Chapter 68

Cheng Xiaoyu woke up groggily in the afternoon, feeling a splitting headache. When he opened his eyes, he found that his nose was already running. He sat up, wrapped in the blanket, and grabbed a few tissues to wipe himself clean. Feeling still a bit dazed, he lay down again to continue sleeping.

When he woke up again, it was from hunger. His stomach felt empty and uncomfortable, but he had no appetite at all.

He pulled back the curtains while still wrapped in the blanket and saw that the streetlights were already on, the sky was pitch black, and the snow was still falling steadily. He could see a series of footprints on the sidewalk and, upon concentrating, could hear the distant sound of firecrackers.

Cheng Xiaoyu checked his phone; it was already past six. He had received several messages, all wishing him a happy New Year. He picked one with particularly interesting wording and sent it to everyone, then put the phone aside without further thought.

He picked up the hotel's landline and called the front desk to order a meal. A gentle voice informed him that the kitchen had closed at three today and that only instant noodles were available. Cheng Xiaoyu, who had eaten instant noodles to the point of fear in his previous life, immediately declined and hung up.

On such a special day, in such a scene, someone with a fragile heart would surely be moved to tears. But Cheng Xiaoyu had a big heart and was good at enduring loneliness. Thinking that it was New Year's Eve and that there might not be much to eat outside, he lay back in bed, closed his eyes, and let his thoughts wander. He dozed off again, and in his dream, he heard the doorbell. Cheng Xiaoyu pulled the blanket over his head and continued his dream.

In his dream, he felt himself holding a pair of hands as smooth as jade, sensed a sweet fragrance spreading around his nose and mouth, and felt a cool, refreshing breeze gently blowing by his ears. The bruises on his body, caused by batons, were gently caressed. The dream was so sweet that it seemed to be melting him.

He was woken up by hunger again, but this time he felt much better. He had broken out in a sweat, and there was something on his forehead. When he touched it, it turned out to be a rectangular towel. He noticed that the blanket covering him had become two.

Cheng Xiaoyu realized that he must have had a visitor. He looked around but saw no one. After some thought, he concluded that it must have been Aunt Zhou. He turned on the TV, and the Spring Festival Gala was about to start.

A few minutes later, his stomach growled. Cheng Xiaoyu sighed, thinking he would have to eat instant noodles. Just as he picked up the phone to ask the front desk to send a bowl of instant noodles, the door opened.

Cheng Xiaoyu turned his head and saw that it wasn't Aunt Zhou but Su Yuxi who walked in.

Seeing such a beautiful girl made him feel better, especially since Su Yuxi was holding a small pot. Cheng Xiaoyu couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

Su Yuxi saw Cheng Xiaoyu sit up and stare at the pot in her hand and couldn't help but smile. She said softly, "Why didn't you call home when you had a fever?"

Cheng Xiaoyu, feeling weak both in body and spirit, was somewhat healed by Su Yuxi's beautiful smile. He managed to say with a dry, hoarse voice, "It's just a minor illness; it will pass." But in his heart, he thought, "That's your home, but it might not be mine."

Su Yuxi placed the pot on the bedside table and said, "I cooked you some porridge. Let it cool a bit before you eat it." She then took a box of medicine from her pocket and handed it to Cheng Xiaoyu, went to the door to get some water for him.

Cheng Xiaoyu sat up, holding the blanket under his arms, and said to Su Yuxi's back, "I'm sorry to trouble you on New Year's Day."

Su Yuxi didn't respond, but she brought a cup of hot water to Cheng Xiaoyu. Looking into his eyes, she said with a warm voice, "We are family, so please don't use false politeness to hide your vulnerable heart and create a gap between us. Let us feel the happiness of being needed; that's the meaning of family."

Cheng Xiaoyu took the water, and the warmth of the cup traveled through his blood to his heart. He quickly brought the cup to his lips, letting the steam moisten his skin and eyes. He took a sip of the warm water, which tasted salty.

Su Yuxi took the medicine box from Cheng Xiaoyu, opened it, read the instructions carefully, and placed two half-red, half-yellow capsules in his hand.

Cheng Xiaoyu felt that these two pills were as heavy as a thousand pounds but tasted sweet in his mouth.

Cheng Xiaoyu held the cup, feeling the continuous warmth, and looked down, saying softly, "Thank you." He quickly added, "This isn't just politeness; it's what I truly feel. I'm really grateful to have a sister like you. So, thank you, heaven, thank you, Dad, Aunt Zhou, and you."

Su Yuxi smiled and said, "I also want to thank you. For years, my parents haven't felt like parents to me. Thank you for helping them experience that."

Cheng Xiaoyu couldn't help but laugh and said, "Are you complimenting me or criticizing me?"

Su Yuxi said to Cheng Xiaoyu, "Everything has two sides. You need to look at things dialectically and not simply conclude whether they are right or wrong, praise or criticism."

