Chapter 136

Nancheng also had a snowfall, not as big as Qianlin's; yesterday it only snowed for a little over an hour, and by the next day it had melted, leaving only some wet traces on the ground, with no accumulated snow left.

Xu Yanfeng had been up for a while, sweating profusely on the treadmill, the front and back of his white short-sleeved T-shirt showing a patch of damp, dark stain.

The phone placed aside rang again; he instinctively thought it was a message from Xia Xi, deliberately ignoring it to avoid further disturbance. He picked up the towel on the handrail, wiped the sweat from his face, and got off the treadmill.

Xu Yanfeng took a hot shower, drank a glass of water, and at that moment the nanny went upstairs, telling him to come down for breakfast.

At the dining table, his mother Zhong Yinghong asked why his complexion looked so bad, whether he hadn't rested well the previous night, and reminded him to pay more attention to his health.

Xu Yanfeng nodded and replied, "Okay."

After breakfast, he returned to the upstairs study; his phone kept chiming with message notifications, he angrily picked it up, only to see a WeChat from Tang Yizhou. He rarely got up early, so he asked if they wanted to get morning tea together.

Xu Yanfeng refused, saying he had already eaten.

Tang Yizhou: "Are we getting together tonight? My cousin just came back from abroad; we haven't seen each other in a long time."

Xu Yanfeng hesitated a moment, then agreed.

Tang Yizhou asked again: "It's almost New Year; when is your brother coming back to the country? I feel like it's been a long time since I last saw him."

Xu Yanfeng: "He's not coming back for New Year this year."

Tang Yizhou: "Then don't forget tonight's gathering."

Xu Yanfeng stayed cooped up in the study all day; in the evening, he drove to the upscale club that everyone knew, to keep the appointment.

The most luxurious private room on the top floor offered food, drink, and entertainment; when Xu Yanfeng entered, several people were playing pool, with glasses of alcohol placed on a moving cart, the loser drinking one.

"Xu Er has arrived."

Someone greeted him, and the rest looked up at him.

Xu Yanfeng dressed casually, took off his coat, and wore a loose black knit underneath. His fair skin shone under the bright lights, outshining male celebrities on the red carpet; in looks, figure, and demeanor he was a cut above.

Tang Yizhou tossed his own cue to him: "Play a round."

Xu Yanfeng didn't decline, rolled up his sleeves, rubbed chalk on the cue tip, glanced at the pool table layout, instantly analyzed how to shoot, then walked half around the table to find the right angle, lowered his upper body, and cleared the remaining balls with one shot.

The only sound in the private room was the balls dropping into the pockets.

Seeing this, the others threw down their cues: "What's there left to play? We're done."

"Xu Er used my cue, so this shot counts as mine—you lost, drink!" Tang Yizhou leaned against the pool table edge, pointing at the others, "Hurry up, don't make me wait."

Luojinnan cursed him shamelessly: "Was that really your shot?"

Tang Yizhou's cousin also disagreed, joining the criticism: "Exactly, can you show some face?"

They weren't unable to afford to play; after scolding Tang Yizhou, they naturally picked up the drinks from the cart and downed them happily.

Xu Yanfeng set the cue aside, also picked up a glass of alcohol, tipped his head back, and drained it in one gulp.

Luojinnan seemed to have seen something astonishing, leaning close to Xu Yanfeng, his eyes scanning his face back and forth: "What's going on, Xu Er? You're drinking so heavily—normally we hardly ever see you touch alcohol."

Among this group of childhood friends, Xu Yanfeng had the lowest alcohol tolerance; at regular gatherings he didn't drink at all, occasionally having a small sip when the mood struck, stopping after just one, and he had never been seen drunk. Aside from him, which of these few hadn't overindulged and made a spectacle of themselves?

"Nothing." Xu Yanfeng offered no explanation, set down the empty glass, and took a fresh one.

"Hey, it's snowing outside again." Tang Yizhou held his drink aloft, raised his index finger, and pointed toward the window.

Luojinnan snorted: "What's so surprising about snow? It snowed just yesterday. Nancheng never gets heavy snow; it's always just a few flakes that drift down and stop, leaving nothing on the ground—building a snowman or having a snowball fight is impossible."

"Are you a three-year-old kid, Luotuo? Still talking about snowball fights and snowmen."

