333: Chapter 333 Year

The footsteps of the New Year were drawing closer, and the festive atmosphere in Room 1601 of Jindi Shangfeng was growing stronger.

Under the strong leadership of Ms. Xu Man and the quiet assistance of Lin Wanxing, this makeshift little family managed to experience the liveliness and warmth of a typical "family of three."

Putting up Spring Festival couplets, hanging "Fu" characters, cleaning the house... every traditional process was carried out in an orderly manner under Xu Man's direction.

Of course, facing the affectionate gaze that Ms. Xu Man cast from time to time, Coach Lin would occasionally still appear a bit at a loss.

Whenever this happened, Jiang Ye would promptly transform into "lubricant" and step in, easing any awkwardness or stiffness that might arise, fully proving the importance of lubricant in relationships between men and women.

On New Year's Eve, an incredibly sumptuous reunion dinner was finally served.

Lin Wanxing did the cooking, Xu Man helped out, and Jiang Ye was responsible for tasting and getting scolded; the three had a clear division of labor and worked together in perfect harmony.

Although fireworks were banned in the city, the sound of firecrackers outside the window continued one after another, seeming even livelier than in previous years.

Inside the house, the Spring Festival Gala was playing on TV; although the quality of the program was criticized every year, it was indispensable as background noise.

The three raised their glasses. Xu Man delivered an enthusiastic toast, highlighting Lin Wanxing's "diligence and virtue, keeping the home in perfect order," and once again subtly reprimanded Jiang Ye: "You must know how to cherish her, and stop acting so unserious all day long."

After some reprimanding, she seemed to suddenly remember the other two "daughters-in-law," so she had Jiang Ye make a video call.

Two mobile phones were propped up on either side of the wine bottle, and two smiling faces instantly appeared on the screens.

Ye Cheng and Su Ning were as sweet-tongued as if they had smeared honey on their lips, saying "Happy New Year, Auntie," "You've worked hard, Auntie," and "The food Auntie made looks delicious," coaxing Xu Man until she was beaming with joy.

Looking at the reunion dinner, which had finally become lively again since Old Jiang passed away, Xu Man's eyes turned slightly red, and she said repeatedly: "Good, good, you all be well too, take care of yourselves at your parents' homes..."

However, this warm scene of "remote dining" lasted for about twenty minutes before she couldn't quite handle the strange atmosphere anymore.

Especially since Jiang Ye had placed two empty bowls in front of the phones, occasionally picking up a piece of food and putting it in, muttering, "It's the New Year, eat more," and "There's nothing good to eat over there, right?" Seeing this made the corners of Xu Man's eyes twitch, and she quickly found an excuse to have Jiang Ye hang up the phone.

As the New Year bell rang and Jiang Ye finished kowtowing to his mother to wish her a Happy New Year, his phone buzzed and entered information bombardment mode.

Fang Wei, Tian Lijuan, Cheng Weiwei, Jiang Shuang, Sun Na... New Year's greetings from classmates and friends came flooding in.

Of course, there was no shortage of exclusive greetings from "insiders."

Ye Cheng: "Boss, Happy New Year. Jiang Ye, thank you for appearing by my side. Hubby, I love you."

Su Ning's text message: [Little Brother~ Hap! py! New! Year!~~ I am really so sensible! I didn't call you because I didn't want to put you in a difficult position about whose call to answer. Treat me better in the new year, okay!]

Yao Yao's WeChat: [Brother Ye, Happy New Year! Thank you for your support in 2025. I hope you can always stay with me, and we will be together forever~ PS: The two months are almost up, shouldn't we meet?]

Jiang Ye looked at the screen and chuckled.

After replying with some New Year greetings, he clicked on Ye Cheng's chat box and transferred 300,000 directly, with the note "New Year's money."

On Valentines Day, it was Little Ye who took the initiative, so there was no "charge." Recently, she had spent quite a bit on gifts for herself, and she probably didn't have much money left, so it was time to replenish her ammunition.

Of course, Jiang Ye never did business at a loss. After the transfer was successful, he decisively added another line of text:

[Ten times prepaid, according to the buy-two-get-one-free promotional price, 15 times in total, thank you.]

Ye Cheng instantly replied with a middle finger emoji.

Jiang Ye: [Hmm... that works too.]

Ye Cheng: [...]

Next, Jiang Ye clicked into the "Wen Yus Girlfriend" livestream room.

On New Year's Eve, only Zhi Xia was still at her post in the hall, recording the red envelopes and blessings sent by the various "big brothers."

Jiang Ye casually gifted 35 Carnivals to Datou and typed in the bullet screen: [30 for Yao Yao, 5 for Zhi Xia, Happy New Year.] Then, amidst Zhi Xia's series of incredibly excited New Year greetings, he stylishly exited the livestream room.

Beside him, Lin Wanxing saw him put away his phone, and since Xu Man was doubled over with laughter at a comedy sketch, she raised her glass and said softly:

"Jiang Ye, Happy New Year."

Jiang Ye glanced at his mother's ears, which had instantly perked up, and happily raised his glass to clink it gently against hers:

"Happy New Year, Coach Lin. In this new life, please take care of me."

Over the next three days, the traditional activities of visiting relatives and friends were simplified significantly by a wave of Xu Man's hand.

In her view, her son had "made a little money" and was now in a critical stage of "getting rich quietly," so the most taboo thing was to be flashy.

Therefore, the gatherings and visits to relatives—like the second aunt, third uncle, fourth aunt, fifth uncle, and a host of familiar yet strange relatives—that she usually ordered Jiang Ye to attend every year were all handled by Xu Man alone this year, and she went by herself.

This allowed him to breathe a huge sigh of relief and enabled him to peacefully (pester) rest (Lin) and recuperate (Wanxing) at home.

Over the past few days, Jiang Ye had tried several times to use special time milestones like "staying up for the New Year" and "the first day of the New Year" to launch "strategic probes" at Coach Lin, hoping to achieve the milestone of a "private 1-on-1 yoga class" in one fell swoop.

Unfortunately, Lin Wanxing's defense was airtight. She could always mercilessly suppress him with impeccable excuses like "It's inconvenient with Auntie here," "Why practice on the New Year," and "The morning nap on the first day is more important," leaving him feeling quite helpless.

Although Coach Lin had successfully "bought a ticket," in Jiang Ye's imagination, the New Year period was a critical window. He had to complete substantial intimate contact with Lin Wanxing to push their relationship a step further.

Otherwise, given her shy and retreating personality, once the two "big bosses" Ye Cheng and Su Ning returned, the little spark of ambiguity he had worked so hard to cultivate would likely be extinguished instantly, directly regressing to the awkward state of "having seen each other's bodies but pretending nothing happened."

Of course, it wasn't without progress.

Under Jiang Ye's persistent, carrot-and-stick "negotiations," by the evening of the second day of the New Year, Lin Wanxing was finally worn down by him. She gave in with annoyance and vaguely indicated, "The fourth day... we'll talk after the fourth day."

Thus, amidst the busyness, warmth, and Jiang Ye's unremitting "struggle," the days with the strongest New Year atmosphere quietly slipped away.

In the blink of an eye, it was the fourth day of the New Year, the day he had pinned his high hopes on.