Chapter 77 Chinese New Year 2
"Dinner's ready!"
The whole family raised their glasses and clinked them together, the glasses making a crisp sound. Blessings of "Happy New Year," "Good Health," and "All the Best" echoed from one glass to another.
Jiang Yining took a sip of juice, the sweetness spreading on her tongue. Just as she was about to pick up some food, a peeled shrimp was placed in her bowl. Xie Shiyan's fingers were long and slender, and even peeling a shrimp looked like he was creating a work of art.
Next came the crab meat that had been shredded and the fish belly that had been deboned; each portion was arranged neatly.
"You child," Jiang's mother couldn't help but scold, "you're perfectly capable, yet you still need Ayan to serve you. Aren't you ashamed?"
My little nephew suddenly looked up, rice grains still stuck to the corner of his mouth: "Is Grandma talking about me?"
Laughter erupted from the table. Father Jiang laughed so hard he slapped his thigh, Jiang Yunting almost choked on his food, and even the usually serious Xie Shiyan turned his face away, his shoulders trembling slightly.
Taking the opportunity, Jiang Yining stuffed another shrimp into her mouth, winked at her mother, and received a helpless glare in return.
Outside the window, someone lit the first firework, which burst open in the night sky with a bang. My little nephew immediately put down his chopsticks and stumbled to the balcony to watch.
Jiang Yining also got up and stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. The colorful light reflected on everyone's faces, flickering like a flowing dream.
Xie Shiyan was standing behind her without her noticing, his warm chest pressed against her back. His breath brushed against her ear: "Happy New Year, Ningning."
Jiang Yining leaned back, letting herself completely sink into his embrace. On this snowy New Year's Eve, among all the people she loved and who loved her, she finally rediscovered that long-lost word—home.
The joy of regaining what was lost brought tears to everyone's eyes several times. After the New Year, Xie Shiyan took Jiang Yining back to H City, visiting relatives and friends, their lives filled with a sense of grounded happiness.
Outside the hotel's floor-to-ceiling windows, the night view of H City glittered like a galaxy. Jiang Yining walked barefoot on the hotel's soft carpet, her forehead pressed against the cool glass, her breath creating a small white mist on the windowpane.
What are you thinking about?
She felt a familiar warmth from behind, and Xie Shiyan, carrying the fresh scent of his post-shower body, wrapped his arms around her. Water still dripped from his hair, falling onto her shoulder and leaving a small, dark stain.
Jiang Yining leaned back, feeling the rise and fall of his chest: "It just feels...so unreal." She pointed to a brightly lit commercial district in the distance, "That used to be an old street, right? There was a shop selling roasted chestnuts there, and there was always a long queue in the winter."
Xie Shiyan chuckled softly, nuzzling her head with his chin. "It's called 'Financial Center' now. When I asked for directions today, the security guard looked at me like I was an alien."
It was truly ridiculous. Who would have thought that Mr. Xie, a powerful figure in the business world, would get lost in his own hometown? Jiang Yining recalled the scene from that afternoon.
Xie Shiyan held up his phone and circled around three times before finally having to call his uncle for help. The elders nearly burst out laughing when they heard this.
"Ah Yan," Fifth Uncle patted him on the shoulder, his beard trembling with laughter, "you child, no matter how much money you make, you can't forget your roots."
The cobblestone streets, the mottled old walls, and the alleyways covered in vines that she remembered are now all replaced by unfamiliar high-rise buildings. Jiang Yining suddenly felt a lump in her throat.
The eight years she was absent were enough for a city to be transformed, enough for a boy to grow into a man.
"Are you cold?" Xie Shiyan noticed her slight trembling and tightened his arms around her.
Jiang Yining shook her head, then turned and wrapped her arms around his waist. The belt of his bathrobe had come undone, revealing his muscular abs, still glistening with water droplets. She deliberately placed her cold hands on them: "You're warm now."
Xie Shiyan gasped, but didn't pull away. He just pinched the back of her neck as punishment: "Naughty."
The phone on the bedside table suddenly lit up. Jiang Yining glanced at the lock screen and saw a dense array of unread messages—all New Year's greetings from Xie's executives. She looked up at him: "Are you really not going to handle any work?"
"Even if the sky falls before the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, it won't concern me." Xie Shiyan kissed her forehead. "I promised to stay with you, so I won't be distracted."
These words warmed Jiang Yining's heart. She knew how rare it was for a workaholic like Xie Shiyan to completely put aside his work.
"Oh, right," Xie Shiyan suddenly remembered something, and pulled out a series of bulging red envelopes from his suit pocket, "these were given to you by your aunts and uncles, they said they were to make up for the lost New Year's money."
Jiang Yining took the red cloth bag embroidered with the character "福" (fortune/blessing), inside which were neatly stacked brand-new, consecutively numbered banknotes. Her eyes suddenly welled up with tears. In the eyes of the Xie family elders, she would always be that little girl who needed to receive New Year's money.
"They...all like you very much." Xie Shiyan's voice was soft, but every word was clear. "They keep asking us when we're going to have our wedding."
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