Chapter 280 New Year

After more than four hours of driving, Jiang Xiao finally made it back to the Garden District.

Carrying a change of clothes, Jiang Xiao thoroughly washed up in the bathroom in the living room. When he returned to his small bedroom, he found his bed had been occupied.

That damned cat was curled up on his bed, sleeping soundly.

Helpless, Jiang Xiao retreated from his room. He knew that with her senses, she definitely knew he had entered the room and had been looking at her back with a helpless expression for a long, long time.

But she had no intention of getting up, probably too lazy to move.

Considering you confessed today, I'll let it slide.

Jiang Xiao grabbed his phone and charger and went into Jiang Xue's room.

After plugging in his phone, Jiang Xiao slept soundly.

At 6 PM, he didn't know if he woke up from sleeping or from hunger. In any case, Jiang Xiao got up, replied to a few messages on his phone, and it seemed that Little Jiang Xue wouldn't be back for another two days.

Jiang Xiao looked around and gathered the bedsheets and blankets, taking them to the bathroom.

The washing machine was truly a great invention. Before Little Jiang Xue returned, Jiang Xiao should be able to make the house look brand new.

Jiang Xiao checked the time, ordered takeout, and waited for the food while doing chores.

At 7 PM, the doorbell finally rang.

Jiang Xiao opened the door and stood there waiting for a while, watching the elevator come up to the seventh floor like a little bird waiting to be fed.

Having lived here for so long, this was finally the first time he received takeout inside his own door...

Jiang Xiao carried the two bags of food into the kitchen, setting them out while calling out, "Er Wei, wake up and eat!"

Jiang Xiao knew Er Wei could definitely hear him. The long silence probably just meant she was too lazy to get up.

Jiang Xiao simply walked over and pushed open the door, "Get up and ea..."

His small room was empty.

Jiang Xiao's hand on the doorknob slid down slightly. She... had already left?

He looked down at the hair tie on his wrist. This woman left without a word, just like that?

Maybe she really didn't want to spend the New Year together.

Jiang Xiao shook his head helplessly, returned to the kitchen, and ate a silent meal alone.

The next day was still a day of chores.

Unexpectedly, a little after 3 PM, while Jiang Xiao was changing the bedsheets and blankets in each room, he heard the sound of the door opening.

Jiang Xiao paused, holding the bedsheet as he walked out of the master bedroom. Wasn't Little Jiang Xue still on vacation?

Who was here?

No one had a key to his house, did they?

As the person entered, Jiang Xiao immediately felt annoyed, "Where did you get the key?"

Er Wei, with her hair down, bent over and picked up a pair of slippers from the shoe rack, threw them on the floor, and casually replied, "Mm."

What kind of "mm" was that?

Jiang Xiao felt a little frustrated and said, "Don't change your shoes, I'm going out to buy New Year's goods. Come with me."

Er Wei straightened up, looked at Jiang Xiao, and confirmed, "New Year's goods?"

"Yes, New Year's goods, like couplets, 'Fu' characters, candies, vegetables, fruits, meat, new clothes, and so on," Jiang Xiao said, patiently explaining as he looked at Er Wei.

Er Wei: "..."

Jiang Xiao: "What's wrong?"

Er Wei: "I know what New Year's goods are. I'm asking if you're asking me to go with you."

Jiang Xiao glared at her and said, "Wait for me, I'll change clothes."

Er Wei hesitated slightly, but ultimately said nothing.

When Jiang Xiao quickly changed and came out, he saw Er Wei leaning against the doorframe, looking bored.

Jiang Xiao smiled, "Getting used to your new hairstyle? Or is this the only hair tie you have?"

Er Wei impatiently glanced at Jiang Xiao, turned around, and said, "Tie it up, let's go."

Jiang Xiao took the hair tie off his wrist, casually gathered her hair that was falling over her shoulders, and quickly tied it up, looking like he was just going through the motions.

Er Wei didn't say anything, and the two quickly left the house.

With Er Wei around, it meant there was a private car to use, which saved Jiang Xiao a lot of trouble.

Taking such a large pet out shopping definitely had its pros and cons.

The pro... she could help carry a lot of things.

As for the cons, well, she was too eye-catching. Plus, Jiang Xiao was already somewhat of a celebrity, which added a lot of trouble for him.

The two hadn't been shopping for long before photos of them appeared on Weibo, and even some gossip media outlets had reprinted them.

"National Champion Shops with Mysterious Woman, Buying New Year's Goods to Go Home for the Holiday."

"Mysterious Woman Dressed in All Black, Suspected to Be Little Jiu Xing Du Nai's Bodyguard. Black Windbreaker, Black Sunglasses, Black Military Boots Make a Cool Appearance."

Jiang Xiao saw the news later and almost burst out laughing, because at the time, Er Wei, in her cool all-black outfit, was also carrying two pounds of pig's head meat...

For the past three hours, Er Wei had been silent, just following Jiang Xiao and carrying things.

Until they were in the farmer's market and she saw Jiang Xiao buying various dumpling fillings, including fish and meat, as well as a bag of dumpling wrappers, Er Wei finally couldn't help but speak.

Er Wei said, "There are frozen dumplings."

