New Year shopping in progress
Feeling that she had said something wrong, Nie Jiayuan remained unusually quiet throughout the entire dinner.
Finally, she put down her chopsticks and said, "I'm leaving tomorrow."
Bai Yixia was a little surprised and said, "Going back so early this year?"
Nie Jiayuan rubbed her head helplessly, "It's still early. There are only eight days left until the New Year."
She placed another paper bag next to Bai Yixia. "Xiaxia, this is your New Year's gift. I estimate I won't be back until the third or fourth day of the Lunar New Year. Let's go out and have fun then."
Bai Yixia nodded.
Zhou Qingchi glanced at the paper bag and then carried the plate into the kitchen, clearly indicating that he didn't want to talk to her anymore.
Nie Jiayuan rolled her eyes in annoyance. Taking advantage of his absence, she moved closer to Bai Yixia and whispered, "What should we do? It seems your confession plan didn't work out."
Bai Yixia was just as cautious, but not as regretful, and even had a hint of a smile on her face. "It's okay. It's not like today is a good day."
Nie Jiayuan prided herself on having known Bai Yixia for twenty years, saying she was the person who understood her best. However, when it came to matters of the heart, even her mother might not be able to figure it out. Nie Jiayuan wasn't sure if Bai Yixia was just trying to comfort her or if she was genuinely upset, so she could only give her a reassuring look, signaling Bai Yixia not to be too sad.
"..." Bai Yixia pursed her lips tightly to keep herself from laughing out loud.
Nie Jiayuan and Zhou Qingyan, despite failing to confess their feelings, seemed even more regretful. There's a saying: "The emperor isn't worried, but the eunuchs are."
Hahahaha. Bai Yixia shrugged and turned her head to laugh twice, determined not to let Nie Jiayuan know what she was thinking, otherwise she would definitely be punished by him.
Nie Jiayuan didn't know whether she was sad or happy. Just as she was about to say a few more words, her father, whom she rarely saw upstairs, called to urge her to go home and pack her things.
"Hello, Uncle Nie." Bai Yixia went over and greeted him.
Uncle Nie immediately changed his tone, "Oh, it's Xiaxia. Good evening, have you had dinner?"
Bai Yixia obediently replied to Nie Jiayuan's speechless expression, "I've eaten, I've eaten. Where's Uncle Nie?"
"I've already eaten at the institute. By the way, isn't today Qingchi's birthday?"
"yes."
Uncle Nie hesitated for a few seconds, then the sound of rummaging through things came through again. "You three kids are used to celebrating your birthdays by yourselves and don't tell the adults anymore. Uncle didn't have any particular thoughts, so I just gave him a red envelope. Xiaxia, you make sure he accepts it for Uncle."
Without waiting for Bai Yixia to reply, he hung up first.
Bai Yixia knelt on one knee on the sofa, looking up at Nie Jiayuan.
Nie Jiayuan, however, seemed completely unconcerned and yelled towards the kitchen, "Zhou Qingchi, here's my dad's red envelope, accept it!"
Then, leaning down and whispering quickly in Bai Yixia's ear, "Baby, since you haven't confessed yet, I need to give you a heads-up. Zhou Qingchi is such a lack of romance. He knows you like puzzles, yet he still gave you puzzles. You must have a huge pile of puzzles by now. Oh dear!"
She rubbed her back, dodged another jujube that was thrown out, and laughed as she strode away.
Bai Yixia, who had been spoiled, looked innocently at Zhou Qingchi and quickly stated her position: "I didn't say I wanted to hear it!"
Zhou Qingchi... What else could Zhou Qingchi do? He now knew that yesterday's agonizing shopping trip was a setup orchestrated by the two of them, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything to blame them, since he was the one who benefited.
Moreover, Nie Jiayuan was not wrong; he did indeed buy Bai Yixia another puzzle.
The Qingming Scroll, five sheets per box, one thousand sheets per sheet.
