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墨書 Inktalez
Snow fell intermittently for two days, continuing until New Year's Eve without a pause.
The Liu Family celebrated the New Year with great enthusiasm. Liu Sen, the eldest son of the Liu Family, had his younger siblings and their families come over every year to celebrate, and the whole family would be busy for several days preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner.
"Shu Han, come help me wash the crown daisy; we’ll use it for hot pot later," Xu Ruyun had been busy at the stove all morning, having only hastily eaten a couple of bites for breakfast. With nearly twenty people in the family, it was no easy task to arrange a menu that catered to everyone's preferences.
Liu Shuhan put down her phone and replied, "Coming!"
While washing the vegetables, she kept an ear out for her phone, worried about missing a message from Cheng Qiuyi.
Around ten o'clock in the morning, Liu Shuhan's uncles and aunts began to arrive one after another. The vegetables were almost cleaned up, and since there was nothing left for the father-daughter duo to do, Xu Ruyun sent Liu Sen and Liu Shuhan out to greet the guests.
Liu Shuhan dreaded these awkward small talk situations. She wasn't good at making conversation; when her aunt complimented her on looking prettier, she could only smile awkwardly and say it was nothing, then pretended to focus on watching TV. Liu Sen was also quiet, and before long, the atmosphere in the living room felt even colder than in the kitchen.
"Shu Han, after this New Year you'll be twenty-six, right?" Auntie pushed Second Aunt aside and sat next to Liu Shuhan.
Liu Shuhan felt a chill run down her spine; she could guess what Auntie was going to ask.
"What do you mean twenty-six? After the New Year she'll be twenty-seven!" Xu Ruyun shouted from the kitchen while stir-frying vegetables, still managing to chat with Auntie. "I’ve introduced her to friends, but she won’t even meet them. It’s driving me crazy."
"Twenty-seven?" Auntie grabbed Liu Shuhan's wrist, looking more anxious than when her own daughter was unmarried. "Shu Han, I’m not nagging you, but you really need to pay attention to your own life. At twenty-seven, why haven’t you found someone? When do you plan to get married? Experts say that the best age for women to have children is twenty-five; what are you thinking…"
"Auntie, I'm still young; there's no rush." Liu Shuhan calmly pulled her hand back and randomly changed the channel on the TV with the remote. "Auntie, this drama is really good; you should watch it."
"Oh, who cares about the TV right now!" Auntie slammed the remote control on the table. "Shu Han, my colleague's sister's son is a pretty good guy. He's honest and can earn money. He's thirty now, three years older than you. Why don't you two meet up sometime?"
"Auntie, no need for that. I already have someone I like."
Auntie's excited expression suddenly froze. "What did you say?"
"I said I'm in a relationship, thank you for your concern, Auntie."
Auntie reluctantly withdrew her expression. "I knew it! Our Shu Han is so beautiful; how could she not find someone?"
The little aunt, who was snacking on sunflower seeds, perked up. "Shu Han, tell us about him! What does he look like? Is he handsome?"
Xu Ruyun couldn't stay in the kitchen any longer and rushed out wearing an apron. "You little rascal! You have a partner and didn't tell your mother, huh?"
"Mom, I just haven't had the chance to say anything yet." Liu Shuhan pointed towards the kitchen. "I can smell the fish burning; please don't ruin your famous sweet and sour fish."
Xu Ruyun hurried back to the kitchen as if her pants were on fire.
Liu Shuhan helplessly looked at her father, who was nestled in a corner sipping tea. Liu Sen gave her a helpless expression.
"Oh, Shu Han! Forget about the fish! Tell us about your boyfriend!" The little aunt urged impatiently.
Not boyfriend, but girlfriend. Liu Shuhan silently corrected herself in her mind.
"She is quite tall, has a great figure, peach blossom eyes, and is very beautiful."
“Peach Blossom Eyes, still looking pretty? Wouldn't that make him a pretty boy? Shu Han, boys like that can be quite fickle. You need to keep your eyes open, or you’ll have no place to cry in the future,” Auntie warned mysteriously, winking for her sister-in-law to agree.
