Chapter 44: Returning Home for New Year (Part 1)

  There's a saying that people living abroad think of their loved ones even more during holidays. It's a Chinese habit to reunite with family members during traditional festivals, thinking it's the best way to celebrate.

  I go back home every year for Chinese New Year, so this time when I went back with Li Huanhuan, it didn't seem to have caused any attention from anyone.

  It was just the car driven by Li Huanhuan that made many of our rural people feel very curious. It's not that they had never seen such a car before, but what they found strange was why there would be such a car to take me home.

  And our car was loaded with a lot of things, in addition to the two large trunks, there were many New Year's goods. Buying New Year's goods is an old custom of our hometown, every family will buy New Year's goods at the end of the year, so that they can have a reunion dinner during the Spring Festival and also have good things to entertain guests when visiting relatives in the first month. In previous years, people who bought New Year's goods only symbolically bought some because they didn't have much money to spend, so they could only buy a few. So when we brought back a large pile of New Year's goods this time, it caused some people to gossip.

  I was worried that these rumors would cause unnecessary trouble, so I told my neighbors: "They were all bought by my friend, she has money and also has a house in the city."

  All the topics were suddenly shifted, and all the villagers were discussing my friend Li Huanhuan. Some said Li Huanhuan was a rich girl, some said she was a big boss of a company, and others said she was my girlfriend, who was also a wealthy one.

  As for these things, Li Huanhuan accepted them calmly, without showing any unhappiness at all. From morning to night, she chatted and laughed with my parents, looking very happy.

  My father and mother are both simple farmers, honest and kind-hearted, and can be considered as people with no desires or demands. Apart from wanting me to make a good life for myself, they have no other extravagant hopes.

  Li Huanhuan's arrival, my mother was overjoyed, directly treating Li Huanhuan as my girlfriend, bringing out all the delicious food and drink at home, constantly sending them to Li Huanhuan's hands. Even I, her own son, couldn't enjoy such care.

  This is also one of the reasons why Li Huanhuan and my mother are especially close.

  The second day after I returned home, I thought of Dongfang Yu who was still abroad, and wanted to drive with Li Huanhuan to pick up Dongfang Yu's parents to come to my house for the Spring Festival. On the one hand, I wanted to thank Dongfang Yong and Guo Si Xiang couple for their help to me; on the other hand, I also wanted to let Dongfang Yu know that she could feel more at ease afterwards.

  Li Huanhuan listened to my request and unexpectedly refused, with a reason that even got my mother's support. Li Huanhuan's reason was: I'm your girlfriend now, how can you ask me to pick up the parents of your ex-girlfriend?

  So my mother was very supportive of Li Huanhuan and didn't allow me to go pick up Dongfang Yu's parents. I insisted repeatedly, but unfortunately, I still couldn't convince Li Huanhuan and my mother. However, fortunately, my father thought things through thoroughly and voluntarily said to the three of us: "How about this? Let's take out some New Year's goods, and I'll ride with Jin Cang to deliver them to Dongfang Yong and his family. This way, we can show our sincerity without putting Li Huanhuan in a difficult position."

  The three of us immediately agreed to the proposal, and quickly took out some New Year's goods that are hard to buy in the countryside, filled a big bag, tied it on the car, and set off.

  When I passed through the town center, my mobile phone had a signal, so I called Dongfang Yu and explained everything here.

  I originally thought Dongfang Yu would be grateful to me, but before I could finish speaking, she burst into tears and loudly yelled at me: "What's wrong with you? You didn't even tell me when you went back! I also want to go back, so don't care about me, come pick me up!"

  I suddenly didn't know what to do, today is already the 20th of the twelfth lunar month. Rushing over to pick up Dongfang Yu and going back and forth would make it the Small New Year's Eve, so I wasn't very willing: "Just stay in the hospital and work, after the new year I'll go back to school..."

  "Your voice is full of grievance: 'How could you do this to me? I'm your wife, how can you leave your wife behind and go back alone? Didn't you say just a few days ago that you were still being pursued? Are you deceiving me?'"

  I can only briefly mention the events of the past few days, and finally said: "It was Old Chen who helped me, so I could safely return home. How about this, if you really want to come back, just take a car back by yourself... be careful on the road, okay?"

  "No way! I'm scared. You come pick me up, or think of a solution for me, I don't dare go back alone, what if I run into **** again on the road?"

