The Cinnabar Mole of a Beijing Circle Tycoon

The bright sunshine on the first day of the Lunar New Year made the courtyard feel warm and cozy.

The morning mist dissipated, and a joyful atmosphere filled the air.

Second Uncle and First Uncle were chatting in the yard when Shen Qingyao handed the egg to First Uncle, saying, "I'm going to wake Lily and Yangyang up."

"Uh-huh."

Shen Qingyao went upstairs to the second floor, where her two cousins ​​were fast asleep. "Get up!"

The two remained motionless. Shen Qingyao pinched their noses and said, "Grandpa and Grandma are giving out red envelopes!"

The two immediately sat up. "Get up right now!"

After eating the hot glutinous rice balls, Shen's father, along with his second and third uncles and several teenagers, went out to pay New Year's visits.

The little ones, dressed in new clothes and with candy in their pockets, looked like a flock of happy little birds. From afar, you could hear them shouting, "Happy New Year, Uncle!" and "Happy New Year, Aunt!"

Shen Qingyao has come of age, and according to village custom, she can stay and accompany the elders to entertain guests.

She helped her mother arrange peanuts, melon seeds, nuts, and candies into the fruit plate.

"Yaoyao, take the teacups to the main room."

"Yes," Shen Qingyao replied, and just as she placed the teacup on the octagonal table, she heard lively voices coming from the doorway.

"Grandma, Happy New Year!" the uncle said in a loud voice, carrying a gift box in his hand.

Grandma quickly went to greet her: "Come in and sit down, Happy New Year."

Two adults followed, and then five or six children came in.

Mother Shen was busy pouring tea, Second Aunt was busy distributing cigarettes, and Shen Qingyao and Stepmother were busy serving food to the children.

The little ones said shyly, "Thank you, Auntie, Sister Yao Yao."

"You're welcome!"

The children don't know her stepmother because she lives in the city, but Shen Qingyao, who grew up in the countryside, is very familiar with these kids.

Grandma, Mom, Second Aunt, and Stepmother stood in the main room waiting for guests to come and offer New Year's greetings.

In the village, newborn babies are given lucky money during the New Year.

This year, more than a dozen new children were born in the village, so Grandma prepared more than a dozen red envelopes in advance.

When these children come to our house to wish us a Happy New Year, Grandma will take them in her arms, give them a red envelope, and then give them a red envelope.

Children with whom you have a close relationship tend to receive larger amounts of money in red envelopes.

Shen Qingyao watched familiar and unfamiliar faces come and go, and occasionally helped serve tea and water when there were many people.

Shen Qingyao only sees most of the people here once or twice a year.

Shen Qingyao ran into several of her childhood friends and they arranged to play cards together after exchanging New Year's greetings.

As the sun rose higher, waves of people came to offer New Year's greetings. The candies in the fruit platter were replaced several times, and the water in the teapot was refilled again and again.

Shen Qingyao helped serve tea and distribute snacks, her fingertips tingled with the sweetness of candy, and her heart felt warm and cozy.

She suddenly thought of Meng Jiangyu, wondering what he was doing at that moment.

Just then, my phone vibrated gently in my pocket. I opened it and saw a photo he had sent me.

He stood in the yard, with a pile of snow half a person high behind him, captioning it: "It's snowing here, how's the sun where you are?"

Shen Qingyao smiled and sent a photo of the courtyard, bathed in bright sunshine: "The sun is shining brightly, it's so warm."

The moment the message was successfully sent, the sound of children's laughter and chatter came from the courtyard gate again. It was Shen's father returning with his New Year's greeting team. Each child had bulging pockets and rosy cheeks, full of the joy of their harvest.

"Big sister, look how many snacks I got!" My second cousin rushed in, his eyes shining as he held up a bag full of snacks.

The New Year is nothing more than a lively and joyous occasion, a time for family reunions.

Around 10 a.m., most of the guests who came to pay New Year's visits had arrived.

Grandma, Mom, Second Aunt, and Stepmother packed their things and then sat in the yard sunbathing and playing cards.

The second aunt was holding cards in her hand, but muttering to herself, "Just now, that girl Lily was hanging out with the boy next door."

The younger sister smiled and advised, "They're just kids, having fun is fine, don't always be so tense."

Grandma didn't interrupt, "Two!"

"That's right!" Shen's mother chimed in. "Kids are all rebellious; the more you try to stop them, the more they want to talk!"

Shen Qingyao listened from the side without saying a word.

My childhood friend Shen Yu texted me, "Yaoyao, have you finished paying your New Year's visits? Come over to my house to play cards, they're both ready to come!"

"I went to Xiaoyu's house to play!"

Go!

Her phone vibrated again; it was a voice call from Meng Jiangyu.

"Yaoyao, I miss you." Meng Jiangyu's voice was gentle.

"Me too!"

Shen Qingyao smiled and shared with him the lively scenes of New Year's greetings in the village.

As the two were talking, Shen Xizhou ran over, "Sis, a few of us are going to set off firecrackers, do you want to come?"

"I'm not going."

Meng Jiangyu said on the other end of the phone, "Why aren't you going?"

