"Get out. Don’t make say it again."
Fu Yuling hunched over, covering her heart with one hand, while moaning in pain and slyly observing her brother’s reaction. He remained indifferent, his furrowed brows showing impatience.
Fu Yuling couldn’t keep up the act, straightened up, and huffed at him, "You’re nicer to Fei Bai than to !"
After saying that, she ran out and slamd the door behind her. The whole corridor echoed with the loud "bang."
*
On New Year’s Eve, most of the servants at Rose Manor had gone ho for the holiday. Those who voluntarily stayed did so for the high wages.
Shen Jianian sat alone in the dining room, unable to feel happy in front of a table full of delicious dishes, so she invited the servants to sit down and eat with her.
The servants looked at one another but none of them moved.
Zhou Rongzhen ca out of the kitchen, placed the last sweet soup on the table, and sat down, urging everyone, "Listen to Jianian, sit down and eat together."
Once soone led the way, the others beca less reserved and joined in, thanking Miss Jianian as they did so.
Only then did Shen Jianian feel the atmosphere wasn’t so cold and there was a bit more festive cheer.
After a while, the cats and dogs ca over too, curling up at Shen Jianian’s feet. Feeling the furry touch at her ankle, she looked down to see them circling around her and couldn’t help but smile.
After the New Year’s Eve dinner, Shen Jianian didn’t watch the Spring Festival Gala and returned to her room alone. Occasionally, a firework blossod in the night sky outside her window, but it was too distant to hear any sound.
She bathed early and lay in bed when a few ssages ca to her phone.
Bai Changxia sent her New Year wishes along with a transferred red envelope.
Seeing the amount was five thousand two, Shen Jianian didn’t click "accept" but instead ssaged her, "Why give so much?"
Bai Changxia: "Lucky money, take it, or I’ll be upset."
Shen Jianian smiled helplessly, accepted it, and then sent her back a transfer of six thousand six hundred and sixty-six.
Bai Changxia was speechless at her response, replying with a series of ellipses.
They chatted sporadically for a while about light topics, with Bai Changxia intentionally trying to cheer Shen Jianian up, and Shen Jianian could sense it.
At eight thirty, Bai Changxia had to go out, so their conversation ended.
Shen Jianian put down her phone, turned off the bedside lamp to sleep, but felt as if a thin string in her heart was tugging at her, reminding her of sothing she’d forgotten.
What exactly it was, she couldn’t rember.
Her phone chid again, and she quickly picked it up, only to find it was a New Year greeting from her mobile carrier, not from anyone else. As expected, there weren’t many people who would reach out to her nowadays.
At that mont, she finally rembered the unfinished business weighing on her mind—
She opened Fu Jichen’s WeChat; although they t every day and usually contacted by phone if necessary, there were hardly any WeChat chat records between them.
Shen Jianian typed "Happy New Year" in the chat box and hesitated about sending it. Her fingers moved faster than her mind and clicked "send."
She closed her eyes, quietly regretting it, and quickly retracted the ssage.
The Fu Family is large and their New Year’s Eve dinner must be lively; it probably wasn’t over yet, so Fu Jichen wouldn’t see her ssage. That was how Shen Jianian comforted herself. The next mont, the notification sound on her palm echoed.
Fu Jichen replied, "Miss ?"
Feeling as if she’d dropped a hot potato, Shen Jianian tossed the phone far away and pulled the blanket over her head, wishing she hadn’t seen the reply.
Fu Jichen wasn’t soone to give up easily. When she didn’t reply, he called.
Shen Jianian didn’t want to answer, yet her ringing phone clamored persistently, stirring her irritation. She sat up and, seeing the phone screen aglow in the darkness, didn’t even need to turn on the light.
She picked up the phone from the blanket, mustered so courage, and pressed the answer key.
The voice on the other end chuckled, "What did you just send?"
Shen Jianian: "I was chatting with a friend and accidentally sent it to the wrong person."
"Really?" Fu Jichen teased, "It just happened to be sent to by mistake."
Even thinking with her toes, she knew it was impossible. They barely exchanged a few WeChat ssages, and his avatar must be at the bottom of her ssage list—how could it have happened by chance?
Noisy voices buzzed on Fu Jichen’s end, as if he was at the center of a party. He must have stepped away a bit because the noise gradually faded, leaving only faint, indistinct voices.
"Wasn’t it wishing a Happy New Year?" Fu Jichen said, "Retracting it, what does that an?"
Shen Jianian bit her lip and stayed silent.
This person was really bad, clearly having seen her ssage and still asking what she sent, probably wanting to see how she’d make up a story.
"I said it was sent by mistake," Shen Jianian stubbornly replied, "I’m going to sleep."
"Sleeping so early? Chat a bit more?"
Shen Jianian thought for a mont and asked, "Are you having New Year’s Eve dinner?"
"Just about finished," Fu Jichen leaned against the kitchen doorfra, fumbled in his pants pocket—no cigarette pack or lighter—and casually picked a nut from the wooden box on the dining cabinet to pop it in his mouth, "What did you have for dinner?"
"I don’t rember," Shen Jianian was actually too lazy to say. There were so many dishes on the table, naming them one by one would be exhausting.
"Oh, missing so much you couldn’t eat?"
Shen Jianian regretted agreeing to chat longer with him. She pursed her lips and angrily said, "I’m hanging up."
Not giving him a chance to tease her further, Shen Jianian decisively hung up, feeling both embarrassed and angry. Now completely unable to sleep, she turned on the wall light and lay back to play on her phone.
Online, people were posting pictures of their New Year’s Eve dinners, showcasing all sorts of local specialties.
Among them, a piece of social news stood out starkly amid the festive atmosphere.
[At 8:05 p.m. today, a woman in Beicheng jumped from the rooftop of the Mandiri Hotel, owned by Junshan Group, and unfortunately died. She left a note accusing soone from the Fu Family of assaulting her. The case is currently under investigation.]
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