Chapter 42 Happy New Year
Lin Yan left after all.
His family was distant, though (his mother died in a car accident when he was 14, in order to protect his then 10-year-old brother.
His father completely neglected his duties in the family. After his mother left, it was Lin Yan, a half-grown child, who took on the responsibility of taking care of his younger brother.
On the day he came of age, his younger brother calmly said to him, "Brother, go away and don't come back to this house. You've wasted too much time here."
My younger brother is four years younger than Lin Yan and should be in high school now.)
But every New Year's Eve, according to the rules left by his deceased mother, the three of them (although their relationship was cold) still had to sit together to have a New Year's Eve dinner which was more formal than meaningful.
I feel sorry for him, but I also understand that it is a responsibility and a past that he must go back and face.
I didn't have the nerve to ask him to stay.
It was the day before New Year's Eve. My dad, who rarely went to the chess and card room, enthusiastically dragged me to buy firecrackers.
The New Year's goods street in the small town is bustling with people and red, filled with the tacky and lively New Year atmosphere.
We squeezed in the crowd, picking up all kinds of fireworks, firecrackers, and sky rockets.
My dad was carrying two large bags of "trophies" when he suddenly said something out of nowhere: "Xiao Rui...your mom seems to have changed recently."
I paused, my heart skipping a beat.
I didn’t expect that my dad, who is so slow-witted, could actually notice such subtle changes?
Before I could even form my words, my dad started talking to himself: "She seems to be talking more? She doesn't always have a stern face at the dinner table anymore... I saw her smile yesterday? Although it was just for a moment... Tsk, that was quite rare..."
He kept talking, with a simple, inexplicable satisfaction on his face.
I looked at his increasingly hunched but still cheerful back, the heavy bag of firecrackers in my hands making my fingers red, and a long-forgotten image suddenly popped into my mind:
On a winter day like this, my dad was holding a big, still-throbbing fish he'd just caught from the river. Before he even entered the house, he excitedly shouted at the top of his lungs, "Afang! Afang! Come and see! We caught a big one!"
The voice was full of showmanship and pure joy.
He rushed into the kitchen and held the fish in front of my mother, who was mending my torn pants, his eyes sparkling. "I'll give you a good treat tonight! Haven't you been complaining about eye pain lately? My youngest (referring to me) loves fish soup the most! Fry it first, then stew it. It's guaranteed to be so delicious that it'll make your eyebrows drop!"
At that time, I was sitting on a small stool and could clearly see that my mother, who was sewing with her head down, couldn't help but raise the corners of her mouth quietly, and even the fine lines at the corners of her eyes became much softer.
A warm feeling mixed with bitterness surged through my heart. I couldn't help but tease, my voice a little hoarse, "Dad, I didn't expect... you still care about Mom so much?"
My father paused, his face flushed red like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. He turned around and glared at me, "Nonsense! If I don't think about my wife, who will? You little bastard!"
After yelling, he couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into laughter. Father and son smiled at each other in the bustling New Year's shopping street, their laughter blending into the lively crowd.
New Year's Eve is finally here.
The sound of firecrackers outside the window has been crackling non-stop since the evening, and the air is filled with gunpowder smoke and the aroma of New Year's Eve dinner.
The heating at home was on full blast, the lively and festive Spring Festival Gala was playing on TV (although no one was watching it seriously), and the table was filled with sumptuous dishes - my mom was the chef, my dad was helping, and I also contributed a dish of cola chicken wings (made under Lin Yan's remote guidance).
The three of us sat around the table. My dad opened a bottle of ordinary baijiu (he had treasured the two bottles Lin Yan had given him), poured my mom a glass of juice, and symbolically poured me a small half glass.
The atmosphere seems a little warmer than in previous years.
My mother picked up a piece of steamed fish with her chopsticks and chewed it slowly. The host on TV was saying auspicious words when a burst of firecrackers exploded outside the window.
In the midst of the clamor, my mother casually said something, her voice not loud, but clearly reaching my father and me:
"Chen Rui, have you called Xiao Lin? Is he home?"
I nearly choked on my glass of juice! My heart skipped a beat.
Phone calls? Of course, every day! I wish I could be on the line 24/7!
This is the content of the call... ahem... it makes me blush just thinking about it!
I quickly swallowed the juice and said vaguely: "Ah... just... just called. He is driving home and said there is a big traffic jam... now... he should be here now, right?" I took out my cell phone and pretended to take a look to hide my guilty conscience.
My dad's face was a little red from drinking, and he immediately responded after hearing what he said: "Yes, yes! Xiaolin is a good kid! Come to our house again when you have time! I have some good wine!" He patted his chest with a heroic look on his face.
I silently complained in my heart: Dad, are you thinking about me? You are thinking about my good wine!
At this moment, as if in sync with my heart, my phone rang happily! The words "Boss Lin" danced on the screen.
"I'm going to answer a call!" I almost jumped up, grabbed the phone and rushed to the room.
