Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 614 A family of four's snowball fight, spring breeze brings warmth to Tusu

At around 11 p.m., the courtyard lights of Wenyuhe Mansion intertwined with the sparse sounds of firecrackers in the distance, creating a unique tranquility and anticipation for New Year's Eve.

An ordinary Chinese couple finally got free from their busy work and returned home at 10 p.m. on New Year's Eve.

Lu Kuan attended the Spring Festival Gala to promote the "shake-to-win" marketing campaign for the Wenjie system.

Xiao Liu is doing this because after entering the arts and culture system, he needs to fulfill his responsibilities as the director of the Youth Workers Committee and showcase the spirit of arts and culture workers in the new era to the people of the whole country.

This is the official, public-facing reason; the only real reason, internally, is to support her husband's work, as always.

Culture and entertainment are inseparable, and in the new era, they are deeply linked through the Internet. This is her consistent practice of using her popularity, traffic, and influence to help the industries under Wenjie.

So, after a year of hard work, these ordinary Chinese parents were finally reunited with their family amidst a string of firecrackers and fireworks.

Actually, the children had already been sound asleep for a while before they returned from CCTV's Studio One.

Youyou and Tiedan will be 2 years old in two months. At this stage, their total sleep requirement is about 11-14 hours a day. According to the routine that their grandmother and mother have set for them, they will have an hour of "quiet playtime" after dinner at 5 or 6 pm.

Babies usually go for walks with their families, play with gentle toys, listen to soft music, and avoid strenuous exercise and exciting games to prevent affecting their sleep at night.

Logically, the start of the Spring Festival Gala should have been their usual bedtime, but today, due to the noisy firecrackers and their support for their mother's dance performance, their schedules were disrupted.

So after watching the program, they took a short nap for more than an hour, and then woke up with anticipation for their parents' return, thus experiencing their first ever New Year's Eve vigil.

Last year, the two little ones didn't yet have the ability to understand or communicate with the world.

"Cheers~"

"cheers!"

"Cup~"

"Cups, cups, cups..."

The crystal chandelier cast a soft glow throughout the room, and the family sat around the solid wood round table in the center, enjoying their belated New Year's Eve dinner.

Yoyo cutely repeated words in response to her parents' and grandmother's celebration, while her younger brother Tiedan, as always, narrated in a double narrative.

It was called a New Year's Eve dinner, but in reality, it was basically just Lu Kuan and A Fei enjoying it and drinking together.

My mother-in-law and the kids had already eaten dinner. The two little ones were just sitting in their high chairs, joining in the fun, holding small wine glasses filled with cold water, and toasting with the adults.
Even though his wife Liu Yifei had just finished a hot dance to burn fat, she still had to continue filming the third season of "The Book of Peace" after the Lantern Festival, so she had to maintain her figure. She just ate the garlic cloves of meat from the turbot bit by bit.

"Mom, eat!" Seeing the adults eating and drinking, Tie Dan's own cravings were also aroused.

Their meals have gradually transitioned to normal family diets, but they are still specially prepared as light versions with very little salt, sugar, soy sauce, and other seasonings. This is mainly because adult tastes are too strong for them, as it would increase the burden on their kidneys and lead to picky eating habits.

The turbot's garlic-clove-like flesh is boneless. Xiao Liu smiled and picked out a small piece to rinse in the water. While feeding her son, she teased, "Wow! Look at that little mouth! Did Grandma Wolf not feed you enough last night?"

Liu Xiaoli rolled her eyes at her. Ever since the twins heard the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood," her daughter had given her that nickname.

Youyou and Tiedan don't yet understand the distinction between good and bad people; they just find it amusing based on the shared pronunciation of the word "grandma." In their current understanding, wolves and the dogs in their grandma's villa courtyard aren't that different.

Xiao Liu was still careful to treat both children equally, and picked up another bite to give to Youyou, but she "rejected" it. Youyou shook her head vigorously, waved her chubby little hand, and uttered a few words in her childish voice—

"Daddy! Meatballs!"

