Going home for Chinese New Year, I squeezed onto a bus with three energetic young women.

The person who came was Little Gourd.

Bai Li recognized him; they used to play together naked when they were kids.

However, Little Gourd has always been honest, kind, and simple-minded, and speaks slowly.

Little Gourd, covered in sweat, rushed into the private room, apologizing repeatedly: "I'm so sorry, the traffic was terrible, I'm late."

As he spoke, he rubbed his hands together, walked to the table, and grabbed another unopened bottle of Feitian Moutai.

"I'll punish myself with three drinks first!"

Xiao Hulu usually works on construction sites and doesn't recognize the packaging at all, assuming it's just ordinary liquor.

After filling the glass, he grabbed the three small glasses in front of him, tilted his head back, and gulped it down.

Glug glug, the first cup down.

Then he poured a second cup and downed it in one gulp.

The two cups together weigh a full six ounces.

Just as he was about to pour the third glass, Bai Li reached out and pressed down on the bottle, snatching it away:

"Alright, it's just a village gathering, not a business meeting. You haven't even eaten much, why are you drinking so fast?"

Little Gourd chuckled twice, then raised the back of his hand to wipe the wine stains from his lips:

"My dad taught me that the way to show respect at the dinner table is to drink more alcohol, and you can't go wrong."

Even after he finished speaking, he was still struggling to reach the third empty cup on the table.

The second child opposite him suddenly stood up.

He fears Bai Li and tries to curry favor with Bai Li, but he is not afraid of the little gourd.

This is Moutai!

It was money I shed from a huge amount of blood that I used to welcome Bai Li home!

This idiot drank six ounces of liquor right off the bat. A bottle of liquor is only a pound at most, and he drank more than half of it!

Erwa was heartbroken and pointed at Xiaohulu's nose, yelling, "Traffic jam? What kind of car do you drive that can cause traffic jams?"

The little gourd shrank its shoulders from the shout and answered honestly:

"I'm using... LinkCloud."

"Lianyun?" Erwa raised his voice, looked around, and made a veiled insult:

"We all drive Mercedes! Panameras! At the very least, Volkswagens! You drive a LinkCloud car, what right do you have to participate in our game?"

"And you fucking brewed almost half a bottle of good wine the moment you arrived!"

He cleared his throat and adopted what he thought was a humorous tone:

I once heard a saying that I'd like to share with you today.

"You drive your LinkCloud car to a party, the village chief makes you kneel at the dinner table, the village bully laughs and says it's not even worth as much as his Range Rover's purchase tax, and the village beauty laughs until she cries when she sees your car keys."

"You're asking if there's some misunderstanding? Actually, you're guilty of something by launching Lianyun! You've been bent over for twenty-four years, and the moment you lifted Lianyun, it snapped!"

After saying that, Erwa covered her mouth and laughed out loud, then turned to look at Bai Li:

"Brother Li, you've made a fool of yourself. This kind of person just doesn't know the rules."

The private room was completely silent.

Bai Li's anger flared up as he looked at Erwa's fawning face.

"Do you think you're being funny?"

"This is an insult to the working people! To define a person's worth by the amount of wealth they receive... and yet they're secretly pleased with themselves."

"You're the one who doesn't deserve to be at the table!"

Chen Tingting also slammed her chopsticks onto the plate:

"What the hell kind of bastard are you?"

The red-haired leader stood up and pointed at Erwa's nose:

"Is this really necessary? You've only had a couple of sips of your cat pee, and you're already whining and showing off your beat-up Mercedes, huh?"

Erwa shrank back in anger after being scolded, not daring to retaliate.

"Alright, Tingting, it's Chinese New Year, stop swearing." Bai Li reached out and grabbed Chen Tingting's arm, pressing her back into her seat.

Then he leaned back in his chair and looked at Erwa:

"Not only will I not scold you, I will also wish you well."

"I wish your mother would be stuffed with red envelopes by two hundred Gods of Wealth on the street at the same time, leaving the ground covered in red and purple money."

