Chapter 117 Golden Apples and the New Year

Hao Ren carried the box of fruit out and placed it on the table, immediately attracting the attention of everyone in the house. Even Becky, who had been sprawled on the sofa watching TV, practically half-dead with listlessness, perked up and weaved her way over, drawn by the scent. The golden fruit radiated a soft, golden halo in the air, the light scattering around it like mist. This extraordinary, counter-intuitive brilliance was enough to show that they were no ordinary objects. Lily was the first to react to the delicious-looking food, immediately grabbing one and sniffing it vigorously. "What's this? An apple? Why is it this color?"

"This is my year-end bonus – although the higher-ups categorized it with rice, flour, and cooking oil, I think this is the most valuable thing I brought back this time," Hao Ren explained the origins of the golden apples with a wry smile, before mentioning the other items. "Oh, right, there's also a couplet... but the couplet can wait. Everyone, let's divide these apples. According to the crow, they can at least increase your cultivation for a few years..."

Lily immediately frowned. "What do you mean by cultivation? We're not monsters – the Other and monsters aren't the same species, okay? We don't cultivate."

Everyone around her immediately stared at her. Vivian poked Lily's head. "You're the last one who should be saying that! Don't forget you're just a husky spirit!"

Seeing that the two of them were about to start arguing again, Hao Ren quickly distributed the apples to divert everyone's attention. There weren't too many or too few in the small box. After dividing them, everyone got two, with one left over. He casually threw one of his golden apples into his dimensional pocket, and held the other in his hand, munching on it while wandering around to see who he should give the extra apple to. As he wandered, he suddenly saw Dou Dou gnawing on the table.

"Hey – why is this child biting the furniture again?" Hao Ren quickly stepped forward to pick up the little mermaid, and then suddenly had a flash of inspiration and placed the remaining apple in front of the little one. "Girl, want to eat this?"

Vivian was delicately nibbling on her apple like a lady, and raised her head to remind him, "Don't you know this child only eats wood fiber?"

But as soon as Vivian finished speaking, Hao Ren saw Dou Dou curiously circling the golden fruit, then slamming her head into the apple's skin – actually, the little one wanted to try and take a bite, but the fruit was so smooth and without any edges, she couldn't get her teeth into it and could only smash her face against it.

Dou Dou smashed her face against it several times without managing to bite anything, and had to look up at Hao Ren, wagging her tail hard as she called out, "Daddy! I want this!"

Hao Ren was immediately amazed: he hadn't expected the little one to actually be interested in the golden apple. He had tested Dou Dou's diet with ordinary fruit, but the latter hadn't been moved at all, so it definitely wasn't the apple's aroma that had attracted the little one. It seemed that the golden apple had some special properties that could affect Dou Dou.

In any case, it was a good thing that Dou Dou liked to eat it, so Hao Ren immediately cut a few small slices of the fruit and put them in the little mermaid's hand – that was enough to fill her up. With more than half an apple left, he looked up and saw "Roll" sauntering past the door, and immediately called out to the stupid cat, "Roll! Come here, I'll give you something good to eat..."

A moment later, Hao Ren lay comfortably on the sofa watching TV, feeling as if he was living the life of a godlike nouveau riche: the natural treasures that only existed in myths were delivered to him by the box, everyone had two golden apples, and even his cat could get more than half of one. Watching "Roll" purr comfortably at his feet, he suddenly thought to himself, "I wonder what Helpyres would think if she saw this scene..."

Vivian was sorting the New Year's goods next to him, and said without looking up, "What would she think? The golden apples in Zeus' garden weren't the same as what we're eating. I've eaten Zeus' golden apples, they're sour. But they were good stuff back then."

Hao Ren looked up at Lily, who was holding the last apple, racking her brains and struggling psychologically. "What effect does eating it have?"

"Not full," Lily answered honestly, "I want to eat another one... but I can't bear to."

"You're really treating it like food!" Vivian glared at Lily. "This thing is a divine item, save some. If you have nothing to do, help me pick the chives. I'll make the filling tonight, and we'll make dumplings tomorrow to prepare for the New Year! And Big Guy, you help too, go change the gas tank..."