"Hahaha! Look at you, look at you! Some people are really unpopular!" Boss Lu laughed, and under his wife's helpless and furious gaze, he picked up a piece of food and fed it to his daughter.

Yoyo seemed to want to deliberately show off her interaction with her father. She chewed and swallowed with exaggerated movements, then suddenly let out a soft breath, her little face flushed. She then picked up her wine glass as if nothing had happened, and said, "Daddy, Mommy!"

It was as if they were treating everyone equally.

"Oh my, my baby is so good, even drinking with mom?" Xiao Liu said with a smile as she raised her glass. Suddenly, the man next to her slapped his thigh, got up, walked to his daughter's side, and gently touched her little face with the back of his hand.

Liu Yifei looked on in confusion: "What's wrong?"

"Oh no!" Liu Xiaoli suddenly realized what was happening and quickly poured a glass of warm water for her granddaughter, gesturing for her to drink it.

Mr. Lu checked his daughter's face repeatedly. Seeing her smiling at him and reaching out to hug him, he felt relieved and looked at his wife with a smile, saying, "There must have been a little bit of liquor on my chopsticks. It made her little face turn bright red from the spiciness."

He gestured to Youyou's now fair and radiant complexion, saying, "Looks like she inherited her grandma and mom's genes; she has a high alcohol tolerance, haha!"

Liu Yifei was so angry at her husband that she laughed. She punched him lightly, snatched her daughter back, and hugged her tightly. "What kind of lousy father is this! He's giving his daughter alcohol before she's even two years old!"

Liu Xiaoli laughed and said, "When you were little, I also dipped some chopsticks into it and let you taste it. It was so spicy that you stuck out your tongue. It was so funny."

It seems that "having children is just for fun" is a common interest and consensus among parents. However, it was just an accident. The careless father forgot that he was drinking, and there may have been alcohol residue in his mouth on the tip of his chopsticks.

"Ha! It seems I was right, you are the Big Bad Wolf, aren't you, Yoyo?" Xiao Liu, who hadn't been drinking, hugged her daughter tightly. Yoyo was so attached to her father that she often felt envious.

Having just teased her husband and son, she looked at her son who had already climbed onto her lap and jokingly asked with a mischievous grin, "Why don't you try giving Tiedan the chopsticks again?"

Liu Xiaoli gave her a sharp tap on the forehead: "Go away! What kind of parents are you? You're just trying to ruin your own child!"

Then she added with a worried expression, "Those two really had a blast today. It's already 10:30 and they still don't want to go to sleep. They just rested on the sofa for over an hour."

"That's easy, isn't it? Just completely kill their enthusiasm." Boss Lu finished his last glass of wine and then stood up.

Xiao Liu glanced at him sideways: "What mischief are you up to now?"

"Wait."

The washing machine gave a mysterious smile, strode out the door, and then returned nonchalantly within a dozen seconds.

Before Liu Yifei could ask any further questions, the man had already thrown a snowball from his back, which exploded precisely on his wife's shoulder!

"Hahaha!" Tie Dan was completely unaware. He was startled for a moment, then laughed and went to touch the remains of the snowball. Since the beginning of winter, he and his sister had lost count of how many times their father had taken them to play in the snow.

"Let's go! Let's have a snowball fight!"

Xiao Liu angrily picked up her husband's wine glass and downed it in one gulp, a blush quickly spreading across her pretty face: "You wait! Have a drink to warm yourself up, and I'll make you beg for mercy on your knees later!"

Heavenly Immortal Warms Wine and Slays Washing Machine!

"Snow! Snow!"

Youyou and Tiedan were very excited. The sweet little girl even stretched out her chubby little hands to try to brush off the crumbs on her mother, but she was already being carried away by the wolf grandmother to get dressed.

