Like Xiaohua Family Restaurant, Micro Gardening also closed on New Year's Eve. Lu Lingxi hung a small wooden board outside the door of Micro Gardening to indicate that it would officially open on the eighth day of the first lunar month after the Chinese New Year. He had not originally intended to take such a long break, but Wang Shuxiu said that he had worked hard for half a year and wanted to take a good rest during the Chinese New Year. Lu Lingxi did not want to refuse Wang Shuxiu's wishes, so he agreed.
After a rare late sleep in the morning, when Lu Lingxi rubbed his eyes and got up, Xiao Feng had already taken Dahei out for a run. As an energetic dog, Dahei likes to go out for exercise. Unfortunately, Lu Lingxi's physical strength can't keep up, and Dahei insists on not hurting Lu Lingxi's "self-esteem". It is rare for him to have fun with Lu Lingxi. Only when Yan Yue and Xiao Feng take him out, Dahei can run freely.
"Dahei has good endurance and explosive power." Xiao Feng praised Dahei while opening the door.
Dahei narrowed his eyes, squatted calmly at the door, raised his paws and waited for Xiao Feng to wipe them.
Xiao Feng smiled and imitated Lu Lingxi to wipe Dahei's four paws. He said with a smile, "Okay, Xiaoxi should get up. Let's go see Xiaoxi."
Dahei called out softly and trotted into Lu Lingxi's room. Lu Lingxi had just sat up when Dahei half-stood up with his two front paws on the head of the bed, looking at Lu Lingxi gently. Lu Lingxi slept well, and in a good mood, he patted Dahei's head and said casually, "Did you go out with Dad?"
Dahei called out a few times in a short voice. Lu Lingxi laughed and said helplessly, "I know. I'll go out for a run when the weather gets warmer." After he finished speaking, he smiled and flicked Dahei with his fingers, jokingly saying, "Dahei, you really look more and more like Brother Yan."
Yan Yue always felt that Lu Lingxi was too thin and not particularly healthy. In addition to urging him to eat every day, he also encouraged Lu Lingxi to get up early and run. Lu Lingxi was forced to persist for a while, but he refused to go out when it was too cold. Yan Yue had no choice but to talk to him about exercising several times. I don't know when Dahei remembered it, and he cared more about it than Yan Yue.
After talking about Dahei, Lu Lingxi reached out from under the pillow and pulled Xiaohei out. Xiaohei was not fully awake yet, staring at Lu Lingxi blankly, and after a while, he slowly wrapped himself around Lu Lingxi's hand. Lu Lingxi pulled it down by the tail and stuffed it into his pajama pocket. "Stop it." He patted Xiaohei's head and got up to go to the bathroom.
While Lu Lingxi was washing up, Xiao Hong's family of three came to the community. Xiao Hong also brought a few boxes of firecrackers and said to Lu Lingxi with a smile, "I bought these for you, Xiaoxi." Lu Lingxi was a little curious. He had seen this kind of firecrackers on TV, and Xiao Feng also brought back several boxes a few days ago, but he had never played with them himself.
Xiao Feng took it from Xiao Hong and said casually, "We have already bought a lot at home."
Xiao Hong didn't care. "There are only a few of these left. They will be gone after a while. This only happens once a year, so let Xiaoxi have fun." He turned to Lu Lingxi, "Uncle will go with you to set off firecrackers later. Uncle is the best at this."
"Okay." Lu Lingxi nodded obediently.
After hearing what Xiao Hong said, Zhou Xiaoman whispered to Wang Shuxiu, "Old Xiao hasn't been so noisy in a few years. I think this is the happiest New Year for him in recent years."
