-49- Chinese New Year
The phone in her hand buzzed, the name Hu Mingyuan on the screen piercing her eyes. Zhao Jinghuan suddenly felt she had matured considerably. It had been so long since she'd given Hu Mingyuan an insulting nickname, replacing his name in her phone. Under normal circumstances, Zhao Jinghuan would have simply let the phone ring, but today, for some unknown reason, she pressed the call button. When the call connected, Hu Mingyuan on the other end was visibly stunned: "You actually answered it." "What's going on?" Hu Mingyuan said, "Aren't you afraid I'll ruin your New Year's mood?" "What's going on?" "Oh," Hu Mingyuan suddenly smiled. "I see. It seems you weren't in a good mood anyway, so you're not afraid of being disturbed." "What's going on?" Zhao Jinghuan spoke seriously, enunciating each word. Hu Mingyuan finally calmed down. He paused for a moment before speaking: "I just checked the sales of Little Freckles. You should win after the New Year." Zhao Jinghuan had no idea what he was going to say next, so she just murmured, "Oh." Hu Mingyuan said, "Don't worry, I won't cheat. You'll be free after the New Year. Actually, you haven't been here long, and I haven't even paid you your full salary once." "You can make it up now." Hu Mingyuan chuckled. "You're always late and leave early, and yet you still want your full salary? You're really going crazy." He fell silent after saying this, and didn't speak again for a long time. Zhao Jinghuan couldn't help but ask if he had anything else to say. Hu Mingyuan hesitated and said, "If I said I still liked you, what would you say?" Zhao Jinghuan frowned unconsciously. "I'd say I'm really going crazy." Hu Mingyuan's laughter was a little forced, and he had guessed a similar answer. "Hu Mingyuan, you don't like me. Don't fool yourself." Hu Mingyuan on the other end fell silent again, and finally, he just managed a "Happy New Year." This inexplicable phone call helped Zhao Jinghuan clear the last bit of sleepiness. After hanging up the phone, she glanced at the time. It was past midnight. Most shops on the street were closed by this time of year on New Year's Eve. Only a few large supermarkets remained, but they wouldn't last long. She realized there wasn't even a refrigerator in the dorm, and if she stayed lying down, she might go hungry during the Lunar New Year. She hurried downstairs and walked to the nearest supermarket. The usually bustling dormitory building was now eerily quiet. Zhao Jinghuan walked down the dark stairs and out the building. She stood in the snow below for a moment before heading towards the supermarket...
The phone in her hand was buzzing, and Hu Mingyuan's name on the screen pierced her eyes. Zhao Jinghuan suddenly felt that she had indeed matured a lot. It had been so long since she had given Hu Mingyuan an insulting nickname to replace the name in her phone.
Under normal circumstances, Zhao Jinghuan would have just let the phone ring, but today she pressed the call button for some unknown reason.
When the call was connected, Hu Mingyuan on the other end was visibly stunned: "You actually answered it."
"What's up?"
Hu Mingyuan said, "Aren't you afraid that I'll ruin your good mood for the New Year?"
"What can I do for you?"
"Oh." Hu Mingyuan suddenly smiled. "I see. It seems you were not in a good mood anyway, so you are not afraid of being disturbed by me."
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Zhao Jinghuan spoke seriously, enunciating each word.
Hu Mingyuan finally calmed down. He paused for a moment before speaking, "I just checked the sales of Little Freckles. You should win after the New Year."
Zhao Jinghuan had no idea what he was going to say next, so she just said, "Oh." Hu Mingyuan said, "Don't worry, I won't cheat. You'll be free after the New Year. Actually, you haven't been here long, and I haven't even paid you a full salary."
"You can make it up now."
Hu Mingyuan laughed and said, "You are late and leave early every day, and you still want full salary. I think you are blinding your heart." He fell silent after saying this, and did not speak again for a long time. Zhao Jinghuan could not help asking him if there was anything else. Hu Mingyuan hesitated and said:
"If I say I still like you. How will you answer me?"
Zhao Jinghuan frowned unconsciously: "I would say that I want to blind your heart."
Hu Mingyuan's laughter was a little forced, and he said that he had guessed a similar answer.
"Hu Mingyuan, you don't like me, don't fool yourself."
Hu Mingyuan on the opposite side fell silent again. Finally, he squeezed out a sentence: "Happy New Year."
This inexplicable phone call helped Zhao Jinghuan clear the last vestiges of sleepiness. After hanging up, she checked the time. It was past midnight. Most shops on the street were closed by this time of year on New Year's Eve. Only a few large supermarkets remained, but they wouldn't last long. She realized there wasn't even a refrigerator in her dorm room. If she stayed in bed any longer, she might go hungry during the Lunar New Year. She hurried downstairs and walked to the nearest supermarket.
The usually bustling dormitory building was now eerily quiet. Zhao Jinghuan walked out of the building through the dark stairs and stood in the snow downstairs for a while before heading towards the supermarket.
Not long after she left, Lu Kai's old Jetta drove up from another road and stopped downstairs of her dormitory.
…………
Lu Kai had previously asked Zhao Jinghuan about her plans for the New Year. When Zhao Jinghuan said she wanted to go back to her hometown, Lu Kai offered to drive her to the high-speed rail station, but Zhao Jinghuan refused firmly.
At that time, Lu Kai thought that Zhao Jinghuan was still struggling with their kiss, so he didn't insist too much.
This year's New Year was actually a bit special. Lu Kai and Wan Feng were inseparable during college. Wan Feng stayed at Lu Kai's house during the summer vacation for two years, and the parents of both sides established a good personal relationship. In the second half of this year, Wan Feng's health has not been very good. He has had colds and fevers intermittently. He went to the hospital but there was nothing good to do. They just said it was a problem with his physical condition and he needed more rest and recuperation. So during the New Year, Wan Feng's mother did not let Wan Feng take the bus home, and came over to spend the New Year with her son.
