novelraw Chapter 188
Chapter 188
Chapter 188: Brave Hero, Come Here
There weren’t many dishes prepared for lunch.
Big bowls and small bowls were filled with four dishes and a soup, which was rare for Xia Li’s family.
“I’ll make the rest of the dishes in the afternoon, there’s still chicken soup simmering in the pot… Little Lu, would you like a bowl of soup? It’s delicious.”
Fang Xia’s only task today was to prepare a sumptuous New Year’s Eve dinner, to end this year perfectly.
Wearing a white apron printed with a chicken bouillon advertisement, a gentle smile appeared on Fang Xia’s slightly tired face as her gaze fell on Lucia beside her.
For the first time, the small dining table was fully occupied by four people.
Lucia’s legs dangled, her little feet swinging back and forth under the table.
When it came to eating, she was never polite.
Lucia never let the conversation die down; she would readily accept anything. “Okay, I’ll have some!”
After saying that, she also took Xia Li’s bowl: “Xia Li will have some too!”
Xia Li, who was burying his head in eating pig’s head meat, suddenly found his bowl empty.
No, he was halfway through his meal, and his bowl was gone.
Holding his chopsticks in mid-air, Xia Li watched as the evil dragon took his bowl to the kitchen, filled it with chicken soup, and brought it back.
This dragon wasn’t afraid of heat; even boiling hot soup, she could carry it back with just a symbolic gesture of two orchid fingers.
The evil dragon’s movements didn’t stop, she casually brought another bowl for Xia Yuanjun.
Xia Yuanjun, focused on eating, nodded awkwardly and said in a voice so soft that even Xia Li could barely hear it: “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Uncle!” Lucia smiled sweetly.
Old Xia was very shy and lowered his head to eat his vegetables.
“Your uncle is just like that, not good with words, he actually likes you a lot.”
Seeing this, Fang Xia was afraid that Lucia would be hurt, so she quickly stepped in to smooth things over.
Lucia pursed her lips and smiled.
She could still understand these human emotions.
“I’ll wash the dishes.”
Xia Li finished his lunch hastily, looking preoccupied.
As he walked towards the kitchen with the clatter of footsteps, Fang Xia, who was picking up food for Lucia, looked up and then turned her gaze to Xia Yuanjun beside her.
These father and son, they must have something going on.
Not to mention that Xia Yuanjun was a man who couldn’t hide his thoughts, Xia Li was the same.
Fang Xia knew her son like the back of her hand, so naturally she could understand at a glance.
“What were you talking about on the balcony just now?”
“Nothing.”
Xia Yuanjun cleared the table, gathered the bones and fish bones into a bowl, and turned to go to the kitchen.
Fang Xia was eating, looking up at them.
In the Sichuan region, it was actually more common for men to cook. During festivals, as long as you went back to the countryside, you could see a group of men wearing ill-fitting aprons working in front of the stove. The women, on the other hand, would sit around the fireplace, chatting about family matters ━ this was also one of the characteristics of the southwest.
But it was not the case in Fang Xia’s family.
Xia Yuanjun started working very early, and in the past, he had a lot of work at his unit and could devote very little energy to life, so Fang Xia was always the one who cooked. Xia Yuanjun was also very diligent in washing the dishes, and for so many years, they had almost no family conflicts.
“Dad, I’ll do it, you go and rest.”
Xia Li took the dirty dishes and gestured for Old Xia to rest.
Today, the kitchen was a mess, basically all the cooking utensils were used, pots and pans filled the sink.
Xia Yuanjun didn’t rush to leave, he just pulled the kitchen door closed and walked to the sink to help.
“You just said you would solve the problem of Little Lu’s ID card…” Xia Yuanjun deliberately slowed down his voice.
He wanted to ask if Lucia was an unregistered resident, if she had smuggled in, and how she had come here?
But the first two questions had answers from the beginning, so there was no need to ask again.
As for the last question, that was Lucia’s privacy.
It was inappropriate for him, a person within the system, to inquire about this.
Water flowed from the tap with a splashing sound. By the balcony window, the water heater started up, burning with a raging fire.
Today’s weather was cloudless, a rare sunny day for this foggy and rainy basin.
“I’ll take care of it…” Xia Li scrubbed the bottom of the pot with a wire mesh, cleaning the charred bottom until it was sparkling new.
“Don’t worry, it won’t be illegal,” he added immediately.
What Old Xia was worried about now was nothing more than this.
If they didn’t solve the problem of Lucia’s identity, maybe they could live peacefully for decades. Except for not being able to get a marriage certificate, the daughter-in-law was still the daughter-in-law, and this didn’t prevent Lucia from becoming a part of the family.
But if Xia Li insisted on solving the identity problem, then it would be a big trouble.
