The New Year’s Eve gala entered its countdown, but Wang Cheng kept glancing at his phone. Yuan Xia had already replied to him. Wei Dandan had not, but the person he most wanted to hear from had still sent nothing. There was a time difference between China and wherever Chu Yifeng was, but that place was only a few hours behind. It was nighttime here, so it should still be afternoon there, unless he was working.
Papa Wang and Mama Wang had their eyes fixed on the television and did not notice that their son’s attention was no longer on the program.
When there were only ten minutes left in the countdown, Wang Cheng’s phone suddenly rang. This time it was a call. Papa Wang and Mama Wang were disturbed by the sound. Wang Cheng smiled at them, told them to keep watching, then ran upstairs to answer.
Mama Wang had not thought much of it at first, but when she saw him behave like that, she immediately suspected the call was probably from Chu Yifeng. Otherwise, why would he need to run upstairs?
Papa Wang, meanwhile, sighed with satisfaction. “Chengcheng seems to have more and more friends now. Looks like letting him go out into the world was the right decision.” Back when Wang Cheng hid away on the mountain, Papa Wang had never seen him spend time with any friends or classmates.
Mama Wang looked conflicted.
“Boss Chu, so you finally decided to call me?” Wang Cheng teased. He was not really complaining. The fact that Chu Yifeng had waited until this moment made his intention obvious.
“Of course our first New Year’s Eve should be spent together,” Chu Yifeng said lazily. If he had called too early, they would certainly have been interrupted, so he had deliberately chosen the last ten minutes before midnight. They could talk while crossing into the new year together, which counted as a different sort of romance. Wang Cheng did not understand romance, and the two of them might not have all that much to talk about, but being of one mind made up for those gaps.
The more Wang Cheng encountered things he had never experienced before, the more he gradually understood the differences between himself and Chu Yifeng. He was not particularly competitive, but he did like learning. Still, he had no desire to remember the bitter childhood years when the old monk had forced him so hard that studying diligently became second nature.
The sound of a countdown reached his ear. Chu Yifeng’s side seemed lively too, while the television could be heard on Wang Cheng’s end. It was as though everyone was shouting. The child next door had joined the television countdown, and from his place by the window, Wang Cheng could hear the child’s bright voice clearly.
“Ten, nine, eight, seven… three, two, one!”
“Happy New Year, Wang Cheng.”
Chu Yifeng’s crisp, decisive voice sounded beside his ear, and Wang Cheng could almost picture him saying it in that lazy, elegant manner of his.
He chuckled softly. “Happy New Year.”
According to Guanjia Village tradition, people ate dumplings and rice cakes on New Year’s Day, so Mama Wang got up early to make rice cakes. She made them every year, and there was no need to question her skill. Wang Cheng and the old monk had both tasted them the previous year.
Wang Cheng got up early too. He turned the vegetables and meat Papa Wang and Mama Wang had bought at the market the day before into fillings, then took out flour to make dumpling wrappers. Papa Wang came over to help, and father and son wrapped more than a hundred dumplings together.
Mama Wang’s rice cakes came out of the steamer as well. The moment she lifted the lid, clouds of hot steam rushed out, carrying the fragrance of the cakes. The colorful rice cakes looked delicious. The green ones were made with mung beans and filled with a mixture of hemp seeds, raisins, preserved green plums, candied peaches, and other ingredients. There were white rice cakes too, some filled with red-bean or black-bean paste and some without filling.
Mama Wang then used some of the plain white rice cakes to make rice-cake soup. Wang Cheng had never eaten it before. There had been a shop selling it near his high school, but Tong Yangyang, that glutton, had said it was not good, so Wang Cheng had never bothered trying it.
Mama Wang’s rice cakes were wonderfully chewy without sticking to the teeth.
After tasting her rice-cake soup and finding it delicious, Wang Cheng packed the remaining soup into an insulated container. Papa Wang put the dumplings they had made into food-storage boxes, and the family of three headed to Wang Cheng’s maternal grandparents’ house. The New Year’s gathering there was especially lively this year. Not only were Guan Jiahe, his wife, and the twins present, but Mama Wang’s sisters were all coming to visit their parents too. The two old people had been smiling since morning. The older people grew, the more they longed for family around them.
Wang Cheng had rarely met many of Mama Wang’s relatives before, but today he got to know almost everyone. Several maternal aunts came, and even his youngest maternal uncle, whom he might not see once or twice in an entire year, appeared with his wife and son. Judging by appearances, their life was going reasonably well. The entire extended family gathered around two tables for a warm, cheerful lunch. They ate the dumplings Wang Cheng’s family had brought, along with those Grandma and Second Cousin-in-law had wrapped that morning, with many different fillings. These people were no more related to Wang Cheng by blood than the Wang family relatives were, yet they treated him far better. None of them excluded him simply because he was not truly a member of the Guan family.
