Gwen's Chinese New Year Blessings and an Unexpected Discovery on New Year's Eve

When the dismissal bell rang at Midtown High School, Lin Hai looked out the window. A cold wind drove scattered snowflakes against the glass, while the Chinese supermarket across from the school had already hung strings of red lanterns, its windows covered with "fortune" characters and paper-cut decorations wishing wealth and prosperity.

His phone calendar showed that today was Huaxia's Lunar New Year's Eve. Though New York schools did not close for it, the East Asian Culture Club had set up a booth at the school gates to write Spring Festival couplets.

"Lin, Gwen said the Biology Club is discussing next semester's projects today. Are you coming?" Peter asked as he packed up his things.

Lin Hai shook his head. "I promised my master I'd help prepare the New Year's Eve dinner at the clinic. Tomorrow is Huaxia's Chinese New Year."

"Oh, right! The holiday with red envelopes and dumplings?" Peter smacked his forehead.

Just then, Harry and Gwen finished packing and walked over to Lin Hai and Peter.

"What dumpling holiday?" Harry had only caught those two words.

"It's Huaxia's Chinese New Year. Tonight is New Year's Eve, and tomorrow is the first day of our Chinese New Year. Eating dumplings is one of the customs," Lin Hai explained. Harry did not know much about Huaxia culture.

Gwen, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. She had always been interested in Huaxia culture, and after spending so much time with Lin Hai and discussing so many topics with him, she understood it far more deeply.

So she said in clear, precise Chinese, "Happy New Year, may everything go your way, and may you prosper."

The classroom fell silent for two seconds. Peter's backpack, still not slung over his shoulders, dropped to the floor with a thud. Harry, too, lost the elegance of an Osborn heir and gaped. Both of them froze as if someone had hit pause.

Lin Hai blinked. "You speak Chinese?"

He was not overly surprised. Gwen was the top student, even smarter than the three of them. A few lines of Chinese would not stump her. He was only curious when she had learned it.

"Just a few simple phrases. I looked through a calendar, saw Huaxia's Chinese New Year was coming up, and casually learned a few blessings. Well? Not bad, right?" Gwen winked playfully.

Before Lin Hai could answer, Peter cried out, "Whoa! Gwen, you're amazing! Whenever I go to Dr. Chen's clinic, I often hear Lin Hai and Dr. Chen speaking Chinese. I don't understand much, but I can tell your pronunciation is really accurate!"

Harry nodded as well, strongly agreeing with Peter.

"Of course. I'm a genius!" Gwen proudly lifted her chin.

At the end of the hallway, Ms. Clemente tapped the wall clock. "Kids, if you don't leave now, I'm locking the doors."

The four of them gathered their things and walked out through the school gates. "See you tomorrow," Lin Hai finally said goodbye to his friends.

As he turned the corner, he could still hear Peter shouting, "Gwen! You secretly learned Chinese! Next time, could you at least tell us in advance..."

The wind scattered the rest of the conversation. Smiling, Lin Hai quickened his pace toward his master's clinic.

Chinatown felt far more festive than the streets near the school. Nearly every shop played cheerful Chinese songs, and the roadside stalls were piled with Spring Festival couplets, red envelopes, and all kinds of holiday goods.

Chen Clinic had already put up brand-new Spring Festival couplets. Standing at the entrance, Lin Hai softly read his master's vigorous brushwork: "'Spring winds bring warmth, turning a thousand mountains green; the rising sun shines brightly, making ten thousand trees flourish.' Horizontal inscription: 'Healing warmth in spring.'"

"Come in and help!" his master called from the back room. "The dumpling wrappers are already rolled out. We're just waiting for you to fill them."

Steam filled the small kitchen in the back of the clinic. Chen Bing had changed out of his usual white coat and into a dark red traditional jacket. He stood at the stove stir-frying something, and the aroma was irresistible. Seven or eight bowls of seasonings sat on the counter, with a large basin of mixed three-delicacy filling in the middle.

"Happy New Year, Master." Lin Hai set down his backpack, washed his hands with practiced ease, and went to work at the counter. "My parents just video-called and said they've started preparing at home too."

Chen Bing nodded, then turned and took a small wine pot from the cabinet. "You're seventeen now. You can drink a little Tusu Wine. By the old custom, the youngest drinks first, to celebrate gaining another year."

The wine went down his throat, spicy at first, followed by the lingering sweetness of herbs. As he savored the strange new sensation in his mouth, Lin Hai could not help feeling that New York's Chinese New Year was missing something.

"What are you daydreaming about?" Chen Bing lightly tapped his forehead with a rolling pin.

"Master, New York's Chinese New Year feels like it's missing something," Lin Hai said.

"The sound of firecrackers." Chen Bing added a little sesame oil to the filling. "And your mother nagging you to wear long underwear."

"Hurry up and wrap them. Dinner starts at eight sharp. I invited a few old friends for the New Year's Eve dinner. None of them have gone back home in decades."

The two worked together in perfect rhythm, and before long, dumplings filled three trays.

Lin Hai's phone vibrated. His mother had sent a video-call request. On the screen, his parents wore brand-new red clothes, while the television behind them played a preview for the Spring Festival Gala.