She doesn't like to interfere with how her daughter and son-in-law educate their children; she just takes care of the logistical support. Besides, the two babies are quite robust, spending all their time chasing cats and dogs with their father and playing ball.

Going out for a run is good; once you're tired from playing, you'll fall asleep on your own without needing to be coaxed.

Beside the five-a-side football field in Wenyuhefu, Afei turned on the switch, and eight high-powered night lights suddenly lit up. The cool yet intense beams of light poured down, illuminating the green field as bright as day.

Scattered fireworks occasionally pierced the night sky, exploding into brilliant yet silent halos on the distant horizon. The occasional sound of firecrackers added a vibrant background to the New Year's Eve, together highlighting this joyful little world that belonged exclusively to the Lu family.

The two little ones under the "artificial daylight" became the cutest focus, as they were wrapped up like two round little balls by their grandmother, Liu Xiaoli.

Youyou was wearing a bright red onesie down jacket with a snow-white fur trim around the hood, which made her little face look even more delicate and beautiful.
Tie Dan, dressed in the same royal blue color, looked like a lively little bear. The two of them stumbled and fell as they ran, resembling two moving, festive New Year's picture dolls frolicking on the soft meadow snow.

The atmosphere was lively and playful. Liu Yifei, whose pretty face was slightly flushed from her husband's "sneak attack," picked up the excited Tiedan and shouted with a smile, "Okay! Tiedan and I are on the same team, to beat Youyou and Daddy!"

Liu Xiaoli and Afei stood aside, laughing as they watched the two playfully fighting. The latter was ready to pick up the two babies who were about to fall face-first into the mud at any moment.

Xiao Liu's words still carried a hint of resentment. After all, her daughter Youyou was always more attached to her father. As her mother, she occasionally wanted to "compete for his affections," and today was the time to demonstrate her dominance with force!

Before she could finish speaking, she was about to bend down and make a snowball to officially start the battle when she stared in disbelief at a small, loosely shaped snowball, no bigger than a ping-pong ball, flying softly towards her.

It had little force, and its trajectory was even a bit crooked, yet it possessed a childlike, unexpected precision, and with a "plop," it gently struck the lower back of the man who was facing away from his daughter, smugly preparing to face the attack! The snowball instantly scattered, leaving a small white mark on his dark down jacket.

Time seemed to freeze for a second.

Everyone was stunned, staring dumbfounded at the "attacker"—

It turned out to be Youyou, who had just been assigned to the "enemy camp" by her mother and was wearing a bright red down jacket!

Little Youyou was still in the clumsy throwing posture after throwing the snowball, her chubby little hands raised in the air, her little face flushed red from the cold wind and excitement.

When she saw everyone looking at her, she wasn't scared at all. Instead, she grinned, revealing a few tiny teeth, and let out a triumphant and clear laugh.

Then, she raised her little finger and pointed to her mother Liu Yifei's shoulder, which her father had just hit, and then to the melting white mark on her father's hind leg, exclaiming in a childish voice, as if announcing a major discovery:
"Daddy! Bad! Hit!...Mommy! White!...Yoyo! White!"

The girl fully demonstrated the limited vocabulary and grammatical deficiencies of preschool children, using a combination of children's unique "telegraphic language" and body language, but her clear logic and expressive ability still allowed her parents and grandmother to understand what she meant:
Daddy is bad. He hit Mommy and made her clothes white. So Yoyo wants to hit Daddy too and make his clothes white!

With her simple mindset, perhaps afraid of upsetting her father, Youyou, like a clumsy little penguin, waddled forward and hugged her father's leg, trying to stand on tiptoe to comfort him as if she had just brushed away crumbs for her mother.

Boss Lu laughed heartily: "Your little cotton-padded jacket is letting in the wind! No wonder you're wearing red, are you a member of the underground party?"

Liu Xiaoli laughed and said, "Daddy's going to be sad!"

