Chapter 109. I'll buy you even the fairy wand...
Early morning of Lunar New Year's Eve.
Wen Xue's phone seemed to ring non-stop. After finishing her aunt's call, her other aunt called. The two women said basically the same thing: it was fine that she spent the Spring Festival in other places the past two years, but this year she finally came back to Xicheng. Shouldn't she come to their house for a reunion dinner?
This is too difficult.
If I go to my aunt's house, I can't go to my maternal aunt's house.
It's possible to have lunch at my aunt's house and dinner at my maternal aunt's house, but...
After hanging up the phone, she glanced at He Yan, who was cleaning swimming crabs in the kitchen, and smiled slightly. If she went to her relatives' house for the New Year, He Yan would be all alone. After thinking it over, she decided to spend the New Year with him this year.
I'll visit my aunt and uncle's house to wish them a Happy New Year in a few days.
She put away her phone, tiptoed to the kitchen sink, and hugged him from behind. "What should we eat for lunch?"
They arrived in Haicheng yesterday afternoon.
He Yan is very reliable. From the moment he decided to return to Haicheng, he arranged everything and even hired a cleaning lady to clean her house. When she returned home in the evening, the house was spotless, the blankets and quilts had been aired, and there was even a smell of sunshine on the bed.
The refrigerator was plugged in beforehand, and even her favorite yogurt was prepared.
Today, he set off from his home before dawn and drove to the seafood market, his trunk packed full of her favorite dishes.
"Let's have hot pot, it'll warm us up."
"I'll help you."
He Yan smiled and ordered her, "Go and put up the couplets."
Wen Xue: "Mmm!"
While mixing the paste, she hesitated and asked, "Have you put them up on your house yet?"
To her, the house with ivy climbing all over the walls in the summer was the home of He Yan and He Heng.
It is their home.
He Yan paused in his work. "Not yet. We've had lunch. Shall we go out for a walk and then stick it on?"
Wen Xue lowered her eyes and said softly, "Okay."
The two had a simple but warm lunch. The streets were not as lively as the previous days on New Year's Day. As they drove along, Wen Xue quietly looked out the window. There were only young students strolling on the street, their faces beaming with smiles.
Occasionally, she would think of He Heng.
When he was still alive, she and he would hold hands and chat aimlessly while taking walks, and they were very happy then.
The He family also lives in this area; it's less than a ten-minute drive away.
Several years later, Wen Xue came here again, but her identity had changed. Last time she was brought by He Heng, but this time it was He Yan. The two stood at the door and smiled at each other. After putting up the couplets, they went to Feiyang Ice Rink because the weather was nice.
Business is best during the Chinese New Year month. The owner is a friend of He Yan. Hearing that He Yan was coming, he waited at the door early, eating sunflower seeds.
I'd like to see which girl He Yan brings.
"Boss He, Fa Cai is back!"
Seeing He Yan get out of the car, his friend stuffed the unfinished sunflower seeds into his pocket, rushed over, hooked his arm around He Yan's shoulder, but his eyes were fixed on the car. In the passenger seat sat a young woman with long hair and fair skin...
Wait a minute, this girl looks familiar.
He exclaimed "Ah!" and then remembered, startled: "Isn't this my brother—"
He Heng brought Wen Xue ice skating back then. Haicheng is only so big. The two little ones walked around every day after the college entrance examination, and we bumped into each other a few times.
A pretty and quiet girl with a scholarly air always attracts attention.
After one or two encounters, he naturally developed a deep impression of her. At that time, in order to amuse the two younger children, he even jokingly called her "sister-in-law," which made the shy girl blush.
He Yan looked at him calmly.
He suddenly understood everything.
Wen Xue had long been mentally prepared. It was fine in Xicheng; not many people knew about her, He Yan, and He Heng's relationship. But after returning to Haicheng, they would all face strange looks to some extent. But that was fair, and she accepted it.
Thinking of this, she opened the car door, got out, stood beside He Yan, and smiled at his friend.
He Yan relaxed his brows.
He had the determination and ability to shield her from the storms of life, but deep down, he longed for her to walk firmly towards him.
