My Multiple Identities Revealed After Marrying the Bigshot
Chapter 314: Thank You, Brother-in-Law!

Chapter 314: Chapter 314: Thank You, Brother-in-Law!

The Zhou Family, with Old Master Zhou at the helm, still upheld the tradition of staying up late on New Year’s Eve.

Thus, it was customary for the Zhou Family to eat dumplings after midnight.

The same custom was observed in Hexing Village.

Therefore, Xu Jingmin followed along back to the Lu Family.

When they arrived home, it was just past ten o’clock.

So, everyone gathered in the living room to chat first.

Lu Youxi made tea for everyone and brought out a variety of nuts and snacks prepared before the New Year.

Although they had a hearty dinner, nibbling on sunflower seeds and the like was hardly a burden, while they drank tea, snacked on nuts, and watched the Spring Festival Gala.

Outside the window, the sound of firecrackers and fireworks was incessant and never quiet.

The noise was so loud that even though the volume of the TV was almost at its highest, it was still mostly drowned out by the outside noise.

But even if the contents of the TV program weren’t clear, it didn’t hinder the good atmosphere of the evening.

The smile never left Xu Jingmin’s face.

Though the Lu Family’s living room was not very spacious, it was clean, with warm and bright lighting.

The various snacks and fruits laid out on the coffee table were a delightful sight, even if nobody was hungry.

The whole room was bustling and lively, which felt really good.

Xu Jingmin sighed in relief.

It had been a long time since she had felt this way.

With ten minutes to midnight, Liu Yushu put on an apron and went to the kitchen to cook dumplings.

Seeing this, Xu Jingmin hurriedly followed.

"Mother-in-law, I’ll help you," Xu Jingmin said.

Liu Yushu, seeing Xu Jingmin was clearly out of her element, smiled and said, "Everything’s ready. Just put the dumplings in the water, it’s no trouble. You go and wait for the chime of the clock."

"I’ll stay here with you," Xu Jingmin said lazily, leaning against the wall.

Liu Yushu felt a warmth in her heart and did not refuse any further.

Following this, Lu Youxi also came over, but the kitchen was too small to fit so many people, so Liu Yushu sent Lu Youxi away.

Xu Jingmin stayed in the kitchen to chat with Liu Yushu about everyday trivial matters of life.

From time to time, laughter could be heard from the kitchen.

And voices of agreement with constant "Exactly, exactly."

Lu Youxi returned to the living room and found only Lu Zhenguo watching the Spring Festival Gala.

It was Lu Zhenguo’s habit to watch the show, no matter whether it was interesting or not.

Lu Youxi was about to ask where Zhou Shuyan and Lu Youxue had gone when she suddenly caught sight of the two standing on the balcony.

Lu Youxue was leaning on the windowsill, looking up at the fireworks bursting in the sky.

Zhou Shuyan stood quietly beside him, keeping him company.

As Lu Youxi approached, she saw the light from the fireworks flicker across their faces.

It was Lu Youxue’s first time seeing such beautiful fireworks. Previously, in Hexing Village, having a lavish New Year’s Eve dinner was already a big deal, and the villagers would not spend money on fireworks.

Fireworks were just a spectacle; once over, they seemed a waste.

Previously, Lu Youxue had only seen fireworks on TV. This was his first time seeing them in person, and he couldn’t take his eyes off them.

The light from the fireworks made his eyes exceptionally bright.

Lu Youxi silently stood beside Lu Youxue.

Noticing someone beside him, Lu Youxue looked up, recognized it was Lu Youxi, and excitedly said, "Sis, the fireworks are so beautiful!"

"This year, I neglected to think about buying these," Lu Youxi had not been interested in these fireworks in his previous life, and didn’t think about them this life either.

Lu Youxue never mentioned them either, so Lu Youxi really overlooked it.

"It’s my fault, I didn’t think of it either," Zhou Shuyan also wasn’t in the habit of setting off fireworks and rarely dealt with them.

"The New Year celebrations last until the fifteenth; other store owners might close, but vendors selling fireworks and firecrackers definitely won’t. Tomorrow I’ll go buy some, and we can have a great time setting them off tomorrow evening," Zhou Shuyan told Lu Youxi and Lu Youxue.

Though Lu Youxue felt envious, he felt embarrassed to have someone else buy them for him.

"These... are quite expensive," Lu Youxue knew their family’s financial situation had improved.

But Lu Youxi was so busy, and Liu Yushu had said that Lu Youxi’s company was still in its early, especially difficult stages.

Before the holidays, his classmates had talked about what kind of fireworks their families bought for the New Year.

He just listened and never mentioned wanting any; he was reluctant to have Lu Youxi spend extra money.

Even now that Zhou Shuyan had brought it up, Lu Youxue thought Zhou Shuyan probably didn’t earn as much as Lu Youxi.

He felt bad about letting Zhou Shuyan buy them.

"It’s nothing, we only buy them once a year," Zhou Shuyan said thick-faced, "A little luxury once in a while won’t hurt."

"Thank you, brother-in-law!" Lu Youxue beamed and cheerfully called out.

Zhou Shuyan: "..."

Good kid, Lu Youxue was calling him brother-in-law for the first time.

If he had known fireworks would win the kid over, he would have done this sooner.

Zhou Shuyan couldn’t help but push his luck, "Call me that from now on, and I’ll buy you other things too."

Lu Youxue thought it over but didn’t want to trouble Zhou Shuyan, "I’ll call you that from now on; you don’t have to buy me anything else."

At that moment, voices from the TV hosts counting down came from the living room.

As the number "1" was called out, the solemn sound of chiming bells came from the TV.

Zhou Shuyan turned to Lu Youxi and said, "Happy New Year."

For some reason, Lu Youxi felt like crying.

She had never celebrated New Year like this with her family before.

While living in Hexing Village, their family never had a good New Year.

The only happy ones were the Lu Family’s elders and Lu Zhenjia’s family.

Even Lu Zhenguo felt stifled, inevitably showing it on his face, unable to truly be happy.

In a previous life, after getting into Jing University, she never returned to Hexing Village for New Year’s.

She would rather stay in the Imperial Capital than go back to Hexing Village and suffer.

She didn’t want to see the disgusting faces of the Lu Family’s elders and Lu Zhenjia’s family.

She didn’t want to see Liu Yushu’s timid behavior or Lu Zhenguo quietly fuming, only knowing how to drown his sorrows in drink.

Later, she married Lin Jingshen.

The Lin Family’s New Year celebrations weren’t any better than those in Hexing Village.

It was another type of annoying scenario.

Like now, a peaceful and beautiful Chinese New Year, was the first she had experienced in two lifetimes.

Although the noise of firecrackers outside was deafening, her heart felt indescribably peaceful.

"Happy New Year," Lu Youxi looked up at Zhou Shuyan, the light of the fireworks reflecting on her face, creating a pattern of light and shadow.

Whenever the light from the fireworks illuminated her face, it made her appear especially radiant.

If it weren’t for the road between them, Zhou Shuyan truly wanted to kiss her.

Lu Youxue looked up at Zhou Shuyan, then at Lu Youxi.

He was not ignorant; now in junior high, he understood a lot of things.