"Can't even remember to come home, but you still remember to call me Mom?"
Aunt Gu gave her daughter an irritated look. Tongtong usually stayed up late, often playing on her phone until the middle of the night.
Tongtong loved having fun, and Aunt Gu rarely stopped her. As long as she was happy, that was enough.
When it came to staying up late, she admitted she couldn't beat her daughter. As a result, Aunt Gu usually went to bed earlier than Tongtong.
When she woke up this morning and went to her daughter's room, Tongtong was gone. Aunt Gu had nearly been scared out of her wits.
Then she remembered that Tongtong had gone to Jiang Ning's room to play on the computer last night. Could she have never come back? She hurried over to check, only to find that it was true—her daughter was lying in Jiang Ning's bed!
Xue Yuantong scratched her hair and leaned her little face closer. "Mom, is there any food left in the pot?"
"No."
"Then make me some egg fried rice. I remember there was leftover rice from yesterday," Xue Yuantong suggested.
Aunt Gu had only said there was no food to fool her daughter. Now that she saw her shamelessly asking for egg fried rice, she naturally didn't refuse. "Come home with me. After you eat, go put up the couplets."
"Okay!"
Xue Yuantong shut Jiang Ning's door behind her. She didn't lock it. The neighbors were familiar with each other and got along well, so there were no shady thieves around.
In Hui Province, New Year celebrations were held at noon on New Year's Eve.
At noon that day, any family doing reasonably well would prepare a lavish feast. Beef, mutton, crab, and seafood—things they normally couldn't bear to