She did it.
"Haibo, this is my girlfriend, Wenxue." He Yan took her hand and solemnly introduced her to his friend.
My friend opened his mouth and then closed it again, his gaze fixed. After a few back and forths, the turmoil in his heart subsided, and he grinned: "Fine, I still have to call you sister-in-law."
He Yan: "..."
Wen Xue was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing, her eyes crinkling into crescents.
Hai Bo didn't ignore He Yan's death stare, patted his mouth, and shrugged: "Anyway, well, as long as we're happy."
He Yan finally smiled.
-
On New Year's Eve, lanterns and decorations are everywhere, and dazzling fireworks light up the night sky from time to time.
It should have been a joyous day for family reunion, but outside the hospital's emergency room, a woman's sobs continued. Zhou Zhan's temples throbbed with pain, and he was agitated. He raised his hand to press his forehead, and irritably unbuttoned his shirt, staring intently at the closed door.
He withdrew his gaze and looked at Cheng Yun, whose hair was disheveled and face was pale.
He hated this woman when he was a child.
As I grew older, I gradually came to understand that she had her own selfish motives and may have made mistakes, but she was definitely not the culprit.
He straightened up, walked towards her step by step, stopped in front of her, and said in a low voice, "Aunt Cheng, let Ah Xian take you downstairs to rest first. This can't go on forever. Take care of your health. Dad will need you when he wakes up."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Jun's shoulders trembled.
She cried even louder.
She was completely distraught, fearing both that her husband would just leave her like this and that if he actually pulled through, she might be the one to die.
Zhou Xian sat on a bench nearby, listening to music with his earphones in and resting with his eyes closed. He was as relaxed and calm as if he were on vacation, and there was not a trace of worry about his father in him.
“Zhou Xian.” Zhou Zhan frowned and raised his voice.
Zhou Xian opened his eyes, pulled off one earphone, raised his eyebrows, and looked impatient.
"Take Aunt Cheng home first," Zhou Zhan said.
"oh."
Zhou Xian lazily got up, one earphone casually hanging around his neck. He slowly walked up to Cheng Jun and called out, "Mom, I'm leaving."
With tears welling in her eyes, Cheng Yun followed behind her son, her steps unsteady as she left.
After the mother and son left, Zhou Zhan let out a heavy sigh. After a while, he went to a quiet corner, unlocked his phone, and looked through his contacts, wanting to find someone to talk to. The best person to talk to was He Yan.
But then he remembered what day it was and sent a message: "Is it convenient for you to take a call?"
A few minutes later, He Yan replied: [Five minutes]
Zhou Zhan dialed the number without hesitation.
When the call connected, He Yan's deep voice, tinged with a hint of helplessness, came through: "What is it? Get to the point."
Zhou Zhan sighed deeply, and after he finished, he could no longer suppress his anger. No, it had been long since it was just the anger of childhood that couldn't cause any harm to others, but a genuine hatred: "Yesterday, Zhou Xian went crazy and almost attacked me. Zhou Yunshan saw it and went into a rage."
He paused at this point.
Both of them knew perfectly well that it wasn't some kind of evil anger, but rather that two months ago, Zhou Yunshan had gone to the United States for a while. He was in a good mood, but then Cheng Yun's affair was exposed to him. He was furious, but he forced himself to suppress it and keep it a secret, all because of his ridiculous male pride.
After returning to China, Zhou Yunshan began investigating behind the scenes.
But someone blocked it, and it goes without saying who that person was.
Zhou Yunshan knew exactly what was going on.
Yesterday's outburst was directed not only at Cheng Jun, but also at Zhou Xian, who no longer listened to him and even refused to stand by him in the face of major events.
That evening, after Zhou Zhan and Zhou Xian left, Cheng Yun felt suffocated and went to the study to confront Zhou Yunshan. The two had a big argument, and in the heat of the moment, they said all sorts of things. In a fit of rage, Zhou Yunshan slapped her. She couldn't believe that her husband, who had always been so protective of her, would actually hit her.
She speaks without thinking.
Zhou Yunshan was trembling with anger.
