Happy New Year

The program was playing the song "Herbal Medicine," and listening to the interplay between the male and female vocals, there was a strangely hypnotic quality to it.

"Buzz, buzz."

The sound of a vibrating phone rang out.

Stealing a glance at his aunt and uncle and seeing them engrossed in the show, Lu Mingfei quietly slipped into his bedroom.

He opened his phone to see a QQ message from Su Xiaoqiang: "Mingfei, I'm watching the Spring Festival Gala right now. What are you up to?"

Lu Mingfei typed back: "Same here. Jay Chou's song is really something else."

"Hehe, I think so too!"

Then came a selfie from Su Xiaoqiang, showing her sitting on the sofa and flashing a peace sign.

With her face close to the screen, he could see her eyes sparkling. Her skin was fair, and though she wasn't wearing lipstick, her lips looked naturally rosy and incredibly pretty.

Lu Mingfei smiled, snapped a photo of the fireworks outside his window, and hit send.

Su Xiaoqiang curled up on the sofa, looking at the photo Lu Mingfei had sent, and pouted. Ugh, why isn't it a picture of himself!

After much pestering, Lu Mingfei finally took a photo of himself and sent it over.

In the photo, Lu Mingfei was grinning brightly, making the same peace sign as Little Goddess, only he was sitting on his bed.

Little Goddess saved it with satisfaction and set it as her screensaver.

"Mingfei, do you have any plans for the New Year? My parents are planning to take me to Germany for a trip. Don't miss me too much while I'm gone," Su Xiaoqiang sent the message, full of smiles.

"What a coincidence, my uncle is taking us to Japan for a few days. I'm so excited!"

Lu Mingfei's message came through.

"What are you looking forward to?" Su Xiaoqiang was very curious. In her impression, Lu Mingfei was a man of few desires; other than snacking, she had never seen him take an interest in anything.

"Come on, that's the birthplace of JOJO, Fate, and so many other anime! I heard we're going to Tokyo, so I definitely have to check out Akihabara. Maybe I can even buy an Asahina Mikuru body pillow!"

The message arrived in a flash.

Su Xiaoqiang could feel Lu Mingfei's fanaticism through the phone. Was Lu Mingfei actually a nerd?

Another message popped up: "If I buy a body pillow, can I have it shipped to your house? I feel like if I bring it back to my aunt's place, she'll kill me!"

Su Xiaoqiang sent a message with a helpless expression: "I really give up on you. Just send it over, I'll sign for it when it arrives."

Lu Mingfei expressed his eternal gratitude.

After some time, midnight arrived. As the Spring Festival Gala concluded, everyone returned to their rooms.

Lu Mingfei opened his phone and found quite a few New Year's greetings on QQ.

Little Goddess: [Happy New Year, Xiao Ming! Wishing you a year as happy as mine!]

Lu Mingfei replied with a smile.

Then came messages from Chen Wenwen and Liu Miaomiao: [Happy New Year, Mingfei.]

It was pretty much the same sentiment, so Lu Mingfei sent a formulaic reply.

[Happy New Year, Brother Lu!]

What the hell? Even Zhao Menghua had sent a greeting.

Then there was a long message from Old Tang. He had no idea where he'd scavenged these well-wishes from—it took up an entire screen. Did he get this off Baidu?

[Happy New Year, Junior!] This text was from Chu Zihang. Lu Mingfei found it very strange; he hadn't expected Senior Brother Chu, who usually seemed so cold, to send New Year's greetings just like a normal person.

[Happy New Year to you too, Senior Brother Chu. Wishing you smooth sailing, soaring success, and great fortune.]

Lu Mingfei slightly modified the greeting Old Tang had sent him and fired it off. Well, he only changed the name.

At home, Chu Zihang looked at the greeting Lu Mingfei had sent back and remained silent. It was identical to the one his father had sent him years ago, just with the name changed. So, he just looked this up online.

After replying to everyone one by one, Lu Mingfei turned off his phone and lay on his bed. Before he knew it, he had made so many friends.

One evening after visiting relatives, the family was eating at the table.

His aunt scolded Lu Mingze: "Can't you learn from your cousin? Everyone was praising your cousin for how much he's changed. When I asked about his grades, hey, he got the top score in the province on his mock exams! When I ask about you, why is the gap between you and your cousin so huge?"

"After the New Year, I'm signing you up for a few more tutoring classes. You'd better study hard then, you hear me?"

Lu Mingze put on a mask of agony, not daring to talk back, his heart aching: I'm in the top ten in my class, okay? Why do you have to compare me to that monster of a cousin!

Lu Mingfei ate his rice in silence, not saying a word, terrified that the fire would spread to him.

"Hey, hey, that's enough. Mingze's grades are actually fine, don't pick on him. We should be thinking about what to bring back from Japan in a couple of days," his uncle interceded.

His aunt waved a hand dismissively: "I've already told my colleagues and relatives that we're going to Japan for a trip in a few days. They've all asked me to bring back some foreign goods—things like Shiseido cosmetics, Meiji chocolate, Canon point-and-shoot cameras, and the like. We'll see what looks good and bring some back."

Like an Asahina Mikuru body pillow, Lu Mingfei thought to himself.

"Oh, right, Director Chen is coming with us this time. They won the same raffle, so we'll be traveling together," his uncle said.

"Is that the Director of Human Resources from your office?" his aunt asked suddenly.

"Yes, yes, that's the one," his uncle nodded repeatedly.

"Section Chief Chen and the others have a daughter named Jiajia, full name Chen Jiawei. Come to think of it, she's about the same age as our Lu Mingfei and Lu Mingze. She's also at Shilan High School, just a year younger than Lu Mingze, so she should be in her first year of high school now."

"Oh." Lu Mingfei and Lu Mingze couldn't have cared less.

Auntie pondered this, a little scheme forming in her mind. As she recalled, Jiajia had a decent appearance and personality, and her family background was quite good. Even though she was still in high school, if Lu Mingze could end up with Jiajia in the future, perhaps it could help that guy Lu Gucheng climb the ladder.

Mainly, Jiajia's looks and family background were both solid; if it could work out, that would be for the best, but if not, so be it.

She would talk to Lu Gucheng once they returned to their room tonight to prepare for the grand plan ahead.

Lu Gucheng, of course, was oblivious to her thoughts. He was busy boasting at the dinner table about his recent social engagements, recounting how he had inadvertently shown off and shocked everyone, prompting them to shower him with praise.

This was Uncle's signature routine. Whenever he was in a good mood, he would recount these tales to Lu Mingfei and the others. Auntie never interfered, as she felt it was better to have a bit of prestige when out in the world.

Following their usual custom, they chimed in with a few words of agreement from time to time, then headed straight to their own rooms once the meal was finished.

Time flies; before they knew it, they had already been back for several months.