“It’s not like the paper household registration in our time, where you could just find an acquaintance and say hello to solve it. Now everything is computerized, it’s basically impossible to create a new file registration information…
Moreover, Little Lu’s appearance is already biased towards foreigners, which will definitely lead to further investigation…”
Xia Yuanjun’s tone was heavy, and it could be seen that he cared about this matter very much, he was almost stamping his feet in anxiety.
It was fine when he didn’t know, but today Xia Li laid everything out, making Old Xia panic.
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t think of any way Xia Li could perfectly solve this.
“Dad,” Xia Li paused and said, “It’s precisely because her appearance is biased towards foreigners that we can consider taking another route, such as joining…”
“Joining what?”
Behind the door, Fang Xia pushed open the kitchen door unnoticed, her sharp eyes like an eagle’s scrutinizing them.
Xia Li’s lips froze, almost biting his own tongue.
Lucia was also standing at the kitchen door, nonchalantly eating the big chicken leg in her bowl.
“…My dad is persuading me to take the civil service exam.”
Xia Li changed the subject, washing the dishes with a cloth while talking to Old Xia, who was standing still beside him.
“Right, Dad?”
Old Xia stiffened his neck and didn’t speak.
Now Fang Xia was unhappy: “Didn’t we all agree not to interfere with Xia Li’s life plan and let him go his own way… Why are you starting again!”
“Stable job.”
Xia Yuanjun twitched the corner of his mouth, his expression unchanged.
Fang Xia spat: “Stable, what’s so good about being stable? Can an iron rice bowl feed you for a lifetime?
Who knows what will happen in the future? Look at the changes in jobs compared to forty years ago, it’s a world of difference. Times are changing, what we need to do is not to think about finding a stable job for a lifetime, but to adapt to the changes of the times!”
Fang Xia lectured Xia Yuanjun for a while.
Seeing the situation was not good, Xia Li quickly wiped his hands and ran away.
Sorry, Dad!
“Give me a bite of your chicken leg.”
Slipping out of the kitchen, Xia Li came to the evil dragon, who was gnawing on a chicken leg and watching the show, and lowered his head to snatch a bite from her mouth.
Lucia subconsciously moved her body to the side.
Today’s chicken legs were stewed very fragrantly, she wanted to protect her food.
But she also really wanted Xia Li to taste it, so she handed him the chicken leg.
Xia Li took a big bite, finishing half of the chicken leg in one go.
Lucia’s face changed, staring blankly at the chicken bone in her hand.
“Mmm, delicious, even more delicious with dragon saliva.” Xia Li smacked his lips.
“…”
Lucia finished the rest of the small bowl of chicken. Fang Xia said there were no leftovers at noon, anyway, she would make another meal in the evening. The New Year’s Eve dinner was the highlight of the evening.
Hearing this, the evil dragon went on a ‘killing spree’, she wouldn’t restrain herself in her own home, and ate until she was full.
With their stomachs full and content, the afternoon was quite pleasant.
The old couple watched TV in the living room, while Xia Li and Lucia were busy with their own things in the bedroom.
To prove his ‘innocence’, Xia Li deliberately didn’t close the door, he left a gap in the bedroom door to prove that he was just taking an ordinary nap with Lucia.
But, it seemed that there was no need to prove anything.
Old Xia and Mrs. Fang had long acquiesced to their relationship.
After all, they had been sleeping in the same room for two or three months.
Although there was a bed in the small dark room, there were no bedding or pillows on it, it was obviously a deception.
Who hadn’t been young before, couldn’t they see through this little trick?
Xia Li didn’t bother to explain.
Let it be…
Anyway, except for not doing it, they really didn’t do anything.
“You’re very happy today.”
“Yes.”
◈◈◈
Xia Li lay on the bed, resting his head on his arm, closing his eyes and resting. He didn’t have to read or type today, it was a rare half-day off for himself.
The sound of firecrackers downstairs finally stopped for a while, but it would probably resume after the lunch break. Based on past experience, it would continue until midnight.
“Why? Because it’s New Year’s?”
Lucia asked casually.
She lay beside Xia Li, holding her phone which was charging. Because the charging cable wasn’t long enough, she had to lean to the right.
This posture was the same as most netizens, she was becoming more and more human-like.
“Because I feel like I’m liking you more and more.” Xia Li replied.
Lucia’s hand, which was scrolling through short videos, stopped.
She peeked at Xia Li, the sunlight leaking in from behind the curtains made her dragon face blush.
Unplugging the charging cable and turning over, Lucia continued to browse videos.
What Lucia didn’t know was that Xia Li felt quite relaxed after confessing everything.
At least he wouldn’t have to be nervous when facing his parents in the future, and wouldn’t have to think about telling one lie after another.
“Hey, let me see your red envelope.”
Xia Li suddenly thought of this and turned over to look at the dragon beside him.
The evil dragon looked up at him.