"I'm meeting up with some childhood friends to play cards, and I'm getting ready to head over now!"

"Male or female?"

"One woman and two men."

"It looks so lively over there!"

"It's like this in the village. It's much quieter in the city, and you don't know your neighbors well. I wasn't used to it when I first moved to the city!"

Where are you now?

"At the old house!"

Aren't you going out to visit relatives and friends for the New Year?

"I'm of a higher generation, so it's always others who come to wish me a Happy New Year."

"Wow, that's amazing!"

"certainly!"

"I'm not talking to you anymore, I'm at my childhood friend's house!"

"Okay, go play!"

The warm winter sun shone in Shen Yu's courtyard, where bamboo lounge chairs were arranged side by side under the grape trellis.

The card table was set up in the middle, and the cards flew through the hands of the four people.

"Why are you back so late this year?" Shen Yu asked while arranging the cards.

"I've been busy with school matters until before the New Year!" Shen Qingyao looked at her cards, pondering how to play them.

"The four of hearts is in my house, I'll go first," Shen Yi said. "A pair of fours!"

"We've been back for half a month, and we're always one player short for our card game," Shen Kaiyang said regretfully. "A pair of fives!"

"A pair of Kings." Shen Qingyao threw down two cards, her gaze sweeping over Shen Yu opposite her. "I see you three are having a lot of fun, always partying in the city!"

"How did you know?" Shen Yu asked, puzzled. "It's an A!"

"It's a post you made on your WeChat Moments!" Shen Qingyao said helplessly.

"Idiot!" Shen Kaiyang was speechless. "Two!"

"How's everyone's university life?" Shen Yi asked, changing the subject. "Three of us!"

"I can't afford it!" Shen Yu had grown her hair long and lost the baby fat she had in high school. "The girl from Hunan in my dorm used to eat chopped chili peppers with her breakfast. Now I can eat mild spicy food like it's nothing."

"Come on," Shen Yi, who studied at a university in Shandong, spoke with a bit of the straightforwardness of the North. He recognized Zhang Qi and said, "Last time we video chatted, you cried even while eating a spicy hot pot. You still have the nerve to brag."

Shen Yu pretended to pat him, and everyone around the card table burst into laughter.

Shen Kaiyang, who was studying in Wuhan, slowly said while holding a deck of cards in his hand, "Wuhan is still the best. Hot dry noodles with eggnog, you can have a different breakfast every day for a month."

Shen Kaiyang paused as he played his card. "Qingyao, how are things in Beijing? I heard the cost of living there is shockingly high."

"It's alright," Shen Qingyao paused, "the school cafeteria is quite cheap."

"My mom was talking about you the other day," Shen Yu said, pointing out Zhang Jiu, "saying you've made something of yourself, studying in the capital, and you'll definitely stay there in the future."

"Not necessarily," Shen Qingyao smiled and played an Ace. "Maybe he'll come back."

She looked at the familiar faces in front of her.

Shen Yu is carefree, Shen Yi is stubborn but soft-hearted, and Shen Kaiyang is always slow and leisurely. When they were young, they climbed trees together to raid bird nests and steal loquats from the neighbor's grandma's house. In the blink of an eye, they went their separate ways and could only get together during the New Year.

"By the way," Shen Yu suddenly said, "have you heard? Our class teacher has had her second child, a girl."

"Really?" Shen Yi's eyes widened. "Back then, he always said, 'You are the worst class I've ever taught.' Now he's probably living on diapers all the time."

Shen Kaiyang played a card: "Straight".

He added, "My mom went to town and saw him holding his baby at the supermarket buying formula. He had a scruffy beard and looked completely different from how he used to scold us."

The four chatted about embarrassing moments from high school: who got caught secretly reading novels in class, who wrote half a love letter to the girl in front of them, and who cried in front of their teacher before the college entrance exam, asking what would happen if they didn't get into university.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the grape trellis, casting shadows on the card table, half-light and half-dark, much like the youthful thoughts hidden in the past.

"Hey, Qingyao," Shen Yu suddenly leaned closer and whispered, "Are you dating anyone?"

Shen Qingyao's face flushed red instantly, and she almost dropped the cards in her hand: "N-nothing..."

"You're lying," Shen Yi raised an eyebrow. "When you were drawing cards just now, your phone lit up, and the screen saver was a guy, right? He looks pretty handsome."

She subconsciously reached for her phone in her pocket; the screen saver was indeed a photo Meng Jiangyu had secretly taken of her when he shielded her from the snow at the resort last time.

My heart was pounding like a rabbit's, but I stubbornly insisted, "That's a picture from the internet."

"Fake!" Shen Yu pouted, then threw out her last card. "Bomb! I won!"

"Let me show you!" Shen Qingyao opened her phone.

The three of them gathered around, exclaiming, "It really is! He's so handsome!"

A small pile of candy wrappers lay on the mahjong table, and the sounds of people calling out for dinner could be heard in the distance.

Shen Kaiyang put away the cards: "That's all for now, let's reschedule for tomorrow, I have something to do this afternoon."

"Okay," Shen Qingyao stood up, dusted off her pants, "My family will probably be having dinner soon too."