“The snow is really heavy in Jingnan this year.”

“Yeah, it feels like we could build a snowman.”

After entering Jingnan, the husband and son were both fascinated by the endless snow outside the window.

Only Xia Fang, sitting on the innermost seat, remained in low spirits.

At this moment, her husband asked with some concern, “What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy to be home?”

Hearing this, Xia Fang’s guilt finally found an outlet, and she said, “The bad weather excuse is true, but Xiao Chen took the bus home with Xinyu at the first moment the lockdown lifted. That was even on the first day of the Lunar New Year, leaving behind his own family, while I…”

As her own daughter, she didn't return until the second day.

Returning on the second day of the Lunar New Year isn’t a problem, it's in line with tradition.

But this year, it feels different.

“Yes.” The aunt's husband thought the same way, but he also made a slight ‘defense’ for himself, “But it’s not that we did too poorly. It’s that Chen Yuan did too well.”

To this, the aunt fully agreed, and sighed, “This child’s intelligence completely surpasses his age. You could say that many adults can’t compare to his emotional intelligence.”

“Because his IQ is very high to begin with,” the uncle said.

“Someone who can score 700 points on the exam, as long as he puts a little thought into things like social interactions, he can quickly understand them,” the aunt said.

“But we really have to thank Xiao Chen properly.” The uncle said very seriously, “Right now, he’s neither a son-in-law nor engaged. He really isn’t obligated to do these things.”

“It’s because he likes Xinyu too much.”

The aunt now thinks that her previous doubts and tests of Chen Yuan were too narrow-minded.

But those difficulties could indeed dissuade boys who weren’t determined enough.

As a teacher, she had witnessed the infinite power of love.

“We must praise Chen Yuan more,” the uncle specially instructed.

“I know.” Xia Fang, who always managed diplomatic affairs at home, felt a little embarrassed after being told this by her husband.

But his reminder was right.

Don’t let Chen Yuan think of her as a demon teacher from Fourth High, but as a kind and amiable aunt…

Kind and amiable…

Xia Fang tried her best to display a gentle and kind smile…

Just as she was working on her expression, Zheng Minghao, as if frightened by something terrifying, said timidly, “Mom, I’m scared.”

“Tsk.” The aunt’s face darkened, and her brow furrowed.

But what was even more infuriating was that Zheng Minghao suddenly wasn’t afraid anymore.

If he weren't older, she would definitely beat him up today.

The train arrived at Shao Township Station, and then they took a taxi directly home.

By this time, it was already late.

Just as they got out of the car and the trunk was opened, Chen Yuan and Xia Xinyu walked over to help with the luggage.

“Xiao Chen, no need, I’ll…”

The aunt's husband wanted to refuse, but Chen Yuan forcibly took the suitcase from him, saying in a particularly natural tone, “You’ve had a long drive, you must be tired. Let me do it.”

“Aunt, Happy New Year.” Xia Xinyu took the initiative to greet Xia Fang.

“Xinyu, Happy New Year.” Xia Fang also nodded with a smile.

“It smells so good…”

Before even entering the door, Zheng Minghao smelled the particularly tempting aroma of food and couldn’t help but say.

“Did you guys cook?” The aunt asked.

“Yes, Xinyu and I made the New Year’s Eve dinner. Come and eat.”

Xia Xinyu led the aunt and others into the main room.

Everyone looked at the table full of dishes with great admiration.

“Xinyu’s cooking is still so amazing,” the uncle praised.

“Did you pickle cured meat and fish this year?” The aunt asked curiously.

Speaking of this, Xia Xinyu said somewhat mysteriously, “Aunt, guess who sent these?”

“Can’t guess.” The aunt shook her head. “But it shouldn’t be Grandfather who pickled them.”

Then, Xia Xinyu revealed the answer, “It was sent by the grandmother next door to the next door.”

“Ah?!” The aunt was stunned, and said in disbelief, “That grandmother is the scariest person. I don’t even dare to look at her. And I heard she’s very stingy, how could she send meat?”

“It was originally like that.” Xia Xinyu smiled and explained, “But Xiao Chen took the initiative to clean her house and helped her fix the TV. The grandmother was so moved that she sent the things. And she even told Grandpa that in the future, if we need firewood, we don’t need to cut it on the back mountain, just cut it behind her house.”

“…” Xia Fang was stunned, unable to believe that this kind of relationship was cultivated by a minor, “Why did Xiao Chen do this?”

“On the one hand, I didn’t want her to spread gossip about me…” Xia Xinyu said gratefully, “On the other hand, after we leave, Grandpa will be alone with no one to take care of him. So I asked the grandfathers and grandmothers in the village… to help look after him a little.”

Hearing this, Xia Fang pursed her lips, lowered her head, and her mood suddenly became a little depressed.

She owed Xiao Chen a little too much…

He wasn’t her biological grandfather, but he was her biological father.

I really shouldn’t be like this.

At this time, Chen Yuan came out, and also brought Grandpa over to eat dinner.

“We cleaned up the room on the first floor, originally my parents’ room, you can stay there,” Xia Xinyu said.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Xia Fang nodded, accepting the arrangement.

