Winter Break Plans

The bitter midwinter wind had begun sweeping through the streets of New York, and Midtown High School's classrooms were filled with the peculiar mix of tension and restlessness that came before final exams. The first half of senior year had quietly drawn to a close amid the four friends' busy, fulfilling days.

After school that day, the four of them, having finished their current tasks, gathered once more in the quiet backyard of the Chen-Style Chinese Medicine Clinic.

Freshly brewed tea sat on the table. Its fragrant steam drove away some of the winter chill. As they chatted about recent exam prep, the conversation naturally turned to plans for the coming winter break.

"Ah, even though I know Lin is definitely going back to Huaxia," Peter said, cradling his teacup with obvious boredom in his voice.

"This winter break feels so empty. Last winter, the cold weather even brought the crime rate down quite a bit. This year will probably be the same." He let out an exaggerated sigh. "Am I really going to spend my whole vacation stuck in my tiny room?"

Gwen lifted her teacup to warm her hands and took a light sip. "My parents are both busy this winter too. My dad has to attend a state police conference, and my mom doesn't trust him to go by himself, so she decided to go along and look after him—though I think what my dad really needs to be 'supervised' on is his diet, not his schedule." She smiled helplessly. "So congratulations to me. This year, I get an unprecedented, lonely, completely unsupervised winter break."

Harry scrolled through the calendar on his phone. "I just finished reviewing and summarizing several projects, and my father hasn't assigned me any new 'homework' yet." He looked up at the others.