Chapter 236: New Year’s Eve
It was New Year’s Eve.
The Spring Festival Gala was playing on the TV.
Li Mu’s parents were busy in the kitchen, preparing the New Year’s Eve dinner. Xiao Jing was out in the hallway playing with fireworks, together with the neighbor’s boy, Ren Tianyou.
Li Mu leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed, smiling as she watched the two of them play.
“Sister! Aren’t you going to play?”
“Nope.”
She looked at the neighbor aunt across the hall and gave her a smile and a nod.
More than ten days had passed, but the aunt still seemed confused. She couldn’t understand how Li Mu’s parents and younger sister, who had supposedly passed away years ago, suddenly showed up again.
They said they had gone overseas for work, but the aunt clearly remembered helping Li Mu arrange their funerals back then.
Did she remember it wrong because she was getting old?
But no matter what, it was a good thing that Li Mu’s family was back. The once expressionless girl now had a gentle smile on her face and looked truly happy.
“It finally feels like a real home again,” the aunt said with a sigh.
“Yeah,” Li Mu replied.
The aunt often visited Li Mu’s home. It was just next door, yet it had always felt cold and lifeless, almost like the temperature dropped when you stepped in. But now, Li Mu’s home had become warm and lively, just like any normal family.
She was truly happy for Li Mu. Too bad she couldn’t become her daughter-in-law.
“Xiao Mu, step aside a bit,” Her mother came out of the house carrying a large bucket and pulled out some yellow joss paper. “It’s time to burn paper money.”
“Want me to help?”
“I’ll do it! I’ll do it!”
Xiao Jing was still a kid at heart. The moment she saw there was fire involved, she handed the fireworks to Ren Tianyou and ran over to help her mom.
“I cooked some noodles. If you’re hungry, go eat first,” her mom said while tossing the burning paper into the bucket. “The rest of the dishes can only be eaten after midnight.”
“Okay.”
Even though Li Mu was in a good mood since her parents came back, she still acted a little distant over the past ten days.
Maybe it was because they had been apart for so long, and she didn’t know how to talk to them anymore.
Her mother’s eyes showed a trace of sadness, but she still smiled gently. “Is your little boyfriend coming today?”
Even though she couldn’t quite accept that her son, who had just become a daughter, was now dating a boy, she felt too guilty to say anything like a typical mother would. All she could do was try her best to accept it.
“He should be coming.”
“That brat’s coming?!” Her dad stuck his head out from inside, holding a kitchen knife.
“Dad…” Li Mu turned her head, a bit helpless.
“I raised a son for over ten years and he got stolen away!”
“She’s your daughter now,” the neighbor aunt corrected him.
Her dad paused, then muttered, “If that brat dares to come, I’ll drink him under the table! Every time he comes, we drink! I’ll see how tough he really is!”
Li Mu’s dad didn’t really have any bad habits, but he liked to have a little drink at home. He usually didn’t smoke unless it was for social reasons or when he was really stressed.
Just then, the elevator doors opened.
Yu Fan stepped out, carrying a gift box with a bottle of Maotai liquor. But the moment he walked out, he saw both families, six pairs of eyes, all staring straight at him.
It almost gave him a cold sweat.
“Uh…” He quickly looked around and then gave Li Mu’s dad a big sunny smile. “Uncle, Happy New Year! This is for you.”
Her dad took the Maotai, checked quickly to make sure it was real, then placed the kitchen knife on the shoe cabinet and gave Yu Fan a friendly pat on the shoulder.
“Not bad!”
“I heard you know how to cook. Perfect, come help me with dinner.”
As he spoke, he pulled Yu Fan into the house. Li Mu followed behind them. “Dad, I’ll help too.”
“Go play outside with the fireworks, or use the computer. The kitchen is full of smoke and oil. It’s not good for your skin.”
“Exactly! The kitchen is a man’s battlefield!” Yu Fan added with a laugh.
“Right? Besides New Year’s, when have you ever seen me let your mom cook?” her dad agreed happily, looking at Yu Fan with more approval.
But, of course, it was mostly because of that bottle of Maotai liquor.
Li Mu stood helplessly outside the kitchen and asked Yu Fan, “Where did you get that Maotai?”
She’d heard on the news that Maotai is hard to buy these days.
“I stole it from my dad’s liquor cabinet.”
“So filial...” she said with a sarcastic tone.
“You’re not spending New Year’s Eve at home?” her dad asked curiously.
Usually, people stay home on New Year’s Eve unless they have work.
“I told my dad I was going to my girlfriend’s house, and he kicked me out,” Yu Fan said with a smile.
Her dad muttered, “Of course, ruining someone else’s daughter makes him happy...” But now he was unhappy, because the daughter being ‘ruined’ was his!
And it used to be his son, the one he’d raised to take over the family!
Not only did the kid come back after years away as a girl, but now she had a boyfriend too! No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t accept it.
The smell of burning paper drifted into the house from the hallway. Li Mu’s mom came back in, closed the door, and shut out the smoke and ash.
“Mom, you're done burning the paper?”
“Xiao Jing and Tianyou are still burning it. Let them finish.”
There wasn’t anything flammable in the hallway, and they had already cleaned it well. Plus, Tianyou was there watching, so she wasn’t too worried that Xiao Jing would cause trouble.
She sat down on the sofa, looked at the TV showing the New Year’s Gala, and picked up some sunflower seeds.
“Xiao Mu, come sit and watch the show with me.”
“Okay.”
Li Mu quickly sat beside her mom. She had watched the Gala every year on New Year’s Eve, but she could never really focus on it. She just turned on the sound to make the house feel less lonely.
“Fried noodles!” Yu Fan brought over two plates to the living room. “Have some first. We’ll have the big dinner later. I made these myself!”
“Get lost! You're just messing everything up!” her dad shouted from the kitchen.
Li Mu couldn’t help but laugh. She had tasted Yu Fan’s cooking before. So she was surprised her dad even let him help in the kitchen.
If that wasn’t making a mess, what was?
………………………………………….
After finishing the ancestor offerings and putting away the candles, it was already 11 p.m. when they finally started dinner.
Her dad poured a small cup of the Maotai liquor Yu Fan had brought, raised his glass, and looked at Yu Fan. “Hmm?”
Yu Fan had no choice but to pour himself a glass too. “Uncle, I have to go home later.”
“Go home for what? Stay here and drink with me. If you get drunk, just sleep on the floor.”
It had been years since he’d had someone to drink with, he wasn’t letting Yu Fan leave that easily.
Li Mu’s mom tried to stop him. “Don’t drink too much. You just got out of the hospital, it’s bad for your health.”
“Just this once. Just once.”
Yu Fan gave Li Mu a pleading look, but she pretended not to see him.
She knew Yu Fan couldn’t really handle alcohol, he had once even gotten drunk and ran around naked here. He just wanted to act more proper in front of her parents now.
“I want to drink too!” Xiao Jing said.
“You’re a kid, what do you know about drinking?” her dad glared at her.
Her mom gently handed Xiao Jing a cup of coconut juice. “Let’s drink coconut juice instead. Don’t copy them.”
Her dad drank the white liquor in one gulp, feeling great. “Xiao Mu, let’s have one too, just the two of us!”
Li Mu was stunned. Somehow, she got pulled into this drinking mess too.
But her mom gave her dad a hard slap on the head. “Are you stupid or what?!”
Xiao Jing suddenly felt a chill down the back of her head.