356. New Year’s Eve
“It’s New Year’s, huh~”
Early in the morning, Ning Chu was bent over the windowsill, arms propped up on the railing, gazing through the glass at the tiny residential community below.
Out of nowhere, the community had been decorated with bright red banners, green trees wrapped in lights, and red lanterns hanging all along the main street.
There were no firecracker bangs or fireworks popping, just the occasional distant sound of a firecracker echoing through the air.
It was already New Year’s Eve, but compared to when she was a kid, the festive vibe had dulled quite a bit.
After today, she would be another year older in nominal age.
Black Bean was outside in the hallway, merrily prancing around with a sparker in hand, leaving a faint smoky scent wafting into the room. Mother shot a displeased look and promptly closed the door.
“Mom! I’m not even inside yet!”
“Knock and come in when you’re done; you’ll fill the whole house with smoke.”
Mother turned towards Ning Chu at the window and asked, “When is your brother coming back?”
“He said this morning.”
“What about Wen Yang?”
“He’s working the late shift today, but he’ll probably get off early… around ten, I guess?”
After all, it’s the restaurant business—there’s no holiday on New Year’s Eve, just an early shift if they’re lucky.
By New Year’s Eve, most shops outside had already closed, and the streets were practically deserted. Even though there were quite a few kids playing around in the community, it still felt a bit desolate.
New Year should be lively, right?
Ning Chu yawned, and Mother, noticing, quipped sarcastically, “Enjoying your time out at others’ homes during the holidays?”
“I’m not!”
“Ah, right. You didn’t go last night.”
She rolled her eyes at her mother, unsure whether to chalk it up to her being jealous or simply thinking you’re supposed to stay home for the New Year.
To counterattack, she asked, “Is Uncle coming tonight?”
“Yeah, in the afternoon.”
“Doesn’t he have a daughter? Isn’t he going to spend time with her?”
“She’s not back from school for the winter break.”
“Oh~ Guess he’s worried about interrupting your little two-person world, huh?”
And just like that, Ning Chu received a playful smack upside the head.
She clutched her head, fuming and glaring at her mother, “That really hurt!”
“I’m going to make dinner.”
“Fine~”
She followed her mother into the kitchen, casually helping to tidy up the ingredients for that evening’s New Year’s Eve dinner.
Unless something unexpected happened, they were preparing a six-person meal, plus offerings for their ancestors. Mother was likely going to spend the entire day in the kitchen.
Ning Chu had hardly ever been in the kitchen before, but thanks to her time spent helping Mother lately, she had at least gotten quicker at washing and prepping vegetables.
“Mom, where can we watch fireworks?”
“Fireworks? They stopped allowing them a few years ago. If you want to see them, you’ll have to go to the county town below.”
“Hmm…”
Suddenly, Mother remembered a promotion she saw a while back: “I think there’s a fireworks show at Huahai Park this year, though it’s a bit far. We might see a little from here.”
“Huahai Park, huh…”
She saw right through her daughter’s thoughts: “What? You’re planning to go out with Wen Yang instead of staying home on New Year’s Eve?”
Ning Chu tried to brush it off, replying evasively, “Not at all~ Why would I?”
But Mother shot her a knowing glare: “It’s fine usually, but on New Year’s Eve, you want to run off and fool around? What if the neighbors see and gossip about you?”
“What’s there to be afraid of… other people have their New Year’s Eve dinner out too~”
“Sis! Open the door! Open the door!”
Black Bean’s voice rang from outside, knocking at the door. Ning Chu scrambled out of the kitchen to let her in.
However, the cat was no longer the excitable bundle of joy she had been moments ago. Instead, she stood outside, clutching the edge of her down jacket and looking very dejected.
“What’s wrong?” Ning Chu gave her a once-over but couldn’t find any obvious problems.
“Sis…” Black Bean drooped her ears, her tail limping behind her like a defeated banner. She let go of the jacket edge, revealing a singed black hole and a voice thickened with tears, “I just bought this two days ago! What do I do now~”
“Make a salad out of it.”
Ning Chu rolled her eyes at Black Bean: “How did you manage to do this while playing in the hallway?”
“I was curious.”
Totally classic Black Bean, jabbing the jacket with a sparker herself… Despite Mother’s serious warnings about safety beforehand, her caution only sparked Black Bean’s innate feline curiosity to explore mischief.
Curiosity killed the cat, after all—can’t resist a good disaster!
“Go find your mom yourself.” She pulled Black Bean indoors, “You managed to wreck a jacket worth hundreds in just two days.”
“Please don’t tell her~”
“After you take a thrashing, you’ll think twice.”
Just as they were tugging back and forth, the elevator outside suddenly chimed.
Ning Chu paused and looked up, seeing Ning Yuan walking out of the elevator with a huge bag of goodies.
“What are you two doing at the door?”
“Sis is bullying me!” Black Bean immediately escaped Ning Chu’s grasp and dove into Ning Yuan’s arms, “What did you buy?”
“A big doggie pack—picked it up at the supermarket on the way back.”
“Is there no kitty pack?”
Ning Yuan walked into the house, plopping the half-human-sized bag onto the coffee table, making Black Bean completely forget her previous woes, circling excitedly around the bag.
“Looks like I’m sleeping on the floor again.” Ning Yuan rubbed his shoulders, setting down his stuff, then turned to Ning Chu with a furrowed brow, scrutinizing his own little sister from head to toe.
Ning Chu’s smile faltered a bit, and she quickly yanked Black Bean towards the kitchen, complaining, “Mom! Black Bean made a hole in her jacket!”
“How did that happen?”
“She did it with a sparker!”
“That silly cat!”
Mother angrily stormed out of the kitchen, causing Black Bean to hunker down on the floor, clinging to Ning Chu’s legs, looking pitiful and small.
“Mom, it’s New Year’s! Can’t we just let it go?”
Ning Chu felt a twinge of sympathy, defending Black Bean, but the intense gaze from behind made her feel a bit anxious.
Unlike Mother’s seasoned experience, her brother wasn’t picky or astute, and he kept staring at her like a hawk…
Mother unleashed a barrage of scolding, forbidding Black Bean from having snacks in the morning. The poor cat drooped her ears, defeated and apologetic.
Ning Yuan, just home, watched the whole scene unfold but kept his gaze trained on his little sister, feeling like she had changed quite a bit in just a week.
She seemed to have more charm now—those innocent baby features faded away, replaced by a more undeniable allure.
Ning Yuan scratched his head as random thoughts flitted through his mind, but before he could get too lost in them, Ning Chu chimed in first: “Bro, why’d you black out that rich lady I introduced you to?”
“The rich lady? The one who wanted to add me from that second account?”
“Second account…”
Ning Chu’s eyelids twitched, realizing Lily had created a second account to play incognito online.
“I’ll give you her main account.”
“Forget it! With my salary, how am I supposed to date?!” Ning Yuan awkwardly turned his head away, a shy, inexperienced little boy.
Ning Chu quickly fished out a photo they had taken together at Lily’s house a few days prior.
“Hey! Which one are you interested in? The one in the middle is taken already!”
“Not interested, really—not looking to date.”
Ning Yuan boasted bravely, but his gaze kept flitting back to Ning Chu’s phone.
That girl on the left has a tan and such adorable ears! Her waist is so slim!
The one on the right looks a bit cold but is insanely pretty—whoa!
As for the goofy-looking person in the middle… let’s just ignore that!