  I furrowed my brow: "Give the phone to Hui Jie, I'll talk to her. If she agrees to send you off, it should be fine."

  Dongfang Yu nodded reluctantly and handed the phone to Zhou Hui. Zhou Hui's voice was also filled with resentment: "You said you're so irresponsible? We've escaped danger, why didn't you give us a call? You made us worry about you all this time... I don't care about Yuer's affairs, you handle it yourself!"

  I felt a bit annoyed, just about to speak out of frustration, when I heard my father say beside me: "Why not just call your friends and Yu'er over? You silly kid are really stupid..."

  At that moment, I suddenly understood what my father meant, so I quickly said to Zhou Hui: "Hui sister, my intention is to say, you send Yu'er back, and take a break at the same time, come to our side to see the scenery of the countryside, experience the life in the countryside... how about it?"

  Zhou Hui didn't hesitate this time, and happily said: "Is the person next to you not your father? It seems like you're not as smart as your father... Hehe... We'll take a leave of absence soon, and we'll be on our way tomorrow. Remember to come pick us up at the county station, or I'll get angry."

  I hastily agreed and looked at Father, saying: "You see... our home is almost a shelter, can this be okay?"

  Father laughed and said, "What's wrong with that? As the saying goes, at home rely on parents, outside rely on friends. Your friend is coming to our house, we must treat them well. Later when you go out, they will also be good to you. You just don't think too much about it. I'll go buy some new bedding and stuff now, and once your friend arrives, we'll be all set."

  I nodded and looked at the goods on the motorcycle: "What about these? Are you still sending them or not?"

  "Father sighed: "Foolish kid, why can't you be a bit smarter? Yuer has already returned, and you're still going to just send some New Year's goods and that's it? Hurry up and go pick up Yuer's parents, this year, our family is going to have a real big reunion for the New Year."

  I hastily got on the bus, preparing to pick up Uncle Dongfang and Auntie Guo. But my father called out to me again: "Put your things here, I'll find a chance to have someone bring them back, go like this, or else Uncle Dongfang will think what?"

  I followed my father's arrangement and went to pick up Dongfang Uncle and Guo Fourth Aunt with great effort. Originally, I was worried that I couldn't get Dongfang Uncle and Guo Fourth Aunt from the muddy road to my home by myself, but when I arrived at Dongfang Uncle's house, as soon as I mentioned this matter, Dongfang Uncle laughed: "Don't worry, I can ride a motorcycle. Not long ago, I bought a second-hand motorcycle and have learned how to ride it, so going to your home is no problem."

  I looked at the old car he was talking about, and it was indeed very old, almost scrap. Uncle Dongfang really learned how to ride it, got on the car and drove off, his driving skills were quite qualified.

  It wasn't until later that I found out that Dongfang Shu and Guo Si Shu had already set up their chicken farm. The investment money was borrowed, but the first batch of chicks were already being sold, and the profit was quite good.

  Their chicken farm not only sells chicken meat, but also sells chicks to nearby farmers, allowing them to raise some high-quality egg-laying chickens and broilers to earn some extra money.

  I met my father at the town center and we headed home together. Li Huanhuan saw me and also invited Dongfang Shu and Guo Sijiu to our house, she was angry at first, her face stern and not saying a word. But after mother took her aside and said something, Li Huanhuan surprisingly became very happy and started serving tea and water to Guo Sijiu and Dongfang Shu, I don't know what mother actually said to her.

  My father bought enough daily necessities for ten people to live on, including bedding, quilts, toothbrushes and so on. Although our family didn't have much money and was usually very frugal, this time my father didn't mind the cost and bought the best things.

  Li Huanhuan first gave a set to Guo Sishen and Dongfang Shu, one each, and sweetly smiled: "Dongfang Shu, Guo Sishen, I'll take you to your room in a while, tidy up, and you can move in tonight."

  "Thank you, Miss Li," said Dongfang Shu with a smile. "We'll take care of the rest ourselves, no need to trouble you further."

  Li Huan smiled even sweeter: "You're here, I should help you collect the house, don't be polite."

  Dongfang Shu was taken aback, then smiled and said: "Li Niang, I'm a regular here, I come back many times every year, very familiar, no need for you to worry about us..."

  They seem to be polite, so I smiled and said: "We're all one family, don't be too polite!" After a pause: "Uncle Dongfang and Auntie Guo will clean up the room themselves later, I and Huanhuan sister need to go pick up Yu'er and them, so please trouble you two to do it yourselves."

