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Lu Kai was initially hesitant about inviting Jinghuan's mother to celebrate Chinese New Year: "I'm afraid Auntie seeing us will be reminded of Wanfeng..." But Zhao Jinghuan was right; Auntie would definitely think of Wanfeng during Chinese New Year. Since she would, it might as well be lively. Lu's mother had been thinking about her friend and worried she'd be alone during the holiday, but she was too busy entertaining Zhao Jinghuan to attend. So, upon hearing Zhao Jinghuan wanted Wanfeng's mother to come, Lu's mother was overjoyed and immediately called her. Wanfeng's mother declined for a while, but ultimately couldn't persuade Lu's mother. After all, Lu's mother said, "If you don't come, we'll come find you. After all, Chinese New Year is all about being together, and it doesn't matter where you celebrate it." Wanfeng's mother was summoned by Lu's mother on the 29th. When Zhao Jingtian and Lu Kai arrived home on the high-speed train on the 30th, the two mothers came to meet them at the station. Zhao Jinghuan and Wanfeng's mother chatted enthusiastically online, and even offline, they felt no strangers. As soon as they met, Wanfeng's mother remarked on how little Jinghuan was wearing—in the middle of winter, she was wearing nothing but a single layer under her down jacket. "Look at you, you've been out of the car for so long, and your hands are frozen red." After getting in the car, Wanfeng's mother kept rubbing Zhao Jinghuan's hands. When they arrived at Lu Kai's house, she immediately cut fruit and brought snacks for them both. Zhao Jinghuan was also very attached to her. After changing her clothes, she would walk back and forth behind Wanfeng's mother and sit close to her when watching TV, which made Lu's mother say sourly: "During the Chinese New Year last year, Jinghuan was the most attached to me, and you said she was like my daughter. But this year, you snatched my daughter away." Wanfeng's mother knew she was joking and didn't really care. She responded with a smile: "Look, I'm just lending it to you. What's wrong with lending it to me for two days? I'll give you a red envelope later." Lu's mother raised her eyebrows: "Red envelopes are given to the younger generation. It's okay for you to snatch my daughter, but why are you taking advantage of me?" While talking, Lu's father came back with two large bags of seafood. After entering the house and greeting Jinghuan, he began to complain, saying that Lu's mother and Wanfeng's mother avoided work under the pretext of picking up the children, and ordered so many things and let him get them by himself. Mom rolled her eyes at him. "Isn't it unfair to ask you to get something? Who's avoiding work? Isn't driving to pick up the kids work? Driving is exhausting." Dad said, "Of course not. It's much more tiring than carrying thousands of dollars worth of seafood on the bus. I told you this morning to drive me to get the seafood. You were lazy and deliberately left it to the last minute, leaving me to get it myself." Mom said, "Take a taxi." Dad said, "Who needs a taxi during Chinese New Year?"
Lu Kai was a little hesitant at first about inviting Jing Huan's mother to celebrate the New Year: "I'm afraid that Auntie will be reminded of the past when she sees us, and think of the evening breeze..."
But what Zhao Jinghuan said was also true. During the New Year, Auntie would think of Wanfeng no matter what. Since she would think of it, it would be better to have more fun around her.
Mother Lu was also thinking about her good friend and was worried that she would be alone during the New Year. However, she was too busy entertaining Zhao Jinghuan to attend. So when she heard that Zhao Jinghuan wanted to invite Wanfeng's mother as well, Mother Lu was overjoyed and immediately called Wanfeng's mother.
Wanfeng's mother tried to refuse for a while, but in the end she couldn't persuade Lu's mother. After all, Lu's mother said, "If you don't come, we'll go find you. After all, the New Year is all about the people, so it doesn't matter where you celebrate it."
Wanfeng's mother was called away by Lu's mother on the 29th. When Zhao Jingtian and Lu Kai arrived home by high-speed train on the 30th, the two mothers came to pick them up.
Zhao Jinghuan and Wanfeng's mother chatted enthusiastically online, and they didn't feel awkward offline either. As soon as they met, Wanfeng's mother said that Jinghuan was wearing very little. It was winter, and she was only wearing a single layer of clothing under her down jacket.
"Look at you, you've been out of the car for so long that your hands are frozen red."
