Lu Manman asked Yuan Xiu for the club’s Wi-Fi password and then sent a video to Alex.

In the shaky footage, Alex is seen wearing a lacy apron and cooking breakfast with Louis.

“Louis, come and see your good daughter.”

Louis smiled with a crooked grin, waving the spatula in his hand, and greeted Lu Manman with pleasure: “Honey, sweetie.”

“Dad, it’s the New Year.”

“Yes, we’re all on vacation today.”

“So when will the dads come to see me?”

“They’ll come after the New Year starts.”

Alex’s large face filled the entire phone screen as he shouted, “Wow, Lu Manman, what’s with the outfit today? Are you doing some sort of uniform play?”

Lu Manman hurriedly explained, “No, it’s a costume party.”

“Looks like you’ve made quite a few new friends.”

“Yes,” Lu Manman said, moving the camera to Yuan Xiu beside her. “Xiu Xiu, say hello to my Dad Alex.”

“Hello, Dad,” Yuan Xiu said politely in English.

“Hello, son-in-law.”

“Please take good care of our little darling.”

“Don’t worry.”

“Hey, you two… is this really necessary?”

Lu Manman quickly moved the phone away. “I don’t need any extra care, and who told you to call him ‘Dad’ like that?”

Alex was ready to give her a lesson. “Just because Xiu Xiu has a good temper doesn’t mean you can be rude to him. Be gentle, okay? Don’t act like you’re at home, shouting and making a fuss, farting and burping and scratching your feet.”

Lu Manman’s face flushed. “Who’s farting and burping? Stop making things up, it’s definitely not me!”

Alex also realized it and immediately said to Yuan Xiu, “Yes, yes, our little darling is a fairy, and would never burp, fart, or scratch her feet.”

Lu Manman: …

Ah Heng, carrying firecrackers, passed by the sofa and saw a black cat sitting on it, while a gray cat lay in the corner.

The black Persian cat was Cheng Yu, who was teasing Gu Zhefeng, who was wearing folded-ear cat pajamas, with a fluffy cat teaser.

Gu Zhefeng sprawled across most of the sofa, like a small beast claiming territory, glaring at her with irritation.

“I want to sleep!”

“Then go ahead.”

“Stay away from me.”

Cheng Yu crossed her long, elegant legs and said leisurely, “There’s plenty of room on this long sofa for your height.”

She shot him a provocative glance, clearly conveying the message, “I’m teasing you for being short.”

Gu Zhefeng glared with eyes wide open, looking like a little dog about to howl with an “awoo” at any moment.

Ren Xiang, wearing his coat, strode out of the living room, glanced at the two cats glaring at each other on the sofa, and muttered, “Are you two mating or something?”

Gu Zhefeng’s face turned bright red. He leaped off the sofa and charged out of the living room, shouting, “Captain! Captain, I’m requesting permission to neuter Ren Xiang!”

Yuan Xiu placed a hand on his face, keeping him a meter away, and said, “Permission granted.”

Lu Manman looked at Ren Xiang, who was about to leave. “You’re going out now?”

“Yeah, I’m going to…” He thought for a moment and then said, “Handle something.”

“Will you be back before the New Year?”

“Don’t wait for me,” Ren Xiang replied. “Happy New Year in advance to everyone.”

…

As the New Year approached, men and women gathered outside in the yard. Ah Heng set up fireworks and firecrackers on the open space, and Gu Zhefeng tossed a lighter over. Ah Heng lit the fuse with a crackle.

The fuse burned quickly, and the first firework shot up into the sky, bursting into brilliant colors. Everyone covered their ears and stepped back, with laughter and cheers filling the yard.

Lu Manman and Yuan Xiu stood by the flower bed, close to the fireworks but away from the crowd.

The deafening explosion of the fireworks made Lu Manman quickly rise on her tiptoes and cover Yuan Xiu’s ears with her hands.

Yuan Xiu looked down at her, slightly stunned, as the fireworks reflected in her dark eyes, flashing on and off.

Her palms were warm, covering his cold ears.

She smiled and said something, but Yuan Xiu only heard the buzzing noise and the distant laughter of people, unable to make out her words.

From her lip movements, he read: “Yuan Xiu, Happy New Year.”

Yuan Xiu also placed his hands over her ears and murmured, “You’re so considerate.”

“What did you say!”

“I said, Lu Manman, do you have to be so considerate? It’s making me really moved.”

Lu Manman shouted back, “I can’t hear you!”

Yuan Xiu raised his voice, “You silly donkey.”

The silly donkey smiled at him with a watery, enchanting look in her dark eyes.

In the past, Yuan Xiu never felt that the New Year signified a new beginning, but this year felt different. Perhaps it was due to someone’s arrival, making him feel that everything in the future was about to change.

Maybe it’s worth looking forward to.

He recalled how, during those reckless youth years, he was obsessively and crazily infatuated with her. He chased her steps, gradually closing the distance between them, and finally met her at the highly anticipated world championship.

She wore a black mask and held an M4, standing in the jungle with sunlight filtering through the treetops, encircling her in a halo. At that moment, Yuan Xiu’s heart nearly exploded.

Their fierce battle was exhilarating. Although he was ultimately defeated by her, Yuan Xiu had never been so happy to lose a match.

In any case, meeting her in the competition and dying by her gun made the trip to New York worthwhile.

However, he never expected that one time he went to a bar with his teammates, he would encounter her in such a coincidental and slightly awkward situation.

Even though it was the first time he saw her without a mask, Yuan Xiu recognized her instantly. He couldn’t understand how people could fail to recognize her with just a mask. Maybe it was because he had watched and studied her competition videos so many times that he was incredibly familiar with her.

Just as his excitement from the unexpected encounter with his idol was fading, he noticed that she seemed to be sitting on the toilet.

He nearly thought he was dreaming—was this bizarre dream a sign of some perverse thoughts about his idol?

He discreetly helped her through the awkward situation, not thinking much about why she was in the men’s restroom. He soon realized she seemed to have been drinking.

He had never seen her with such a sad and helpless look in her eyes.

In his memory, she was always confident, her eyes always glowing with a smile even more radiant than sunlight. Seeing her like that really tugged at Yuan Xiu’s heart.

It wasn’t until Lu Manman, wearing his hat, left that Yuan Xiu slowly came back to himself. Reflecting on his performance earlier, he was somewhat satisfied.

After all, he should have been reserved.

At his core, he was still a traditional Chinese man and should maintain some dignity.