Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

Yao Qiang plugged it in, and after confirming that the numbers on it lit up, she immediately smiled and said, "It works, looks like it still works."

At this moment, Ellison had already picked up his teacup, chosen a seat where he could see the living room TV directly, and sat down. Then he patted the table and said, "Hurry up, don't waste time."

It was a rare occasion for them to get together during the Lunar New Year, so Ai Lisong was able to play mahjong to his heart's content. Normally, Lang Xiangying wouldn't allow Ai Lisong to go out and play mahjong with others.

Grandma Ai Qing doesn't play mahjong, so the remaining three spots naturally belong to Yao Qiang, Ai Zhongguo, and Ai Qing, her beloved grandson.

Unfortunately, now they are the only family spending New Year's Eve alone.

When Ai Qing was a child, when several families celebrated New Year's Eve together, Ai Lisong would often catch a few younger relatives and play mahjong together.

The result is that they always end up losing more red envelopes each time, and they keep saying they'll do it again next year.

Of the four people sitting here now, Yao Qiang is considered a veteran due to her work-related social engagements.

Ai Lisong and Ai Zhongguo are about the same, while Ai Qing is only slightly better.

However, when playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year, Yao Qiang doesn't bother to memorize the tiles; she just wants to have fun.

So Ai Qing simply pressed Xiao Yu back into her seat and said with a smile, "Let's bet one yuan, Xiao Yu, and you can win back this year's red envelope for me."

"Can you catch small fish?" Ai Zhongguo asked curiously.

"Little Fish can't." Little Fish shook her head repeatedly, barely having sat down and warmed her bottom.

"I can teach you, what's the rush?" Ai Qing pulled up a stool and sat down next to Xiao Yu, waving her hand and saying, "You guys probably haven't seen the luck of a newbie before, I can beat you all easily."

Learning to make Hangzhou hemp is relatively simple.

After the mahjong game started, Ai Qing only taught Xiao Yu a few rounds, and Xiao Yu had already grasped the most basic winning strategies.

It has to be said that Xiaoyu is quite smart. Although Aiqing often calls her a little fool, with the help of the warm current, Xiaoyu can actually be considered a little prodigy.

But no one would have imagined that the body of this seemingly young girl would house the soul of a kitten less than two years old.

Just as the group had finished playing several rounds, the Spring Festival Gala on TV started playing promptly at 8 p.m.

Lang Xiangying also moved a stool and sat down next to the old man, eating sunflower seeds and watching TV while keeping an eye on the mahjong game.

The family sat happily around the mahjong machine, with the Spring Festival Gala playing in the background.

As for what was broadcast, Ai Qing didn't care much at all.

Ai Qing would only turn her head to glance at the TV screen when Ai Lisong exclaimed in surprise or stared intently at the screen.

These days, Ai Qing has nothing to look forward to in the Spring Festival Gala.

Or rather, even when he was a child, he didn't really have any expectations for the Spring Festival Gala.

The only highlight is that the Spring Festival Gala skits from earlier years were indeed quite interesting; the rest were pretty much the same, just average programs.

So the sound of the Spring Festival Gala naturally became the background music in the living room, serving as casual conversation when the game of mahjong was at a tense point.

Xiaoyu was also looking forward to seeing what the Spring Festival Gala would be like.

But she was really addicted to mahjong after just learning how to play. Once she touched the mahjong table, her hands would stick to it and she couldn't let go.

With such fun mahjong, why bother watching the Spring Festival Gala?

Especially since Xiaoyu was a novice, her luck was incredibly good. After several rounds, she had won nearly two hundred yuan, which all ended up in Ai Qing's pocket.

Even Ai Zhongguo, who was standing next to him, couldn't stand it anymore. After finishing another round, he quickly got up and pulled Ai Qing to sit down, saying, "Come on, come on, I'm not playing anymore. I want to watch the Spring Festival Gala."

"I'll play, I'll play." Ai Qing sat down in the position to Xiao Yu's left, then coughed twice and said, "Xiao Yu, get me a few more cards later."

