Worshipping gods and honoring ancestors during the New Year was a tradition in Lin Nan's area.
In the countryside, families would typically perform simple ancestor worship at ho on New Year's Eve, then on the first day of the New Year, they would bring the previous day's offerings to the village ancestral hall to light incense and worship before various strange deity statues.
However, the county town had no ancestral hall, so only the New Year's Eve ancestor worship remained.
She sat on the sofa, looking at the red table in the corner of the living room. Nine bowls had already been neatly arranged on the red table, two candles lit, and red small wine cups lined up in a row, filled with rice wine.
Uncle and Auntie lit a bundle of incense, muttering prayers in dialect, devoutly bowing slightly toward the offering table, praying for favorable weather and smooth sailing in the coming year.
The room began to fill with the scent of incense smoke. The fragrance was elegant and not unpleasant, gradually adding a bit of New Year atmosphere to the house.
"Chen Yao." Uncle handed him the incense in his hand. "Tell your grandfather your wishes for next year."
Chen Yao usually wasn't superstitious, but he took ancestral worship quite seriously. He restrained his usual laziness at ho, learning his parents' posture as he bowed his head, originally intending to say the sa things as previous years about good health and such, but suddenly thought of Lin Nan sitting on the sofa.
He lowered his head even more. "I wish for Lin Nan to have smooth sailing next year, for bad luck to dissipate, for her to be happy every day... Grandfather, she's your future granddaughter-in-law after all."
His voice was very soft. Even Uncle and Auntie standing right beside him couldn't hear clearly.
"Nan Nan, do you want to pay respects too?" Auntie turned back with a smile, asking Lin Nan on the sofa.
Lin Nan shook her head without hesitation. "I'm not really..."
"It's fine, it's fine." Auntie pulled Lin Nan's arm, stuffing the lit incense into her hand. "Getting to know Chen Yao's grandparents isn't a loss, right? What if they like you?"
This way of putting it feels so strange, doesn't it?
Lin Nan was pulled in front of the offering table. She looked at the incense in her hand, then at Auntie beside her, full of anticipation.
They're really treating like family, aren't they? She bowed slightly, also learning Chen Yao's manner and praying softly:
"I hope Uncle, Auntie, and Chen Yao can all be healthy and safe."
After the brief prayer, under Auntie's indicating gaze, Lin Nan inserted the incense into the cola bottle filled with sand in front of the table.
"Alright! Let's eat! Chen Yao, go to the balcony and hang up the house's red lanterns." Auntie satisfactorily rubbed Lin Nan's thin shoulder, the corners of her eyes crinkling with wrinkles from her smile. "Wait a bit longer, once the dishes are heated we can eat. The Spring Festival Gala should have started too, right? Let's watch the Spring Gala while eating the New Year's Eve dinner."
For so reason, after paying respects to Chen Yao's grandfather, Lin Nan instinctively stopped resisting Auntie's enthusiasm.
Auntie lit firecrackers and tossed them into the empty hallway.
The offerings naturally couldn't be wasted. Having been displayed on the table for several hours earlier, they were now directly used as the New Year's Eve dinner, reheated in the microwave and placed on the coffee table. Chen Yao's family of three and Lin Nan sat on plastic chairs around the coffee table.
The Spring Festival Gala had started on TV, adding so New Year atmosphere to the house.
Since it was New Year's, Uncle no longer worried about drinking. He personally poured a small cup of baijiu for his own son. Even Auntie poured herself so beer, then looked at Lin Nan with a smile.
Although Lin Nan didn't like drinking, she still nodded in agreent, watching as Auntie poured beer into the small cup in front of her.
The father and son duo raised their cups familiarly and drank them in one gulp.
"Dad, I can't drink too much..." After drinking, Chen Yao put down his cup with furrowed brows, but saw his father pouring more liquor into his cup. His face imdiately beca as bitter as a lon. "You know I don't like drinking baijiu."
"It's fine, we're happy this year."
Uncle patted his shoulder, revealing a smile all n understand. "Strive to let hold a grandchild soon."
"It's not that fast. We haven't even started yet."
Chen Yao's face was sowhat flushed, whether choked by the baijiu or embarrassed by the teasing. To prevent Uncle from continuing to tease him, he quickly picked up the wine cup and clinked it again, then tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp.
His face beca even more flushed, his throat burning from the spiciness as he coughed, but this only brought Uncle a bout of hearty laughter.
The father and son pair began chatting about everything under the sun with the help of alcohol, from the epidemic to foreign countries, discussing the international situation, then talking about how much better the Spring Festival Gala was a dozen years ago, even ntioning when the father and son went to the arcade to play together but were chased ho by Chen Yao's mom with a broom.
Their topics gradually shifted toward won, but Auntie kicked out with one foot, instantly sobering Uncle up. He hurriedly changed the subject: "Is Zhao Benshan on the Spring Gala this year?" (TN: Chinese codian known for his sketches during New Year’s Gala.)
Lin Nan sat in the corner of the coffee table, watching the father and son interact, her heart full of envy.
Although in Auntie's view, Uncle might be a bit improper for his age, Lin Nan had never experienced such interactions.
"Nan Nan?" Auntie smiled and leaned over, getting close to Lin Nan's ear. "Have a drink with too?"
"Auntie, I really can't drink."
She looked down sadly at the food in her bowl. Uncle and Auntie still liked adding more for her. After eating for less than ten minutes, her bowl was already full to the brim.
As for the beer, she hadn't drunk a single sip until now.
Although she had indeed drunk quite a bit of alcohol before to unlock magic, beer was difficult to drink no matter what. For her, she'd rather drink plain water than this stuff.
But she still raised her cup and clinked it with Auntie's, quickly drinking all the alcohol in the cup.
"Girls can't drink alcohol. Just going through the motions is fine." Auntie poured cola into Lin Nan's cup, smiling as she instructed, "If Chen Yao becos an alcoholic in the future, beat him to death and let him know what it ans to be the head of the household." Chen Yao shivered, looking up and rolling his eyes at Auntie.
"If he dares not listen, co find . I'll beat him up."
"He generally doesn't drink much anyway." Lin Nan smiled in response. With her personality, she probably couldn't be the head of any household either.
Moreover, her current relationship with Chen Yao was just above best friends, below lovers. She didn't dare admit she liked Chen Yao, and even if she did admit it, she didn't dare confess to Chen Yao first.
Who knows if Chen Yao's kindness toward her now still remained at the level of best buddy.
Who knows if Chen Yao minded that she used to be male.
Uncle pestered Chen Yao to drink. After just a few liang, he was already floating and couldn't find his bearings, beginning to talk loudly at the table about the weird custors he encountered last year. (TN: 50 mL.)
Auntie chatted with Lin Nan about Chen Yao's past.
From Chen Yao still wetting the bed at age five, to him running naked on the street in elentary school, then ntioning how Chen Yao's rebelliousness in middle school broke her heart, suggesting Lin Nan should have a daughter in the future as it would be less worrying.
This was the first ti Lin Nan had heard about Chen Yao's life before middle school. She listened carefully, occasionally covering her mouth to laugh.
Chen Yao noticed Lin Nan's unconscious gesture. Holding his wine cup, he froze. This was the first ti he'd seen Lin Nan deliberately cover her mouth, revealing only her eyes as she smiled.
More and more like a girl, and more and more beautiful.
While Chen Yao's family of four was happily enjoying themselves together.
On the cold and deserted streets of the county town, a black cat was walking dejectedly through the streets, surrounded by the sounds of laughter and joy coming from every household.
"Lin Nan, where did you run off to..."
"I'm so hungry..."
"I'll never be picky about food again..."
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