"Get lost, get lost, get lost."

The room was noisy, but Xu Yanfeng stared fixedly out the window; the memory gate he had deliberately shut opened in that instant.

Yesterday, Xia Xi sent him a video of the snow in Qianlin—heavy and urgent, like goose feathers flying everywhere. She asked him whether Nancheng had snow, and he said no.

At that time Nancheng really had no snow; it was just that the sky had turned terrifyingly dark.

Just over an hour later, Nancheng actually started snowing; he felt a sudden urge to tell her the news, but who would have thought that when he called, a boy answered the phone.

Being able to reach her phone likely meant they were very close.

A sudden irritation welled up inside him for no reason; after hanging up, that irritation didn't fade but instead flared like dry grass meeting a spark, growing stronger. He hated the feeling of losing emotional control, and all of this stemmed from that girl, Xia Xi.

He had clear self-awareness and could already foresee that if he let this relationship develop and became immersed in it, he would certainly lose control more than just this once. In the near future, he would only find himself increasingly unable to restrain himself, swayed by various emotions, losing the ability to make rational judgments.

To prevent that possibility, he deliberately refused to answer her calls and reply to her messages.

She persisted more than he had imagined, trying to contact him from last night until this morning.

In the blink of an eye it was New Year's Eve; early that morning, Xia Xi was dragged out of bed by Xia Xia. Posting spring couplets this year was their task, and Xia Xia wanted to finish early so she could go watch the livestream of her favorite artist.

Xia Xi had stayed up late the previous night, her eyes barely able to open, her brows furrowed like caterpillars: "What artist is livestreaming on New Year's Eve?"

"It's foreign, really awesome. I found the channel by climbing over the wall—hurry up, don't dawdle." Xia Xia pushed her toward the bathroom.

Xia Xi washed up with her eyes half-closed the whole time, didn't even have time for breakfast, brought over a step ladder and started putting up the spring couplets. Xia Xia stood below, handing her tape and checking whether she had applied it crookedly.

After all the hustle, Xia Xi ate an extra bun for breakfast.

After noon twelve, Su Jinru began preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner: "We'll eat early this year; many people have booked the New Year's Eve meal at restaurants, so after eating we have to go help out."

Xia Xi chewed on milk candy and asked, "How many tables?"

Su Jinru: "About forty tables."

"That's plenty."

"So we're short-staffed." Su Jinru grabbed a handful of scallions and handed them to her, telling her to pick them out, "We've recalled all the staff we could, paying them triple wages plus extra bonuses, but some people still don't want to come—understandable, since during the New Year everyone wants to reunite with family."

At five in the afternoon, the Xia family's New Year's Eve dinner began.

Xia Xi's phone kept ringing nonstop—New Year greetings and red packets from various groups, plus greetings from former high school classmates, obviously mass‑sent, like: "I'm afraid the firecrackers on the thirtieth will be too loud for you to hear my wishes; I'm afraid there will be too many New Year's Eve greetings for you to see mine," and so on.

There were also those who took advantage of the chaos to confess their feelings to her.

Xia Xi glanced at them, skipped over them, grabbed a few red packets in the group, then laughed and raised her cup to toast with her family, saying auspicious words: "In the new year, I wish everyone health and happiness, and may all go smoothly!"

She took a sip of orange juice, then couldn't resist picking up her phone; her fingers seemed to act on their own as she opened the top‑pinned WeChat chat and skillfully typed the four characters "Happy New Year."

As her fingertip was about to press the green "Send" button, she hesitated.

On such a holiday, surely many people would be sending New Year greetings to Xu Yanfeng; she wasn't sure whether her insignificant message would get lost among the multitude, going unnoticed or unappreciated by him.

Just as she ignored the confession message she had just received.

New Year wishes are more sincere and meaningful when spoken directly to that person.

Xia Xi felt a surge of heat and tension in her forehead; she herself thought the idea that had popped up was too crazy, but she desperately tried to suppress it, still unable to quell that impulse.

She deleted the four characters she had just typed, opened the ticket app, and bought a ticket to Nancheng.

She had little time to prepare; she hastily shoved a few bites of food into her mouth, her butt already off the chair, shouting while running: "You guys eat slowly, I'm full, I'm meeting friends and have a gathering, I brought the keys, no need to save me a spot for dinner——"