  Li Huanhuan and Dongfang Shu as well as Guo Siju were all startled, then they all burst out laughing. Guo Siju said: "Yu'er is coming back?"

  I nodded: "At noon, I called her and said that she would arrive in the county tomorrow. In a while, I'll call them again to see when they will arrive, and I'll go with Huanhuan's sister to pick them up."

  "Why do I have to go pick you up? Can't you just come yourself? I still need to help with dinner."

  "Never mind helping me, you go and attend to your own business. I have my relatives here to help me."

  The mother said that the relative's mother was Guo Si Shu, and Guo Si Shu quickly agreed and stood up to follow her mother. I then said to Li Huanhuan: "You can drive, it's convenient, no need to take the bus back, it's crowded, everyone can only stand."

  Li Huan nodded and asked again: "You said 'they', how many people are there? Not a lot, right?"

  I smiled: "Apart from Yu'er, it's just me and you who have helped me, Zhou Hui. You know that I'm not at ease with Yu'er coming back alone, and if Zhou Hui accompanies her, it will be safer."

  Li Huanhuan murmured softly: "Oh" and whispered: "Suddenly there are several more girls, it seems my fate is really bitter..."

  I was surprised and couldn't help but ask her: "What did you say? What bitter fate?"

  Li Huanhuan glared at me and turned around to leave, unexpectedly ignoring me from then on.

  My father was originally accompanying Dongfang Shu to speak, but now smiled and said: "Foolish boy, why don't you hurry up and chase after her? She's angry."

  I rushed out and caught up with Li Huanhuan, panting and saying: "You... are you okay?"

  Li Huanhuan still ignored me, I felt a bit awkward, so I found a topic to say: "This year has not snowed until now, the weather is very abnormal. However, looking at it today, I'm afraid it will start snowing soon. After the snow falls, our side will be a silver-white world, and we can have a snowball fight, skiing, ice skating... We can also go to the snowy field with Father and others to hunt for pheasants, rabbits, etc., and if we're lucky, we might even catch wild boars, which would be very interesting."

  Li Huan immediately became interested: "I really like skiing. But here are all big mountains, how can I ski? Aren't you afraid of falling off the cliff?"

  I laughed and thought to myself, "Are you still going to reason with me? Hehe..." But my mouth was very serious as I said, "We have a fixed ski resort, after it snows next time I'll take you there, I guarantee you won't fall off the cliff."

  Li Huan looked around and said with a puzzled expression: "I only see a big mountain, there's no large flat area for skiing. If I find out you're cheating me later, be careful... I'll hit you with a stick!"

  I took a few steps forward and naturally pointed at those towering ancient trees in the mountains: "Do you want me to help you cut down one of these big trees?"

  Li Huan was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and said: "I'm not going to kill you, what's the point of chopping down a big tree?"

  I also smiled: "Later I'll give Yu'er a call, if they've already boarded the car, we should get ready too..."

  Li Huanhuan turned her head and said loudly, "You want me to go pick up your fiancée? No way! I myself want to marry you, why would I lift a rock to hit my own foot and bring your fiancée here to compete with me?"

  I forced a smile and said: "I've told you before, Yu'er is not my fiancée, she's just my adopted younger sister. Listen clearly!"

  Li Huanhuan looked at me with a puzzled face: "Yu'er is as beautiful as a fairy, and she's devoted to you, why don't you like her? If it were me, I would have married her back home long ago. You're really an idiot!"

  I have no idea what Li Huanhuan is thinking, I feel that women's thoughts are very difficult to understand, completely unreasonable. One moment she's jealous, the next moment she's advising marriage, what's going on!

  So I won't say anything more about this matter, and instead change the subject, saying loudly: "Will you or will you not accept Yu'er and the others? Give me a straight answer!"

  Li Huan hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded: "How can I not go? You contact them first to see when they arrive. I'll go prepare the car."

  I contacted Dongfang Yu and they told me that they were about to board the train, and would arrive at our county town around 10-11 pm tonight. So I informed my parents and followed Li Huanhuan to rush to the county town.

  The road from my home to the county town is mostly very poor mud roads, which are not easy to walk. So we spent almost five hours before arriving at the train station in the county town.

  Li Huan parked the car and came with me to the waiting hall to wait for Dongfang Yu and Zhou Hui. She was a bit nervous, I didn't know why.

