On the fifth day of the New Year, Lin Xinyuan had been invited by her cousin Lin Xinyu to attend the Nianli festival. After thinking it over, she decided to go.
After all, because of the pandemic, she hadn’t gone last year. It had been a long time since they’d seen each other, and she found it hard to refuse.
As for that person… she could only hope not to run into him. Of course, even if she did, it wasn’t like she was afraid.
Anyway… she had Feng Ge by her side…
Lin Xinyuan had asked her mom to come along too, but Mother Lin just smiled and told the two of them to go. She had no intention of joining.
It was probably that she didn’t want to risk meeting that person at all…
As for everyone else, maybe because of her and Mother Lin, they had no goodwill toward the Lin family.
Even though they’d heard that her cousin’s family had taken care of her, they still refused.
The lively Tang Yayun had originally wanted to go, but coincidentally, today was the Nianli for one of her junior high best friends, so only Lin Xinyuan and the youth went.
Early in the morning after breakfast, Qin Nanfeng drove the car, ready to depart with the girl.
“Remember what you said. Take good care of her. Otherwise, we won’t let this slide so easily.”
Before they left, Eldest Uncle called Qin Nanfeng aside and gave him a low, meaningful warning.
After their talk two nights ago and the past two days of interaction… Eldest Uncle had reluctantly come to accept the youth a bit.
Though he was still very dissatisfied with Qin Nanfeng’s past experiences, seeing how much the girl liked him, Eldest Uncle certainly wouldn’t mess things up for them.
“I understand, Eldest Uncle.”
Qin Nanfeng didn’t say anything useless. After all, fine words are no substitute for real action.
This was his own fault in the past… that had caused the other’s distrust…
Eldest Uncle’s expression softened. He glanced at the girl who had already sat in the passenger seat and was curiously looking their way.
He smiled again, his face becoming gentle. “Mm, go ahead. Drive carefully.”
“Okay… then we’re off.”
Qin Nanfeng nodded, said his goodbyes, and walked back to the car, getting into the driver’s seat.
The moment he sat down, the girl looked at him impatiently, eyes full of curiosity, unable to stop herself from asking, “What did Eldest Uncle say to you?”
“Heh…” Qin Nanfeng fastened his seatbelt, gave a light smile, and raised an eyebrow. “Guess.”
“Hmph! If you won’t tell me, then don’t! Damn you!”
Lin Xinyuan immediately grew annoyed. She turned her head away, staring out the window, waiting for the car to start and for someone to volunteer an explanation.
But even after the car smoothly left the alley and reached the main road, the Yellow-Haired Brat’s voice still didn’t come as she’d hoped. The car was filled with silence.
After who knows how long, the girl finally couldn’t hold back.
She turned her head to glare at the youth, about to say something, but caught sight of the smile at the corner of Qin Nanfeng’s mouth, which made her even angrier.
Seeing that they were alone in the car, she was just about to yell at the Yellow-Haired Brat when he spoke first, as if teasing her.
“He told me to take good care of Xiaoyuan…”
“Huh?” Lin Xinyuan was instantly stunned by his words. The retort she was about to say died in her throat.
But soon, thinking of something, her face flushed red. She stared at him with a mix of shyness and feigned anger.
Those words were completely stuck in her mouth, unable to come out, leaving her little face flushed red. “You… hmph…”
“It seems Xiaoyuan is getting more and more dirty-minded. I didn’t even say anything. What were you thinking?”
Qin Nanfeng watched the girl from the corner of his eye through the rearview mirror, a mischievous curve forming on his lips when he saw her expression.
“I…”
Hearing that, Lin Xinyuan’s face grew even redder. She had no choice but to lower her head to hide her emotions.
But Qin Nanfeng kept driving while pressing on relentlessly. “That’s only natural. No wonder Xiaoyuan is so moved. After all, I took such good care of our Xiaoyuan last night… so delicious… right…”
The youth especially emphasized the words “took care,” and after speaking, he smacked his lips as if savoring the memory.
Lin Xinyuan became even more embarrassed, her voice trembling slightly.
She couldn’t help but mutter angrily, “Sh-shut up! Just drive the car… mm…”
As she spoke, feeling the ache in her waist and remembering the messy scenes from last night… and that little pair of pants he’d ruined… her whole body grew hot with shame.
“Fine.” Qin Nanfeng chuckled, his expression full of satisfaction, leaving the girl completely at a loss.
She couldn’t beat him in a fight, and trying would only make him bully her harder… In the end, she had no choice but to swallow her anger.
She silently vowed that one day she’d make this guy bow to her! Hmph…
But thinking that way, she realized this wasn’t the first time she’d had such thoughts, and every time, the result was pretty much the same—she came back defeated.
In this subtle mood, the car soon left Lei City and headed toward Ma County.
Along the way, as they passed a factory building that seemed to be under demolition, Qin Nanfeng’s eyes flicked briefly to the gilded letters on top that read “Zhannan Zai’s Wood Processing Co., Ltd.” A barely noticeable cold smile appeared on his lips.
During the New Year… some people were probably not having a good time…
Ah… truly… joyful…
Tsk…
Thinking this, he glanced at the girl beside him out of the corner of his eye. Seeing that she had fallen asleep again from drowsiness, a smile crept into his gaze…
The Nianli festival, as an extremely important celebration in Zhannan City, holds a unique place in the entire region.
For the people of Zhannan, perhaps you can skip the New Year, but you have to come back for Nianli. That shows how important it is!
Each village’s Nianli date is not fixed. Today happened to be the Nianli of the Lin family’s Beishui Village.
Banners with the character “Lin” in various colors had been planted early on both sides of the village entrance road. Some sections even had colorful flags hanging overhead.
The flags fluttered in the wind, and the air already carried a strong smell of firecrackers, bringing with it a special cultural atmosphere…
The girl vaguely remembered that when she was little, no matter how poor or hard things were, her family would still host Nianli on this day.
But ever since Grandmother passed away, they no longer did. They’d just have a slightly better meal on this day and that was that.
As for whether other families would invite them, there was no need to think about it. Back then, not many wanted to get too involved with a family saddled with heavy debt.
It only seemed to improve after they’d paid off all the debts…
But no matter what… for Lin Xinyuan, the time she missed most was her childhood, when the family was financially the most difficult.
Because that was when Grandmother was still alive…
Once they entered the village, they were close to their destination. But Qin Nanfeng didn’t know the exact location.
So he reached out and gently pinched the girl’s fair, soft cheek to wake her.
“Xiaoyuan?”
“Mm…” It took Lin Xinyuan a moment to react. She groggily rubbed her eyes and instinctively looked out the car window. She realized they were already inside the village.
The youth couldn’t help pinching her soft cheek again. “Which way should I go?”
Her voice was soft and cute from just waking up. She patted his big hand that was messing with her, unconsciously whining, “Uh… go that way, I think it’s in that lane…”
Following the vague impression in her memory, she pointed roughly in a direction.
“Mm.” Qin Nanfeng nodded. Seeing her drowsy charm, he laughed inwardly and his thoughts wandered further, already planning how to have fun with his little girlfriend tonight.
Then he drove in the direction Lin Xinyuan had indicated.
The girl was still a bit dazed, her mind hazy. She had just had another dream.
This time it wasn’t that strange dream, but one about Grandmother…
It felt long… yet also short…
Her eyes lingered for a moment on a large banyan tree and the path behind it.
That was where the old lady’s house was. A long time ago, she and Grandmother would play on this path…
Grandmother… Ayuan…
I miss you so much…