Good news became the motivation to strive.
The second half of December therefore passed especially quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was already New Year’s Eve 2030.
Snowflakes drifted down from the high skies of South Wind City, imprinting small snowflakes of various shapes on the clean window glass of street shops.
Many couples walked together, but among this year’s couples, non-human beings had already appeared.
They were companion robots.
They had thoughts close to those of real humans, but their faces leaned more toward Second Dimension people.
The couples walked hand in hand, chatting and laughing, their silhouettes illuminated by the lights—all in the shape of happiness.
At this time, in a certain rental apartment, Song Qiuyu and Jiang Xiao were busy in the kitchen preparing the ingredients needed for a small hotpot. Every New Year’s Eve, they would stay in their rental apartment watching the snow and cooking hotpot themselves. Over time, it had almost become a tradition.
Suddenly, with a ding-dong sound, the doorbell at the entrance rang.
“Xi’er, I’ll get the door. You watch the pot!”
“Okay!”
With a glance, Jiang Xiao walked to the entrance, while Song Qiuyu decisively put down the kitchen knife and stood in front of the pot, paying attention to the heat.
Then, with a creak, the door opened.
“We’re here to freeload!”
Lin An and Xie Zhuran’s voices rang out from the entrance.
But if one listened carefully, there seemed to be a few suppressed voices. Song Qiuyu turned down the heat and peeked outside. Sure enough, behind the two of them, there were five or six people. Among these five or six were Xia Qi and two classmates from the class they got along with well, but not Sang Tian. This year, Sang Tian had her own plans. Regarding Sang Tian’s plan, Song Qiuyu had many thoughts.
“Freeloading is fine, but you brought so many snacks?”
Seeing that everyone who came was carrying bags of food, Jiang Xiao raised an eyebrow slightly and joked.
“We’re worried there won’t be enough to eat,” Lin An said with a smile.
“I heard this year’s New Year’s Eve Gala is really worth watching.”
“I know, I know!”
Xia Qi quickly put down her things, rolled up her sleeves, and walked into the kitchen.
As she spoke, she washed her hands, and boldly took over the vegetable cutting task from Song Qiuyu. While cutting, she said, “Old Sang and her senior sisters were invited to dance on History Television, right? So jealous, that’s amazing!”
When this was said, the corners of Song Qiuyu’s mouth lifted. Lin An put down his things and opened the refrigerator to help process the ingredients. Xie Zhuran also followed along, taking a bag of ham sausages and a few eggs.
“You guys are too experienced. Take it easy. If you all do everything, what’s left for me and Zhu Zhu? We can’t just sit around doing nothing, right?”
Wang Quan, who looked like a pale-faced scholar, quickly snatched a bag of ham sausages from Xie Zhuran’s hand, indicating that this was his job.
“Doggy, you’re wrong about that. The atmosphere group and the foodie group are also very important parts.”
Zhu Zhu, the bespectacled girl whose full name was Zhu Ling, pushed up her glasses and stared at Wang Quan intently, saying.
“Then you go sit down.”
Wang Quan, like a startled animal, bristled all over and walked into the kitchen with the ham sausages, saying.
Zhu Ling refused, saying, “No, I also want to help cook.”
Watching the man and woman bickering like that, the three guys, being veterans, felt a bit helpless and speechless. Just as Xie Zhuran was about to protect the eggs in his hand and walk into the kitchen, his phone rang. The caller was Jiang Li. Then his eggs were taken by Zhu Ling.
“Alright, Old Xie, today you’ll be the atmosphere group and the serving group, because look…”
Jiang Xiao pointed to the kitchen that was almost packed with people. Although only four people had gone in, this was already the limit of the small kitchen in the rental apartment. That could at most accommodate two more people: himself and Lin An. He patted Xie Zhuran on the shoulder.
“The kitchen is this big, it can’t hold any more people.”
Having said that, he walked past Xie Zhuran and straight into the kitchen.
Xie Zhuran remained silent. Lin An also patted Xie Zhuran’s shoulder and sighed darkly. He felt great sympathy for the only person here without a girlfriend today. Then he brushed past him without a word.
