"New Year's already, huh?"
Early in the morning, Ning Chu leaned on the windowsill, arms resting on the railing as she looked down at the community below through the glass.
Somehow, without her noticing, the neighborhood had been decorated with bright red New Year banners, and the trees were wrapped in strings of lights. Red lanterns lined the main roads of the community, adding a festive atmosphere.
There were no sounds of firecrackers or fireworks—just the occasional distant pop from somewhere far away.
It was New Year's Eve, but compared to her childhood, the festive spirit had faded quite a bit.
After today, she would be a year older.
Outside, Hei Dou was playing in the hallway with sparklers, running around joyfully. A faint smell of smoke drifted inside, causing their mother to frown and shut the door with a look of disdain.
"Mom! I haven’t come in yet!" Hei Dou's voice called from outside.
"Knock when you’re done playing, I don’t want the house smelling like smoke."
Their mother turned to Ning Chu, still by the window, and asked, "When is your brother coming home?"
"He said this morning."
"And Wen Yang?"
"He’s working the night shift today, but he’ll get off early... probably around ten tonight."
Even in the restaurant business, there was no such thing as a holiday for New Year's Eve, though at least he got to leave work a little earlier than usual.
Outside, most of the shops were already closed for the holiday. The streets were practically deserted, and while there were a few children playing in the neighborhood, it still felt quiet and empty.
New Year’s was supposed to be lively.
Ning Chu yawned, and her mother, noticing, couldn't resist teasing her, "Spending every night over at someone else’s house during the holidays."
"I do not!"
"Oh, right, you skipped last night," her mother shot back sarcastically.
Ning Chu rolled her eyes. She couldn’t tell if her mother was actually annoyed or if she just thought New Year's Eve should be spent at home.
In retaliation, Ning Chu asked, "Is Uncle coming tonight?"
"Mm, he’ll be here in the afternoon."
"Doesn't he have a daughter? Shouldn’t he be spending New Year's with her?"
"She’s staying at school over the break."
"Oh~ Maybe she didn’t want to interrupt your private time together?" Ning Chu teased.
Her mother responded with a flick to her forehead.
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“Ow! That really hurt!” Ning Chu complained, rubbing her head as she glared at her mother.
“I’m going to make dinner,” her mother said, brushing off her daughter's protest.
“Tch.”
Ning Chu followed her into the kitchen, offering to help prepare the ingredients for the New Year's Eve dinner.
If everything went as planned, the dinner would be for six people, plus the dishes needed for the ancestral offering. Their mother would probably spend the whole day in the kitchen.
Ning Chu had rarely helped in the kitchen before, but recently, she had been assisting her mother more often. At least she had become good at washing and preparing vegetables quickly.
“Mom, where can we watch fireworks?”
“Fireworks? They banned them years ago. If you want to see any, you’ll have to go to the nearby county.”
“Hmm...”
Her mother suddenly remembered something she had seen in her social media feed. “This year there’s supposed to be a fireworks display at Flower Sea Park. It’s a bit far, but you might be able to see a little bit from here.”
“Flower Sea Park, huh...”
Her mother saw right through her. “What? You’re not planning on spending New Year’s Eve at home and want to run off with Wen Yang instead?”
Ning Chu tried to act innocent, brushing it off, “Of course not! How could you even think that?”
But her mother wasn’t convinced, shooting her a stern look. “You’d better not! Running off to fool around on New Year's Eve—aren’t you worried about what the neighbors would say?”
“What’s there to worry about? Lots of people have their New Year’s dinner at restaurants nowadays!”
“Sis! Open the door! Open the door!”
Hei Dou’s voice interrupted, followed by knocking and banging on the door. Ning Chu eagerly escaped the kitchen and ran to open it.
But Hei Dou didn’t look as thrilled as she had been earlier. Instead, she was clutching the hem of her coat, standing at the door with a pitiful expression, not daring to step inside.
“What happened?” Ning Chu asked, giving her a quick once-over, trying to spot the problem.