Liu Shuhan shook her head and smiled. If Cheng Qiuyi could be called fickle, then there would be no one truly devoted in this world.
“Hey Shu Han, how did you two meet?”
“High school classmates.” Liu Shuhan's phone vibrated in her hand. She sighed in relief and happily retreated to her room to take the call.
“Qiu Yi, your call came at just the right time; you practically saved my life!” Liu Shuhan rolled on her bed. “Qiu Yi, I miss you so much.”
“Aren't you at A-Zhi's place? That must be a bit inconvenient,” Cheng Qiuyi replied. “What do you mean saved your life? It’s not like your mom is trying to set you up again, is it?”
“No, it’s my Auntie. Why does it matter to her whether I get married or not? Just when my mom finally stopped pushing me, Auntie brought it up again.”
“So how are you handling it?”
Liu Shuhan grinned widely. “I told her I have a boyfriend who is tall, fit, and good-looking.”
“So that’s all the good qualities I have in your eyes?” Cheng Qiuyi exaggeratedly complained. “Is there any point in being honest?”
“Pfft, shameless! I was talking about my boyfriend; who said anything about you?”
Cheng Qiuyi said teasingly, “Really not me? You wait and see, you stubborn blockhead.”
Liu Shuhan laughed so hard on the other end of the line that her mouth nearly reached the back of her head.
Later, Cheng Boming tugged at Cheng Qiuyi's sleeve, signaling that it was time to go. Cheng Qiuyi understood and found an excuse to hang up the phone.
She had arranged for Cheng Boming to visit Shen Wenqin today. It was New Year's Eve, and it was time for Cheng Boming to meet Shen Wenqin. However, Cheng Qiuyi did not plan to go; she had A-Zhi send a driver to take Cheng Boming there. She and Shen Wenqin truly disliked each other and did not want to create trouble.
"Is the driver here?" Cheng Qiuyi asked.
Cheng Boming nodded, "The driver is already downstairs."
After squatting in a horse stance for three months, Cheng Boming hadn't made much progress in other areas but had lost quite a bit of weight. The extra flesh on her face had thinned out enough for her eyes to finally be visible, and she had grown taller; her pants and clothes were starting to feel short.
Cheng Qiuyi tossed him a card, "After you see your mom, have the driver take you shopping for clothes, then let him take you directly to Cheng Tianhong's place. No need to come back."
"What about you? You lied to Sister Shuhan saying you were going to Uncle Song's house, so why are you still here alone?"
Cheng Qiuyi waved him off with her hand and leaned back in her chair, slowly rocking.
When someone gets used to having company, loneliness becomes unbearable.
In Liu Shuhan's house, no matter how high the heating was turned up, it still felt cold. Cheng Qiuyi wasn't afraid of the cold but unconsciously wrapped herself tighter in the blanket.
On a snowy day without sunshine, even at noon the sky remained gloomy. The lights in the room were off, and Cheng Qiuyi dozed in and out of sleep, too lazy to eat.
Around three in the afternoon, Yuan Ying's call woke Cheng Qiuyi. She had slept too long; when she got up, her head felt dizzy. Holding the phone to her ear and pressing her forehead, she replied, "A-Ying, why are you going crazy in the middle of the night?" By this time, it should have been early morning in A Country; Yuan Ying must have gotten drunk again.
"It's not even three in the afternoon yet, Cheng Qiuyi. Who's going crazy here?"
Cheng Qiuyi fully woke up and walked barefoot to the dining room to pour a glass of water. "You returned to the country? When did you come back?"
"I came back around Christmas, it's been almost a month, right? But I've been in S City the whole time."
"Alright, A-Ying, Happy New Year."
"Happy New Year, Qiu Yi."
The two hung up the phone in tacit understanding, neither of them mentioning spending the difficult Spring Festival together. They had always been like this; both were proud individuals. Even though they had seen each other's worst sides, neither wanted to easily disturb the other's solitude, nor expose their own loneliness to one another.
Cheng Qiuyi's work phone was flooded with blessing messages, while her personal phone was eerily quiet. Besides messages from A-Zhi and Yan Cailing inviting her to celebrate the New Year together, there was nothing else. The call log was filled with "wooden" responses.