In the past, Xiao Hong and Zhou Xiaoman didn’t have a child, so during the Chinese New Year, Xiao Feng and the others were the only three of them. Occasionally, Zhou Xiaoman’s parents would be there, but the old couple were old and didn’t like the crowds, so they went to bed early every year. Xiao Hong felt that the Chinese New Year was boring, and he was not as happy as he was this year. Although there were only two more people, the feeling was completely different. Especially when looking at Lu Lingxi, Xiao Hong was even more competent than Xiao Feng, buying whatever he thought of, food, drinks, and toys. He even murmured to Zhou Xiaoman in private that Xiaoxi was too obedient, and it would be better if he could be a little more noisy and shout like other children about wanting this and liking that.
Zhou Xiaoman finished her words with a smile, and Wang Shuxiu also laughed and said with emotion, "It has been several years since the family has been so lively."
After breakfast, Wang Shuxiu directed Xiao Feng to paste Spring Festival couplets at the door, Zhou Xiaoman was frying meatballs in the kitchen, and Xiao Hong watched for a long time with nothing to do, so he simply took Lu Lingxi to the open space in the community to set off firecrackers.
"Come on, let's set off a fireworks display first."
Xiao Hong excitedly lit the firecrackers in his hand and pulled Lu Lingxi back a few meters away. He said he bought these for Lu Lingxi to play with, but in fact he was having a lot of fun playing with them alone. Before Lu Lingxi could get close, he was stopped by Xiao Hong, who motioned for him to come. Lu Lingxi simply squatted aside with Dahei and Xiao Baiwan, and watched Xiao Hong light up one after another with a smile. This was much more interesting than watching on TV. I don't know if it was because of their lead, but the sound of firecrackers soon rang out in the community. There were children watching from a distance, and when Xiao Hong lit one, they looked up and exclaimed collectively.
Xiao Hong had more fun.
The day passed in a noisy manner, and at night, the whole neighborhood was filled with the sound of firecrackers. Looking from the balcony, half of the sky was full of light and fireworks were shining. Lu Lingxi lay on the balcony and looked up. Behind him, Wang Shuxiu and others were busy preparing the New Year's Eve dinner.
"Xiaohua, where are the garlic you pounded?"
"The dumplings will be ready soon."
"The stew is a little bland, add some salt."
"Where's the bottle of wine I brought? Xiaoman, where did you put it? Take it out and let's all drink some later."
A chaotic conversation broke out. Because of the sound of firecrackers outside, everyone raised their voices. Lu Lingxi listened and laughed softly. He never knew that the Chinese New Year would be so interesting. Pasting Spring Festival couplets, setting off firecrackers, hanging lanterns and making dumplings were all firsts for Lu Lingxi. He participated in every activity with great interest. His only regret was that Yan Yue was not around. I wonder what Yan Yue is doing now? Will the Yan family be as lively as at home? Lu Lingxi touched Dahei's head and whispered, "Dahei, I miss Brother Yan."
Dahei didn't cry out, but just licked Lu Lingxi's fingers gently. The corners of Lu Lingxi's mouth curled up slightly, and his eyes became warm.
When Lu Lingxi was thinking about Yan Yue, Yan Yue was also thinking about Lu Lingxi. At eight o'clock in the evening, the Yan family mansion was quiet. Except for the red lanterns lit in the courtyard, there was no atmosphere of the New Year in the whole mansion.
In the restaurant, Yan Shihui sat at the head of the table, with Yan Yue and Yin Qinglan sitting on his left and right. An Jie sat next to Yan Yue awkwardly, unable to bear the atmosphere here. No one spoke, everyone just ate the food in front of them in silence. Although the food was prepared very carefully, An Jie still felt like he couldn't eat it. He glanced at Yan Shihui obscurely, and saw only perfunctory and alienated looks on his face. Of course, Yan Shihui was still okay, but Yin Qinglan, who was sitting opposite Yan Yue, frowned slightly, with disgust that could not be concealed on her face.
Although An Jie knew that Yan Shihui and Yin Qinglan's emotions were directed at each other, looking at the expressionless Yan Yue, he finally understood why the eldest brother had psychological problems. It was difficult for a normal person to appear in such an abnormal family environment. Should he be glad that the eldest brother did not grow up to be a person with antisocial personality disorder?
