311: Chapter 311 A Family

At 6:00 PM, Lin Wanxing carried the flour and vegetables she had just bought from the supermarket and opened the door to 1601 with some exhaustion.

The room was pitch black and silent.

She pressed the switch, and the warm yellow light illuminated the empty living room, a familiar sense of loneliness quietly spreading.

In fact, spending Little New Year alone in a foreign city was nothing new for her.

Although it had been desolate in previous years, she had gotten used to it.

But this year was different. After experiencing the lively (and chaotic) life of living with roommates for a while, now that the roommates had all returned home, the house felt even quieter, and the sense of loss in her heart was infinitely magnified.

What made Lin Wanxing feel even colder was that phone call with her mother yesterday.

Clinging to a last shred of hope, she tentatively sent a WeChat to Zhao Yumei, saying that she might be able to go home for the New Year this year.

As a result, not long after the message was sent, Zhao Yumei called, scolding her in a hurried tone:

"Are you stupid? What critical period is this? Why are you running back instead of staying in Shengtian to keep your boyfriend company? Even if you can't go home with him on New Year's Eve, if you act pitiful, won't he feel bad for you? When the time comes, will there be any shortage of red envelopes and gifts for you? Can you have some sense?"

Listening to her mother's endless calculating on the other end of the line, Lin Wanxing's heart sank bit by bit, and that last bit of hope for family warmth was completely extinguished.

She listened in silence, only replied with "I know, Mom," and hung up the phone.

"Sigh..." Lin Wanxing sighed softly, placed the shopping bag on the entryway cabinet, and changed into her slippers.

Fine, let it be. She should have been used to it long ago.

Spending the New Year alone, it's peaceful.

She changed into loungewear, tied on an apron, and moved the bag of flour to the coffee table in the living room—the kitchen was small, so it was more spacious to make dumplings in the living room.

Anyway, she was alone, so she just did whatever was convenient.

She had just poured the flour into the basin and hadn't had time to add water when a "beep" of the facial recognition unlock sounded at the door.

Then, a male voice came that she should have been instinctively wary of, but felt inexplicably reassured by at this moment:

"Mom, I really can't believe you! Wouldn't it be fine just to buy a few bags of Qinghe Chuanjia? You have to make them yourself, what a hassle!"

Immediately following was another female voice that made her heart jump, gentle yet with a hint of reproach:

"Is it appropriate to eat frozen dumplings during the New Year?! The New Year is about the atmosphere; do you think everyone is as indifferent as you? Maybe Lin is making them right now!"

"Oh, forget it! Do I know her better or do you? She..."

Jiang Ye and Xu Man changed their shoes and walked out of the entryway. The voice stopped abruptly when they saw Lin Wanxing, who was wearing an apron, standing by the coffee table with a basin of flour in front of her.

Jiang Ye's tone faltered, and he rubbed his nose: "...Fine, you know her better."

Xu Man glared at her son, and when she turned to look at Lin Wanxing, a warm smile instantly appeared on her face:

"Look! I told you Lin is a good person to live with! She looks like a virtuous and sensible girl, just like I was when I was young!"

She said, walking over quickly to take the flour bag from Lin Wanxing's hands, and chided: "Lin, let that Stinky Kid do the heavy lifting! Have you mixed the dumpling filling yet?"

"...?" Lin Wanxing looked at the mother and son who had suddenly appeared, especially the kind-smiling Xu Man, and blinked blankly: "Au... Auntie? Jiang Ye? How... how did you get here?"

"Tsk, what are you saying! This is my house, okay!"

Jiang Ye walked carelessly to the sofa and slumped down, crossed his legs, and commanded: "Hurry up, I'm starving! Mom, Wanxing, make leek and egg filling! Put in more leeks, I love them!"

"Get up, get up! Are you acting like a master now?!"

Xu Man immediately frowned and threw the flour bag in her hand directly into his arms: "You just sit there with a thick face? Do you think you're a guest? Go to the kitchen and mix the dough!"

Jiang Ye was choked by the flour and waved his hands repeatedly, looking speechless: "Mom! Wanxing is here, why are you still bossing me around? I don't know how to cook!"

"If you can't cook, then use your strength! Can you mix dough or not? Hurry up! Don't make me beat you on a holiday!" Xu Man put her hands on her hips, her aura fully unleashed.

After lecturing her son, her face changed instantly, and when she turned to Lin Wanxing, she was gentle and kind again:

"Lin, you must be tired after a busy day, right? Sit down and rest for a while, have some water. Auntie will go pick the leeks and stir-fry the eggs. Once this big idiot finishes mixing the dough, we two will make dumplings together, it'll be very fast!"

"..." Jiang Ye watched his mother's double standard, which was like the face-changing art of Sichuan opera, and looked up at the sky speechlessly. But forced by her "tyranny," he could only pout, hug the flour bag, and obediently duck into the kitchen.

Lin Wanxing stared blankly at the interaction between the mother and son, and finally found a chance to interject: "Auntie, why... why did you come over suddenly? It's Little New Year today, shouldn't you..."

"It's the New Year, a family should be together for a reunion, lively and happy, how can they spend it separately?"

As Xu Man skillfully tied on the small apron she had brought, she pursed her lips toward the kitchen: "Xiao Ye said he wanted to pick you up and go home together, but I said no need. We can just come over here and spend it the same... well, it saves you from eating and then running off to put on clothes, and I'd have to clean up myself."

From the kitchen came Jiang Ye's speechless voice: "I told you if you're too lazy to clean up, just call a cleaner, you..."

Xu Man immediately raised an eyebrow: "Are you implying something about me? I am the cleaner!"

"..." Lin Wanxing looked at Xu Man's sincere smiling face and listened to the mother and son's seemingly bickering yet warm conversation, stunned on the spot for a moment.

Family... Reunion... These words tapped gently on her heart like small hammers, and a complex warm current mixed with bitterness welled up.

How many years had it been since anyone included her in the category of "family," and how many years had it been since anyone cared whether she had a "reunion"?

But the next second, she suddenly realized and hurriedly waved her hand to explain: "Auntie! I appreciate your kindness! Thank you so much! But... but I wanted to tell you last time, did you misunderstand something? Jiang Ye and I, we are not..."

"Lin..." Xu Man put down the leeks in her hand, walked to Lin Wanxing's side, pulled her to sit on the sofa, and gently patted the back of her hand:

"Auntie is only forty-seven this year, do you think I'm old and senile? I know exactly what's going on between you two. That brat wants to hide it from me? He's still too young!"

Lin Wanxing breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Auntie knew about the co-renting situation: "It's good that you know! I was really afraid you misunderstood..."