“Uncle, have a little drink.”

At this time, Chen Yuan took out the sorghum wine that almost made him lose consciousness for a day and a night, and said as the host, "Please enjoy."

“I can’t hold my liquor, I can’t drink too much,” the uncle said with a smile.

“Have a little bit, this is home-brewed grain wine, it’s not very strong,” Chen Yuan said.

Xia Xinyu: “…”

Wait, those are my lines.

“Then will you have a drink with me?” The uncle asked.

“I’m a minor, how can I drink alcohol? I’ll substitute with Pepsi,” Chen Yuan said.

Xia Xinyu: “…”

Now you’re a minor again.

You were calling yourself eighteen years old to those old men and women earlier.

“Okay, then pour me some,” the uncle said with a smile, holding the wine glass with both hands.

So, Chen Yuan filled the uncle's glass.

Then, after taking a sip and slowly swallowing, he said with some surprise, “Your Jingnan grain wine is quite sweet, very smooth to drink, and doesn’t burn the throat at all.”

Since that’s the case, then having two cups shouldn’t be a problem.

“……Ah, haha.” Xia Xinyu had a premonition that history was about to repeat itself today.

“Dad, are you feeling alright?” During the New Year’s Eve dinner, Xia Fang asked.

“I’m fine, no problem,” Grandpa nodded and said.

“Then this time, you should come to Xia Hai with us. Xinyu is there too, living not far away,” the aunt said.

“I’m not going, I’m comfortable and carefree in the countryside,” Grandpa waved his hand, refusing directly.

“But you’re alone at home, with no one to take care of you,” Xia Fang insisted.

“I’m not going, I’m not going, don’t talk about it,” Gradually, Grandpa’s tone became somewhat emotional.

The aunt's husband quickly patted Xia Fang’s leg, signaling her not to say anymore.

Xia Fang had no choice but to stop insisting.

“Aunt, try my lotus root soup, has my cooking improved?” Xia Xinyu ladled soup for her aunt, attempting to ease the atmosphere.

“Yes, it’s delicious, Xinyu is great.”

The aunt tasted the lotus root soup and nodded.

In this way, the family peacefully ate their New Year’s Eve dinner, with the uncle drinking wine, spending a very harmonious evening.

However, the aunt and grandpa’s conversation from earlier still lingered in everyone’s minds, difficult to shake off.

“This wine really doesn’t seem to have much alcohol, but this wind… is making people a bit dizzy.”

Standing at the back door to sober up, the uncle suddenly felt a wave of dizziness.

Strange, he felt fine just now, didn’t feel it burn his throat at all, and even felt like his alcohol tolerance had improved a lot, how could he suddenly…

“You’re so bad, Chen Yuan.”

Standing next to Chen Yuan, watching the uncle’s back, Xia Xinyu couldn’t help but complain.

“For the New Year, you should say auspicious words to avoid bad omens, it should be ‘bad and prosperous’,” Chen Yuan corrected.

“Indeed, only bad people like you can become prosperous.”

“Don’t move, I’ll help you.” Seeing the uncle was dizzy and about to go out to the vegetable garden, the aunt quickly stepped forward to support him, leading him inside.

After settling him on the bed, she came out, looked at Chen Yuan and Xia Xinyu, and then said to Xia Xinyu, “Do you have a basin? I’ll get some water for your uncle to soak his feet.”

“Yes, it’s upstairs, I’ll go get it.” Xia Xinyu nodded, then went upstairs.

As she left, Xia Fang walked up to Chen Yuan, and then patted him on the back with her hand, “There’s dust, you probably got it in the kitchen.”

“Oh, thank you.” Chen Yuan responded politely.

“I should be thanking you.” Xia Fang showed a smile, looking at this good young man, and said with special gratitude, “I’m very grateful for your care for Grandpa, he likes you very much. Unlike me, who can only say nice words.”

Chen Yuan saw that the aunt's head was blue.

She was still sad about being scolded by Grandpa earlier.

Although it couldn’t be called scolding, it was still a firm rejection.

“Aunt really wants to bring Grandpa over to live with her, she’s not just saying nice words,” Chen Yuan said.

“But he doesn’t think so.”

The aunt's eyes moistened, and she said with special grievance, “If my brother said these words, he would definitely agree. But with me, he’ll think I’m just saying it, after all, a married daughter is like spilled water, I have my own family, my husband is also from Xia Hai, I’m no different from an outsider…”

“That’s not true.”

Rarely, Chen Yuan directly interrupted the aunt’s words, and directly denied them.

The aunt raised her head, looked at Chen Yuan, somewhat blankly.

Then, Chen Yuan asked, “Aunt, what do you think of the room?”

“The one I’m staying in? It’s very clean, didn’t you clean it up?”

Chen Yuan shook his head, and said, “We made the beds, but we didn’t clean it.”

“Then Grandpa swept it?”

“Xinyu’s room, when we first went up, was also very clean.”

According to the law of increasing entropy, if a house is never lived in and not cleaned, it will deteriorate very quickly.