Cheng Xiaoyu put the cup on the table, as if he had heard a funny joke, and laughed, saying, "I didn't know you could make jokes!"

Su Yuxi, not understanding why Cheng Xiaoyu was laughing, said, "I wasn't joking; I was serious."

Cheng Xiaoyu looked at Su Yuxi's serious face, stopped laughing, thought for a moment, and found it even funnier, laughing loudly and gasping for breath, "Sister, if you went to do stand-up comedy, it wouldn't be funny at all."

"So?" Su Yuxi didn't understand what Cheng Xiaoyu found so funny.

"So that's why it's funny." Cheng Xiaoyu laughed even harder, imagining Su Yuxi in a gown, performing stand-up comedy with Xu Qinling.

Su Yuxi then categorized Cheng Xiaoyu as someone with intermittent deep well ice, along with Xu Qinling, the young lady.

Su Yuxi held the spoon in her left hand and the pot in her right, looked at it, and touched it to check the temperature, feeling that it wasn't too hot.

She handed the spoon to Cheng Xiaoyu and said, "The hotel kitchen's stuff, the front desk girl couldn't touch, so I just got some rice and two century eggs to cook you some porridge. It's my first time cooking, so don't expect too much."

Cheng Xiaoyu smiled and nodded, took the spoon, and started eating the porridge, leaning to one side.

Perhaps because he was very hungry, or for some other reason, he found it the most delicious meal he had eaten since he came to this world, so good that he almost cried.

He finished the pot of porridge, and Su Yuxi took it to the bathroom to wash it. She then told Cheng Xiaoyu and went to return the pot and spoon to the kitchen downstairs.

Cheng Xiaoyu took the opportunity to get dressed, wash his face, and brush his teeth.

When Su Yuxi returned to his room, Cheng Xiaoyu hesitated and said, "Yuxi, is it okay for you not to go there? It's New Year's Day, and how did you come here?"

Su Yuxi, watching the Spring Festival Gala, said casually, "During the New Year's Eve dinner, my mom called you several times, but you didn't answer, so she asked me to come and check on you. It doesn't matter whether I'm at the old house or not. I don't like playing cards anyway. My parents will come over before midnight. My mom even bought you some fireworks; in her eyes, you're still a kid." She smiled sweetly, often thinking that her mother was more childish than she was.

Cheng Xiaoyu picked up his phone, which was on silent, and indeed saw many missed calls and messages. He couldn't remember the last time he had set off fireworks. In this life, he had lived in the United States and had never set off fireworks himself, nor had he seen many. He murmured, "Fireworks, what a distant memory."

Su Yuxi asked, "By the way, how did you catch a cold?"

Cheng Xiaoyu didn't know that his singing and secretly escorting the little girl home had been seen by them. He casually said, "Oh, when I came back yesterday, I found my money was gone. Since the hotel wasn't far, I walked back. It might have been the cold weather that made me catch a cold."

The hotel wasn't far from the Tongque Tai KTV, and a taxi ride would have cost only about twenty yuan, so this explanation made sense.

Su Yuxi said, "Oh," and seemed to want to say something but held back. They both watched the boring Spring Festival Gala.

As midnight approached, Su Changhe and Zhou Peipei also arrived at the hotel.

During the countdown, the window was filled with the sound of firecrackers, and countless fireworks shot up into the sky. In this world, setting off fireworks during the Chinese New Year was not prohibited.

Moreover, there was a grand fireworks show at Tiananmen at midnight.

The family set off the fireworks Aunt Zhou had bought in the hotel's spacious parking lot. The night sky of the capital was still sprinkled with fine snow, and one by one, beautiful and fleeting fireworks bloomed in the white expanse.

Su Yuxi held a lit firework stick and drew a brilliant trail in the air. Cheng Xiaoyu knew she was writing something but couldn't make out what it was.

Cheng Xiaoyu lit a large firework called "Such a Beautiful Night" and, standing far away, watched the night sky. It seemed as if a meteor shower was passing over the capital. The snowy night of the entire city was illuminated by the fireworks. Large clusters of fireworks bloomed like giant umbrellas in the night sky, like clusters of bright lamps that lit up and then quietly extinguished, like clusters of flowers that bloomed and scattered golden powder, which was then blown away by the wind. The fireworks bloomed one after another in the night sky, finally resembling countless meteors with long tails, reluctantly sliding across the night sky.

Cheng Xiaoyu and his family stood under this grand New Year, wishing for the future.

In the night, the fireworks in the clouds were like a starry sea passing by the window of an astronaut, fleeting but leaving a moment of brilliance.

Cheng Xiaoyu quietly thought, "I am not a firework of a different color, nor am I a fleeting meteor."

Even if I am destined to fall, I will be the brightest one, SN1006.