"Xiao Hai! Have you eaten New Year's Eve dinner yet?" His mother's voice crossed eight thousand kilometers through the phone.

Lin Hai turned the camera toward the dumplings on the counter. "We're wrapping dumplings right now. Master's teaching me how to make fish-shaped dumplings. He says it means 'may there be abundance every year.'"

His father leaned closer to the screen. "New York's cold, right? You need to put more ginger in your dumpling filling there. Your mom asked me to ask if it's cold there. Are you wearing long underwear?"

Lin Hai smiled and nodded, but his throat tightened. Such ordinary nagging felt so precious at that moment.

His father also quietly told him that they had deliberately left a bowl of dumplings on the windowsill in his room. According to their hometown custom, children far from home could still "eat" the New Year's Eve dinner.

The conversation lasted until the dumplings went into the pot. When Dr. Chen's old friends arrived one after another, the little clinic was immediately filled with New Year greetings in all kinds of dialects and bursts of laughter. Lin Hai served hot tea to every guest, quietly observing the calluses and wrinkles on their hands as they accepted their cups.

By the time the New Year's Eve dinner ended, it was half past nine. Lin Hai politely declined the invitation to stay up through the night, since he still had to get up early for school tomorrow. His master walked him to the door and suddenly pressed a thick red envelope into his hand. "New Year's money. Don't refuse it. By the old rites, you haven't come of age yet, so you still count as a child."

"When an elder gives, one dares not refuse. Thank you, Master!" Lin Hai's eyes reddened a little. He was fortunate indeed—his parents cared for him at home, and his master looked after him while he was away.

It was nearly ten when he left the clinic. New York's winter night was bitterly cold, but Chinatown remained bustling. A dragon dance troupe was parading down the street, and amid the gongs and drums, tourists held up their phones to film the tumbling golden-red scales.

The lion dance troupe refused to be outdone. One red and one yellow lion danced back and forth to the beat of the gongs and drums. Lin Hai skirted the crowd and chose a quiet side street home.

As he passed through a dim alley, his sharp senses suddenly caught something unusual: the clink of metal, deliberately hushed voices, and a cloying chemical smell so sickening it made his stomach turn. Lin Hai immediately softened his footsteps.

Twenty meters away, three men in hoodies were unloading a van. The cardboard boxes contained bags of colorful pills that glimmered with an eerie glow under the moonlight. One of them took out his phone and checked the list.

"Devil's Breath, two thousand pills," one of them said quietly. "Same place. Tomorrow, hand them out to the street kids for a taste."

Lin Hai's fingers unconsciously gripped the specially made pouch at his waist. He could summon vines to bind and subdue these men right now, but reason stopped him. They might have guns, and the drug supply chain was far more complicated than a few street thugs. He quietly backed away, photographed the license plate and the delivery process with his phone, then took a detour and left.

After getting home, Lin Hai organized the license plate number and the men's appearances, noting the time and location. Intervening directly was too risky, and he had a better channel.

This Saturday, he was scheduled to go to Fisk Tower to give Kingpin's wife, Vanessa Fisk, her regular acupuncture treatment. It would be the perfect opportunity to gather information.

The next morning, Lin Hai had barely set down his backpack in the classroom when three pairs of eyes fixed on him in unison.

"So—" Peter leaned in very close, his eyes sparkling behind his lenses. "What exactly did you eat for New Year's Eve dinner? Were there any dragon-shaped dumplings that breathed fire?"

"Dumplings don't breathe fire." Lin Hai did not know whether to laugh or cry. "But Master made braised fish, mapo tofu, and rice cakes symbolizing 'rising higher year after year.'"

Gwen leaned in too. "Did you watch the gala? Did the program list have any tech performances?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Martial arts—what about martial arts? Were there any?" Ever since Lin Hai had given him that "secret manual," Peter had become very interested in martial arts.

"Uh, because of the time difference, we watched a rerun from previous years. It was mostly for the festive atmosphere. Master kept pointing out where the magic tricks went wrong," Lin Hai said, scratching his head.

Harry lazily spun a fountain pen. "How late did you stay up? I looked up the custom. In theory, you're supposed to stay up all night."

"Master let me off easy." Lin Hai smiled. "I still had school today, after all, so I got back fairly early." He had no intention of telling his three friends what he had encountered on his way back to the apartment last night. He would wait until Saturday, after probing Kingpin for information.

Then Lin Hai took out his phone and pulled up a photo of the Spring Festival couplets at the clinic. "Look, Master made the acupuncture bronze man wear a hat folded from a red envelope."

The three gathered around. Peter burst out laughing at the crooked "fortune" character on the bronze man's head, Gwen seriously studied the calligraphic structure of the couplets, while Harry raised a brow and commented, "Red certainly has more holiday impact than Osborn Enterprises' standard color."

The class bell rang, and the three reluctantly dispersed. Lin Hai opened his textbook. Outside, the morning sunlight slanted through the window glass onto the corner of his desk, illuminating the first day of the new year.

A very ordinary day.

A very fulfilling new year.