"The New Year..." Hao Ren couldn't help but feel a stirring in his heart when he heard the word, and his thoughts suddenly drifted away.

How long had it been since he had properly savored this word? He had been alone for so many years that he had almost forgotten what it felt like to celebrate the New Year. Especially in the last two or three years, the words "Spring Festival" had even been reduced in his mind to noisy firecrackers and boring TV shows. On reflection, he couldn't even remember if he had eaten a New Year's Eve dinner last year!

Hao Ren couldn't help but look around the living room. There was a noisy husky spirit, a vampire with a sharp tongue but a gentle personality, a siren humming incomprehensible lyrics, a great demon carrying a gas tank with one little finger, Becky lying on the sofa next to him watching TV, a mermaid clinging to his arm and smacking her lips, and four otherworldly ascetics in the back of the house challenging wilderness survival...

And there was the carefree, brainless cat at his feet.

Hao Ren comfortably breathed a sigh of relief, feeling an unprecedented sense of satisfaction. Perhaps his big house had been full of tenants in the past, but none of them had been as strange as these weird creatures in front of him: these extraordinary beings, who weren't even human, had felt no sense of unfamiliarity since they first moved in. They were noisy and unconventional, living as if they were at home, and finally brought some warmth to this big house that had never felt like a "home."

"What are you thinking about?" Vivian looked up and saw Hao Ren looking at her, his expression a little strange. "You look so perverted..."

Hao Ren grinned. "It's great to celebrate the New Year."

Vivian was stunned for a moment, then smiled too. "Yes, it's great to celebrate the New Year, especially this year... I don't think I've ever looked forward to a festival like this in my life. It's the first time in my life that I've celebrated the New Year with so many people, it feels so new. Although having a big dog around is a bit annoying."

"What did I do to offend you again?" Lily poked Vivian's nose with a chive stalk. Although her tone was harsh, it was the kind of teasing that only old friends who had been through a lot together could do. "I'm not happy to be celebrating the New Year with a bat either. But it's much livelier this year than last year – I spent last year in the Greater Khingan Mountains, without a single acquaintance around. After eating and drinking my fill, I slept in a rented room all day, and when I woke up, it was already the second day of the New Year..."

Nangong Wuyue couldn't help but join in the conversation. "Me too, I've been alone for so many years. Last year, I was lying in a small hotel next to the train station, listening to firecrackers all night..."

"Alright, you guys are doing pretty well," Vivian said dismissively. "I was living in a cave in Shennongjia at this time last year, and my New Year's Eve dinner was rat."

Hao Ren's tears were about to fall when he heard this. Vivian's life before coming here was like a 10,000-episode tearjerker. Any two clips would be enough to compete for the top three in a talent show. But thankfully, the unlucky vampire's hard days were finally over.

Becky raised her head from the sofa. "I don't know what you're talking about... but this festival seems pretty important?"

"Yeah, it's pretty important, at least to people here," Hao Ren looked at Becky and smiled slightly. "It's a day for family reunions. Although everyone in this house is from all over the world, it's always lively when people get together. This principle still applies. Just think of it as a holiday where you can have fun."

Becky's eyes flickered a few times, and she suddenly felt a little depressed. "Lively... I still miss my old mercenary buddies. I didn't even have time to say hello to them when I went back last time. They probably all think I died in some ruin. Remember, you have to find that stable portal as soon as possible, I have to go back and tell them I'm safe."

Becky's words suddenly stirred up the others' thoughts. Nangong Wuyue also sighed. "My brother too, I don't know which ancient castle he's lurking in during the New Year. Can't he come back and rest for two days? If he can't come back... a phone call would be nice."

"I don't know what Hesperides is doing," Vivian frowned. "I never thought about it when I was drifting around before, but now that I've settled down... I don't think I've ever celebrated a holiday with her properly. I don't even remember her birthday."

"The Athens Sanctuary definitely can't be left unattended, and Nangong Sanba can't be contacted for the time being," Hao Ren sat up. "Anyway, it's probably too late this year, but you've reminded me, next year, we must get everyone together and have a big celebration."

The next day, as the first firecracker exploded in a red flash in front of Hao Ren's house, bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new!