In the afternoon, his youngest maternal uncle left first with his wife and child because they still needed to visit his wife’s family. The others also had to go to their husbands’ families and departed one after another. In previous years, only Eldest Maternal Aunt and Eldest Cousin would have remained, but this year Guan Jiahe and his wife were there too. Seeing that the two old people would not be lonely, Mama Wang left with an easy heart. After they returned home, however, she fell silent.
Papa Wang sighed. “Lanfang, I know you don’t like Mom, Dad, and Big Brother’s family, but we still have to observe the proper courtesies. Let’s go over for a little while.”
Mama Wang said nothing and went into the kitchen.
At a signal from Papa Wang, Wang Cheng immediately chimed in. “Yeah, Mom. Whether they welcome us or not is their business. As long as we fulfill the courtesy we owe them, whether they accept it has nothing to do with us. We’ll only go for a little while. We don’t have to stay long.”
When Mama Wang came out of the kitchen, she was carrying some of the rice cakes she had made that morning. She rolled her eyes at the father and son. “Do you two really think I’m stupid?”
The two men chuckled. Mama Wang would never refuse to visit Old Madam Wang purely out of spite. No matter how badly they behaved, in name they were still Papa Wang’s parents. If their children were seen as unfilial, people would point fingers at them, and plenty of people were incapable of distinguishing right from wrong.
Wang Ningkai had married recently and his new home was in the city, but because it was New Year’s Day, his family had all returned. Second Uncle and Madam Zhang had reportedly gone over early that morning too.
By the time Wang Cheng’s family arrived at Eldest Uncle’s house, the others had already finished eating. Unexpectedly, they did not react much to their arrival. There was none of the liveliness one would expect during a holiday. Instead, the atmosphere felt strangely heavy.
Wang Cheng caught sight of Madam Zhang smiling brightly and was a little surprised.
Papa Wang and Mama Wang walked over to the two old people. Mama Wang set the rice cakes on the table before them. “Dad, Mom, I made these rice cakes myself. It’s New Year’s Day. Happy New Year.”
Old Madam Wang gave a cold snort and did not appreciate the gesture at all.
Old Master Wang lightly touched her hand, then said to them, “Your mother is in a bad mood today. I’ll accept your thoughtfulness on her behalf. Sit down.”
In the past, Papa Wang would definitely have asked why she was in a bad mood, but he no longer did. Old Madam Wang’s mood always rose and fell with her eldest son’s family. If she was unhappy, it was probably because of something involving them. There was no reason for him to invite trouble.
Old Madam Wang’s face darkened even further.
Madam Li and Eldest Uncle were relatively cold toward them, but Madam Zhang was unexpectedly enthusiastic. Who knew what had hit her excitement switch this time. Wang Cheng found the whole thing dull, so halfway through the visit he made up an excuse to go outside. In the backyard, he unexpectedly came across Wang Ningkai and Wang Xiaoyan arguing.
The couple who had once been nauseatingly affectionate in front of everyone had not even been married half a month and were already turning on each other? Wang Cheng slowed his steps and stood in a corner listening for a while. Before long, he understood the situation and finally learned why Old Madam Wang was in such a foul mood.
The reason Eldest Uncle’s family had proposed that Wang Ningkai and Wang Xiaoyan marry as quickly as possible was that Wang Xiaoyan’s father’s company had landed a major order and appeared poised for a dramatic turnaround. Eldest Uncle wanted to hitch the Wang family’s fortunes to the other Wang family’s rising ship.
After the marriage, the two families poured themselves into the large order Wang Xiaoyan’s father had received. But several days ago, something went wrong in one of the links. At first they did not take it particularly seriously, thinking it was just an ordinary mistake. Only after the problem grew did they realize how serious it was.
Yesterday, the client had unexpectedly proposed terminating the contract.
They had signed an agreement in advance, so ordinarily the party breaking the contract unilaterally would have to pay compensation. But this time the fault lay with them, meaning the client could terminate without paying a huge penalty. For both the Wang and Wang Xiaoyan’s families, this was an enormous blow.
They had invested not only energy but a great deal of money into the order. If they lost this important contract, everything they had put in would go down the drain. Neither family had particularly deep pockets to begin with, so how could they withstand such a heavy loss? At a time like this, they should have been supporting one another through the crisis, yet instead a rift opened between the two families.
Eldest Uncle’s Wang family blamed Wang Xiaoyan’s family. If they had not made such a serious mistake, none of this trouble would have happened or dragged them down with it. They had not said it aloud yet, but they were already regretting why they had rushed so quickly to become in-laws.
Wang Xiaoyan’s family was not easy to bully either. They had not forgotten who had come rushing over the moment they heard the family was about to strike it rich, or who had been the one to suggest speeding up the marriage. Now that trouble had appeared, the other side was trying to dump all the blame on them.