Oh no, the aloof school beauty has been reborn too!

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, it was just getting light.

The sound of firecrackers in the alley hadn't even faded yet when Liu Chunmei was already busy in the kitchen.

The dumplings I made last night are neatly arranged on the bamboo mat, a row of plump, white dumplings that look festive.

As soon as the water in the pot boiled, she reached out and put the dumplings in.

"Lu Xing! Ning Ning! Wake up and eat dumplings!"

She shouted at the top of her lungs, and the warm air, carrying a fragrance, seeped out through the crack in the door.

Lu Xing had actually been awake for a while.

He heard the noise, responded, and got up to knock on Lu Ningning's door next door.

"Get up, Mom's calling for dumplings."

There was a rustling sound inside the room, followed by a girl's indistinct complaints.

"Okay... no sleeping in on the first day of the Lunar New Year..."

When Lu Ningning sat down at the table, the dumplings were already laid out.

Two plates of steaming dumplings, a dish of vinegar, and a small dish of minced garlic were on the table, filling the room with the aroma of the Chinese New Year.

"Dumplings on the first day of the Lunar New Year, noodles on the second, eat more."

Liu Chunmei took off her apron and poured some vinegar into Lu Shoucheng's dish:

"This morning, your Uncle Li and the others might come over to wish you a Happy New Year."

"Lu Xing, you should stay home and keep him company a bit."

"Um."

Lu Xing picked up a dumpling and took a bite.

The filling of chives and pork was very juicy, a taste he had grown up with.

"We're going to your second aunt's house this afternoon."

Liu Chunmei added another sentence:

"Ningning was clamoring to play with her sister last year, have you forgotten?"

"I haven't forgotten."

Lu Ningning, with her mouth stuffed with dumplings, mumbled:

"My second aunt's fruit is delicious."

"All you do is eat."

Liu Chunmei glared at her, but couldn't help but curl her lips into a smile:

"Your brother is going this afternoon too. He'll help your aunt with her computer while he's at it; she said it was stuck on the last time she called."

Lu Xing nodded:

"Okay, I'll go with you."

Not long after breakfast, there was a knock on the door.

It was Uncle Li and his family who live downstairs, bringing two boxes of milk to wish us a Happy New Year.

Lu Shoucheng got up to greet the guests, and Liu Chunmei busied herself with getting melon seeds and candies, making the room lively all of a sudden.

Lu Xing sat with them for a while, listening to the elders talk about things at the factory and what was happening in the neighborhood.

Lu Ningning couldn't sit still, so she squatted down next to Uncle Li's grandson and teased him. Before long, the child stuffed her hand with candy.

After the guests left, the room became quiet again.

Lu Xing glanced at the time, then got up and walked towards the bedroom.

"I'm going back to my room to read for a while."

Liu Chunmei was tidying up the fruit plates and grunted an "Mmm" without looking up.

Lu Ningning glanced at him, a slight smile playing on her lips, before quickly looking down to unwrap the candy.

Lu Xing closed the door and just as he took out his phone, a video call request popped up.

Press the answer button, and the girl's face immediately appears on the screen.

She wore a beige knitted sweater, and her hair was loosely draped over her shoulders.

Sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, falling on the girl's shoulders, making her feel as soft as a cloud.

"Are you done with work?"

She spoke first, her voice soft and tinged with laughter.

"I just saw off my neighbor who came to pay his respects for the New Year."

Lu Xing walked to the window and sat down, smiling at the screen:

"And what are you doing right now?"

"My parents were entertaining guests in the living room, so I sneaked back to my room."

Hearing the commotion coming from Lu Xing's side, Shen Qingyi turned the camera around and showed it to him through the window.

"Our neighborhood is quite quiet, and there are very few firecrackers."

"Unlike where you are, it's so lively and bustling."

Lu Xing shrugged.

"If you were also woken up by firecrackers early in the morning, you wouldn't say that."

Shen Qingyi smiled and asked again:

What are your plans for today?

"I have to go to my second aunt's house this afternoon to pay my respects for the New Year and help her fix her computer while I'm at it."

Lu Xing paused for a moment.

"Nothing should happen tonight."

"Computer repair?"

Shen Qingyi's eyes curved into a smile.

"Our engineer Lu isn't idle even on his holiday!"

As the two were chatting, the bedroom door suddenly creaked open a crack from the outside.

Lu Xing turned around and saw his silly little sister peeking in with half her head sticking out.

She was clearly trying to sneak a peek, but her gaze met Shen Qingyi's on the screen.

The air was silent for two seconds.

Lu Ningning's face flushed red instantly.

Her hand was still gripping the doorknob, unable to go in or back out.

He froze there, like a thief caught red-handed.

Lu Xing was both annoyed and amused.

He reached out and opened the door, glancing outside.

"Hurry up and come in. Who taught you this spying habit?"

"I...I just came to pick something up..."

Lu Ningning was stubborn, but her feet moved two steps involuntarily, and her eyes couldn't help but drift towards the screen.

After she came in, Lu Xing immediately closed the door.

He was about to introduce them when Shen Qingyi smiled first, her voice very gentle:

"Is this Ningning? Happy New Year!"

"...Happy New Year, Qingyi-jie."