After getting in the car, Wanfeng's mother kept rubbing Zhao Jinghuan's hands. When they arrived at Lu Kai's house, she immediately cut fruit and brought snacks for the two of them. Zhao Jinghuan was also very clingy to her. After changing her clothes, she would follow Wanfeng's mother around, and even sit close to her when watching TV. This made Lu's mother say sourly, "During the Chinese New Year last year, Jinghuan was the most clingy to me, and you said she was like my daughter. But this year, you've snatched my daughter away."
Wanfeng's mother knew she was joking, but she didn't really care. She smiled and replied, "Look, I'm just borrowing it for you. What's wrong with borrowing it for two days? I'll give you a red envelope later."
Mother Lu raised her eyebrows: "It's all red envelopes for the younger generation. You stole my daughter, but why are you taking advantage of me?"
As they were talking, Lu's father came back carrying two large bags of seafood. After entering the house and greeting Jinghuan, he started complaining, saying that Lu's mother and Wanfeng's mother were avoiding work under the pretext of picking up the children, and had ordered so many things and asked him to get them by himself.
Mother Lu rolled her eyes at him. "Isn't it unfair for me to ask you to bring something? Who's avoiding work? Isn't driving to pick up the kids work? Driving is exhausting."
Dad Lu said, "Of course not. It's much more tiring than carrying thousands of dollars worth of seafood on the bus. I asked you to drive me to get the seafood this morning. But you were lazy and deliberately left it to the last minute, leaving me to get it myself."
Lu's mother said, "Take a taxi."
Dad Lu said, "How can we have a car during Chinese New Year?"
Lu's mother said, "Who can you blame if you can't drive? Okay, okay, we're just going to get some seafood. When we were making dumplings this morning, Sister Su and I were the main drivers."
Dad Lu had already carried the seafood into the kitchen, but when he heard Mom Lu's words, he trotted out again, "What do you mean by main force? I made the filling and rolled the dough, and Lecheng's mom made the dumplings. You're just slacking off there, you only made a few."
Mother Lu waved her hand: "Okay, it's good enough that I made it for you. You made the filling. Then I..." She took Wanfeng's mother's hand, "We've also let the dough rise, right?"
Wanfeng's mother quickly whispered to Lu's mother, "Dumplings are made with unleavened dough, not leavened dough."
Mother Lu tutted and raised her voice to Father Lu, "Alright, it's New Year's Day, why are you fussing about this? You complained about me not working 30 years ago, but it's too late now. Go cook the seafood! The kids are waiting to eat it."
"You don't need me to tell you. Don't I know how to cook seafood?" Dad Lu put on a smile and asked Zhao Jinghuan to wait. Zhao Jinghuan quickly waved her hand and said that she and Lu Kai had eaten in the car and were not hungry now. Dad Lu smiled and said it was okay, seafood would not fill up the stomach, and then asked Lu Kai to go to the balcony to get a drink for Zhao Jinghuan.
When Dad Lu entered the kitchen, he glared at Mom Lu, who was sitting on the sofa eating melon seeds. Mom Lu didn't show any weakness and glared back at him with raised eyebrows. But when Dad Lu started washing seafood in the sink, she stuck out her tongue and said to Zhao Jinghuan, "You guys chat, I'll go peel two heads of garlic for him, otherwise he'll bother me again."
The family celebrated the New Year with great noise and commotion. Wanfeng's mother did not mention her deceased son the whole night. It seemed as if she had really forgotten the pain for the time being. However, when everyone gathered in front of the TV to eat and watch the Spring Festival Gala, there were a few moments when she would suddenly become absent-minded, and no one knew what she was thinking about.
After 11 o'clock, the sound of firecrackers outside the house was connected. At this time, Lu Kai received a New Year's greeting call from Tomato. The two had known each other for so many years, but this was the first time Tomato wished Lu Kai a happy new year. Lu Kai was a little confused. After answering the phone, Tomato exchanged a few words and then announced the good news to Lu Kai, saying that there would be a release date ceremony for "Dragon Palace Elementary School Students" after the beginning of the year, and hoped that Lu Kai would attend.
"My boss is a big fan of events. He wanted to make it lively and asked me to invite all my friends."
The series of bad things that happened over the past two years has made Lu Kai more cautious: "I won't go. I'm afraid you will come up with some tricks to trick me."
