After several rounds of relatives had come and gone, Jiang Luo asked Huo Zongzhuo, “They’re all relatives—don’t you celebrate the New Year together?”
Huo Zongzhuo explained, “My dad isn’t from Suzhou, so his relatives aren’t here. My mom’s an only child, and my grandmother was an only child too, so there aren’t many relatives. We keep in touch normally, but we don’t spend New Year’s together.”
Jiang Luo nodded, understanding.
Not long after, though, another relative arrived with New Year gifts. She chatted casually with Mother and Huo Zongzhuo for a bit, then looked at Jiang Luo in pleasant surprise and said, “What a spirited young man! Very handsome.”
“How old are you? Are you working yet?”
When she heard that he was working, the woman immediately said, “Do you have a girlfriend? I’ve got a few nice girls—really pretty ones. Want me to introduce you?”
Huh?
Jiang Luo was stunned.
Where did that topic even come from?
Mother quickly spoke to the woman in dialect, signaling her to stop. Huo Zongzhuo also said, “He’s still young.”
After the woman left, Jiang Luo suddenly thought of something and burst out laughing. Without missing a beat, he said, “Our Boss Huo is rich—a big-shot CEO. I’m definitely marrying him in the future. Why even ask?”
Then he leaned over toward Mother. “Right, Mom?”
Mother knew Jiang Luo was just clowning around and couldn’t help but smile to herself.
Huo Zongzhuo looked at Jiang Luo with gentle eyes, his expression carrying a mix of helplessness and indulgent affection.
Back in Haicheng, Zhao Mingshi had been having the time of his life these past few days—so much so that he’d completely stopped thinking with his head. Every thought was south of the waist.
After relentless coaxing and wheedling, he managed to get his girlfriend to stay with him all the way until noon on New Year’s Eve.
After lunch, she finally left. Only then did Zhao Mingshi take his time getting dressed.
Not long after, Zhao Shuo showed up.
The moment Zhao Mingshi opened the door and saw him, his brain finally snapped back into gear.
His body stiffened. He realized the room was a complete mess—and he hadn’t cleaned up at all.
But it was too late. Zhao Shuo had already walked in.
As soon as he entered, Zhao Shuo smelled the air and instantly understood what it was. He stared at Zhao Mingshi in disbelief.
“Brother…”
Feeling guilty, Zhao Mingshi rushed to open the windows to air out the room.
Zhao Shuo’s face darkened. He went into the bathroom and, sure enough, saw two toothbrushes on the sink. There was also a faint lingering scent—like the floral cream girls used.
When he came back out, he lifted the blanket on the bed. The sheets were mottled with stains, some of them not even dry yet.
Then he kicked the trash can. Looking inside, he saw several used condoms.
“Zhao Mingshi!”
Zhao Shuo was incredulous. He pointed at the trash can. “You’ve been alone in a hotel lately doing this?!”
“How old do you think you are?!”
“Brother!”
Zhao Mingshi hurried to explain. “She’s my girlfriend. She insisted on coming to see me.”
He added, half-explaining, half-defending himself, “I’m already a sophomore. Having a girlfriend is normal, right?”
Zhao Shuo was so angry he felt lightheaded.
He raised a hand to his forehead. “Mingshi! Dating is dating—sleeping together is sleeping together!”
“You’re nowhere near talking about marriage yet. How could you… how could you…”
In Zhao Shuo’s mind—or in most people’s thinking—this kind of thing was something that should only happen after marriage.
Who sleeps together just because they’re dating?
Was society really that open now?
Put bluntly, only people with loose morals would—
“Zhao Mingshi!”
Grinding his teeth, Zhao Shuo pointed at him, frustrated and helpless. “If Dad and Mom and my dad found out…”
“You really—”
“What if she gets pregnant? You can’t seriously get married and have a kid while you’re still in college, can you?”
Zhao Mingshi blurted out something that nearly made Zhao Shuo jump.
“How could that happen?”
“I’m just dating her. I never said I’d marry her.”
“She’s not even local, and her family doesn’t have any background. How could I marry her?”
“Being pretty doesn’t count for anything.”
“You—!”
Zhao Shuo stared at him in disbelief. “Is that something a college student should be saying?!”
“Is this really your mindset?!”
Only then did Zhao Mingshi realize he’d exposed himself. He hurriedly said, “She looked down on me first!”
“When she found out my parents were officials, she主动 pursued me.”
“But when she learned I’d been switched at birth and that my real parents were just silk factory workers, her attitude changed immediately.”
“She said herself she’d only sleep with me and wouldn’t marry me.”
Zhao Shuo’s head was pounding. Are college students these days really like this?
Zhao Mingshi pleaded, “Brother, don’t tell Mom and Dad, okay?”
“I—I was just impulsive.”
“She came over, kissing me, hugging me—I couldn’t hold back.”