Bai Yixia held the box in a daze, then looked at the packaging in disbelief.
Indeed, 5 × 1000.
Ah, this seems to be enough for them to work hard until the start of the school year.
Bai Yixia looked up at Zhou Qingchi, and the two blinked at the same time before laughing.
"In that case, let's start assembling it tomorrow. Then let's see if we can finish it before the New Year?" Bai Yixia suggested.
Zhou Qingchi readily agreed, as he was just worried about not finding a reasonable reason to stay together.
I can't keep letting my younger brother play video games with Bai Yixia and then send him off to do his winter break homework.
The two of them reached an agreement in this way.
In the bedroom, Zhou Qingyan, unaware that he had escaped a disaster, frowned, turned over, and fell asleep again.
-
It's just a pity that the precious time alone couldn't withstand my mother's last-minute arrangements.
Three days before the Lunar New Year, Ms. Lin Shuyang's studio finally closed for the holiday, and Mr. Bai, who had not taken any annual leave, also made time to spend with his wife and daughter.
Ms. Lin Shuyang was very happy, so she decided to take her three children, who were staying at home, to the supermarket to buy some New Year's goods.
In the car, Lin Shuyang rested her chin on her hand and turned to speak to Zhou Qingchi, "Yinghua won't be able to come back for the New Year this year. Xiaochi, Xiaoyan, can you stay at Auntie's house today?"
Zhou Qingchi had spoken to his mother on the phone two days ago. Ms. Jiang on the other end of the line looked guilty, as she had not only missed her eldest son's twentieth birthday, but they also couldn't spend the New Year together.
However, Zhou Qingchi was already quite adept at comforting her. A few words were enough to calm her down, and at least Ms. Jiang Yinghua seemed much happier.
"Yes, we'll be troubling Aunt Lin again this year," Zhou Qingchi said with a smile.
Lin Shuyang frowned, then smiled and said, "What trouble or not, what kind of relationship do our two families have?"
Zhou Qingyan followed his brother's lead and laughed too, but in his mind, a barrage of thoughts kept flashing through his mind: What kind of relationship is this? If my brother puts in a little more effort, we might be in-laws.
Unfortunately... Zhou Qingyan casually moved forward a little, seemingly chatting idly with Lin Shuyang, but actually his eyes were secretly glancing at his older brother and Xia Xia.
After seeing it clearly, I was immediately disappointed. Why couldn't they just secretly hold hands while they were all sticking together? And what's so fun about that match-3 game anyway?!
Zhou Qingyan, who had only partially grasped the concept, was naturally unable to experience this subtle, understated atmosphere.
Bai Yixia and Zhou Qingchi sat shoulder to shoulder, their heads very close. Bai Yixia held her phone, her gaze fixed on the game interface on the screen, but her mind wasn't on it. The laundry detergent at Zhou Qingchi's house always seemed to have a unique scent that others couldn't detect; Bai Yixia was enveloped by this aroma, feeling immense satisfaction both physically and mentally.
She turned her head slightly, her nose brushing against Zhou Qingchi's arm, and a subtle breath rushed up to her, making her feel a little dizzy.
Zhou Qingchi whispered in her ear, "It seems like it's better here, the symptoms will subside more? Xia?"
The car suddenly went over a speed bump, jolting. Bai Yixia, who was lost in thought, was caught off guard by the jolt and almost dropped her phone. Fortunately, Zhou Qingchi's attention was on her the whole time, and he grabbed her hand in time to catch the phone as it slipped down.
The car was warm with the air conditioning on, and Bai Yixia's hands were warm, but Zhou Qingchi's hands were even warmer. Bai Yixia felt as if she had a heated hand warmer on the back of her hands, the burning heat traveling from her hands all the way to her heart, and two blushes rose on her cheeks.
Bai Yixia shoved her phone into Zhou Qingchi's hand, then leaned against the window, opened it, and let the cold wind outside cool down her burning face.