When Lu Kai's mother heard about this, she started to make arrangements and asked Wanfeng and Wanfeng's mother to come over to join Lu Kai and his family of three. In the morning, Lu Kai and Wanfeng went to the station to pick up Wanfeng's mother. After that, the house was in a mess. Chickens and fish were slaughtered, meals were prepared, and a "three-court trial" was held to urge Lu Kai and Wanfeng to resolve the important matter of life as soon as possible.
It was almost noon when Lu Kai realized that Ji Anya had called him that morning. He and Wan Feng were being "beaten up" by the two mothers at the time and hadn't heard it. He and Ji Anya weren't close friends, and since Ji Anya had called him out of the blue, he thought she had something important to say, so he quickly called her back.
When the call went through, Ji Anya's words were reserved, but the gist was that she suspected Zhao Jinghuan hadn't returned home for the Lunar New Year. Like Lu Kai, Ji Anya knew nothing about Zhao Jinghuan's family affairs, so she couldn't offer any evidence or speculation. However, her concerns were instantly magnified ten thousandfold when conveyed to Lu Kai.
Lu Kai didn't even eat lunch, and without any explanation, he drove out of the house, leaving Wan Feng alone to face the "bloody storm" at home.
On New Year's Eve, the roads were nearly empty. A journey that usually took half an hour took less than fifteen. Lu Kai parked his old Jetta downstairs in front of the dormitory building and went up to the fifth floor according to the address Ji Anya had given him. Before knocking on the door, he took several deep breaths and even quietly rehearsed what he was going to say next, including Ji Anya's concern for her, why he had invited Zhao Jinghuan to spend the New Year with him, and why she shouldn't refuse.
However, after knocking on the door for a long time, no one answered. He specially made a video call to Ji Anya and asked her to look at the door number in front of her to confirm that she was not in the wrong place.
Neither of them believed Zhao Jinghuan would deliberately stay silent in the room, so Ji Anya was probably just being overly suspicious. Ji Anya felt a little embarrassed and kept apologizing to Lu Kai, saying it was New Year's Day and he had made a wasted trip. Lu Kai naturally didn't care and instead thanked Ji Anya for taking care of Zhao Jinghuan.
Ji Anya laughed at him: "That really sounds like something a boyfriend would say."
Lu Kai blushed, and after hanging up the phone, he knocked on the door again before reluctantly going downstairs. Back in the car, he called Zhao Jinghuan and hesitantly asked her where she was and what she was busy with.
It was a mess over there with Zhao Jinghuan, sounding like she was in a market or somewhere. She said she was shopping with her family.
"What's the matter? What's the matter?"
"No, nothing." Lu Kai didn't hear any flaws. "I just wanted to say... Happy New Year."
Zhao Jinghuan on the other side of the phone paused, smiled and said, "Yeah, happy new year."
…………
Zhao Jinghuan bought some cooked food from the supermarket and walked back on the crunchy snow, as if she was back to the carefree days of her childhood. When she was almost to the dormitory building, fresh tire tracks appeared on the snow, as if a vehicle had just passed by. So she stepped on the tire tracks again, walking on the "tightrope" like a game, and walked all the way back to the dormitory.
It was already two o'clock in the afternoon after dinner. She didn't know what to do next. She lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling in a daze. Finally, she took another nap. She drowsily thought that she would sleep through the year like this, but then she was awakened by the ringing of her cell phone.
Zhao Jinghuan opened her eyes and found it was already dark, but it was not yet 7 o'clock. It was Lu Kai again. Zhao Jinghuan shook her head to clear her mind before turning on the light and answering the phone.
Lu Kai asked her what she was doing, and she lied, saying what else could she do during Chinese New Year? Of course, she was with her family. Lu Kai then said, "Oh, are you preparing the New Year's Eve dinner?"
Zhao Jinghuan was a little dazed and suddenly remembered the last New Year he spent with his mother.
"Yes, we're preparing the New Year's Eve dinner. My parents and I went back to my grandma's house. It was really lively in the countryside. My second uncle and his family took my brother and nephew out to set off firecrackers. My grandma, mom, and aunt were cooking. I just went to the stove and saw that they even caught sparrows to roast. They wrapped them in mud and threw them into the stove without even plucking their feathers. I remember that sparrows seem to be protected animals now, but they insist that they are not the same thing. Sparrows are house sparrows, and house sparrows are sparrows..."
She talked a lot, and at the end, it seemed as if she was really back to the New Year's Eve when she was fourteen years old. Her ears were filled with the noisy laughter and scolding of adults, and her nose was filled with the mixed smell of stove smoke and firecrackers.
Lu Kai listened quietly without interrupting. After Zhao Jinghuan finished speaking, he said calmly:
"Jinghuan, do you want to celebrate the New Year with me?"
Zhao Jinghuan said I'm in my hometown, why should I celebrate the New Year with you, watch the gala together, and complain in the group?
Lu Kai on the other end of the phone paused for a moment before saying, "But the light in your room is still on."
"Light?" Zhao Jinghuan looked up at the light bulb above her head. She was stunned for a moment before she reacted. She jumped out of bed and ran to the window to look down.
——Lu Kai stood downstairs of the dormitory building, standing in the white snow, in the light from the car lights, as if he was the only place that was warm in this cold night.
Lu Kai raised his head and waved vigorously towards Zhao Jinghuan upstairs: "Jinghuan! Let's celebrate the New Year together!"
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