Lu Ningning stammered a greeting, her ears turning bright red.

In her mind, the school beauty should be the kind of person who is not easy to approach.

The girl in the video was wearing loungewear, smiling with her eyes crinkled, and her whole demeanor was excessively gentle.

She really looks even better than in the photos...

"Ningning! What are you doing in your brother's room?"

Suddenly, Liu Chunmei's voice came from outside.

Lu Ningning shuddered and quickly waved at the screen.

"I'm leaving now!"

After saying that, he turned and ran, almost getting his clothes caught in the door as he closed it.

The room fell silent again.

Lu Xing looked at Shen Qingyi on the screen, who was still trying not to laugh, and shook his head helplessly:

"She's such a silly girl, that's just how she is."

Shen Qingyi finally burst out laughing.

"So cute."

"But how did she know about me now?"

Mentioning this, Lu Xing's helplessness became even more apparent.

"She saw my phone wallpaper, and then she used her cleverness to search it all up on Baidu Tieba."

Shen Qingyi was taken aback.

"Then wouldn't that mean all those rumors and things..."

Lu Xing nodded.

"Luckily, I haven't spoiled her for nothing; she knows to shed a few tears for me."

Upon hearing this, Shen Qingyi also showed a helpless expression.

"You're just so stubborn."

Lu Xing immediately revealed a proud expression.

"This means that only you can pry open my little mouth."

Shen Qingyi paused for a moment, then seemed to realize something, her pretty face blushing slightly.

"He's talking nonsense again."

Looking at the girl's face, Lu Xing felt a pang of bitterness rise in his heart.

He suddenly had a strong urge to touch her face.

"School doesn't start for another two weeks."

He whispered:

"We can't just keep making phone calls like this."

Shen Qingyi was stunned for a moment, and her cheeks slowly turned red.

"Then... how about finding a place somewhere in the middle?"

"Let's wait until after the fifth day of the lunar new year."

Lu Xing thought for a moment:

"I'll probably finish paying New Year's visits around the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, and then I'll find an excuse to go back to Jiangcheng for two days."

"OK."

……

When Lu Xing came out of the house, his silly younger sister was sitting on the sofa pretending to watch TV.

After he sat down, Lu Ningning finally couldn't hold back any longer and leaned over to whisper:

"She's such a nice person, and she speaks so gently."

"And she's even prettier than a celebrity..."

Lu Ningning rested her chin on her hand, looking on with a sigh:

"How could someone as wonderful as you have fallen for someone like that?"

Lu Xing paused in his act of peeling the orange and turned to look at her.

"Are you itching for a beating?"

"That's exactly right!"

Lu Ningning shrank to the side.

"But she's really a nice person, much easier to get along with than I imagined."

Lu Xing's lips curled up slightly.

"What kind of person did you think she was before?"

Lu Ningning recalled the photos in those posts.

"Aloof and noble, like a fairy descended from heaven; mortals should not behold her too often."

Lu Xing chuckled.

"Now that you can see people, how does it feel?"

Lu Ningning rested her chin on her hand and said enviously:

"A fairy is a fairy. Even if she is taken advantage of by a pig, she will still be a pure and refined immortal."

Lu Xing put down the oranges and started giving his sister a massage on her temples with his finger bones.

……

In the afternoon, Lu Xing went to his second aunt's house to pay New Year's respects, and he simply reinstalled the system.

The computer was instantly given a second life.

His aunt was overjoyed and kept stuffing red envelopes into his pocket.

He also complimented Lu Ningning, saying she had grown taller and prettier.

So, Lu Ningning and her cousin played in the room for the whole afternoon.

When I left, my pockets were full of candy and snacks, and I felt incredibly satisfied.

A silly girl who's happy as long as she has food.

By the time I got home, it was already dark.

After washing up in the evening, Lu Xing lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

He picked up his phone, wanting to send something to Shen Qingyi, but was afraid she was already asleep.

Just as I was hesitating, the screen lit up.

Shen Qingyi: [Are you asleep?]

Lu Xing flicked his finger and sent the message back:

Lu Xing: [No, I just lay down.]

Almost immediately, the phone rang.

"I thought you were asleep."

The girl's voice came through the receiver, soft and sleepy.

"I just got back from my second aunt's house not long ago."

Lu Xing turned over and looked at the moonlight outside the window:

"Why aren't you asleep yet?"

"I can't sleep."

Shen Qingyi spoke softly.

"...I miss you a little."

We'll be able to meet in a few days.

"Um."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, with only the faint sound of breathing remaining.

Just then, a blurry image flashed through Lu Xing's mind.

It seems like it was a night like this too...

Moonlight shone through the window, and the person beside him breathed softly, sleeping soundly nestled next to him.

Lu Xing frowned.

That inexplicable sense of emptiness welled up in my heart again.

"Traveling by land?"

Shen Qingyi's voice brought him back to his senses:

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

"It's nothing."

Lu Xing suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and softened his voice:

"I'm just thinking about what the first thing I'll do when we meet."

"So what do you want to do?"

Lu Xing chuckled softly.

"Hehe, I want to hug you."

There was silence for a few seconds on the other end of the phone.

Then, he heard the girl softly say "Mmm".

"OK."