"As your father found your mother on the street, who was so happy she fainted, I took out the Spring Festival couplets that symbolized longevity from his pocket, and they finally soared into the sky with the sound of New Year's firecrackers."

Erwa's smile vanished.

He racked his brains and painstakingly broke down and analyzed every single word in the passage.

Two hundred men, the ground covered in red and purple...

This one is angry...

Sweat dripped from Erwa's forehead, and he quickly bowed his head and bent over.

"Brother Li, I was wrong."

Bai Li picked up her water glass and took a sip: "What's wrong with that?"

Erwa looked at the others around him and said through gritted teeth:

"I shouldn't have treated my fellow villagers like that, I shouldn't have bullied them, my foul mouth deserves a beating!"

"Slap! Slap! Slap!" Erwa slapped himself repeatedly, afraid that Bai Li would hold a grudge and have someone deal with him, and shouted, "I was really wrong! I'm such an idiot!"

"Now that you know you're wrong, why don't you go buy some melon seeds for Little Gourd!"

Erwa felt as if he had been granted a pardon and scrambled out of the cotton curtain.

I lost interest in the dinner.

Bai Li patted the little gourd on the shoulder and comforted it:

"Erwa is just a snob, don't take it to heart. If you're upset, just hit him or yell at him. It's okay, I'll back you up."

"Take this bottle of wine too. This wine is for people to drink." After saying that, Bai Li grabbed the Moutai on the table and stuffed it into Xiao Hulu's arms before leaving the restaurant with the four girls.

The night breeze was cool, dispelling the smell of alcohol from my body.

Four energetic young women followed behind Bai Li, chattering excitedly about what had happened at the dinner table earlier.

"Big brother, the insults you just hurled were absolutely brilliant! Two hundred Gods of Wealth, how did you even come up with that?" Li Jiaxin laughed so hard she couldn't stand up straight.

"Yeah, that Erwa's face turned green, but he didn't dare to talk back. It was so satisfying." Lin Xiaoshuang skipped and jumped, holding Bai Li's arm.

Bai Jian and Bai Mo watched Bai Li's every move from beginning to end.

Bai Mo's eyes were filled with admiration.

As for Bai Jian... he could only sigh inwardly, thinking that Bai Li had at least held back when he scolded him...

Back at the Bai family's old house, the lights in the courtyard were still on.

My parents had finished playing cards and were drinking tea in the main room.

"You're back?" Wang Xiulian stood up and patted the sunflower seed shells off her clothes. "I've already heated up the kang (heated brick bed) for you."

She turned her head and glanced at the four brightly dressed girls, muttering to herself with a troubled expression:

"There aren't enough rooms at home, and not enough blankets either. How about Tingting, the four of you can make do in that room? Xiaoli, you go..."

Before he could finish speaking, Bai Weiguo walked over with a thermos cup, frantically giving him meaningful glances.

"Wife, this arrangement is unreasonable." Bai Weiguo cleared his throat in a serious tone:

"I'm feeling a bit dizzy from drinking tonight, and I'm worried my snoring will disturb you, so I'll have to sleep in a separate room. You'll sleep in your own room. The eldest son's family, the third son's family, and their children are taking up two side rooms. All things considered, the only room left in the house is the one with the big earthen bed."

Wang Xiulian's eyes widened: "Then Xiao Li and them..."

"They'll have to sleep together!" Bai Weiguo made the final decision, then turned to Bai Li and winked, "That kang (heated brick bed) is big, it's spacious enough for five people. It's settled then, we should all be together for the New Year."

Bai Li's lips twitched.

Dad's assist was so blatantly shameless.

Upon hearing this, the four spirited young women's eyes lit up, and they dragged Bai Li towards the side room.

Bai Li grabbed his toiletries and, while the four girls were washing their faces, put on his coat and went out into the yard, taking out his phone.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, I must wish Li Mengmeng and Jiang Ruyue a Happy New Year.

I dialed Li Mengmeng's number first.