"Have some shame, kid," Ai Lisong said with a look of disdain. "Can't you have some backbone when playing mahjong? Afraid of losing money?"

"How could I not be afraid?" Ai Qing said confidently. "There aren't even any red envelopes this year. If I lose, it'll be a complete loss. I'm taking a huge risk, okay?"

Chapter 219 Happy New Year!

Starting around 8 PM and continuing until nearly midnight, in a game that cost one yuan, Ai Qing lost over two hundred yuan.

Grandpa Ailisong, who had just won twenty, was all smiles.

Mom Yao Qiang won over fifty yuan and happily pocketed the prize.

The remaining hundred or so were all won by the little fish.

Without a blank sheet, Hangzhou hemp is nothing.

The little fish played all night and could touch almost every time, and it was not uncommon to touch two or three at a time. It was really strange.

Ai Qing had originally thought that since she had successfully started a fire using the warm current in the yard, there might be many other functions of the warm current that she hadn't yet been able to develop.

So when he was playing mahjong, he would try to circulate the warm current and keep pushing it into his eyes.

Unfortunately, aside from seeing further and more clearly, it didn't give him the ability to see through the cards of the other three players.

Hmph, I should have known better than to fight.

Ai Qing pushed the last card away, took Xiao Yu's hand and walked towards the coffee table, picked up two oranges, and sat down on the sofa.

The family of six sat down on the sofa. With only ten minutes left before New Year's Eve, everyone sat down to watch the Spring Festival Gala and celebrate the New Year with the rest of the country.

Ai Qing peeled an orange and put the segments into the little fish's mouth one by one.

Xiaoyu, on the other hand, quietly took out more than three hundred yuan from her pocket.

The two hundred-plus points were won before Ai Zhongguo left the field, and the one hundred-plus points were won after Ai Qing came on.

Xiaoyu took out two hundred from the money and stuffed it into Aiqing's pocket: "Brother, keep this safe. This is Xiaoyu's New Year's red envelope for you."

Ai Qing was amused by her little action and handed her another segment of orange, stuffing it into her rosy little mouth: "Good girl, eat orange."

In this back and forth, he didn't lose any money and even got a red envelope, so wasn't he making a profit?

Ai Qing patted her pocket to make sure the red envelope Xiao Yu had given her was safely inside. She happily peeled the second orange, fed a segment to Xiao Yu, and then ate a segment herself.

Xiao Yu also took some fruit from the coffee table and fed it to Ai Qing.

Meanwhile, Lang Xiangying and Yao Qiang, seeing that it was almost time, immediately got up and ran into the kitchen, bringing out two large bowls of glutinous rice balls and sticky rice cakes.

"Come on, everyone, have some to eat for the New Year's Eve celebration. Take as much as you want."

Lang Xiangying took two small bowls and chopsticks and spoons, one set for each person.

Little Fish, her face full of curiosity, held up her small bowl and looked at the two large bowls on the coffee table. She leaned close to Ai Qing's ear and asked curiously, "What are these?"

"That round one is called tangyuan. It has sweet sesame filling and savory meat filling," Ai Qing whispered. "On the other side is glutinous rice cake, made of glutinous rice. It's delicious when dipped in brown sugar."

After explaining to Xiaoyu, Ai Qing squatted down next to the coffee table and started eating.

It has to be said that eating glutinous rice balls and rice cakes on New Year's Eve is one of the things he looks forward to.

If I were to give him these two things, it would just be something he'd eat for breakfast.

But I don't know why, eating glutinous rice balls and rice cakes during the Lunar New Year always feels especially delicious.

This is the flavor of the New Year that we're really craving.

Seeing Ai Qing squat down by the coffee table, having already picked up a large piece of glutinous rice cake and scooped up several glutinous rice balls, Xiao Yu quickly moved over to his side and followed suit, stretching out her chopsticks as well.