Liu Yifei's heart melted. Who would have thought that her father's supporters would stand up for her, a "weak, helpless, and unloved" mother!
She suddenly realized clearly that in her daughter's pure little heart, her love for her father and mother had always been equally ardent and inseparable.

Yoyo might show more overt affection because her dad plays more fun games with them, or because of the magic of his brushstrokes that can "transfer" the whole family to the canvas, but this does not mean that the love is biased.

On the contrary, it is precisely because she possesses a heart as pure and intelligent as gold that she persistently upholds the "fairness" and "justice" of this love in her naive yet logically consistent way:
If her father "bullies" her mother, she will stand up for her and "uphold justice."
After "punishing" her father, she saw his surprised look as he turned around and immediately sensed that he might need comfort, so she gave him a hug without hesitation.

Liu Yifei couldn't suppress the corners of her mouth as she called out to her daughter in a very mushy voice, "Baby," and went over to pamper her, "Yoyo, how about teaming up with Mommy to beat Daddy?"

The little girl just clung to her father's leg and wouldn't let go. The justice that needed to be upheld has been served; now it's time for "clear distinction between love and hate."

Yoyo: Woman, although I love you too, can't you tell who I'm being affectionate with?
"Come on! Come on! Come to Mommy..." Liu Yifei squatted on the ground, gently coaxing her daughter who was clinging tightly to her father's leg, but before she could finish speaking...

"Ouch!"

A small snowball, a bit firmer than Yoyo's, with a clumsy force, hit her squarely on the back of the head, where she was completely unprepared!

The snowball exploded instantly, scattering icy snowflakes everywhere. Many of them slid directly down her collar and into her warm neck, causing her to jerk back and gasp.

This is much more exciting than the man she mocked!

Another astonishing movie scene unfolded; today's script truly defied expectations, with everyone staring at the culprit who was already giggling—

He was wearing a royal blue down jacket and looked like a chubby little polar bear. He stood a few steps away, watching his mother shrink back and everyone looking at him. Instead of being aware of the trouble he had caused, he seemed to have accomplished something remarkable.

The little guy grinned proudly, revealing his tiny teeth, and let out a loud, cheerful laugh that was even tinged with pride!

Iron egg?

You, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, have also betrayed us?

No, no.

I'm Tiedan, I chase after balls, I eat food, and if my sister is around, I'll have double the fun.

If you throw a snowball at Dad, I'll throw a snowball at Mom!

I am the son of the richest man in the world. I ask you, Crown Prince, why is there so much love, hate, and grudges in life? There is only the option of acting recklessly.

That chubby little face was filled with the satisfaction of achieving the most primal and straightforward logic. In Tie Dan's simple and pure little world, this is what it truly means to "treat everyone equally":
He has to do an "enhanced version" of whatever his sister does, only then is it fair!
As for the consequences? That's not within the scope of his CPU, which is less than two years old.

"Hahahaha!" Lu Kuan was the first to burst into earth-shattering laughter, looking at his wife's comical appearance of being both shocked and bewildered, with snowflakes still stuck to the back of her neck, and began to mock her mercilessly.

"I thought Youyou looked like me, but I didn't expect Tiedan to look more like me! Wow! What a plot twist!"

"Tie Dan, you're Ma Daima Ding Lin! You're the one who can handle a Wei Yan like your mother!"

Liu Yifei, a dancer who embodies the essence of horsemanship and China's top female fighter, suddenly sprang to life. Holding a snowball that had been secretly and firmly packed in her hand, she took advantage of her husband's laughter as he looked up at the sky with his front door wide open and darted forward.

"You dare laugh! Go eat snow!"

Boss Lu raised his hand to block, but his martial arts actress wife jumped onto his back and retaliated by stuffing a snowball into his collar. Accompanied by the alluring fragrance of the young woman, he experienced a true taste of both ice and fire.

"hiss--!"