She covered her face, slammed the door, and left, leaving Zhou Yunshan alone in the study all night. It wasn't until this morning that the old house's butler found him unconscious on the carpet in the study.
"What did the doctor say?" After hearing the whole story, He Yan grasped the key points and asked.
Zhou Zhan: "The sudden anger and the prolonged cerebral hemorrhage mean that the chances of recovery are slim."
They will either become a vegetable or die.
Even if one is very lucky enough to wake up, the situation is unpredictable, and one may be unable to take care of oneself in the future.
He Yan remained silent.
Zhou Zhan took a deep breath: "No one in the Zhou family wants him to live. I thought I had seen through him long ago, but today I've still been amazed. When my own son almost died, he didn't react at all, and even cheerfully advised me not to listen to the gossip outside. But now, it's his turn, no—" He sneered: "He didn't lose his life, he just got cuckolded a few times, and he's so angry?!"
When they are silent to each other.
He Yan spoke up, but not to him: "Boss, ten boxes of sparklers, please. What are these? Are they safe? Okay, ten boxes of those too."
Zhou Zhan's anger subsided by half, and he asked, "Are you buying fireworks outside?"
He Yan hummed in agreement: "Otherwise, how am I supposed to answer your call?"
Suddenly, Zhou Zhan laughed.
He Yan listened to his rambling for a while without agreeing or responding. After he calmed down, He Yan reminded him, "You need to stay calm about what's coming next."
In reality, the situation was already settled, and Zhou Yunshan's fate was no longer important, but his downfall would indeed hasten the end of the tug-of-war between the Zhou brothers.
The turning point has finally arrived.
"I know." Zhou Zhan looked at his phone. "There's one minute left. I'll save it for next time."
He then hung up the phone.
He Yan put away his phone, paid, and walked into the alley carrying a large bag of fireworks he had bought. Just as he reached the bottom of the residential building, he seemed to sense something, looked up, and saw Wen Xue standing on the balcony, leaning against the railing, waving to him with a smile. At that moment, someone was setting off fireworks not far away, which burst open in the night sky with a bang, illuminating her face.
He lifted the bag in his hand.
I bought you all the sparklers, Happy New Year!
Wen Xue understood what he meant and couldn't help but laugh.
-
Zhou Xian did not send Cheng Yun back to the Zhou residence, but temporarily settled her in his own place. She cried for a while, then fell into a deep sleep from exhaustion. When she opened her eyes again, it was already the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year.
After washing up, she sat down in the restaurant with a gloomy expression.
Zhou Xian was still wearing yesterday's clothes, clearly having not slept all night, and calmly sipped his coffee.
Cheng Jun's anxious heart calmed down strangely when she saw her son. She didn't know when it started, but her young son had grown up. It seemed that as long as he was there, she didn't need to worry about her situation. Even though they weren't close, she believed that he would take good care of her no matter what.
"I've arranged a plane; Uncle Li will be traveling with you this afternoon."
Zhou Xian put down his coffee and said slowly, "Don't come back from here in China. I already took care of your concerns last night."
Cheng Jun's expression changed slightly, and her lips trembled.
It took her a long time to come to her senses. She couldn't and didn't dare to ask him who he had dealt with. She simply followed his words and said, "The only person I care about here is you."
Zhou Xian raised his eyes to examine his mother.
He used to think that all people, or women, were like this: not easily satisfied, easily swayed. When he was a child, he went to his maternal grandfather's house for a holiday and accidentally found an old photo in the attic where a woman was smiling and leaning on the shoulder of a young and handsome man.
The woman was his mother, Cheng Jun; he didn't know the man and had never seen him before.
That photo planted a seed in his heart.
Later, he went abroad to study, and his mother would often come to visit him, but she would leave after only two days each time. He thought she had returned to China, but in fact, she was on a carefree vacation with her extramarital lover.
Gradually, he learned about what happened back then.
She already had a boyfriend when she met Zhou Yunshan. The two were college classmates and had a deep relationship. Zhou Yunshan spent a lot of money to pursue her.
Her boyfriend was just a poor student who had just graduated and started working. When he was in love, he wanted material things. She was quickly moved by Zhou Yunshan, and they fell in love and got married.
