novelraw Chapter 250 : New Year's Eve
Chapter 250 : New Year's Eve
Lin Nan got better from her illness quickly. In just two days under Chen Yao's attentive care, she had already made a complete recovery.
When her sickness left, the monthly torture also happened to leave her.
Waking up early, she silently looked at the date on her phone. New Year's Eve.
She vaguely recalled the lively scenes celebrating New Year at her grandfather's house back when she was young, and she also remembered the image of sitting around a table with her parents watching the Spring Festival Gala from their home.
Back then, her parents were still busy in their own world. They would only come home a few days before the New Year, buy a couple decorations, and then worship the gods and ancestors on New Year’s Eve. On rare occasions, her mother would cook a table full of dishes, and then the family would sit in front of the TV, each doing their own thing- her father drinking, her mother watching television, and Lin Nan playing on her phone.
Lin Nan’s parents rarely had time to eat with her. Only during New Year would they gather around the coffee table and exchange a few words of concern.
Even though Lin Nan didn't like the Spring Festival Gala or the awkward atmosphere of their family, she would always stay at the dining table until midnight, only returning to her room to sleep after the New Year's bells rang.
She lay dazed on the bed, feeling melancholic.
"Awake?" Chen Yao walked into the room carrying a mop and smiled at Lin Nan on the bed. "My parents are coming back today for New Year's Eve. The community gave them a break."
Even though his parents were actually staying in the other apartment downstairs, Chen Yao had to deceive Lin Nan this way.
"Mm." Lin Nan stretched lazily as she got up and asked, "Are you doing a deep cleaning?"
"It was supposed to be done on Little New Year's Eve, but they weren't home that day, so it got pushed to today."
Chen Yao walked to the innermost part of the bedroom with the mop and got to work. He rarely did housework, so he seemed somewhat clumsy while mopping.
Lin Nan couldn't stand watching him for long. She got up and snatched the mop from his hands, commanding, "Get me a bucket of water. I'll handle the room."
She used to live alone. Although she was lazy, the housework all depended on her, and needed to be done once a week. Gradually, she'd become skilled at it.
Chen Yao brought Lin Nan a bucket of water and placed it in the bedroom. He took rags and newspaper for himself to wipe the glass in the bedroom
The deep cleaning went on from when Lin Nan got up until later in the afternoon before they finished. Since Auntie and Uncle were busy preparing the offerings for tonight's ancestor worship and god reverence, they had no time to spare for Lin Nan and Chen Yao.
Lin Nan had been here for nearly a week now. She'd thought she'd already integrated into Chen Yao's family, but when the sound of firecrackers on the street began, she still couldn't help but start missing her former family.
However, that family had already fallen apart because of her parents' divorce and her father's rejection of her.
Standing by the windowsill in the living room, looking at the empty residential complex garden, and hearing Auntie scolding and berating Chen Yao, she eventually felt somewhat depressed.
This year's atmosphere felt particularly hollow. There were no children playing with fireworks and firecrackers down on the streets nor any cheerful adults to be seen. In the complex, only a single banner celebrating the New Year swayed alone in the wind.
"Nan Nan, why don’t you have some fruit first? We won't eat dinner until eight tonight." Auntie placed a plate of cut fruit on the coffee table.
Lin Nan looked back, hiding her troubled emotions deep inside, and nodded.
"Just treat my home as your own when celebrating here." Auntie clearly saw through Lin Nan's thoughts and walked forward to stand beside her at the windowsill. "After the epidemic passes, you'll have chances to be with your family. The New Year is coming, so cheer up."
"I know." Lin Nan noticed that Auntie's attitude toward her seemed even gentler than before.
"How about I go back with you after the epidemic passes?"
"Go back together?"
Lin Nan looked blankly at Auntie's smiling face.
But Auntie just reached out to tidy her messy hair a bit and then changed the subject. "When the hair salons open, how about I take you to get a hairstyle?"
"Get a hairstyle..." Lin Nan frowned a bit reluctantly. "Cut it short?"
"Why would we cut it short? That would make you look like a boy."
Lin Nan was about to shake her head but suddenly remembered that Auntie didn't know she used to be male. As a typical female, she shouldn't be so averse to beauty and hair salons.
"Won't it be expensive..." So she changed her excuse to refuse. "How about just letting my hair grow long?"
"That works too. When it's longer, it'll look good styled."
Auntie hurried off to her own tasks. Lin Nan laid down listlessly on the living room sofa, feeling as though these days have been terribly boring.
The scariest thing was no one knew how much longer these days of being locked inside would last.
The TV was broadcasting the latest epidemic news. This time, the local government had immediately taken lockdown measures the moment the epidemic appeared. Combined with strict controls everywhere, there hadn't been any reports of new cases in this county over the past few days.
However, judging by the two-week incubation period, even if everything went smoothly, they'd still have to wait at least a month before things start going back to normal.
Her phone suddenly rang. Her mother was trying to video call her on WeChat. She paused before quickly picking up the call. Her mother's face, carrying a trace of weariness, appeared on the phone. Next to her, her cousin Liu Xinyi was also curiously peeking in.
Before her mother could speak, Liu Xinyi exclaimed first, "Sis! Did you turn pale and plump yet!"
Lin Nan's face darkened. "Get lost!"
Her mother didn't understand what Liu Xinyi said and frowned as she scolded, "Nan Nan! Girls can't use crude language!"
Lin Nan immediately went quiet and obediently nodded, though actually she'd never considered "get lost" to be crude language at all.
Liu Xinyi was drawn away by Wu Guodong's voice from off-screen. Her mother's expression returned to normal as she inquired about Lin Nan's current living situation.
Her mother asked about the usual, just whether she was eating well, sleeping well, and other things like that. As a child, Lin Nan never told her mother about her problems. But perhaps due to years of lacking parental care and yearning for more attention, Lin Nan unhesitatingly told her mother about the severe cold she had a few days ago, hoping to receive more concern.
Sure enough, her mother fussed over her with great worry. Lin Nan listened carefully, and her low mood gradually lifted.
"You haven't had any troubles while at Chen Yao's house, have you?"
Not far away, Chen Yao, who was busy arranging offerings, instinctively turned his head.
"Troubles..." Lin Nan noticed his reaction and nodded forcefully, deliberately raising her volume. "Huge troubles!"
Wait, when did I make you suffer any grievances? Chen Yao silently rolled his eyes at her.
"They fed me every day! I suspect I've been fattened up by at least three pounds these past few days!" Lin Nan angrily denounced the 'crimes' of Chen Yao's family. "And when I was sick a few days ago, they wouldn't even let me get out of bed! Made me lazier and lazier!"
Her mother had been worried at first, but after hearing Lin Nan's completely anger-free accusations that sounded more like bragging, she couldn't help but laugh and teased her daughter, "Meeting Chen Yao must be a blessing from your past life."
Lin Nan glanced at the eavesdropping Chen Yao, who was silently nodding non-stop, and her face lightly flushed red as she retorted, "Clearly, it’s from sinning in my past life."