“Sis...” Hei Dou’s ears drooped, and her tail hung low, dragging on the floor. She let go of her coat, revealing a blackened hole in the fabric. Her voice trembled with tears. “I just bought this coat a couple of days ago... what am I going to do?”
“Too bad.”
Ning Chu shot her a glance. “How did you do this, playing with sparklers in the hallway?”
“I was curious.”
Of course, it was Hei Dou’s curiosity that had led to her poking holes in her coat with the sparklers. Their mother had warned her multiple times to be careful before letting her play with them, but instead of heeding the warning, it had only sparked Hei Dou’s cat-like curiosity.
Curiosity killed the cat—or in this case, her coat.
“Go tell Mom yourself,” Ning Chu said, grabbing Hei Dou by the arm and pulling her inside. “That coat cost a few hundred, and you’ve ruined it in two days.”
“No! Don’t tell Mom!”
“Maybe getting scolded will teach you not to do it again.”
As they tugged back and forth, the elevator outside dinged.
Ning Chu paused and looked up, only to see Ning Yuan step out, carrying a large bag.
“What are you two doing at the door?”
“Sis is bullying me!” Hei Dou immediately ran to her brother, clinging to him. “What did you buy?”
“A ‘Woof-Woof Gift Pack.’ Picked it up at the supermarket on my way home.”
“No ‘Meow-Meow Gift Pack’?”
Ning Yuan came inside, placing the enormous gift pack—nearly half his height—on the coffee table, as Hei Dou excitedly circled it, having already forgotten about her ruined coat.
“Looks like I’ll be sleeping on the floor again,” Ning Yuan muttered, rubbing his shoulder as he set his luggage down. He turned to Ning Chu, his gaze lingering on her as he frowned slightly.
Ning Chu’s smile faltered for a moment before she grabbed Hei Dou and dragged her toward the kitchen. “Mom! Hei Dou burned a hole in her coat!”
“How did that happen?”
“She poked it with a sparkler.”
“That dumb cat!”
Their mother stormed out of the kitchen, and Hei Dou crouched down, clinging to Ning Chu’s leg with a pitiful look.
“Mom, it’s New Year’s. Can’t you just let it go?” Ning Chu felt a little sorry for Hei Dou and tried to defend her, but the eyes on her back made her feel uneasy.
Her brother wasn’t like their mother, who could read people like a book, nor was he as keen as Hei Dou. Why did he keep staring at her?
Their mother gave Hei Dou a thorough scolding and banned her from eating any snacks for the rest of the morning. Ears drooping, Hei Dou reluctantly accepted her punishment.
Meanwhile, Ning Yuan stood by, observing, but his attention kept drifting back to his sister.
They had only been apart for a little over a week, but Ning Yuan couldn’t shake the feeling that Ning Chu had changed. She seemed more... mature, more womanly? The youthful innocence in her face had faded, replaced by a deeper, more alluring charm.
Scratching his head, Ning Yuan’s thoughts started to wander, but before he could get too far, Ning Chu walked up to him, seizing the initiative. “Hey, why’d you block that rich woman I introduced you to?”
“Rich woman? The one who tried to add me from her alt account?”
“Alt account...”
Ning Chu’s eye twitched. She knew Lili used her alt account to hide her identity and chat more freely online.
“I’ll give you her main account.”
“No thanks. I don’t make enough money to be dating anyone,” Ning Yuan said, a little flustered, his shy demeanor making him look like an innocent young boy.
Ning Chu pulled up a photo from her visit to Lili’s house a few days ago and showed it to her brother.
“Look! Pick one! The girl in the middle is taken, though.”
“I’m really not interested in dating,” Ning Yuan insisted, but his eyes couldn’t help but glance at her phone.
The girl on the left, with her tan skin and cute cat ears, was adorable—and her waist was so slim!
The girl on the right looked cold and aloof, but she was even prettier—and so... large.
As for the goofball in the middle, he could skip that one...