Seeing this, Xie Zhuran didn’t say anything, but he pretty much understood. Not wanting to let down his brothers’ intentions, he walked to the balcony and answered the video call. On the phone screen appeared a girl with long black hair, wearing a mask, her eyes slightly red at the corners.
“Bro Zhuran, did you miss me?”
Xie Zhuran knew Jiang Li had had some allergies recently. Although she had classmates overseas taking care of her, he was still very worried. He had originally planned to go see her yesterday and spend New Year’s Eve with her, but she politely refused. The reason was even a bit childish. It turned out she had red spots on her face and didn’t look good temporarily.
He was silent for a moment.
“Yeah, I missed you a lot.”
As soon as he said that, Jiang Li’s eyes curved into crescent moons. Seeing her smile, Xie Zhuran’s mind became set on one thought. As a steady person, of course he couldn’t go back on his promise to a girl. But he had only promised not to go see her before New Year’s. Once tonight was over, he would go see her for a bit, and then hurry back to class.
On TV, the New Year’s Eve Gala was playing enthusiastically. Famous singers kept singing, and the backup dance troupe kept dancing on stage. Around the small table, everyone gathered around the small hotpot, eating while watching.
“I feel like we need to practice our singing voices too.”
Song Qiuyu watched the lead actor of the drama they had filmed sing the theme song, and the envy in her eyes was almost overflowing. Versatility was always a plus. If she could both star in a drama and sing the theme song, both her fame and experience would greatly improve. Most importantly, at such an occasion, there was a high probability of being invited!
“Sure, after we eat, if there’s time, let’s go sing at KTV?”
Jiang Xiao suggested.
“They’re here, they’re here! Look, it’s Old Sang and her team! Our school’s dance troupe!”
Xia Qi was very excited.
“What do you mean ‘our school’? You didn’t pass the postgraduate exam to our school, did you?”
Lin An didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Bah!”
Xia Qi had an expression like a summer insect cannot speak of ice.
Everyone was chatting and laughing while watching the performance of the Nanxi Dance Department on TV, their gazes mostly focused on Sang Tian. On stage, Sang Tian was like a white swan, elegant and noble. Every movement was full of a dancer’s confidence. When the performance ended, both the people in the rental apartment and the people on TV couldn’t help but applaud.
In the last few seconds before the new year, all the guests on the New Year’s Eve Gala gathered together and began the countdown. Outside the stage, in a nearby milk tea shop, a youth in a white down jacket ordered two cups of hot milk tea. Then, along with the clerk and other customers, he watched the New Year’s Eve Gala on TV. He easily found the figure he wanted to see among the crowd.
“Sister Sang Tian…”
The youth held the two cups of hot milk tea, wanting only to give a surprise to his beloved after her busy work. This youth could only be Jiang Yu.
The countdown ended. With a few bangs, the drifting snowflakes faded away, leaving only fiery trees and silver flowers that lit up the night sky and softened the cold winter. Everyone in the rental apartment gathered on the balcony. Fireworks kept blooming above their heads, making the whole world seem like a dream.
“Xi’er, after today, you’ll be four and a half years old!”
“Mm!”
“What four and a half?”
Wang Quan widened his eyes in confusion.
“Doggy isn’t very smart. Jiang Xiao means it’s been four and a half years since Song Qiuyu became a girl!”
Zhu Ling said with her eyes narrowed in a smile.
“Woof.”
Wang Quan subconsciously made the sound. After making it, he realized and blushed in shame. Unexpectedly, Zhu Ling also cooperatively made an oink, and the bespectacled girl’s face also flushed a little. This made Wang Quan at a loss, his face turning even redder.
Song Qiuyu couldn’t help but burst out laughing. As she laughed, the few people around her seemed infected and couldn’t help laughing along. For a moment, laughter kept ringing out on the balcony.
In a flash, all the courses of the first semester of the first year of graduate school ended successfully. Finally, Song Qiuyu welcomed the most important winter break of her life.
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