Chapter 240: All Settled
Chinese New Year was always a bit of a hassle for Li Mu, and it became even more troublesome after her parents returned home.
Before, she would usually just visit her grandpa’s house on the first day of the new year, stay for half a day, and that was it. But now that her parents were back, things were different.
Surprisingly, when her grandpa saw her parents, he wasn’t shocked at all. He calmly called the other relatives and told them to come over for the New Year gathering.
After visiting several relatives’ homes to give New Year greetings, Li Mu also made a special visit to Lin Xi’s house. After that, the holiday passed by quietly and peacefully.
The only strange thing was that she suddenly ended up engaged.
After the holiday, her parents started working again. This time, they didn’t return to their old jobs. Instead, they used their savings to prepare for opening a small restaurant.
“If you can’t find a good job after university, just come back and be the boss here,” her dad said while smoking a cigarette and walking around the restaurant under renovation with Li Mu.
“Xiao Jing, you too. You can be the cashier in the future. That way you won’t starve.”
Li Mu and Xiao Jing followed behind him, looking around with curiosity.
“What if the restaurant goes out of business in two months?” Xiao Jing asked innocently.
Her dad’s face stiffened, then he glared at her. “When I was young, I traveled all over and tried all kinds of food. I’m practically a food expert! How could my restaurant fail?”
“If it does fail, then Li Mu’s dowry will be gone.”
“……”
Li Mu stayed quiet. Like Xiao Jing, she didn’t really believe the restaurant would succeed.
These days, food businesses might look busy on the outside, but the ones that actually make stable money are the few that survive fierce competition.
Out of ten restaurants, maybe only one or two make money. The rest either close within a couple of months or last a year or two before shutting down. Just the snack shop downstairs from her apartment had changed owners so many times.
“You’re not starting university until September, right? No need to find a part-time job elsewhere. Just help out at the restaurant. I’ll pay you 3,500 yuan a month.”
“Okay, sounds good.”
That’s about the average pay for a local server anyway.
“What about me?!” Xiao Jing quickly raised her hand when she heard there was money involved.
“You’d better not mess things up.”
Her dad felt a headache just looking at Xiao Jing. When she was alive, she wasn’t this energetic or always causing trouble. Her personality had changed so much.
And if Xiao Jing came to help… well, if she accidentally fell while serving a dish, she’d probably fall and leave her head rolling on the ground, scaring the customers out of their minds.
“Hmph!” Xiao Jing pouted, clearly unhappy.
Her dad turned around, ready to scold her again, but then realized something.
Li Mu was gone.
“Where’s your sister?”
“She left a while ago.”
“She’s off to see that brat again!”
He got angry right away.
Yu Fan had recently started learning to drive. Even though he couldn’t afford a car yet, with car rentals being so convenient these days, having a license was still useful.
That afternoon, just as he came out of the driving school, he saw Li Mu standing across the street.
He quickly ran over, looked at his lovely girlfriend, and reached out to adjust her scarf, wrapping it around her neck more tightly.
“It suddenly got cold again. Don’t catch a cold.”
“Okay.”
The temperature had dropped again recently, going down to single digits. People who were dressed for spring and autumn just a few days ago had now all switched to winter clothes.
Li Mu was wearing a pair of white fuzzy earmuffs.
“Are the frostbites on your ears getting better?”
Because the weather kept going from warm to cold, Li Mu ended up getting frostbite. That scared Yu Fan so much that he quickly gave her a scarf, earmuffs, and gloves to wear.
“It still itches…”
A cold wind blew by. Li Mu shivered and pulled her body close, pressing her legs together, then grabbed Yu Fan’s arm and half-hid behind his back.
Yu Fan tightened his coat and tried his best to block the wind from hitting Li Mu.
“Should I buy you a windproof face mask too?” he asked, turning to look at her. Her face was a bit red and dry, probably because of the cold, dry wind lately.
“You should use more skin lotion that adds moisture.”
“My mom bought me a bunch, but the deliveries were really slow during the holiday,” Li Mu mumbled. “I also want to get a haircut, but the salons are all closed for New Year.”
“A haircut?!”
“Just want to change the style a little. My hair’s getting long, and if I don’t trim it, it starts to look messy.”
“Oh, that’s fine then.”
Yu Fan had thought she was going to cut it short again like a man.
The cold wind blew through Li Mu’s short hair, making her shiver again. Yu Fan quickly stood in front of her to block the wind.
The two of them leaned against each other, slowly walking down the street. Li Mu still had that slightly cold and serious look on her face, but her eyes were full of happiness.
The wind was really cold, but as long as she was with Yu Fan, her heart felt warm.
“By the way, what do you plan to do after university?” Li Mu asked softly.
“Whatever makes money,” Yu Fan replied. “My dad said once we get the wedding gift money and bride price, we should have enough for a down payment on a home. Then it’s just paying off the mortgage.”
Yu Fan asked, “What about you?”
Li Mu paused, then said, “I don’t know.”
Ever since she became a girl, the future felt really unclear. She didn’t even know what major to pick for college. When she was filling out the forms online, she just copied what Yu Fan chose.
“It’s okay. You’ll figure it out later,” Yu Fan said comfortingly. “No matter what you decide, I’ll support you.”
“Mmm…” Li Mu nodded.
Then she saw an old man on the street selling tanghulu (Chinese Candied Fruit). She immediately let go of Yu Fan and ran over.
Even in a small town, this kind of street candy seller was rare now. And the price really surprised her.
She bought three skewers. She wrapped one up for Xiao Jing, and then handed one to Yu Fan.
“I used to love sweets when I was a kid.”
“But then I got cavities, so I stopped eating them as much.”
Yu Fan smiled and nodded. “Same for me.”
They slowly walked back to the storefront that Li Mu’s father had rented. Just as they arrived, her dad came out with Xiao Jing.
When he saw the two of them together, his face turned dark.
“You two are always stuck together,” he grumbled.
Yu Fan quickly stepped up. “Uncle, my dad just bought another bottle of Moutai liquor.”
Her dad’s eyes lit up. “Good kid~”
“You should hurry over, or he’ll drink it with someone else.”
“Take care of Xiao Jing for me!” her dad shouted, quickly hopping on his electric scooter and rushing off toward Yu Fan’s house.
Li Mu handed one skewer of candy to Xiao Jing. As she looked up, she only saw her dad’s back riding away.
“Auntie probably likes skincare and makeup, right?” Yu Fan muttered to himself.
Li Mu turned to look at him. “Isn’t that a bit too much?”
“I’ll pay for it myself. I’ll buy something for you, and also get a gift for Auntie.”
After what happened last time, things between him and Li Mu’s parents were still a little tense. He had been trying to fix that.
Xiao Jing came over, biting the candy skewer and tugging on the corner of Li Mu’s coat.
“What about mine?”
“Go buy it yourself!”
………………………………
End of the story