the city, so she didn't need to visit any. She was also bored at home for so long, so on the third day of the Lunar New Year, Shu Yan simply took the children to the capital to play. In those days, few people traveled during the Lunar New Year, so the tourist attractions were particularly deserted. But desertedness had its advantages; there were no crowds. They watched the flag-raising ceremony, visited the Forbidden City, climbed the Great Wall, and ate all the delicious food in the streets and alleys of the capital. When they returned, Shu Yan bought a whole 30 roast ducks.

When traveling, she always asks her close friends to bring back some local specialties, two for each person, so she doesn't have many left for herself.

"You're back?" Sister Zhang took the roast duck from Shu Yan and warmly invited her to their home for dinner.

"No need, I haven't been home for several days, I need to go back and clean up."

"No need for you. My aunt came last night and is at my old house. I'll go tell her." Sister Zhang acted quickly and went to call her.

It was great that her aunt was back; Shuyan was immediately relieved of housework.