Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
Advance chapters available for patrons on Patreon. And a chapter can be sponsored by buying me a ko-fi.
Lu Huan also learned about the social interactions during the Lunar New Year in this world. From Monday to Wednesday, Su Xi would visit relatives with her parents to offer New Year’s greetings. On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, he could visit Su Xi’s family as a classmate.
Arriving alone might arouse suspicion from Su Xi’s parents. So Su Xi called and forcibly pulled Huo Jingchuan out of bed, asking him to come with Lu Huan.
There was a knock on the door. Aunt Su wiped the water off her hands on her apron, went out of the kitchen to open the door, and saw two big boys in down jackets standing outside.
One of them was Xiao Huo, whom she had watched grow up since childhood, needless to say. The other had fair skin, handsome features, and looked somewhat familiar. After a moment’s thought, Mother Su remembered that he was the boy who had helped her carry Su Xi’s suitcase at the beginning of the school year.
She quickly invited the two in with a smile: “Come in, have lunch at our house.”
“Okay.” Huo Jingchuan changed his shoes and strode in, heading straight into the kitchen. He then asked, “Aunt Su, what’s for lunch? Do you have stir-fried shredded potatoes?”
Lu Huan was still standing at the door. He smiled at Aunt Su and then handed her the two bags he had brought: “Auntie, here’s a small gift. Happy New Year.”
“Why did you bring gifts?!” Mother Su said, but she still subconsciously opened the handbag, and her expression immediately turned to great surprise – there was actually a mahjong set in one of the handbags.
These mahjong tiles were exquisitely crafted; each tile was smooth and lustrous, with a jade-like feel to the touch, and they shimmered under the light.
For a moment, Mother Su wondered if it was carved from jade, but then she thought, what kind of child would give such an expensive New Year’s gift?
The other bag contained a flask of wine. The container didn’t look like a modern glass bottle like Moutai; it looked more like something out of a TV drama, like peach blossom wine. The aroma was so strong that it attracted Father Su to run out of the study.
Aunt Su couldn’t accept it. She said to Lu Huan, “Thank you, Lu Huan, but isn’t this gift a bit too expensive?!”
Lu Huan said, “It’s not expensive at all. They are all local specialties from my hometown. I brought the same gifts when I visited other classmates’ homes for the New Year.”
Mother Su was relieved to hear him say that.
She turned around and gave him a red envelope containing 1,000 yuan, saying, “Here you go.”
Originally, Mother Su would give Su Xi’s friends red envelopes containing only one or two hundred yuan as a token. Except for Huo Jingchuan and Gu Qin, who would receive a little more each year, the number of other classmates who came to visit for the New Year was relatively small.
However, she felt that Lu Huan’s two gifts were a token of his goodwill, and since she didn’t know how much they cost and wasn’t very knowledgeable about their value, she estimated the price and simply gave him a thousand yuan. Since she didn’t have enough cash, she also took a few hundred yuan from Su Xi and Huo Jingchuan’s red envelopes and stuffed them into the gift box.
Su Xi had some, and Huo Jingchuan had some too, so Lu Huan accepted them.
But after Su parents went to the kitchen to busy themselves, the three of them huddled together in Su Xi’s room and opened their respective red envelopes to take a look—
Su Xi had eight hundred, Lu Huan had one thousand, and Huo Jingchuan had two hundred.
Su Xi: …
Huo Jingchuan: …
He jumped up, glaring angrily at Lu Huan: “Before you came, Auntie would give me five hundred, why is she giving me so much this year?!”
“Come on, you come to my house every year to freeload and get free New Year’s money! You’re still not satisfied with all that?!” Although Su Xi was also lamenting that she had received several hundred yuan less in New Year’s money this year, since her mother had actually given her own money to Lu Huan, she couldn’t stand Huo Jingchuan targeting Lu Huan and immediately sided with Lu Huan. “Lu Huan brought a gift when he came to visit— a set of jade mahjong tiles, each one priceless. What did you bring? All you bring every year is your mouth!”
“Blue jade, priceless? I don’t believe it.” Huo Jingchuan scoffed, “Even if you’re a rich second-generation, you wouldn’t bring an antique here, would you?!”
Su Xi glanced at Lu Huan and smiled knowingly, while Lu Huan smiled without saying a word.
Lu Huan’s specialty was carving small wood carvings, which he could make lifelike. Su Xi had already seen this. Carving on jade was not very difficult for him either. However, since he only had a few days, he did not do it himself. Instead, he handed it over to his subordinates, who found several carving craftsmen to work overnight according to the drawings. That’s how a set of plaques was carved.
“Can you please stop staring at each other all the time? I’m still here!” Huo Jingchuan couldn’t bear to watch and wished he could rush in and separate the two of them.
Lu Huan said to Huo Jingchuan in a low voice, “It’s nothing valuable, just a small token of my appreciation.”
