"Achoo!" Outside the gates of Xiaoyu Jiayuan, Ming Zicheng sneezed without warning.
Seeing this, Yan Chuting quickly took out a tissue and handed it to him. "Are you catching a cold?"
"No, it must be my senior sister scolding me. She told me to send you to her place for New Year's, but I didn't complete the mission," Ming Zicheng wiped his nose. "It must be boring for you to spend New Year's alone, why don't I send you there?"
"There are many families celebrating together at Yuxi's. I don't want to trouble her," Yan Chuting glanced out the window. "I'll get off here, you go back. Don't keep your family waiting."
Outside the window, countless lights twinkled, but her small apartment was dark. Ming Zicheng frowned slightly and said sternly to the driver, "Drive!"
Yan Chuting was only momentarily stunned before the car drove off.
"It's so late, don't keep going back and forth. Let me off, hurry home."
"You don't want to go to my senior sister's place, so come home with me for New Year's."
"I'm not going!"
Yan Chuting reached out to open the car door, but Ming Zicheng, with quick hands, grabbed her arm.
"Why are you so stubborn!"
Yan Chuting struggled with all her might. "It's not that I'm stubborn, it's that I really can't go. It's New Year's, what would it mean for me to go to your house?"
"Bring your girlfriend home for New Year's!"
Yan Chuting stopped struggling and stared at him blankly.
"You heard correctly, bring your girlfriend home for New Year's!" Ming Zicheng said, then cleared his throat.
The driver, with keen awareness, locked the doors and lowered the partition.
Yan Chuting, somewhat flustered, pulled her hand away. "What are you doing?"
"Afraid you'll jump out of the car."
"I won't jump. Take me to Yuxi's."
Ming Zicheng said sternly, "It's too late. I asked you earlier, and you refused. Now, your only choice is to come home with me for New Year's!"
Yan Chuting turned her face away in extreme anger. "What do you think I am? Someone you can summon and dismiss at will? You didn't want me before, and now you want me when you feel like it. I'm not that cheap!"
Ming Zicheng pursed his lips tightly, reached out to turn her shoulders, and stared into her eyes without blinking as he spoke.
"It was I who was cheap! There was such an excellent girl standing in front of me, and I didn't cherish her. Now, I want to win you back. Can you give me this chance?"
Yan Chuting lowered her gaze, avoiding his eyes. They had been working together for some time, and she knew this man well. He wasn't someone who readily admitted fault. Now, for him to lower himself so much, it seemed he was truly sincere.
But if she went back with him like this, what would his family think of her?
She had let him look down on her once before. Was she going to let his family look down on her again?
"Beep beep..." Ming Zicheng's phone suddenly rang.
Ming Zicheng took out his phone and pressed the answer button. "Mom... Mm, on the way back... Chuting is in my car... I will obey your command and safely bring your future daughter-in-law home."
Hearing his last sentence, Yan Chuting's face flushed red to her ears.
Ming Zicheng hung up the phone and turned his head to look at her. Seeing her rosy cheeks, he chuckled. "Even though you haven't accepted me yet, my parents have always considered you their daughter-in-law. When they found out you couldn't go home for New Year's due to work, they insisted I bring you home to celebrate with us."
"Due to work!"
He was giving her face.
Yan Chuting pursed her dry lips and turned away, feeling a pang of sadness.
She had been arguing with her parents for a while. Before, her mother would call every few days to check on her. But in the past month, not only had there been no calls, but not even a text. Especially at the end of the year, their indifference indicated she had truly hurt them.
Ming Zicheng looked at her dejected face reflected in the car window and felt a pang of sympathy.
"I have a New Year's address to record tomorrow morning. I'll accompany you home in the afternoon."
Yan Chuting clenched her hands on her lap. "No need. They probably don't want to see me. It's New Year's, I won't go back and upset them."
Ming Zicheng reached out and held her slightly trembling hand. "Your father didn't attend the state banquet this time. Why didn't you ask why?"
Tears welled up in Yan Chuting's eyes as she slowly withdrew her hand from his.
"Does it even need asking? It's definitely to avoid seeing me."
Ming Zicheng grasped her hand again. "Is that what you think? How can parents get angry with their children? He didn't come for a reason."
Yan Chuting looked at him with a naive expression. "What reason?"
"He was ill and didn't want to distract you, so he never told you." Ming Zicheng noticed her hand instantly turn cold and patted it gently in reassurance. "Don't worry, the surgery was very successful. My senior sister found a top doctor to perform it. My senior sister originally planned to tell you after your father's successful surgery, but your parents were afraid it would affect your work and didn't agree. I saw you were unhappy, so I couldn't resist telling you the truth a day early."
"He... what illness did he have, that it was so serious it required surgery?"
"Thymoma. Fortunately, it was discovered early, and he has now fully recovered."
"Thymoma!" Yan Chuting's tears began to fall.
Ming Zicheng quickly took a tissue and wiped the tears from her face. "Don't cry, he's truly recovered."
Yan Chuting shakily took out her phone and dialed her mother's number. The phone rang for a long time before being answered.
"Chuting, have you arrived home? I've ordered some New Year's Eve dinner for you, it'll be delivered shortly."
"Mom..." Yan Chuting covered her mouth tightly, and after a long pause, said choked with sobs, "I'm sorry, I was too willful. Is my dad okay?"
Madam Yan was slightly stunned. "You know about it?"
"Mm. Can I speak to Dad?"
"Yes, of course! He's right beside me."
"Chuting..." Governor Yan's gentle voice came from the phone.
Yan Chuting couldn't hold back her tears again. "Dad, Happy New Year..."
"Good! Happy New Year to you too! You've worked hard this year, spending New Year's alone outside."
Yan Chuting took the tissue Ming Zicheng handed her and haphazardly wiped her tears. "Don't worry about me, I'm not spending New Year's alone. I'm going to Ming Zicheng's house to celebrate."
"You're going to the Ming family's for New Year's? Are you and Zicheng together?"
"I..."
Just as Yan Chuting was about to say they weren't together, Ming Zicheng took the phone.
"Uncle Yan, we are together. Don't worry, I will take good care of her. It was also my parents' idea to have her come to our home for New Year's. It's a bit late today, I'll accompany her back tomorrow to celebrate with you."
"Good! Good!" Governor Yan said "good" twice. Just as he was about to give his daughter some advice, Madam Yan spoke first.
"Chuting, it's your first time going to Zicheng's house for New Year's, you mustn't go empty-handed!"