Cheng Qiuyi's New Year's Eve dinner consisted of instant noodles, which she finished while watching an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.
Liu Shuhan loved watching cartoons, including SpongeBob SquarePants and Tom and Jerry. She had seen them countless times and still enjoyed them every time. Gradually, Cheng Qiuyi also began to like watching SpongeBob SquarePants. By the time that yellow square ended its noisy episode, Cheng Qiuyi had finished her rehydrated noodles.
Liu Shuhan's family filled two tables to capacity. Her several nephews and nieces adored her, crowding around her during the New Year's Eve dinner. In the end, they even fought over her attention until one of them cried. Xu Ruyun had no choice but to send Liu Shuhan over to the children's table.
Liu Shuhan was happy and relaxed, eating while performing clumsy magic tricks with playing cards and coins for her little niece.
"Cousin, who is this sister?" asked her niece, who was not yet five years old, sitting on Liu Shuhan's lap and pointing at her phone wallpaper.
Liu Shuhan fed her niece a bite of food and glanced at the beautiful woman smiling with squinted eyes on her phone. "Oh, she's my wife. What do you think? Is she pretty?" Not worried about teaching the child anything inappropriate.
The niece replied in a sweet voice, "Pretty! You two really match!" It was unclear where she learned the term "match" from in some TV drama.
"Good baby, you have good taste!" Liu Shuhan kissed her niece's round face.
At nine o'clock, C City started setting off fireworks again. Cheng Qiuyi looked out through the balcony glass and could vaguely see the colors reflected in the sky from the flames. She remembered the time when Liu Shuhan had dragged her to watch the fireworks.
Cheng Qiuyi didn't know what the fireworks looked like; she was too busy staring at Liu Shuhan, only remembering the sparkling eyes of Liu Shuhan amidst the fireworks.
Then Cheng Qiuyi received a hurried phone call from Cheng Boming, saying that Cheng Tianhong was dying.
Even during the New Year, no one was allowed to have peace. Cheng Qiuyi irritably grabbed her coat and walked out.
This time, Cheng Tianhong really died. By the time Cheng Qiuyi arrived at the hospital, he had already passed away, dying on New Year's Eve, ultimately not making it through the year.
Cheng Boming was crying uncontrollably while holding Cheng Tianhong's body. Cheng Qiuyi stood by, unable to cry, not even able to muster a sad expression. It wasn't joy; it was just a strange feeling inside, somewhat suffocating.
Seeing this man's corpse, her first reaction was relief that her mother was buried in the Zhou family cemetery, avoiding having to share a grave with this man.
Both of the people who brought her into this world were now dead, and Cheng Qiuyi's only remaining connection to this world was Liu Shuhan.
Cheng Qiuyi calmly handled Cheng Tianhong's funeral arrangements while overhearing a conversation among the on-duty doctors in the hospital.
"The one in the top-floor ward has finally died."
"Don't talk nonsense; that person has some status. If you didn't know better, you'd think you were wishing for their death."
"Better dead than alive; at least they suffer less. Just look at his daughter—tch, not a single tear shed when her father died."
"With an unkind father and a disobedient son, the grievances of the wealthy are beyond the imagination of us two poor students. Let's go get some late-night snacks."
Cheng Qiuyi stood in the corner with her arms crossed, smiling.
What tears to shed? Cheng Tianhong is dead, and she is happier than anyone else.
As the clock struck midnight, Liu Shuhan called. It sounded lively on her end, with many children making noise.
"Qiu Yi, Happy New Year!"
"Happy New Year, Shu Han."
"Qiu Yi, what's wrong?" Liu Shuhan keenly sensed something off with Cheng Qiuyi. "Aren't you at A-Zhi's house? Why is it so quiet over there?"
"Shu Han, Cheng Tianhong is dead."
Cheng Qiuyi thought she shouldn't disturb Liu Shuhan during the New Year, but she couldn't help but share it. Liu Shuhan was the only connection Cheng Qiuyi had to the world; she was her only lifeline.
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