Chapter 356. New Year’s Eve
“It’s New Year~”
Early in the morning, Ning Chu bent over the windowsill, with her arms resting on the railing, looking down at the community below through the glass.
I don’t know when it started, but red New Year banners were already hung up in the neighborhood, the greenery was wrapped with light strips, and red lanterns were dotted along the main roads of the neighborhood.
There were no firecrackers or fireworks, only the occasional distant sound of a few firecrackers.
It was already New Year’s Eve, but compared to when I was little, the festive atmosphere felt much lighter.
After today, the age counted by years would increase by one.
Hei Dou was outside in the hallway, playing with a handheld sparkler, happily running around while a faint smell of gunpowder wafted into the house, prompting my mother to disdainfully shut the door.
“Mom! I’m not even inside yet!”
“Knock and come in after you finish playing. You’ll fill the whole house with smoke.”
My mother turned to Ning Chu by the window and asked, “When will your brother be back?”
“He said this morning.”
“What about Wen Yang?”
“He’s on the night shift today, but he’ll probably finish early… around ten tonight?”
After all, in the restaurant industry, even on New Year’s Eve, there’s no such thing as a holiday—at most, they get off a bit early.
On New Year’s Eve, most shops outside had already closed, and there weren’t many pedestrians on the streets. Although there were quite a few kids playing around in the neighborhood, it still felt deserted.
It should be bustling for the New Year.
Ning Chu yawned, and her mother, noticing, shot back with a teasing remark: “Spending every New Year’s Eve at someone else’s house.”
“When did I do that?”
“Ah, right, just last night you didn’t go.”
She rolled her eyes at her mother, unsure if her mother was jealous or simply thought they should stay home for the New Year.
To counterattack, she asked, “Is Uncle coming tonight?”
“Yeah, he’ll be here in the afternoon.”
“Doesn’t Uncle have a daughter? Isn’t he going to spend time with her?”
“His daughter isn’t back from school for the winter break.”
“Oh~ Probably afraid of interrupting your little two-person world, huh?”
Then Ning Chu received a whack on the head.
She covered her head, glaring at her mother in annoyance: “That hurts!”
“I’m going to cook.”
“Gee~”
She followed her mother’s footsteps into the kitchen, casually helping to tidy up the ingredients for tonight’s New Year’s Eve dinner.
If nothing unexpected happens, the dinner would need to be prepared for six people, plus the offerings for ancestors, so her mother would probably spend the day in the kitchen.
Ning Chu had hardly ever been in the kitchen before, but having helped her mother recently, she at least became a lot quicker at washing and preparing vegetables.
“Mom, where can we see the fireworks?”
“Fireworks? They stopped letting them off a few years ago. If you want to see them, you’ll have to go to the county town below.”
“Uh…”
Suddenly, her mother recalled a promotion she had seen on social media: “This year there seems to be a fireworks show at the Flower Sea Park, but it’s a bit far away. We should be able to see a little from here.”
“Flower Sea Park, huh…”
She easily saw through her daughter’s thoughts: “What? You don’t want to spend New Year’s Eve at home and want to go out with Wen Yang, huh?”
Ning Chu tried to play it cool, shrugging it off: “Not at all~ how could that be?”
But her mother shot her a look: “It’s fine normally, but you’re going out on New Year’s Eve? Aren’t you afraid the neighbors will talk?”
“What’s there to be afraid of… other people have their New Year’s dinners outside too~”
“Sis! Open the door! Open the door!”
Outside came Hei Dou’s calls and door knocking. Ning Chu quickly dashed out of the kitchen and ran to open the door for Hei Dou.
But this cat didn’t look as ecstatic as before; instead, she was clinging to her down jacket, looking all pitiful, standing outside the door, too scared to come in.
“What’s wrong?” Ning Chu scanned her up and down, not noticing anything amiss.
“Sis…” Hei Dou’s ears drooped, her tail limp and dragging on the ground as she released her grip on the jacket, revealing a singed hole. Her voice quivered, “I just bought it two days ago, what should I do~”
“Throw it away.”
Ning Chu shot Hei Dou a glare: “How did you mess it up playing in the hallway?”
“I was curious.”
Sure enough, Hei Dou poked it herself with the sparkler… Even after her mother had seriously warned her about safety before playing, it only sparked Hei Dou’s inherent curiosity to act recklessly.
Curiosity killed the cat; she couldn’t resist.
“Go find your mom yourself.” She pulled Hei Dou inside, “A few hundred bucks for a down jacket, and you’ve ruined it after two days?”
“Please don’t tell mom~”
“After getting a thorough scolding, you won’t do it again.”
Just as she was tugging back and forth with Hei Dou, the elevator outside suddenly made a noise.
Ning Chu was taken aback, looked up, and saw Ning Yuan stepping out of the elevator, carrying a big bag.
“What are you two doing at the door?”
“Sis is bullying me!” Hei Dou immediately broke free from Ning Chu and jumped into Ning Yuan’s arms, “What did you buy?”
“A big dog gift package; I picked it up at the supermarket on my way back.”
“Isn’t there a cat gift package?”
Ning Yuan entered the house, pulled out a huge gift package half his height from the bag and set it on the coffee table. Hei Dou was so excited that she completely forgot about her previous troubles, circling around the package.
“Looks like I’ll be sleeping on the floor again.” Ning Yuan rubbed his shoulders, set down his luggage, and turned to Ning Chu, slightly furrowing his brows as he scrutinized his younger sister.
Ning Chu’s smile faltered for a moment, quickly yanking Hei Dou into the kitchen to complain to their mother: “Mom! Hei Dou made a hole in her down jacket!”
“How did she do that?”
“She poked it with a sparkler.”
“This silly cat!”
Their mother angrily stormed out of the kitchen, scaring Hei Dou who squatted down to the floor, hugging Ning Chu’s leg, looking pitiful and helpless.
“Mom, it’s New Year’s; can you just say a few words?”
Ning Chu felt a little soft-hearted and tried to defend Hei Dou, but the gaze from behind made her feel a bit uneasy.
Her brother wasn’t as experienced as her mother, nor was he as perceptive as Hei Dou; he kept staring at her, making her wonder what he was thinking…
Their mother scolded her thoroughly and forbade Hei Dou from eating snacks in the morning, and the cat, with drooping ears, acceptingly acknowledged her mistake.
Ning Yuan, who had just returned home, watched on the side, but his eyes were always evaluating his younger sister.
It had only been a week, yet why did Ning Chu seem so different? She looked more feminine now than before?
The childishness on her face had diminished, replaced by a stronger allure than before.
Ning Yuan scratched his head, about to spiral into wild thoughts when Ning Chu had already approached him, taking the initiative: “Bro, why did you block that rich lady I introduced to you?”
“Rich lady? The one who wanted to add me on her alternate account?”
“Alternate account…”
Ning Chu’s eyelids twitched, realizing Lily was using a secondary account to hide her identity online for some carefree chats.
“I’ll give you her main account.”
“Forget it, with my salary, how can I even think of romance?” Ning Yuan turned his head slightly, looking shy like a little virgin.
Ning Chu pulled out a group photo from her phone taken a few days ago at Lily’s house.
“Hey! Which one do you like? The one in the middle is off-limits! She’s taken~”
“Not interested, really not interested in dating.”
Ning Yuan said this strongly, but his eyes couldn’t help but glance at Ning Chu’s phone.
The girl on the left with the tanned skin and ears atop her head is pretty cute~ such a tiny waist!
The one on the right appears a bit cold, but she’s even prettier! Wow!
As for the goofy one in the middle, let’s just skip that…
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