"Auntie, let's go play over there." Youyou pointed outside.
"Okay." Wen Sining replied.
Youyou pulled Wen Sining out and led her to the garden. Wen Sining sat down with her.
Youyou introduced her friends to Wen Sining, all of them were kids.
Wen Sining played with the kids. She sat there watching them running around. Their laughter lingered in her ears, gradually sweeping away the sense of loss caused by Lu Luochen. But she still didn't want to talk to him.
Soon it was mealtime. They sat down at the table. The people who came later were some of Jiang Nanxu's friends. There weren't many of them.
Wen Sining was arranged to sit next to Jiang Nanxu. Naturally, Lu Luochen sat next to Wen Sining. As the protagonist of the day, Youyou sat in the middle.
"What's wrong?" Lu Luochen asked in a low voice. He noticed that Wen Sining didn't look well.
"Nothing." Wen Sining didn't want to talk to him much at the moment.
"Are you feeling unwell? I brought some medicine for you. Drink it after dinner." Lu Luochen thought it might be the rashes from the allergy that were bothering her.
"I'm really okay." Wen Sining said. However, she didn't expect that Lu Luochen would bring medicine for her.
Seeing this, Lu Luochen didn't ask any more questions. The dinner came to an end.
After dinner, the servant wheeled in a three - tiered cake. Jiang Nanxu put a birthday hat on Youyou.
The lights in the room went out at that moment. Youyou's father lit the candles for her.
"Make a wish!"
Youyou closed her eyes, made a wish, and then opened them. The birthday song sung by the friends filled her ears.
She blew out the candles with a puff of air. The lights in the room came on. Jiang Nanxu cut the cake and distributed it to everyone at the table.
Wen Sining picked up a fork and took a bite. The cream on it was sweet but not greasy. She didn't mind it.
Lu Luochen reached his fork over. When Wen Sining saw it, she directly reached out and slapped his hand. "Don't you have your own? Stay away from mine." Then she picked up the cake in front of her to keep it out of his reach.
Lu Luochen had no choice but to give up.
After eating the cake, they went to the lawn outside. It was Chinese New Year's Eve that night, and they had also prepared a fireworks show.
Wen Sining watched the fireworks blooming in the sky. She couldn't remember when the last time she watched fireworks was.
Lu Luochen stood beside her. He glanced at the smile on Wen Sining's face and couldn't help asking, "Do you like fireworks?"
"Not really." Wen Sining replied. She couldn't say she liked them, after all, the beauty of fireworks only lasted for a moment.
Youyou ran towards Wen Sining. "Auntie."
Hearing the voice, Wen Sining looked down at her. "What's up, Youyou?"
"Here." Youyou stuffed a few sparklers into Wen Sining's hand. "Auntie, I'm going to play."
Wen Sining nodded. Looking at the sparklers in her hand, she asked Jiang Nanxu for a lighter and lit them. She hadn't played with them since she grew up.
Lu Luochen, standing beside her, took out his phone from his pocket and took a picture of Wen Sining.
The fireworks show ended soon. Wen Sining received a call from Grandpa, asking when the two of them would go back.
Only then did Wen Sining realize that it was getting late. After saying goodbye to Jiang Nanxu and Youyou, she and Lu Luochen left.
The two walked one after the other. Lu Luochen, who was walking behind, caught up with her. "Why are you walking so fast?"
"I want to go back quickly." Wen Sining made up an excuse casually. She just didn't want to walk with Lu Luochen.
Lu Luochen just replied with an "oh".
The two of them went back.
As soon as they entered, they saw Grandpa Lu and Uncle Li playing chess in the yard.
Grandpa Lu saw them coming back and waved. "You're back."
Wen Sining nodded. The two sat down beside them and watched them play chess.
"Is there anything you want to eat, Ningning?" Grandpa Lu asked. It was Chinese New Year's Eve, and they were going to have the New Year's Eve dinner.
"I'm okay with anything. By the way, where's Qingtang?" Wen Sining didn't see her when she came in.
"She's in the kitchen." Uncle Li answered.
"Then I'll go and help her." With that, Wen Sining stood up. She wasn't interested in playing chess, and another reason was that she didn't want to stay with Lu Luochen at the moment.
"Then go ahead!" Grandpa Lu said.
Lu Luochen glanced at her. He wanted to say something but didn't. Watching Wen Sining leave, for some reason, he always felt that Wen Sining was in a bad mood, but he didn't know why.
Wen Sining went to the kitchen. Actually, there were only the five of them having the New Year's Eve dinner that day.
When Qingtang saw her, she immediately said, "Grandma, why did you come in? The kitchen is so smoky. You should go out quickly."
"I came to see if there's anything I can help with." Wen Sining looked around and said.
"I can handle it by myself. Grandma, go and take a rest." Qingtang said.
"It's okay. I'm just idle anyway." Wen Sining saw the tomatoes on the table, picked one up, and said, "I'll go and wash these."
Qingtang had no choice but to let her do as she wanted.
Just like this, Wen Sining was dealing with some simple ingredients on one side while Qingtang was cooking.
"Since you guys came back, the house has become much livelier. Usually, it's just the two of us during the Chinese New Year. It's so quiet." Qingtang couldn't help saying.
"Really? Then we'll come back every year to celebrate the Chinese New Year with you guys." Wen Sining replied while washing the vegetables.
"Actually, it's not necessary. As long as you guys are okay, that's enough." Qingtang said.
Wen Sining didn't reply. She didn't know what would happen between her and Lu Luochen. She had been ready to put her heart into him, but after hearing what he said today, she realized how ridiculous her thoughts were.
At ten o'clock, they had prepared the New Year's Eve dinner. The dishes were served on the table. Qingtang called the people still playing chess outside to come and eat.
They sat down. Naturally, Lu Luochen sat next to Wen Sining.
The Spring Festival Gala was playing on the TV. It was only at this moment that Wen Sining felt the atmosphere of the Chinese New Year. Thinking about last year when she was still at her aunt's house, and this year she was here. Time really flew by. A lot of things had happened in this year.
"Happy New Year!" Qingtang raised her glass.
The others also raised their glasses and clinked them. Lu Luochen glanced at Wen Sining.
"Ningning, eat more." Grandpa Lu picked some dishes for Wen Sining.
"Okay." Wen Sining replied. She had to admit that Qingtang's cooking was really good.
The New Year's Eve dinner ended with the host's countdown. Most of the dishes had been eaten. The rest would be taken care of by Qingtang.
Wen Sining went back to the room to take a shower. When Lu Luochen came back from outside, she had just finished showering.
"Drink the medicine." Lu Luochen handed her the medicine and a glass of water.