An Jie silently complained in his heart, and looked at Yan Yue with some sympathy. Obviously, his parents' relationship broke down and they each had their own families, but they had to get together every New Year to act like a family. They themselves might not think it was a big deal, but for Yan Yue, the New Year was just a reminder of his embarrassing situation of being abandoned by both his parents.
I'm done eating." Yan Yue said as he gently put down his chopsticks.
Anjie breathed a sigh of relief and put down his chopsticks almost immediately, "I'm done eating too."
"Why do you only eat so little?" Yan Shihui asked with concern.
Yan Yue said calmly: "I don't have much appetite."
"Ayue, this fish is good..." Before Yin Qinglan could finish her sentence, Yan Shihui interrupted her, "Ayue doesn't have much appetite, go back and rest early."
"Yan Shihui, you!" Yin Qinglan glared at Yan Shihui with dissatisfaction.
Yan Yue was too lazy to listen to their quarrel and stood up and left the restaurant. An Jie followed him out soon. Behind them, Yan Shihui and Yin Qinglan had already started quarreling. It seemed like it was like this every year, Yan Yue thought with some self-mockery, starting with silence and ending with quarrel.
"Boss." An Jie was a little embarrassed and didn't know what to say to Yan Yue.
Yan Yue, on the contrary, didn't care and said directly: "I'll ask the butler to bring you something to eat." Obviously Yan Yue saw that An Jie didn't eat anything at all, and he thought that few people could eat in that kind of atmosphere.
He looked nonchalant, and Angie breathed a sigh of relief, "What about you, Boss?"
"I'll call Xiaoxi." At this time, Yan Yue only wanted to hear Lu Lingxi's voice.
When the cell phone rang, Lu Lingxi was halfway through biting a dumpling when he felt something gnawing at his teeth. He spit it out and saw that it was a brand new dime.
"Xiao Xi, good job, a good start." Xiao Feng said immediately.
Xiao Hong laughed and patted Lu Lingxi on the shoulder, then took out a bulging red envelope from his pocket and handed it to Lu Lingxi. "Here, Xiaoxi, take it. This is a reward for eating the money."
Xiao Feng joked, "Brother, have we eaten any?"
"Yes, all." Xiao Hong took out five red envelopes in one breath and slapped them on the table. "I've prepared them all. Your sister-in-law has five red envelopes in total. Whoever eats one will get one as a reward."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Baiwan rushed over like an arrow, holding his small bowl in his mouth. Inside was a dumpling with a broken skin, revealing what looked like half a coin.
Everyone: "..."
"Puchi" Zhou Xiaoman couldn't help laughing first, and everyone followed suit. Xiao Hong touched Xiao Baiwan's head and said, "Xiao Baiwan did a good job."
Xiao Baiwan shouted excitedly.
Amid the noise, Lu Lingxi walked to the balcony with his phone and said softly, "Brother Yan."
Yan Yue's voice rang out, unusually clear amid the noisy background. "Are you eating?"
"Yeah." Lu Lingxi happily recounted the story of how he got the money, and also mentioned Xiao Baiwan.
Yan Yue thought of Xiao Hong's bulging red envelope and chuckled. Lu Lingxi asked casually, "Brother Yan, have you eaten dumplings?"
"have eaten."
"I didn't know you could put money in dumplings. Is it the same over there, Brother Yan?"
"No." Yan Yue said softly, "There's nothing in the dumplings here."
"Then I'll make some for you when you come back. I also learned how to make a few dumplings this afternoon. They're very simple."
"good."
Lu Lingxi's voice was gentle, and the depression in Yan Yue's heart caused by the meal just now was swept away. He imagined the boy's smiling face at this moment, and his heart suddenly softened. He was extremely fortunate at this moment that he met Lu Lingxi in his desolate 27 years of life.
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