Tomato swore and said that his boss was satisfied with the current traffic and would never cause trouble for him again. Lu Kai sighed, thinking that the Pixz incident was finally solved by Tomato, and he still owed him a favor, so he agreed reluctantly.
After hanging up the phone, Fanqie called Zhao Jinghuan again and made the same invitation after the New Year's greetings. Lu Kai had already agreed, so Zhao Jinghuan had no reason to refuse.
"Okay, okay, I'll go too."
After a while, Wanfeng's mother's cell phone rang. Zhao Jinghuan and Lu Kai didn't expect that Tomato would also call Wanfeng's mother. When the aunt answered the phone and came back, she said that Tomato also invited her to attend the launch ceremony of "Dragon Palace Primary School Students". The two looked at each other, not knowing what to say for a while. Lu Kai was not even happy at all. After all, Pixz had just "aborted", and Tomato invited the aunt to attend the launch ceremony of the trendy toy at this time, which was really a thoughtless decision.
The aunt seemed to notice the change in Lu Kai's expression and smiled to excuse Tomato: "That's great! We can still go see you guys after the New Year." Lu Kai, who was always eloquent, was several beats slow to react. It was Zhao Jinghuan who took over the conversation: "If you want to see us, come over anytime."
Lu's father and mother cleaned up the guest room. After midnight, they ate dumplings and went to bed. Zhao Jinghuan slept in the same room with Wanfeng's mother. The noise of New Year's Eve had not yet completely faded, and the occasional firecrackers only gradually died down in the second half of the night. Zhao Jinghuan had a bit of insomnia and never fell asleep, but she lay quietly until the outside of the room finally quieted down for a long time. Wanfeng's mother slowly sat up from the bed. Zhao Jinghuan didn't know what she was thinking at the time, but she subconsciously closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. Auntie came over to cover her with the quilt, gently squeezed her hand through the quilt, and then turned to sit by the bed. She didn't cry or sigh, just sat quietly, sitting there all night long, until dawn.
During the seven-day Lunar New Year holiday, Zhao Jinghuan and her family of five stayed together. Wanfeng's mother had asked to leave several times, but Lu's mother refused to let her go, saying sometimes they were going shopping the next day, sometimes they were going to the temple the next day. They were tired, but the holiday was fulfilling. Wanfeng's mother never showed any sadness, but Lu Kai and Zhao Jinghuan felt like there was a thorn in their hearts. On the last day of the holiday, they drove Wanfeng's mother to the high-speed rail station. On the way back, Lu Kai, who was driving, suddenly said, "It's all Tomato's fault."
She was obviously unhappy that he invited his aunt to participate in the ceremony of "Dragon Palace Elementary School Students".
Lu Kai seemed to be wavering. He said, "Why don't we just give birth to Wanfeng's baby as well?" But before Zhao Jinghuan could reply, he shook his head again and again, denying himself. "No, no, that would be unfair to Wanfeng."
Zhao Jinghuan turned her head to look at Lu Kai. On the night of the 30th, Wanfeng's mother sat alone all night, secretly looking at her aunt's back, and suddenly an idea came into her mind.
Zhao Jinghuan said to Lu Kai, "Wanfeng's design isn't good enough, so let's make some improvements before releasing it."
Lu Kai frowned and said, "Isn't that the same thing as what Hu Mingyuan did?"
Zhao Jinghuan shook his head and said, "Hu Mingyuan practically tore it down and started over. Besides, he and Wanfeng weren't close. Even if Wanfeng were still alive, he wouldn't agree to Hu Mingyuan revising his work. But...but there's one person who's different."
Lu Kai asked: "Who? Doraemon?"
Zhao Jinghuan said no. Lu Kai was stunned for a moment, then made a joke: "Oh, I know, it's a tomato."
Zhao Jinghuan didn't say anything. Lu Kai thought he had guessed what Zhao Jinghuan was thinking: "Me? But I don't have the confidence to do it well."
But Zhao Jinghuan said, "It's not you."
Lu Kai asked, "Who else? You? Could it be Sister Zou?"
"Neither." Zhao Jinghuan paused for a moment, then said hesitantly:
"I remember at Wanfeng's funeral, the emcee said that Wanfeng was influenced by his mother to study art."
Zhao Jinghuan looked at Lu Kai and said, "Auntie also has a background in art, right?"
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