After laughing at him for a while, she unwillingly bid him goodbye and alighted from his car to return home .
Her mother teased her when she got home because of this .
“Ge Ge, you must’ve gone down in such a hurry to meet Xiao Ji, right?” Her mother grinned at her .
She nodded at this . “Yes . ”
“You should’ve invited him up for a little,” her mother smilingly reproached .
“No need for that,” she muttered .
“Aye, right . Those fireworks out there were launched by that young man, right?” Her mother gave her a mischievous look . Although this was supposed to be a question, her tone was one of certainty .
“Yup . ” A sweet smile blossomed on her lips when she thought of the sky full of fireworks the man had launched for her earlier .
Zhang Manhua’s smile deepened at the sight of this .
Aiya, looks like Xiao Ji and my daughter’s relationship is really good!
“Mom, it’s already late . Quickly go to sleep . ”
“He he, okay . I am about to do that in any case . ”
After chatting for a while more, the mother-daughter pair went to clean themselves and returned to their respective bedrooms .
Once she was inside her room, Pei Ge picked up her phone and saw numerous greetings .
Some were from her colleagues, her friends, her boyfriend’s mother, and—
Fu Mingxuan, who had suddenly disappeared on her, also sent one .
His message somehow gave her a queer feeling .
[Ge Ge, Happy New Year . You must be very happy this new year . ]
Although she got a strange feeling from it, she did not take it to heart but only casually replied with a greeting as well before closing the message .
By the time she replied to every New Year greeting, it was already past 2 AM .
This was when she received her boyfriend’s message .
[I’m home now . ]
[Okay . It’s already late, so go to sleep . Good night!]
Immediately after replying to him, her phone notified her of an incoming message .
“His reply is a little too fast…” she muttered softly, thinking of the man .
When she saw the sender, she realized that it was not from him .
“It’s from senior?” She frowned in confusion when she saw the time on her phone .
It’s already this late; why is senior sending me a message?
Confused, she clicked open his message .
[Not asleep yet?]
She was a little speechless at this .
[About to . ]
Just after she replied to him, her boyfriend’s message came .
[Okay . You rest early, too . Good night and sweet dreams . ]
Her lips curled up at this reply, and she obediently switched off her phone to go to sleep .
She totally forgot about Fu Mingxuan messaging her .
She had a good night’s rest .
On the first day of the year, she could not even sleep in late as she was dragged out of bed by her mother early in the morning .
“Hurry and get up to eat some dumplings . ”
“I’m still sleepy… Let me sleep a little longer . ”
She was so sleepy she burrowed in her bed again while muttering this .
“Today is the first day of the year . Get up now . ”
Her mother livelily flipped her blankets open .
Hence, she could only climb out of bed and wash up in the washroom .
“Hurry . Stop dragging the time . ”
“Okay . ”
She yawned and brushed her teeth as she stood in front of the wash basin .
She was finally more awake by the time she finished washing up .
“Come have some dumplings . Mom made your favorite pork with corn dumplings . ” Her mother pushed a plate of dumplings to her .
“Mhm!” She picked up a dumpling with a huge grin .
“So delicious!”
“Eat more if you like it . ”
Both women happily finished their first breakfast of the year .
Although it might look a little lonely with just the two of them this new year, they actually found it to be the most comfortable new year they ever had .
“Mom, do you want to go shopping today?”
She put down the utensils in her hands and looked at her mother .
“Let’s go to the temple to pray,” her mother said . “Last year went by smoothly, so let’s go pray at the temple this year as well . ”
“Oh . ”
She nodded without any complaint .
“You don’t seem very happy . ” Her mother teased her .
“No, I’m not unhappy,” she quickly refuted . Although she preferred going on a date with her boyfriend, she was not against going to pray with her mother .
“He he! Did Xiao Ji ask you out last night?”
“Mhm . Mom, how did you know?” Her eyes widened .
“What does your mom not know?” Zhang Manhua smugly locked eyes with her . “We’ll go pray this morning, then you can go out with your boyfriend in the afternoon . ”
“Then, what are you going to do in the afternoon?” she asked hesitantly .
It was only the first day of this year . If she went out alone today, then her mother would be by herself .
“Me? Of course, I’m gonna play mahjong with a few of your neighborhood aunties . A few of them here aren’t going to their ancestral homes for this new year, so I won’t be by myself at home . ” Her mother grinned .
“After having siesta, I’ll go find them for mahjong . ”
Pei Ge nodded, feeling at ease with this setup .
“Go give Xiao Ji a call, then . Let him know so he can prepare . ” Her mother urged her .
Nodding, she went to take her phone from her room but heard someone knock on their door .
Knock, knock, knock!
“Who is here at this time? Could it be Xiao Ji?”
“I don’t think it is him…”