Su Xi: “Exactly! What did you give? It wasn’t even a token of your affection!”
Huo Jingchuan: “…”
Lu Huan took out all the 1,000 yuan from the red envelope Mother Su had given him and handed it to Su Xi: “It’s all yours.”
Su Xi’s eyes lit up. In previous years, it was 1,200 every year. This year, it seems that every cloud has a silver lining. Her mother took 400, but Lu Huan sent back 1,000. This year, she actually got 1,800! She’s struck it rich!
“…” Huo Jingchuan was furious. He muttered that he didn’t want to eat dog food anymore and turned to watch TV.
In the kitchen, Mother Su was preparing vegetables, beaming from ear to ear, while Father Su poured himself a little wine, smelled it, and also seemed quite pleased. How could Su Xi’s classmate be so good at choosing gifts that catered to his tastes? Mother Su liked playing mahjong, and he liked having a little wine.
Mother Su secretly glanced at the three children in the room and couldn’t help but whisper to Father Su, “I think that Lu, who just came, seems to like our Xi Xi.”
Father Su was not happy that his own daughter had been taken advantage of. He put down the wine jar and said, “You just know how to make things up. Can’t they have a pure classmate relationship?”
“The children all seem quite innocent, but the way he looks at our Xi Xi is clearly different. Just now, before going into the bedroom, I saw that the child specifically stopped Xiao Huo outside and made Xi Xi pack her things before letting Xiao Huo in.”
What does this mean?
The mother lowered her voice mysteriously and said, “Girls’ rooms always have some messy things that need to be tidied up before anyone can enter. This child is meticulous, and he seems to have a problem with Xiao Huo entering Xi Xi’s room.”
“I give up.” Mr. Su took the vegetables he had prepared and started cooking, saying, “You can analyze so much from such a small action? Do you think you’re Sherlock Holmes?”
“Women are always more sensitive. I feel that the way Xiao Lu looks at Xi Xi is the same way you looked at me back then.” Mother Su glanced at Father Su, who had become middle-aged and overweight, and added, “Of course, Xi Xi has better taste than me. This child is a thousand times better than you from head to toe.”
Mr. Su, caught off guard and stabbed in the back: “…”
Mother Su and Huo Jingchuan’s mother used to like pairing Su Xi and Huo Jingchuan, who grew up together. But now, after carefully comparing Lu Huan and Huo Jingchuan, Mother Su felt that while Xiao Huo was indeed excellent, he couldn’t compare to Lu.
Look at Xiao Huo’s messy hair when he walked in; he had obviously been lying in bed playing video games all day. But Xiao Lu was completely different. Tall and long-legged, wearing a black down jacket with a fur trim on his hat, he was impeccably clean. Putting aside looks, Xiao Lu was a whole level above Xiao Huo in that— well, for boys, looks weren’t everything— Xiao Lu was also far more polite than Xiao Huo. He knew to bring a gift when he walked in, while Xiao Huo ran straight to the kitchen— there was no way you could expect him to help with chores.
Moreover, it was said that Xiao Lu’s grades in the final exam were ahead of Xiao Huo’s.
What more could you ask for? Xiao Lu was simply perfect.
Previously, Mother Su viewed Huo Jingchuan with the same eyes a mother-in-law would have for her son-in-law, or a best friend for her best friend’s son, thinking that Huo was a decent kid. But that was probably because there was no one around to compare him to. Now that Xiao Lu had appeared, surpassing him in every way, Mother Su suddenly didn’t find Huo Jingchuan, who had been freeloading at her house, so appealing anymore.
Look at him, occupying the sofa all by himself, gripping the remote control tightly, grabbing the fruit from the plate, and emptying the plate in no time.
No.
Aunt Su shook her head. Xiao Huo was no good; she had switched sides. Xiao Lu was better.
While Mother Su was secretly making these assumptions, Huo Jingchuan, who was watching cartoons on the sofa and laughing like a rooster crowing, was completely unaware that he had suddenly fallen from being a potential son-in-law to just an ordinary friend of Su Xi in her mother’s eyes. Su Xi and Lu Huan, in the room, were equally oblivious, only noticing that Mother Su had become extremely enthusiastic after they came out.
During the meal, she kept putting food on Lu Huan’s plate, urging him to eat more.
The ratio was roughly like this: give Su Xi one chopstick, give Huo Jingchuan one chopstick, and give Lu Huan three chopsticks.
Huo Jingchuan, who usually got to enjoy a couple of bites of food at Su’s house, suddenly felt as if he had been banished to the cold palace, his whole body chilled to the bone.
Guys, ads are my only source of revenue, so please do not turn on the AdBlock when you are accessing this website…. Thank you, this would be a great help…
You can buy me a ko-fi and sponsor a chapter on: https://ko-fi.com/midnightrambles
Or become a Patron and access advance chapters on: https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=45665005
If you support me, I would be able to provide more chapters….
Previous • Table of Contents • Next
