The Last Good New Year

The car sped down the road, and Ming Jiu was genuinely curious about Chu Lanning's next move.

Finding a way to obtain Zuo Junhao's golden finger—there was no doubt about that.

But the golden finger was already gone. Chu Lanning's plan was destined to fail. What would she do after it failed?

What would she do with the remaining supply caches?

Emptying them out was clearly unrealistic. Zuo Junhao had spent half a year preparing in advance, and every warehouse held a considerable amount of supplies. They would not be easy to handle.

If Chu Lanning made a move now, she definitely would not be able to hide it from Zuo Junhao himself. But if she waited until after the blizzard hit, transportation conditions would be terrible, not to mention it would be difficult to gather enough manpower.

Or perhaps some of their ideas overlapped? Directly report the supply caches to the authorities and let them take over?

If that was the case, Ming Jiu would be more than happy to see it.

She did not want to get involved with the authorities, much less expect to gain any benefits or privileges by handing over information about those supply caches. If Chu Lanning came forward, Ming Jiu herself could disappear perfectly into the background.

And if, just if, Chu Lanning noticed something was wrong—Ming Jiu had another underhanded idea, such as leaking news of Chu Lanning's report to Zuo Junhao.

If the original male lead and the reborn female lead went head-to-head, even fewer people would notice her.

System: [Host, do you have any thoughts?]

Ming Jiu: [No. We'll wait and see. By the way, have the authorities noticed Chu Lanning's stockpiling?]

System: [Nothing has been discovered for now.]

The Chu Family was wealthy and powerful. Spending tens of millions in the blink of an eye was hardly unusual for them. Chu Lanning had used the excuse of a rich second-generation heir starting a business, so she would not draw special attention for the time being.

Of course, that was assuming the special supplies she had illegally stockpiled were not discovered.

A little after nine, Ming Jiu arrived in Yunjing Scenic Area's urban district and stopped beneath a mixed-use apartment building, where she successfully met up with Sister Bai.

The contract was finalized before noon. Ming Jiu successfully spent the money and acquired three small apartments.

There was definitely not enough time to process the paperwork, but Ming Jiu put away the contracts and invoices. They would serve just as well.

After grabbing lunch at a small restaurant, Ming Jiu met with the professional underfloor-heating repairmen she had arranged in advance, then drove to the vacation villa district.

The young designer had done an excellent job—she had met nearly all of Ming Jiu's requirements. The post-renovation cleaning had also been completed yesterday, and the villa was now spotless and ready for move-in at any time.

Ming Jiu quickly paid the remaining balance.

After the designer left, she drew all the curtains and shut the doors and windows before placing an order with the system to reinforce the villa's front door and windows.

Over the past few days, she had not had time to personally oversee the door replacement. She could only settle for the next best thing and have the robot requested through the system teleport over for secondary modifications.

The villa's window glass was of decent quality, but it was not top-tier. Ming Jiu's demand was simple: before she and Xiao Rong relocated, she did not want anyone entering this villa.

Naturally, she also did not want the glass damaged by extreme weather.

Half an hour passed quickly. The robot was recalled after finishing its work. Ming Jiu had just changed the front-door password when she received a call from the underfloor-heating repairmen.

The workers soon drove into the residential complex.

The vacation villa district did not have central heating and used wall-mounted boilers instead. The previous owner had installed underfloor heating across all four floors during renovations.

Ming Jiu had not called them over for repairs, but to completely drain the water from the underfloor heating and prevent the pipes from freezing and cracking during the cold wave.

The workers shut off the water valves, drained the underfloor heating, and finally used an air compressor to blow as much remaining water as possible from the pipes.

"Actually, this isn't the best way to prevent freezing. Do you really not need antifreeze added? Even completely drained pipes can still crack from freezing, and repairs will be more troublesome then. Antifreeze would provide better protection."

Ming Jiu refused.

She was worried about frozen underfloor-heating pipes bursting and flooding the house, not about being unable to keep using the heating. She had not planned to use it again anyway.

"This is fine. Thanks for your hard work."

After seeing the repairmen off, Ming Jiu inspected the house from top to bottom—the breaker was off, the main water valve was off, the water pipes had been drained as thoroughly as possible, and there was no need to worry about gas. The house had never been lived in, so the gas service had never even been activated.

Finally, she made sure every window was tightly shut and locked the front door.

At last, Ming Jiu took out the invisible cameras modified by the system and installed them outside the front door and several windows, making sure there were no surveillance blind spots around the villa.

By the time she finished all that, it was completely dark.

Ming Jiu stood in the yard, looking at the lights shining from the houses next door, numbers 303 and 304—both villas were being renovated around the clock.

February 5th, New Year's Eve. Three days until the blizzard.

Last night had been the soundest sleep Ming Jiu had enjoyed since being reborn.

When she opened her eyes, she felt refreshed. Beside her bed lay a neatly folded set of clothes—a cream-colored long down coat, khaki wool trousers, and a brand-new red wool scarf.

Ming Jiu understood. Her little sister had prepared new clothes for her to wear during the New Year.

Ah, her angelic little sister!

Ming Rong had cooked preserved egg and lean pork congee and steamed Beibei pumpkins. Ming Jiu showered her with praise nonstop as she ate.

"In a little while, we'll put on our new clothes and go buy New Year's goods!"

Ming Rong threw both hands into the air in silent celebration.

No matter what, they still had to celebrate their last good New Year properly.

Ming Jiu and Ming Rong spent the entire morning browsing the supermarket. Their car was stuffed full of all kinds of New Year's goods. Ming Rong had clearly sensed something. She had never been one to hoard supplies, yet now she was determined not to stop until every storage cabinet at home was packed full.

They did not just shop to their hearts' content in person—they did not spare the online shopping apps either.

They had lunch outside, and the moment they returned home, the sisters switched into organizing mode. The refrigerator and cabinets were packed full, giving them a strong sense of security.

Shortly after three, Ming Rong took the New Year's Eve dinner menu she had prepared in advance and began busying herself in the kitchen.

Ming Jiu comfortably played the role of the "useless big sister." Her main job was sorting and washing vegetables while scrolling through videos, occasionally bothering Sis System, and repeatedly trying to sink her mental power into her space to plant and harvest crops without closing her eyes.

The mindless chores were surprisingly soothing, easing much of the exhaustion and tension that had built up over this period.

Though there were only two of them celebrating the New Year, their reunion dinner was lavish, combining northern and southern dishes.

There was the northern-style braised pork knuckle, steamed pork belly, and Four Joy Meatballs, along with southern white-cut chicken, steamed fish, and braised pig's trotters for prosperity.

Ming Rong had even made a simplified version of poon choi. As the older sister, Ming Jiu could only stand beside her and applaud.

Even Black Girl and Black Rice got boiled beef as an extra meal.

At eight o'clock, the Spring Festival Gala began. Ming Rong rummaged through the pet cabinet and found two red crocheted bibs, then chased after Black Girl and Black Rice, trying to put them on.

Fireworks and firecrackers were strictly prohibited in the city, but their home was still lively—the sound of the gala, Black Girl's soft puppy whimpers, and Black Rice's impatient meows.

Ming Jiu recalled this time in her previous life, when neither she nor Ming Rong had fully emerged from the shadow of their parents' deaths.

That New Year's Eve, the two of them had spent the entire night by the sea.

Ming Rong finally succeeded. She picked up the two of them, one in each hand, and the bright red bibs made the two black fluffballs look especially festive.

Ming Jiu raised her phone and captured the moment.