Chapter 108: Lunar New Year's Eve
Surprisingly, her parents haven't been arguing lately.
Although Her father still slept on the couch and barely spoke to her mom, choosing to eat his meals alone in the living room, the house still felt tense. But at least there were no fights, which meant Chen Cheng could actually enjoy the New Year in peace.
On New Year's Eve, her mom got up early to prepare the holiday dishes: braised pork trotters, fried meat and fish, pan-fried rice cakes… Everything had to be ready in a day. The food would first be used for the ancestral offering that evening, then slowly eaten over the next month.
Meanwhile, Her father was outside the apartment hallway, burning incense paper. The door was left slightly open, letting in the faint smell of burning paper ash.
“Chengcheng, close the door. The ashes are blowing inside.”
“Okay~”
Chen Cheng, just having gotten out of bed, walked sleepily to close the door.
Yawning, she walked barefoot to the kitchen, poking her head in to watch her mom frying lean meat. She twitched her nose and turned to look at the cooked meat by the side of the pot.
“Mom, I’m hungry.”
“Go ahead and eat some.”
Fresh out of the pan, the fried meat was steaming hot, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. She picked up a piece with her fingers, biting into it with a satisfying crunch. The rich aroma filled her mouth.
“So good!”
“Don’t eat too much. We still need some for the ancestral offering tonight.”
Fried food was best enjoyed straight out of the pan! By the time it was used for the offering, it wouldn’t taste as good anymore.
Her mom stirred the oil with long chopsticks, occasionally fishing out a piece to check if it was done. Meanwhile, Chen Cheng stood nearby, popping piece after piece into her mouth.
A few minutes later, her mother turned her head to look into the bowl, and it was completely empty.
"You're so greedy."
Rolling her eyes, she scooped up the rest of the fried meat with a slotted spoon. “Take this to the table.”
“Got it~”
“Are we having rice cakes for lunch, Mom?”
"I don't like rice cakes. A piece or two is too much."
Chen Cheng set the bowl on the dining table, sneaked another two pieces, then turned back and asked, “Mom, are we going to An Yuan’s place for New Year's Eve dinner?”
“Yeah, why not? It’s livelier with more people. Your dad can stay home for the ancestral offering, he doesn’t like An Yuan anyway.” She wiped down the stove as she spoke, already moving on to the next dish. “Just be back after midnight.”
Chen Cheng glanced toward the front door. “Dad’s not coming?”
Wouldn’t that be kind of sad? Spending New Year's Eve alone, watching the Spring Festival Gala all by himself?
“That’s his choice.”
Chen Cheng hesitated. She wanted to convince Her father to join them at An Yuan’s place but was afraid he’d just get mad and refuse. At the same time, she didn’t feel right leaving him alone for New Year's Eve…
“Maybe we should just stay home?”
Wouldn't that be the best solution?
“What, don’t want to celebrate with An Yuan anymore?”
“Well… It’s the same either way. I can always run back and forth, eat a little at his place, then come back for more here.”
Knock, knock, knock.
The front door rattled. Her father had finished burning the incense paper and was coming back in.
Chen Cheng quickly ran to open the door, letting him in. As he stepped inside, she waved a hand in front of her face, trying to fan away the floating ashes.
Her father was clearly in a bad mood these past couple of days.
He walked straight to the couch, sat down without a word, and turned on the kettle to make tea. Then he placed his phone on the table and opened a card game.
Anyone would be upset if their "precious cabbage" got taken by a "pig." Even more so when the cabbage wasn’t even fully grown yet.
Chen Cheng wanted to act more affectionate toward Her father, but his dark expression made her hesitate. He was rarely home anyway, so she had no idea how to interact with him. In the end, she just curled up on the other end of the couch and played on her phone.
She sneaked a glance at him, hesitated for a long time, then decided to just go back to her room and work on her winter break homework.
Ugh… How many years has it been since she even had winter break homework?
Just as Chen Cheng was about to get up from the couch, Her father called her back.
"Chengcheng."
She sat back down and looked up at him.
Her father frowned, hesitated for a moment, and then continued, "Be careful when you're dating. If a boy gets tricked, he just loses money, but for a girl... it's a much bigger risk."
"Mm."
"And you're about to take the college entrance exam, yet you're still thinking about dating..."
As expected, her father brought up the exam again. But this time, since Chen Cheng’s grades hadn’t dropped. Actually, they had even improved thanks to An Yuan’s tutoring.
"What do you even like about him?"
"Uh..."
Chen Cheng froze for a second. A faint blush quickly spread across her face.
She lowered her head, fidgeting with her fingers, unsure how to answer.
Talking about her love life with her parents? Even ten years from now, she wouldn't do such a thing! She had always kept relationships a secret from them.
"Well... he's really nice to me?"
"Aren't we, your family, even better to you? Just because some outsider treats you well, you’re already so devoted," her father said, clearly frustrated. "If you’re this naive, you’ll get scammed the moment you step into the real world."
"It’s not like that..."
Chen Cheng scratched her head awkwardly, searching for another reason. "He's smart. He helps me study and improve my grades, so I can get into a good university?"
Her father gave her a look like she was an idiot.
"He's handsome!"
"......"
Her father let out a long sigh, looking as if he was questioning how he ended up with such a hopelessly lovestruck daughter.
But what could she do?!
She obviously couldn’t tell him that she and An Yuan had traveled back from the future together and that she already knew he was a loyal and responsible guy who would work hard for his career.
Right now, An Yuan was just a smart and good-looking student.
"You’re going to regret this one day."
Her father muttered under his breath, clearly unimpressed. No matter how much she tried to defend An Yuan, it wouldn’t change his opinion. He simply grabbed his teacup and took a sip, dismissing the topic.
"I won’t..."
Annoyed, Chen Cheng pouted and got up to leave for her room. She hated how her father always tried to interfere in her relationships.
After taking a few steps, she suddenly turned back and asked, "Do you want to come to An Yuan’s house tonight to watch the Spring Festival Gala? It’ll be livelier."
Since she’d already pissed him off, she might as well go all the way.
As expected, her father's face darkened.
"I’m going."
"Huh?"
He grabbed the house keys and stood up to leave.
"Where are you going?"
"To the storage room to get some of our white liquor. If I’m going as a guest, I should bring a gift." Her father opened the door and left, secretly planning to get the whole An Yuan family drunk.
Chen Cheng blinked in confusion as she watched her father leave. She stuck her head into the kitchen and called out, "Mom, Dad went to get the liquor."
"Tell him not to drink too much~" her mom muttered. "I’m not taking care of him later. We still have to come home at midnight for the ancestral offering and fireworks."
Chen Cheng's eyes twinkled with an idea. "Mom, I’m taking my winter break homework to An Yuan’s house first. There are some problems I don’t understand."
"Go ahead, go ahead. Like you actually love studying that much."
"I do love studying, okay?!"
Luckily, their homeroom teacher was kind enough not to release the final exam scores before the holiday...
Excited, Chen Cheng rushed to her room to change. She picked a conservative knitted long dress, layered it with a hoodie, and wore thick winter leggings. Then, she put on her four-leaf clover earrings and a small hat.
She even switched to contact lenses and carefully checked her reflection in the bathroom mirror.
"Perfect! So pretty!"
Hands on her hips, she admired her figure.
Even though her outfit was conservative and didn’t reveal anything, the beige colors made her look pure and adorable.
And with those charming, almond-shaped eyes of hers, she was both pure and alluring!