  I found a vacant seat for Li Huanhuan to sit down and wait, but I could only stand. It's now during the Spring Festival travel season, although there have been more terrorist attacks this year, many people choose to stay at home and not go out. However, there are still many people going out to work, so this waiting hall is basically packed, with no empty seats. The number of people waiting for others is just as high as in previous years.

  I looked at the time and it was already 8 o'clock in the evening. There were still two hours until 10 o'clock, I thought we came too early, so we could only wait.

  Li Huanhuan was very reluctant to wait here, she sat for a while and then stood up, saying to me: "I'm hungry, let's go find a place to eat!"

  I looked at the time and nodded: "There are many street stalls outside, and the food is still very delicious. Why don't we go out to eat?"

  Li Huan looked around and lowered her voice, saying: "It's not going to work, it's too cold. Since I got off the car, I've been feeling colder and colder. If we eat outside, I'm afraid we'll freeze."

  I also had this feeling, so I said: "Let's go a bit further and find a restaurant to eat. By the way, I know there is a hot pot shop that tastes good. In the past when I was in high school, I often went with my classmates to eat, it's affordable and hygienic."

  Li Huanhuan listened to what I said and suddenly became interested, pulling me out.

  Then we came to a hot pot restaurant with a thriving business, and after finding a seat with great difficulty, we sat down and started enjoying the special hot pot here.

  The consumption here is very low, a clay chicken hot pot only costs 40 yuan, unlike those places outside, where a dish can cost tens or hundreds of yuan, which is not affordable for someone like me from the countryside.

  Li Huan was eating very happily, constantly saying how delicious it was and that it was almost as good as the specialty dishes at those big hotels. I smiled as I watched her eat with gusto, also having some myself, occasionally glancing at the time and secretly calculating when we should head to the train station.

  Li Huanhuan noticed my actions and said disdainfully, "It's just picking up your god-sister, what's the hurry? They'll call you when they arrive, why worry unnecessarily?"

  I knew she was still a bit angry and it wasn't good to argue with her, so I took a bite of chicken and smiled: "The flavor of the hot pot here is really great, you should eat more."

  Li Huanhuan was originally eating with gusto, but after hearing my words, she suddenly stopped eating and glared at me fiercely: "Are you trying to fatten me up and then dump me? Let me tell you, I'm not the type to get fat no matter how much I eat. Since I was young, I've always been able to eat a lot but never gain weight..."

  I couldn't help but ask her: "How much do you weigh now?"

  Li Huan hesitated for a long time before saying: "Mind your own business! I'm tall, so... so I have over a hundred pounds... uh, what do you mean, are you saying I'm fat? Be careful or I'll hit you..."

  I quickly shook my head: "No, no, just casually asking. You said over a hundred, so how much more exactly?"

  Li Huanhuan's face changed, becoming quite ugly, and she huffed and puffed as she said: "What's wrong with me being a little fat? What can you do to me?"

  I laughed: "As heavy as me, haha..."

  Li Huanhuan immediately stood up, slammed the chopsticks in her hand on the table and said loudly: "You dare to say I'm fat? Fine, I'll leave now..."

  I quickly pulled her over, whispering: "I think you're really tense, so I was just joking with you, why are you getting angry? Look, the people next to us are staring at us."

  Li Huan was taken aback, looked around and her face turned red, she immediately sat down, looking at me with a shy expression.

  Li Huanhuan was already a very beautiful woman, and with her maturity, she had given me a very beautiful feeling before. Now, with the blush rising on her face, she looked even more lovely, and I was immediately stunned.

  Li Huanhuan understood this point, but didn't say it out loud, letting me stare at her while smiling slightly.

  Her smile made me immediately aware of my own awkwardness, and I quickly lowered my head, not even daring to speak. It was then that Li Huanhuan softly said: "Have you had enough? Is it good-looking?"

  I felt my face burning and couldn't help but say: "Who's looking? I... I..."

  Li Huanhuan burst out laughing with a "heh" sound: "I didn't say you can't watch, what's the big deal?" After a pause, she said: "Go pick up your sister, it won't be good if you're late."

  I only just recovered normally, but I no longer dare to look straight into Li Huanhuan's eyes, nor even dare to take a second glance at her face, let alone speak to her.

  Li Huanhuan had a smile on her face, but she didn't talk to me. She naturally took my hand and walked towards her car.