Zhao Shuo said grimly, “Mingshi! I’m not an idiot. I’m a man too!”
“If you didn’t have feelings for her, how could the two of you end up in bed together?”
“Don’t shove all the responsibility onto someone else!”
Zhao Shuo was truly disappointed. “Zhao Mingshi, after the New Year you’ll still only be nineteen. You’re still in school—a student. How could you do something like this?”
Zhao Shuo had originally come to take Zhao Mingshi home to celebrate the New Year together.
For the past couple of days, he’d been coaxing Zhao Guangqian nonstop. It was New Year’s Eve, relatives were all there, all persuading Zhao Guangqian to accept Zhao Mingshi again—praising him up and down, saying he was smart, well-mannered, well-educated, destined for great things, sure to be filial in the future.
Zhao Guangqian had finally been persuaded. Not wanting to make a scene during the holidays, he’d relented.
But who would’ve thought…
True to the Zhao family bloodline, Zhao Shuo carried traces of both Zhao Guangqian and Zhao Guangyuan. Angry and fed up, he immediately said, “You’re not coming home for New Year’s Eve!”
“Stay in the hotel by yourself and reflect!”
“Or go back to your biological parents!”
“Brother!”
Zhao Mingshi panicked.
Zhao Shuo turned and walked away.
“Brother!”
Zhao Mingshi was anxious, angry, and full of regret—regret that he hadn’t cleaned up the room before Zhao Shuo arrived.
He shouted, “Brother! You used to dote on me the most!”
Zhao Shuo glanced back without stopping. “You didn’t used to do things this ridiculous. You used to be my good little brother too!”
Bang.
The door slammed shut.
Gritting his teeth, Zhao Mingshi grabbed a water glass off the table and smashed it to the floor.
—
At the Suzhou old house, Jiang Luo, Huo Zongzhuo, and Mother sat together. The three raised their glasses, filled with Suzhou’s special osmanthus wine.
“Happy New Year’s Eve!”
They clinked glasses and happily began their reunion dinner.
In a small county town in northern Jiangsu, Mo Wanzhen sat with her family for their reunion meal. She’d prepared red envelopes, and as soon as they sat down, she handed them out—to her siblings and to her parents. Everyone was delighted, the atmosphere warm and joyful.
Back in Haicheng, Zhang Ningfu was also celebrating with his family. Old Xue, though alone, didn’t shortchange himself—meat, fish, and even a good bottle of liquor sat on his table.
Wang Chuang was at his grandparents’ place with his parents and extended family. These days, his family finally held their heads high. Wang Chuang spoke with far more confidence than before, and his uncles and older relatives looked at them with new respect, praising Wang Chuang and saying Wang Junwei and Bai Ting had raised an excellent son.
Jiang Jianmin and Zhang Xiangping didn’t end up waiting for Zhao Mingshi. Instead, they went to Old Master Jiang’s place and celebrated with Jiang Jianmin’s two brothers. Around the table, Jiang Jianmin still bragged nonstop about how his son was a top student at Fudan.
Jiang Luo’s eldest uncle asked, “Where’s Jiang Luo? Did he go back to his biological parents’ place?”
Jiang Jianmin sneered. “Ungrateful brat. He’s not even my real son—if he wants to go back, let him. I’ll just pretend I raised a dog all those years.”
—
At the Zhao household, the whole family was naturally gathered together in high spirits.
The difference was that most of the Zhao relatives were doing pretty well for themselves—either holding minor leadership positions within the system like Zhao Guangyuan, or running businesses like Zhao Guangqian, even if not on quite the same scale.
At the dinner table, people chatted about work units, daily trivia, and eventually about Pudong and real estate.
Someone said, “I saw some new buildings going up in Gubei. Really beautiful. No wonder they call it an international community—they even sell to foreigners.”
“I saw them too. They’re nice. Prices must be high.”
“Your family buying one?”
“We’ll see. If the buildings and layouts are good, we’ll probably buy.”
As the conversation went on, someone asked Su Lan, “Zhao Shuo’s not young anymore. Is he still seeing that girlfriend from before?”
“You’ll be buying him a place for marriage, right?”
“Gubei really is great. Planning to buy there?”
Because Zhao Mingshi wasn’t there—and because of Jiang Luo—Su Lan was in low spirits. She forced herself to respond. “We’ll go take a look first. Hard to say.”
“I prefer townhouses,” she added. “One floor for eating, one for resting—no interference.”
A relative laughed. “Zhao Shuo, your mom’s buying you a townhouse for your wedding.”
Zhao Shuo smiled faintly, but he wasn’t in the mood.
Zhao Guangyuan sat with Zhao Guangqian, the brothers chatting quietly over dinner about Pudong.
Zhao Guangyuan said, “Those plots of land—their purpose was decided long ago.”