Jiang Xiao turned to look at Er Wei and said, "We don't know how to make dumpling fillings, we can just buy them. We don't know how to roll dumpling wrappers, we can also buy them ready-made. But it's the New Year. Not eating frozen dumplings is my last line of defense."

Er Wei didn't comment on Jiang Xiao's so-called bottom line, but asked quietly, "Can you even wrap them?"

Jiang Xiao: "..."

Behind the counter, the dumpling wrapper vendor was very enthusiastic, "If you don't know how to wrap dumplings, I also have handmade dumplings here. Just buy them and cook them."

"Ah, no, no, just weigh them and give me the price," Jiang Xiao said quickly, "We're both Star Warriors, we have a lot of athletic talent, wrapping dumplings, well, we'll learn."

The vendor smiled, "I knew you were martial artists a long time ago. Look at this girl, if she's not a Star Warrior, she's definitely a basketball player."

Er Wei: "..."

Jiang Xiao chuckled, "That's right, this is my master. I won a national championship last year representing Bei Jiang province, all thanks to her."

The vendor was stunned, "Oh my, really?"

Jiang Xiao: "I'm not lying."

The vendor: "No wonder you look so familiar, I should have seen you in the news! Amazing, let me give you a little more, eat more when you get home."

The vendor had just put the price tag on the bag and hadn't sealed it yet, when she heard this, she grabbed another large handful of meat filling and threw it into the bag.

Er Wei looked at Jiang Xiao with a strange expression. Since she was carrying bags in both hands, she kicked Jiang Xiao's butt and said, "Give her the money."

Jiang Xiao looked at Er Wei helplessly. What money was he going to give? They paid at a single checkout when they left! Had she never been to a market before?

The vendor stuffed another large handful of dumpling wrappers into the bag, "No need, no need, young man is bringing honor to our hometown, needs to grow, eat more, eat more, hahaha."

After saying goodbye to the enthusiastic vendor, Jiang Xiao bought a lot of vegetables and fruits, and only stopped the shopping trip after filling the trunk of the car.

Back at home, Er Wei dropped the bags in both hands and headed straight for the sofa in the living room, collapsing onto it.

Jiang Xiao looked at her nonchalant appearance and could only sigh helplessly.

As Er Wei flipped through the channels on the TV out of boredom, she noticed that Jiang Xiao was putting the dumpling wrappers and fillings into the refrigerator and couldn't help but ask, "What's the difference?"

Jiang Xiao was sorting the items and turned his head to look at Er Wei in confusion when he heard this.

Er Wei raised her head slightly, gesturing towards the dumpling fillings that Jiang Xiao had put in the refrigerator, "What's the difference between this and frozen dumplings?"

Jiang Xiao: "The difference is that on New Year's Eve, you have to wrap them yourself. Don't just sit there doing nothing, go online and find some tutorials, learn how to wrap dumplings."

Er Wei snorted, picked up the remote control and randomly changed the channels, not moving at all.

...

The next day, Little Jiang Xue finally came back from vacation!

And Jiang Xiao finally had some help. Er Wei wasn't as unapproachable as he had imagined, just a little quieter.

Han Jiangxue was very respectful to Er Wei and even grateful. She was also happy that Er Wei could spend the New Year at their home.

2017, the Year of the Rooster in the lunar calendar. This New Year, the house was a little livelier.

Jiang Xiao's hometown was full of New Year's atmosphere and had some traditions. For example, after one's parents passed away, they weren't allowed to put up spring couplets or set off firecrackers for three years. It was a folk custom.

So, last year was considered the first real New Year for the siblings, and this year, things seemed even better.

Everyone wanted their lives to become more and more prosperous, and Han Jiangxue and Jiang Xiao had done everything to make it happen.

In the past year, the two of them had delivered an almost perfect record!

They fought battles in the south and north, conquering one competition after another. Provincial League, Second Wasteland Reclamation, National League...

Step by step, they worked hard and earned one honor after another.

Including the admission letters from the top Star Warrior universities in China, as well as the apprentice spots for Wasteland Reclamation and Night Watch.

The results were remarkable and outstanding!

On the night of the 29th day of the lunar year, Han Jiangxue stood alone in the master bedroom, looking up at the photo of her parents on the wall, not coming out for a long time.

The haze of the past three years had gradually dissipated in the past year and a half. She used to have too many grievances and sadness in her heart, but now she had more happiness and anticipation.

She had so many stories to tell her parents, and the protagonist of those stories was mostly him.

At that time, Jiang Xiao was in the stairwell, standing in front of the door of apartment 701 with Er Wei, putting up spring couplets.

The lazy Er Wei finally had a use. She didn't need to stand on a stool, she only needed to raise her hand and she could easily reach the top of the doorframe.

Jiang Xiao looked at the position of the couplets and directed, "Lower on the left, right, lower... Tsk tsk, perfect!"

Er Wei stuck on the adhesive and took a few steps back, standing next to Jiang Xiao, looking up slightly at the newly pasted horizontal scroll: "Great Achievements."

Er Wei reached out and gently rubbed Jiang Xiao's head, thinking to herself: Indeed, perfect.