"Here, let me sprinkle some brown sugar on you." Ai Qing took a packet of brown sugar from Yao Qiang and sprinkled a little evenly on Xiao Yu's rice cake.

This rice cake itself has no added seasonings; it's just cooked directly in the pot.

It's soft and chewy, but it doesn't have a particularly special flavor.

The addition of brown sugar sweetness elevates the taste to a whole new level.

After eating most of a piece of glutinous rice cake, Xiaoyu scooped up a glutinous rice ball, carefully blew on it to cool it down, and then ate it with a hissing sound.

"What kind of filling?" Ai Qing asked with a smile.

"It's so sweet!" Little Fish chewed on the glutinous rice ball, her eyes shining. "So delicious!"

"Then eat more. The meat filling inside tastes good too," Ai Qing said, and ate a glutinous rice ball herself.

After finishing the one in its mouth, the little fish ate several more, finally getting a meat-filled one. The savory flavor was so strong that it immediately overpowered the sweetness it had tasted earlier.

It's very refreshing and helps cut through the richness of food.

"Do you like eating small fish?" Lang Xiangying asked from the other end of the sofa. "Just say so if you don't like it."

"How could it not taste good?" Little Fish shook her head repeatedly, a sweet smile on her face. "It's especially delicious!"

A family of six sat around the coffee table eating glutinous rice balls and New Year's cakes, with steam rising from above.

The LCD TV opposite was showing footage of the Spring Festival Gala. The host was standing in the middle of the stage, with hundreds of people dancing behind him, creating a lively scene.

When the host held the microphone and started counting down nineteen, eighteen, seven, six, five, four, the whole family stopped eating.

Final countdown: three, two, one—

"Happy New Year!"

The host's voice faded.

Ai Qing looked at Xiao Yu beside her, leaned over and kissed her fair and tender cheek.

"Little Fish, Happy New Year."

Little Fish blinked, then leaned over and gave Ai Qing a quick kiss: "Happy New Year, brother!"

"Oh my, oh my." Ai Zhongguo, who was standing to the side, clicked his tongue in amazement after seeing this, then turned to Yao Qiang and said, "Look at him, and then look at you. Why didn't you do something like that?"

"How old are you? Aren't you ashamed?" Yao Qiang rolled her eyes at him, picked up a glutinous rice ball, and stuffed it into his mouth to shut him up.

Xiao Yu, who was on the other side, heard Ai Zhongguo and Yao Qiang's conversation and looked puzzled. She leaned close to Ai Qing's ear and whispered, "Don't we need to kiss during New Year's Eve?"

"Who told you that you need to kiss during New Year's Eve?" Ai Qing looked at Xiao Yu with a surprised expression.

"Then why did my brother kiss me just now?" Xiaoyu asked, her face contorted in surprise. "I thought that before saying Happy New Year, you have to give someone a kiss."

"Silly girl, I just thought you were cute, so I gave you a kiss." Ai Qing pinched her cheek, shook her head with a laugh, "It's just one kiss, you can kiss me a few more times."

"Let's go outside and set off fireworks." Ai Zhongguo, having finished eating, stood up and patted his stomach, saying, "After setting off fireworks, we still need to go to the temple to burn incense."

"Let's go." Ai Qing also stood up, glanced at Xiao Yu who was still staring longingly at the glutinous rice balls and rice cakes, and immediately smiled, "We can put the glutinous rice balls and rice cakes back in the pot to keep them warm, and we can eat them again when we come back. Don't be greedy, you little glutton."

"Oh, oh." Xiaoyu stretched out her chopsticks, picked up the last glutinous rice ball and stuffed it into her mouth before hurriedly putting down her bowl and chopsticks and following Ai Qing out of the courtyard.

Lang Xiangying and Yao Qiang put the remaining glutinous rice balls and rice cakes back into the pot to keep them warm. The family of six then tidied up briefly and headed towards the yard to set off some fireworks.

There were two boxes of fireworks in total; Ai Qing carried one, and Ai Zhongguo carried the other.