“Don’t worry, I won’t keep this money for you.” Xia Li promised.
He knew very well that this kind of behavior was like throwing meat buns to a dog, never to be seen again.
He had never seen any parent who would return the money after keeping it for their child.
“Here you go…”
Lucia fumbled in her coat pocket and took out a thick stack of small bills.
Xia Li opened the red envelope and helped her count it.
“There’s 2,400.” Xia Li’s eyes lit up.
“2,400, is that a special number?” Lucia looked over curiously.
“In our custom, if you give 1,200, it means ‘monthly red’, which means wishing you good luck for all twelve months of the coming year.
2,400… that should be the twenty-four solar terms, in short, it’s also a kind of blessing.”
“Oh…” Lucia nodded.
1,200 was much more than 2,400, the Brave Hero’s mother must have liked her very much to give her so many blessings.
This was a lot of money, just thinking about being able to spend so much made Lucia’s heart bubble with joy.
It undoubtedly added another brick and tile to her great project of changing her nest!
“Wait.”
Xia Li took all the money out of the red envelope and spread it on the bed.
The room was filled with the smell of money. Xia Li sat cross-legged, holding up the red banknotes one by one and looking at them under the incandescent light.
“What year is it?” Xia Li asked, knowing the answer.
“It’s almost 2024… no, according to the Gregorian calendar, it’s already 2024, but the lunar calendar won’t officially enter 2024 until tomorrow.” Lucia said.
This wasn’t difficult for her.
She had heard Zhou Anqi talk about this yesterday, and combined with the relevant information she searched online, it was easy to understand.
In the past, in Azure Continent, the way humans calculated years was very messy. Sometimes they calculated it based on the founding year of this kingdom, sometimes that empire over there collapsed, and they recalculated… In comparison, the two calendar calculation methods in Xia Li’s hometown were already very simple.
“Yes, it’s 2024,” Xia Li said in a low voice, “but look, what year is this money from?”
Lucia took a red bill and looked at the number at the bottom.
“2019…”
“Yes!”
Xia Li nodded.
“This money is from 2019, it’s expired!”
“Ex-expired?!”
Lucia hadn’t thought that money could expire.
She stopped scrolling through short videos and sat up from the bed.
She flipped through the stack of small bills.
Sure enough, as Xia Li said, the dates on these bills were all from 2019 to 2023, obviously past their expiration dates.
“My mom, how could she keep the money until it expired… What a pity.” Xia Li said regretfully.
“Th-then what do we do? We can cover the date and spend it, those merchants don’t really check, we can definitely fool them…”
The evil dragon had her own evil ways.
Just thinking about this money expiring made her heart ache, she couldn’t just throw it away for no reason, she had to find a way to ‘get her money back’.
“There’s no other way, I’ll keep it for you.”
Xia Li took a deep breath, his tone still full of regret: “As compensation, I’ll exchange my red envelope with you.”
Xia Li took out the small red envelope from his pocket and handed it over.
He hadn’t opened it yet, but the thickness inside was either 500 or 1,000, anyway, it was a sure profit.
“…Really?”
Lucia’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Xia Li cautiously.
The Brave Hero was so kind.
He was actually willing to exchange with her…
She would keep this money safe.
“I like Xia Li the most.”
Holding Xia Li’s red envelope in her hand, Lucia accepted it gratefully.
Xia Li suppressed a smile.
Suddenly, he felt a little guilty.
He would send her a red envelope on his phone later…
Xia Li had planned to send his girlfriend a red envelope for the New Year, he would add a few hundred more then.
Lucia lay down again, she opened Xia Li’s small red envelope and looked at it impatiently.
Upon seeing it, she froze.
The Brave Hero’s money was also expired.
Something was wrong…
Lucia started searching on Baidu with her phone.
Five minutes later, she slowly sat up from the bed.
“Hmm? Going to the bathroom?”
Xia Li was about to get up to make way for her.
Lucia’s face was silent for a moment, then she reached out her small hand towards Xia Li.
“Brave Hero, give me your hand.”
“Hmm? Oh.”
Xia Li felt strange.
Why did Lucia suddenly call him ‘Brave Hero’?
Except for the first few days when she came to Earth, Lucia had never called him that again. Today she suddenly changed, and her tone was a little colder.
Xia Li felt that the evil dragon had probably discovered something, but he still stretched out his hand.
His palm was held by a warm little hand, Lucia looked down.
“Ahhhhh——!!!”
A pig-killing scream came from the room.
Xia Li clutched his arm and rolled off the bed.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Fang Xia rushed over after hearing the commotion, the two young people were having a good time in the room.
Xia Li rolled on the floor, forcing out a “Mom, I’m fine.”
He wasn’t dead, just bitten by a dragon.
Domestic violence.
Absolute domestic violence!
Everyone, vote for monthly tickets!
We’re almost at 1,000!!