The phone was answered after only two rings, and a soft, cheerful voice came through the receiver: "Brother Bai Li!"

"I'm here." Bai Li felt much better hearing her lively voice. "Did you have a good time back home today?"

"I'm so happy! So many relatives came to visit and I received so many red envelopes." Li Mengmeng paused, her voice soft and drawn out, "But... I miss you so much. Are you alone in our hometown?"

Bai Li was covered in sweat.

The sounds of Zhang Qian and Li Jiaxin playfully fighting over a towel came from the house behind them.

"Yes, my parents and relatives are in my hometown." Bai Li spoke without blushing, her expression natural, and her pace steady.

"Then you have to be good, okay? I'll come find you after the New Year," Li Mengmeng said obediently.

After hanging up the phone, Bai Li searched through her contacts and realized that she hadn't saved Jiang Ruyue's phone number.

Fortunately, Jiang Ruyue's WeChat ID was her phone number, so he dialed the number directly.

After a few beeps, the call connected.

"Feed? Guess who I am?" Bai Li deliberately lowered his voice.

"Bai Li." Jiang Ruyue's voice was uttered without hesitation.

Bai Li was a little puzzled, and looked at the screen of her phone: "How did you recognize me?"

"Because this phone number is so suggestive..." Jiang Ruyue's voice was serious, without any inflection: "So I guessed it was you."

Bai Li was completely bewildered: "???"

Who taught this girl her harsh language?

She's supposed to be a cool and aloof girl, the kind of person everyone admires. She usually ignores anyone who tries to talk to her at school. So why does she always talk to me like this?

Before he could even utter a few words of instruction, the door to the side room behind him opened.

Chen Tingting leaned out, her hair still wet: "Big brother! I've prepared the water for you, come wash up and go to bed!"

Bai Li quickly said into the phone, "Happy New Year, get some rest," and hung up.

After washing up, Bai Li, wearing her pajamas, pushed open the door to the room.

The room was warm and cozy, with the earthen kang (heated brick bed) burning brightly.

The four energetic young women had all crawled into bed and lined up in a row.

Upon seeing him enter, the four girls laughed maliciously.

"Purple-haired and Yellow-haired, you two get out of my way! Tonight I'm sleeping next to Big Brother!" Chen Tingting rolled over and took over the innermost spot: "If you don't let me, you know what I'm capable of!"

"That's right! It's my turn to gang rape! You two were the ones who got the better deal last night!" Zhang Qian reacted quickly, rolling to the other side and blocking the middle position.

The two women's attitudes were quite assertive.

Li Jiaxin and Lin Xiaoshuang could only bite their lips and watch helplessly as Bai Li climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed) and lay down between Chen Tingting and Zhang Qian.

"Phew...it's so warm." Lin Xiaoshuang wrapped herself tighter in the blanket and smacked her lips.

"It's been a long time since I slept on a heated kang bed. I used to sleep on one when I was a child in the countryside," Li Jiaxin sighed.

Chen Tingting leaned close to Bai Li's ear and blew hot breath into his neck: "Big brother, are we going to do something?"

Zhang Qian wasn't going to be outdone, and with her long legs she straddled Bai Li, pinning him down:

"That's right, that's right. The night is long, don't waste your uncle's good intentions."

"Ahem." Bai Li coughed twice, took out the remote control from under his pillow, and pressed the switch on the TV on the wall: "Let's review the Spring Festival Gala."

The screen lights up and begins playing a replay of the program.

Zhang Qian nestled half her body in Bai Li's arms, while Chen Tingting hugged him from behind.

Their eyes were glued to the TV screen, but their hands were far from still, drawing circles on Bai Li's abs.

The TV was showing a group of people dressed in brightly colored clothes dancing on stage.

Zhang Qian pouted, but her hand went lower and lower:

"Big brother...why are they all robots? What's the point of watching them...they're not fun at all."

Then she raised her head, her eyes glazed over, her voice trembling with a sickening sweetness:

"How about we play something fun?"