There may even be a situation where the entire house collapses.

But Chen Yuan found that this time, it was no different from before.

Looking at the very depressed, aggrieved aunt, Chen Yuan comforted her, also truthfully conveying, “Grandpa is staying here, also hoping that there will be a home that Xinyu, and you, Aunt, can return to during the New Year and festivals.”

“…” The aunt, who hadn’t thought of this at all, paused for a moment, and after thinking about the details Chen Yuan mentioned earlier, she suddenly realized.

All of a sudden, she understood everything.

Grandpa could indeed go to Xia Hai with her.

But this house would gradually be abandoned.

The home that belonged to Xinyu, that belonged to her, would be gone.

So the things she was concerned about didn’t exist at all.

The things she was struggling with were also self-consuming feelings generated by guilt.

Tears suddenly welled up.

Xia Fang leaned her head on Chen Yuan’s shoulder, covering her face with both hands, and said choking with sobs, “Um, I understand… I was overthinking things, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Chen Yuan smiled slightly, responding.

At this time, Xia Xinyu, who came down from upstairs, stood by with the basin in her hands, tilting her head slightly, looking at this scene, with a smile on her face…

……

Night fell.

As Chen Yuan leaned against the headboard looking at his phone, Xia Xinyu came over with a basin of hot water, “You haven’t taken a bath in the past few days, so let’s soak your feet.”

“Absolutely not, absolutely not.” Chen Yuan quickly sat up.

“My baby has been performing very well, you’ve worked hard these past few days, this is a reward.”

Xia Xinyu placed the basin of water by the bed, and sat down next to it herself.

“A reward? Then will you tell me the story of the little ducklings?” Chen Yuan asked.

“The story of the little ducklings?” After thinking for a moment, Xia Xinyu asked, “Are you talking about the ones in the bowl in front of you today?”

“…The story of the little ducklings is quite suspenseful.”

Xia Xinyu took off her pair of small pink socks, preparing to soak her feet. However, she was a little afraid of the heat, and then said, “You go in first.”

“Okay.” Chen Yuan made an ok gesture, and then put his feet down.

After his feet were submerged in the hot water, he put them down directly, steadily.

“Not too hot, right?”

“Just right.”

After Chen Yuan answered in this way, Xia Xinyu naturally put her feet in as well.

Then, she suddenly pulled them out, “It’s hot!”

At the moment she pulled them out, Chen Yuan also lifted his feet out, stepping on the edge of the basin, and then exhaled a long breath, “Hiss…”

“You’re really bad and prosperous, in order to burn me a little, you’re sacrificing eight hundred to harm yourself one thousand six hundred!”

Xia Xinyu had truly witnessed the pinnacle of a man’s childishness in this regard.

“I suddenly felt it was a little hot,” Chen Yuan explained.

“Bad egg.” Xia Xinyu snorted, then stepped on his feet.

Her red feet, soft and small, with clean toenails and smooth soles, were like a pair of works of art, making people unable to help but want to…

But Xia Xinyu didn’t seem to notice the lethality of this action, and was still stepping on him like that.

“I feel like soaking our feet together is such an old married couple activity,” Chen Yuan said with emotion.

“Is it…” Xia Xinyu retorted, “Are you saying that I’m not new to you anymore?”

“It’s not like that, after all, there are still so many things we haven’t done yet.”

“Oh.” Xia Xinyu started looking for new trouble during the New Year, “So that means after those things are done, there won’t be any novelty anymore?”

“See, you’re getting anxious again.”

Chen Yuan put his arm around Xia Xinyu’s waist, and said with a smile, “Xinyu will always be new to me, even after we do those things, the novelty won’t disappear, because we can still do…”

“The water’s fine now.”

Before Chen Yuan could finish speaking, Xia Xinyu directly interrupted him.

Then, Chen Yuan put his feet in.

It still felt a little hot, but quickly, a pair of small feet directly stepped on them.

Suppression.

Because half of Xia Xinyu’s feet weren’t submerged, and the soles of her feet were more resistant to heat, it could now be said that she was truly sacrificing eight hundred to harm herself just over two hundred.

“If you beg for mercy now, I can still let you off,” Xia Xinyu said with a grin.

“Hiss… not hot.”

“What a tough mouth.”

Xia Xinyu used the soles of her feet to press down on Chen Yuan like this.

And at this time, she suddenly felt that the gentle hand that was around her waist, like a python, crawled up…

Xia Xinyu’s face turned red, and then she sighed, “Master Chen is starting his massage again.”

“How is it?” Chen Yuan asked.

“Hmph, just so-so.” Xia Xinyu turned her face to the side, very imposing.

Gradually, she felt that something was wrong.

It felt like a gust of wind blowing over, her stomach was a little cold…

When she turned her head, she could only see the top of Chen Yuan’s head.

“Ah?”

Xia Xinyu, who completely didn’t understand the current situation, instantly had a scarlet face.

And along with her toes stepping on the other person’s instep shrinking down slightly, Xia Xinyu’s call of ‘baby’ was truly a self-fulfilling prophecy…

(End of chapter)