But less than five seconds later, the car window was automatically rolled up. The father, who was in the driver's seat and caring for his daughter, said worriedly, "Xiaxia, you can't be exposed to cold air like this, you'll catch a cold. If it's hot, Dad will turn the air conditioning down a bit."
"...Thank you, Dad."
"It's alright," Mr. Bai said magnanimously.
Bai Yixia was both amused and exasperated. Fortunately, after her father's meddling, her uneasy thoughts subsided, and she snuggled up to Zhou Qingchi again, watching him change the test.
"Brother Zhou, you're quite good at this kind of game."
Zhou Qingchi sensed the hidden meaning in her words and ruffled her hair roughly. "Laughing at me?"
Bai Yixia quickly freed her head. It was okay to ruffle her unkempt hair, but she had styled it specially for today and couldn't mess it up again. "No, no, it's the game's fault. The game designers are absolutely terrible! They completely disregard the players' feelings!! It's outrageous!"
She spoke so seriously that Zhou Qingchi couldn't stop laughing, burying his head in her neck and shaking.
The two parents in front of them exchanged a smile when they saw this.
-
The supermarket was crowded at this time, and the music was exceptionally loud; you couldn't even hear a voice unless you got very close. Lin Shuyang grabbed two shopping carts and gave the children their tasks.
"Uncle Bai and I are going to the fresh produce section. Xiao Chi, take them to buy some snacks. Xia Xia, you pick out some; your uncle's younger siblings are coming too."
Bai Yixia nodded in agreement. After Lin Shuyang and President Bai left, she whispered in Zhou Qingchi's ear, "This year we're having our family reunion dinner, and my uncle and his family are coming too. It's so annoying."
Zhou Qingchi and his family celebrated the New Year together with Bai Yixia's family, but previously only the elderly had come over, and they hadn't seen many other relatives. However, Bai Yixia was usually very friendly to everyone, and this was the first time Zhou Qingchi had seen her express dissatisfaction, especially towards her own relatives.
What happened to them?
Bai Yixia, contrary to her usual talkative and outspoken nature, hesitated and glanced at him several times.
"Xia?" Zhou Qingchi asked curiously, lowering his voice slightly as he leaned closer to her ear, "Can't you tell me? Hmm?"
Bai Yixia's ears tingled from the low, husky voice. She rubbed her ears awkwardly, but stubbornly refused to say anything, only vaguely saying, "In short, he's very annoying, and his mouth is dirty. If he says anything to you or Xiao Yan later, just ignore him."
Zhou Qingchi and Zhou Qingyan exchanged a glance. Although they didn't get any direct information, they could roughly guess some of it.
The older generation always tends to blame women when it comes to divorce, so they weren't surprised that Uncle Bai had such thoughts. They were just puzzled, though. They had met Bai Yixia's grandparents before, and those two elderly people had practically watched them grow up without ever showing disdain. In fact, they felt quite sorry for the two brothers who had no parents.
Um.
I also considered arranging blind dates for Ms. Jiang.
Zhou Qingyan pursed his lips, thinking, "Even good bamboo can produce bad shoots."
The three chatted as they tossed a lot of food into the shopping cart, mostly snacks and nuts that kids like. Bai Yixia even added a few bottles of fruit beer.
Over there, Lin Shuyang and President Bai also returned with their purchases. However, after finally meeting up, the five of them had to queue for a long time before they could pay the bill. Although the process was a bit tiring, Lin Shuyang was very satisfied, as it at least gave it a bit of a New Year's feel.
The couplets at the entrance have been replaced with new ones, and new lanterns have been hung on the balcony.
The New Year is here.
Bai Yixia tugged at the drooping red tassels, turned her head to look at Zhou Qingchi on the adjacent balcony, her smile gradually widening, and called out, "Happy New Year, Brother Zhou."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
