Hui Feng quickly put down the wine bottle in his hand, left his seat, and walked to the door to support Jade Xiang.
“Darling! It’s time to eat the glutinous rice balls, sesame-filled ones.”
Jade Xiang handed her bag to Hui Feng, stretched her body, and relieved the fatigue.
“Today was really tiring… There were so many customers.”
Jade Xiang complained about the high workload today, feeling dizzy and somewhat oxygen-deprived.
“Just like the day before Spring Festival?”
Hui Feng joked, helping his wife place her bag on the shoe cabinet, and then comforted her, “Darling, you’ve worked hard today, let’s eat quickly.”
“What’s so hard about it? It’s my own small shop, no one scolds me, it’s much more leisurely than your job. If we’re talking about hard work, you’re the one who works the hardest in our family, Hui, you’re the pillar of our home~”
“How can a junior high school graduate like me compare to a college graduate like you?”
After satisfying her husband’s praise, Jade Xiang didn’t forget to compliment him.
“Enough talk, I’m going to eat with our little Miri~”
After saying that, Jade Xiang took off her mink coat, hung it on the coat rack, and sat next to Miri Dreamwell at the dining table.
Seeing a large pot of glutinous rice balls, Jade Xiang’s eyes sparkled.
“So many!”
Jade Xiang quickly instructed Miri Dreamwell, “Miri, go get some water, I’ll get bowls for everyone.”
“Okay, Mom.”
Miri Dreamwell gave her mother a smile, the first smile she had all day, brought by her father just now.
Miri Dreamwell left her chair and went to the kitchen, then found two cups from the cabinet.
She went to the water purifier, turned on the faucet, filled two cups with water, and brought them back to the dining table.
Miri Dreamwell handed one cup to her mother and placed the other at her own seat.
Hui Feng had already helped Jade Xiang tidy up and returned to the dining table.
“Miri’s, husband’s, mine,” Jade Xiang distributed bowls of glutinous rice balls to everyone at the table, “Alright, let’s eat, wishing our family a new year of togetherness, happiness, and health!”
After saying that, Jade Xiang raised her water glass.
After his wife’s toast, Hui Feng reluctantly followed suit to match her rhythm, “Then I wish for a peaceful and smooth new year.”
After saying that, Hui Feng also raised the remaining half bottle of beer in his hand.
“Then I wish our family happiness every day, no worries, no sorrows.”
Miri Dreamwell also finished her blessing and raised her cup of water.
“Cheers!” x3
The New Year’s finale celebration officially concluded on the day of the Lantern Festival, accompanied by the light of the full moon and the sky lanterns of thousands of households, announcing that people would soon officially welcome a brand new year after the celebration.
After eating the glutinous rice balls, the family went back to their respective rooms to rest.
Miri Dreamwell sat on the school rooftop, watching the bright morning sun.
Miri Dreamwell, dressed in a simple school uniform, bathed in the sunlight.
“I can see the entire playground.”
Miri Dreamwell looked at the circular track below, a view she had never seen before.
In the past, she could never come to the school rooftop, but today, for some reason, she found herself here.
But Miri Dreamwell didn’t bother thinking too much, why not enjoy the high-altitude scenery while she had the chance?
“By the way, why is the school empty today?”
Miri Dreamwell looked around the school, vaguely sensing something unusual.
“How could there be people in the world of someone who betrayed the person who saved her?”
“Huh?!”
Miri Dreamwell quickly turned her head to see the source of the voice, a purple-haired girl with her eyes closed.
“Who are you…”
Miri Dreamwell was so scared she stepped back, when did this person sit next to her?
The girl ignored Miri Dreamwell, still with her eyes closed, talking to herself.
“In the deepest part of the nine layers of hell, in the ice lake named ‘Cocytus’, the most severe crime is frozen—betrayal.”
“In the center of the Cocytus ice lake, the demon king Lucifer, who betrayed the entire world, is frozen, and you are his accomplice.”
“What… are you talking about!”
Miri Dreamwell couldn’t stand her whispers.
“Are you… Calamity?”
Miri Dreamwell’s last words were very soft, she was scared, not entirely sure.
Hearing Miri Dreamwell’s words, the girl opened her deep purple eyes, and in the next moment, the surrounding environment instantly dissipated, leaving only Miri Dreamwell and the girl standing in this pitch-black space.
“Calamity?” The girl paused, seemingly hesitant, but in the next moment, she burst into a heart-wrenching roar.
“You self-righteous, sophistical insects! Why do you only realize that you have killed hope with your own hands when divine punishment comes!”
“Ah!!”
Miri Dreamwell suddenly woke up from her bed, looking at the dark room, she realized she had just had a nightmare.
Miri Dreamwell recalled the words of the girl in her dream.
“I… killed… hope…”
“Eve Nightburn… Mentor…”
“Is it you?”
Miri Dreamwell hesitated for a moment, then pushed off the blanket, got out of bed, turned on the light in her room, found some suitable clothes, and put them on.
She then turned off the light in her room, quietly walked to the entrance of her home.
“Sorry Mom and Dad, I’m a bad child, I need to atone for my sins, so I won’t be home tonight.”
After saying that, Miri Dreamwell quietly closed her home door.
After arriving downstairs, Miri Dreamwell found a taxi.
“Cloudsea Lake.”
Miri Dreamwell simply said three words, and the driver immediately set off.
The driver had just started when Miri Dreamwell took out her phone and scanned to pay.
“You have received 30 yuan.”
The driver didn’t say anything about this behavior, just a bit curious why this little girl wasn’t resting at home at night.
“Little girl, why aren’t you sleeping at night, going so far away?”
“Because of responsibility.”
…
Hearing this, the driver was silent for a long time.
“Alright, I understand, I wish you a safe return.”
“Thank you for your understanding.”
After saying that, the two didn’t speak anymore.
After a long time, Miri Dreamwell got out of the taxi.
After closing the car door, the driver left.
Looking at the calm ice lake in the distance, Miri Dreamwell suddenly thought of the girl’s words in the dream: In the ice lake, the most severe crime is frozen—betrayal.
Miri Dreamwell felt as if she was the ice sculpture on the ice lake, a prisoner locked away forever.
“Is this… the punishment?”
Miri Dreamwell tried to press her chest, wanting to temporarily suppress the sadness.
“Mentor Eve Nightburn… I’m coming.”
