Oh no! My yandere school beauty is so clingy!

Several months passed in the blink of an eye, and winter arrived.

The group of friends welcomed their first winter together.

It snowed that day too.

The snowflakes weren't very big; they drifted down from the gray sky, landing silently on rooftops, treetops, and the shoulders of passersby.

A thin, damp layer of white quickly accumulated on the ground.

Shen Yu and Lin Anran both put on down jackets.

Shen Yu wore a black, very ordinary, unstyled garment, but it was thick.

Lin Anran wore a light beige dress, slightly shorter, with a fluffy trim around the neckline, which made her face appear even smaller.

The two walked out of their house hand in hand, leaving two sets of footprints side by side on the snow-covered sidewalk.

Shen Yu's hands were warm. Lin Anran's hands were held by him, tucked into her down jacket pocket, and she didn't feel cold at all...

This semester is almost over.

More and more people are rushing to the library or study room with books in their arms on campus.

In addition to the chill of winter, the air seemed to carry a touch of the tension and busyness unique to the end of the semester.

And the Lunar New Year is just around the corner.

For Shen Yu and Lin Anran, this is their first year in Changyang after leaving their original city, and also their first year spending time together.

For Zhang Shuyu, this is the first year since she found her brother, had a family, and settled down.

Time flies. It seems like just yesterday we were worrying about all sorts of messy things, and now the year is almost over.

Shen Yu and Lin Anran walked slowly on their way to school, snowflakes falling on their hair and shoulders.

"Before..." Shen Yu looked ahead, his breath turning into a small puff of white mist in the cold air.

"I don't look forward to the Lunar New Year at all. It feels no different from any other day, or even... worse than when I'm at school, because there's no one at home, just me."

For him and Lin Anran, the Lunar New Year meant emptier streets, quieter houses, and a sense of bewilderment with nowhere to go.

Their fun is theirs; they have nothing...

Lin Anran walked beside him, her fingers gently moving in his palm, her voice very soft:

"Yeah...me too, it doesn't mean anything."

"But now..." Shen Yu turned his head to look at her, a faint smile curving his lips.

"I'm really looking forward to it."

Lin Anran looked up at him, a faint smile reflecting in her eyes, and nodded vigorously:

"Yes! Me too."

Because they now have each other, and also Xiaoyu and the baby.

This year, the New Year is no longer a cold, impersonal time to endure, but rather the first festival belonging to their "family," a time for planning together, working together, and sitting together to eat.

Shen Yu began to make arrangements: "We'll go to the mall this weekend and buy everything we need, like Spring Festival couplets, 'Fu' characters, candies, snacks, and so on. Then on the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, I'll get up early to buy a chicken, and when we get back, I'll start simmering the chicken soup over low heat..."

Lin Anran listened and immediately replied:

"Okay! I've prepared all the groceries and tidied up the house..."

Meanwhile, in Zhang Shuyu's apartment, she was also tidying up the house with great anticipation.

She cleaned the small room spotlessly and dressed her daughter in a newly bought red onesie with a bunny pattern, which made the little one's cheeks look rosy.

"It's almost Chinese New Year! This is our baby's first time celebrating Chinese New Year! Aren't you happy?" Zhang Shuyu held her daughter in her arms, gently rocking her, her face beaming with joy.

The baby seemed to sense her mother's good mood, kicking her little legs in her arms, babbling softly, and trying to grab her mother's loose hair with her tiny hands...

Zhang Shuyu put her daughter on the cushioned sofa to play by herself, and the little one immediately became restless, crawling all over the sofa on her hands and feet, making "ah ah" sounds...

Looking at her lively daughter, Zhang Shuyu's smile deepened.

She walked to the small coffee table, pulled open the bottom drawer, and carefully took out an old tin candy box with cartoon patterns printed on it.

Inside, there was a neatly stacked pile of cash, some in smaller denominations, the largest being one hundred, with many fifty and twenty denominations, and even a few coins—it had accumulated quite a bit...

This is the money she saved from doing handicrafts over the past few months.

She didn't touch the living expenses Shen Yu gave her, nor the child support from Han Feng, since that was meant for the child. She relied on the little money she earned from handicrafts, saving every penny she could.

She wanted to use the money to buy gifts for Shen Yu and Lin Anran...

Her brother and sister-in-law were so good to her; this was the first time she had bought them something with her own money, and her heart was filled with anticipation and solemnity...

She was holding the money, mentally planning what to secretly buy when she went to the mall with Shen Yu and the others that weekend, when her phone on the coffee table suddenly rang...

Thinking it was Shen Yu calling, she immediately put down the tin box and picked it up.

But when you look at the screen, the caller ID isn't Shen Yu's number, but... "Xiangyang Orphanage".

Zhang Shuyu's eyes widened slightly, and she quickly pressed the answer button, holding the phone to her ear, her voice unconsciously carrying a hint of nervousness and anticipation:

"Feed?"

A familiar and warm, slightly aged voice came from the other end of the phone; it was Grandpa Zhang.

"Yes, yes! It's me, Uncle Zhang!"

Zhang Shuyu's voice immediately became cheerful, and the corners of her mouth turned up high.

"Yes! Everything's great! The baby's doing well too, all chubby and full of energy!"

Zhang Shuyu looked at her daughter crawling around on the sofa, her tone full of pride and satisfaction.

"My brother and sister-in-law are very good to me, and I'm doing fine here, so please don't worry, Uncle Zhang..."

Zhang Shuyu listened to the words on the other end of the phone, paused, glanced at the small but warm room that she had cleaned, and thought of Shen Yu and Lin Anran, a warm feeling welling up in her heart.

Her voice was soft, but firm:

"I won't be going back this year... I'll stay here and celebrate the New Year with my brother and the others... This is... our first time celebrating the New Year together..."

"Are you all alright? How are your younger siblings?"

"Really?! She's in school now! Haha, I still remember her following me around and clinging to me. Time flies..."

Zhang Shuyu listened to the other end of the phone as the child chattered on about the children in the yard: who had grown taller, who had become more sensible, who had been naughty and punished...

Her eyes were full of gentle smiles, as if she had returned to that simple yet warm courtyard...

She listened and whispered:

"Hmm... okay, I'm relieved that you're all doing well..."