The boyfriend was in pain and resentful.
After her engagement, her parents contacted her many times, causing them great concern. They thought that since things had come to this point, further entanglement would not be good for either of them. For the first time in his life, her father blurred the lines between public and private matters and asked a friend to transfer her boyfriend's job to a city far away from Huacheng, in Xicheng.
Less than a month later, she unexpectedly received news of her boyfriend's death.
He was involved in an accident while on a field mission, and his heart stopped beating before he was taken to the hospital.
For many years afterward, she seemed to have forgotten him, and no one mentioned him again, as if he had never existed in the world, until one day she was playing golf with some friends and saw a caddie who had just turned twenty and whose smile looked a lot like his.
At thirty-six, having achieved everything, she yearns for love once again.
If she can't find him in one man, she'll look for another. It's like she's collecting stamps; they all look alike in a smile, in eyebrows and eyes, in voice, piecing together a likeness of him.
Zhou Xian neither agreed nor disagreed with Cheng Yun's statement.
He looked at her calmly and said, "Listen carefully, this is the last time I'll help you. There won't be a next time. You'd better watch yourself from now on."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Yun felt as if her heart was being torn apart, and tears streamed down her face.
Zhou Xian remained indifferent.
He got up and walked out. Over the years, he had seen too many people's tears, and he always felt that they were products of their emotions, tainted by selfishness and desire, and very dirty.
Only one person's tears are clean.
He suddenly longed to see her.
…
Wen Xue is currently interning at the company, and like most office workers, she will have to return to work on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year.
Before returning to Haicheng, she enthusiastically made an itinerary.
Making dumplings on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
He Yan also came to find her early in the morning. The two of them busied themselves for a while. Wen Xue looked at the meat filling in the bowl, then at the few dumpling wrappers left, and asked knowingly, "What should we do?"
They bought too much meat and too few dumpling wrappers.
It was a miscalculation on her part.
But it wasn't entirely her fault; he had too big an appetite, he could finish three hamburgers.
If it were her and Siyi, they would definitely have enough dumplings to eat today.
He Yan understood: "I'll go buy it."
Wen Xue: "Okay, I'll make you a few lucky dumplings with coins inside later."
He washed his hands, turned around and walked out without looking back, drawing out his words: "No need, I'm afraid I'll get stuck."
"Hello!"
Wen Xue already resisted hearing that word from his mouth, especially on the first day of the Lunar New Year. She angrily chased after him, called out to him, and said seriously, "Quickly spit three times."
He Yan chuckled.
Her eyes were bright, and she looked adorable with her furrowed brows. He cupped her face, kissed her lips three times deeply, and then released her, saying, "That's enough."
Wen Xue had flour on her hands and wanted to push him away, but she was afraid of getting his clothes dirty, so she gave up, feeling both annoyed and amused: "You're so annoying!"
He Yan strode out to buy dumpling wrappers.
Wen Xue returned to the dining table and continued making dumplings in a cheerful mood. Just as she was hesitating whether to put a few coins in the dumplings, her phone rang. She turned her head to look at the screen and saw an unfamiliar number. She took out a tissue to wipe her hands, but there was still flour on them, so she simply turned on speakerphone and said, "Hello."
There was no response.
She suspiciously leaned closer to the phone. The signal bars weren't full, and she thought her signal was bad, so she called out again, "Hello, who is this?"
There has still been no response.
Instead, there was a knock at the door. She pressed the hang-up button, got up, and went to open the door. It was He Yan, who had returned with dumpling wrappers.
"How could it be so fast?" she exclaimed in surprise.
He Yan changed his shoes: "Stolen."
"You didn't drive there to buy it, did you? It's only a few steps away, how lazy."
"..."
He didn't deny it. After putting down the dumpling wrappers, he deliberately startled her by picking her up around the waist. She screamed in surprise, then burst into laughter, thoroughly enjoying herself.
The phone on the table is still showing as being in a call.
When Wen Xue answered the phone, her hands were still covered in flour, making the screen unresponsive, and she didn't hang up on the unfamiliar call.
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