I closed the door, blocking out most of the sound from the TV in the living room, but the sound of firecrackers outside the window was still deafening. I pressed the answer button and practically yelled, "Hello?! Can you hear me?"
Lin Yan's low laughter came from the other end of the phone, and the background was very quiet: "I can hear you, Ruirui. Have you eaten?" His voice came through the electricity, with a familiar warmth.
"Just finished eating! How about you? Got home? Is there traffic jam?" I also shouted at the top of my voice.
"I'm here, just finished eating. Home... is just like that." He brushed it off lightly, obviously not wanting to talk about his "New Year's Eve dinner" over there. "Your place is so noisy."
"Yeah! The firecrackers are almost making my ears go deaf!" I complained with a smile, walked to the window, and looked at the gorgeous fireworks exploding one after another in the night sky outside. "What about you over there? Are there any fireworks?"
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds. Lin Yan's voice was filled with a subtle tenderness and loneliness: "I'm... close to the suburbs, so there aren't many fireworks. It's very quiet."
He paused, then lowered his voice. With a piercing force that cut straight to the heart, it cut through the cacophony of firecrackers and reached my ears clearly: "Ruirui...do you have any fireworks over there?"
"Yes! Of course there are! They're all over the sky! So beautiful!" I looked at the bright night sky outside the window and answered loudly, with a smile on my face unconsciously.
"Then..." Lin Yan's voice lowered, with a cautious expectation and strong longing, "...Do you miss me?"
The fireworks outside the window happened to be dense at this moment, the "bang bang bang" sounds were continuous, and the brilliant light illuminated the entire room.
I was surrounded by this huge sound and brilliant colors, and my heart was filled with a burning emotion. Almost without thinking, I shouted back to the phone with all my strength, smiling:
“I miss you! Lin Yan! I miss you!”
My voice was drowned out by the deafening sound of firecrackers, but I am sure he heard it.
On the other end of the phone, Lin Yan stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of his empty and deserted villa, looking at the scattered and particularly lonely lights of fireworks outside the window, listening to his lover's confession coming from the phone, which was blurred by the sound of firecrackers but extremely clear, and an extremely gentle and satisfied smile slowly bloomed on his face.
He spoke into the phone, his voice low but firm:
"Ruirui...I miss you too...so much...so much..."
At this moment, although we were separated by two different places, we seemed to be standing under the same brilliant night sky.
On his side, a small firework timidly rose into the sky and bloomed into a weak but hardworking golden flower.
On my side, countless huge fireworks exploded above my head, interweaving into a sea of light.
We each looked at the night sky in front of us, and at the same time, we smiled silently and happily at our phones and at the colorful sky.
The New Year’s bell rang amid fireworks and deafening cheers.
Just a few days after the New Year, the warm atmosphere of "motherly love and filial piety" (although limited) in the family had not yet warmed up, and my mother began to "drive people away" without saying a word.
"Xiao Rui, doesn't your review plan start after the New Year? Staying at home is inefficient, so go back early." She suggested in a flat tone while wiping the coffee table.
"Yes, studying is important! Didn't Xiaolin go back too?" My father echoed from the side, stroking the good cigarette that Lin Yan gave him in his hand. It was obvious that he was more concerned about his "good drinking buddy".
My mind is as clear as a mirror.
What review plan? My mom's X-ray eyes clearly saw through my absent-mindedness these past few days, the way I was giggling foolishly while holding my phone. She knew I was missing Lin Yan so much!
Tsk, Mr. Chen, with your insight, it would be a waste of your talent if you didn't become a detective!
All right, let’s go! I quickly packed my bags, feeling overjoyed.
Although my mother said she was trying to get rid of me, she still stuffed me with a lot of homemade bacon and sausages, as well as local specialty pastries that my father had specially bought. It was heavy and filled with love (and food to feed Lin Yan).
I rushed all the way and was eager to go home.
Finally I returned to the downstairs of my and Lin Yan’s little home.
Carrying large and small bags, imagining Lin Yan's surprised expression when he opened the door, the corners of my mouth almost stretched to my ears.
I knocked on the door, mentally rehearsing the line "Surprise!"
But it was not Lin Yan's gentle and smiling face.
A young man stood behind the door. He looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, very tall, almost as tall as Lin Yan, but a little thin.
He was wearing a black casual suit that was extremely well-tailored and looked very expensive, which made his skin look cold and pale.
His hair was meticulously styled, slightly curly, with a few strands lazily draped across his smooth forehead. His features were exquisitely refined, bearing a resemblance to Lin Yan, but their temperaments were worlds apart. Lin Yan was a reserved, gentle jade, while the man before him was an unsheathed demonic sword, radiating a sinister and languid aura.
He leaned against the door frame, his hands in his trouser pockets, his chin slightly raised, his eyes filled with a condescending scrutiny and undisguised distance, his thin lips parted, his voice as cold as an icy spring:
"Who are you looking for?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