Amidst Liu Xiaoli's laughter and scolding, Xiao Liu leaped up, like a nimble koala, and jumped onto Lu Kuan!
She immediately wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and her long legs around his waist. Using her own weight and skill, she managed to make her tall and strong husband stumble, almost causing them both to fall onto the soft meadow.

"Mom! Awesome!" Tie Dan was stunned, then burst into even louder cheers. In his simple world, his mother's smooth and flowing combo was simply amazing!

Gu Nan attacked her past life's original body!
Liu Yifei restrained her husband, turned to the two children who were still watching the commotion, her face beaming with a radiant smile of "revenge achieved." Her voice, slightly breathless from the exertion, was full of inflammatory energy:
"Babies! Hurry! Mom caught Daddy! Let's settle our scores! Let's beat him up! Charge!!"

Her shout was like the bugle call to launch a general offensive.

Tie Dan was the first to respond to the call!
He couldn't wait any longer; how could there be a crown prince for forty years?

The little rascal immediately bent down, grabbed a handful of snow haphazardly, and without even bothering to roll it into a ball, rushed over with his short legs, yelling and throwing the snow at his father's legs and bottom with all his might, imitating his mother's shouts: "Hit! Hit Daddy!"

As expected, his entire rear was exposed to his sister's shooting range. Youyou panicked and, usually so quiet, babbled and tackled her brother to the ground on the soft snow.

The scene immediately descended into chaos, comparable to the warlord conflicts of the 1920s and 1930s!

The father, Lu Kuan, resembled a major warlord who possessed core resources and a certain degree of legitimacy (head of the household), such as Chiang Kai-shek's group before and after the Northern Expedition;
Mother Xiao Liu is another powerful faction with independent demands and strong influence, such as Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi's Guangxi Clique or Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army;
Youyou was a key force in the war at a certain time, a local power or centrist with significant influence but an uncertain stance. Her parents were delighted by her favoritism, just like Yan Xishan or Liu Xiang.

Where's Tie Dan?
The eldest prince is simply a grassroots militia member and civilian who lacks an independent political program and is easily manipulated or influenced by the major powers...

Under the lights of New Year's Eve, this small meadow in Wenyuhefu became a secluded stage.

Snowflakes danced in the cool beams of light like tiny starlight, while at other times a cluster of fireworks silently bloomed in the inky sky, casting its fleeting brilliance onto the silhouettes of the family of four.

Lu Kuan's tall body was slightly hunched over, carrying Liu Yifei, whose eyes were crinkled with laughter, on his back. She was like a weary bird returning to the forest, her arms wrapped around the man's neck, her chin resting affectionately on his shoulder.

Two chubby little figures, Youyou in her red coat and Tiedan in her blue coat, stood out as two vibrant splashes of color beside their parents' legs.

They no longer cared about factions or winning or losing; they simply chased excitedly at the snow kicked up by their parents' feet, stumbling and falling like two clumsy yet happy little animals, leaving deep and shallow marks on the soft snow.

Yoyo would occasionally rush over and hug her father's leg, rubbing her little face against it;

Tie Dan followed suit, trying to grab the other leg, but often lost his balance and sat down on the snow, splashing up a small puff of snow. He didn't cry or fuss, but giggled and got up to continue chasing.

A gentle mother will reach out and gently brush the snowflakes off her children's eyelashes.

This is their second Spring Festival in the world.

This time last year, they were just innocent infants in swaddling clothes, unable to even see the lamplight of New Year's Eve celebrations clearly.

Now, however, they can use their clumsy steps to measure this new and vast world on this snow-covered land illuminated by love and warmth.

As night deepened, the sound of firecrackers became increasingly faint, but the courtyard lights remained stubbornly lit, casting long shadows of the family, which intertwined gently.

Time seemed to slow down and stretch out at this moment.

This night, both noisy and peaceful, is like a precious snapshot of countless ordinary days to come, quietly captured and etched into the depths of memory, warming the twins' long new year to come.

(End of this chapter)