Lu Feng simply couldn't spare much time for Duo Duo. Jiang Xiaoyan knew she had to shift her focus away from work, otherwise, no one knew what kind of person Duo Duo would become during her adolescence.
In addition, her phone conversations with Duoduo revealed that Duoduo was exceptionally affectionate towards Su Yourong, seemingly even better than her, the mother, in just a few days.
Jiang Xiaoyan also understands that she can't continue to treat children the same way she treats them. Otherwise, the children will never communicate with her, and the end result will be that she will treat her children like strangers, with no deep communication except for managing their daily behavior.
On the 29th day of the Lunar New Year, Lu Feng returned to Shenzhen. His home was already decorated with festive decorations. Some of his business partners in Shenzhen came to pay their respects, along with Jiang Xiaoyan's connections in Huasha and some people Zhang Fengxia knew from her investment activities.
These relationships are neither close nor distant. They visit each other quite frequently during holidays, but everyone knows in their hearts that there is no real affection between them. When they bring gifts, what are they asking for?
Perhaps this is why adults feel the New Year's spirit has faded; they have less and less emotion and are more focused on planning for next year, showing different smiles to people with different interests.
Duoduo also rushed back from Hong Kong. Before returning, the three of them had a small family meeting. Zhang Fengxia told Lu Feng not to have a stern face when they arrived. From now on, they could not treat Duoduo like a child and should respect and communicate with her.
After Duoduo came back, she became less talkative, often wearing headphones and wandering around the house. She was quite emotional when someone suddenly entered her room, and they argued several times in one day. Lu Feng couldn't help but want to beat her up, but Jiang Xiaoyan stopped him.
"Tomorrow is the New Year, so put away that crappy headset of yours. You have to greet anyone who comes to the house, understand?" Lu Feng looked at her shaking her head and said with some dissatisfaction, "If you keep wearing that crappy headset and ignore people when they ask you something, I'll smash it."
"Go ahead and smash it!" Duoduo said defiantly, "I'm leaving if you smash it!"
"Alright, alright, can you calm down?" Jiang Xiaoyan said from the side, "No one said anything to you when you came back, so why are you so temperamental, like a firecracker?"
Duoduo stood up and went upstairs without saying a word.
"The old ones are always a worry, and the young ones are always a worry." Lu Feng took a deep breath, sat on the sofa, beckoned to Miaomiao, picked her up, and muttered, "Don't grow up to be like your older sister!"
Lunar New Year's Eve arrived as scheduled, and Lu Feng organized a New Year's Eve dinner on the lawn of the villa. Several neighbors from the surrounding area also came to participate, and there were dozens of people, making it quite lively.
As the Spring Festival Gala began, everyone gathered in small groups to chat. Zhang Fengxia played mahjong with several neighbor ladies, while Duoduo invited several classmates to gather together. Only Lu Feng was watching the Spring Festival Gala.
The 1999 Spring Festival Gala was arguably the year with the most classic performances. That year, Zhao Benshan brought the classic "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow," the classic song "Come Home Often," and Huang Hong's skit "Cheering Up."
In particular, a line from the movie "Cheering Up" – "If I don't lose my job, who will?" – kept many people awake that night. The problems of state-owned enterprises were exposed. Coupled with the massive floods that year, the pain brought about by reforms affected too many people. A large number of state-owned enterprises went bankrupt, and private enterprises were pushed to take on a major responsibility that year.
Otherwise, Lu Feng wouldn't have made such an exorbitant demand in the industrial park. Lu Feng's year passed quickly, but for ordinary people, it felt like an eternity, struggling to make ends meet every single day.
Around 10 p.m., fireworks began to be set off. The dazzling fireworks in the night sky symbolized the complete departure of the year. When Lu Feng saw that Duo Duo's friends had left, he stood up, walked over, and sat down next to her.
Duoduo glanced at her father beside her and asked, "Why are you sitting next to me?"
"I can't even sit next to you anymore?" Lu Feng looked at the coastline in the distance and said, "How about we go for a walk with Dad? Let's go!"
Lu Feng reached out and took her arm, leading her through the scenic area in front of the door. In less than two minutes, they arrived at the seaside. A bright moon hung high in the sky, making the whole night much brighter.
"How was the concert?" Lu Feng asked.
"It's fine, but the scalped tickets are so expensive, they cost me over eight thousand!" Duo Duo complained. "They only sell them to others for three thousand because they think we're young!"
"I'm actually quite curious, how did you get on the ferry? You don't have ID cards or passports," Lu Feng asked, puzzled.
"I paid for it. I hired a smuggler, and it cost over five thousand to take one person there!"
"Money is a good thing!" Lu Feng nodded and said, "Only a few of you classmates can afford to run away from home like this. When I was a kid, I was dirt poor. By the way, how many people are there in your fan club?"
"Not bad, a dozen or so people!" Duoduo thought for a moment and said, "Many people don't have money and can't go to the concert. Most people just buy a lyric book, put stickers on it, and write lyrics or something. Some people also buy posters, tapes, and things like that."
“A lyric book!” Lu Feng took a deep breath and muttered, “What a timeless thing! Dad is actually a fan of celebrities too. Dad likes Andy Lau.”
"I remember when we were kids, you used Andy Lau's picture as a product endorsement, and they sued you." Duo Duo stared at Lu Feng and said, "How can you have a fan like you?"
"I was poor back then, and it was all because I liked my idol. Let's just chat, don't bring up my embarrassing moments," Lu Feng said somewhat awkwardly.
The two strolled along the beach and fell silent. Lu Feng suddenly felt that he was no longer acting as a father and didn't know how to communicate with her. Their social circles didn't overlap much, and he had no idea what she did at school.
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