Chapter 248

【Chongran】: Did you fucking send me a package?!

【ZaoShuiHuiChangGao】: Huh, it arrived this morning?

【Chongran】: So it really was you...

【ZaoShuiHuiChangGao】: Hahaha~ Surprised? I spent ages picking it out—this brand is expensive, and it should be super comfortable to wear.

【Chongran】: Is that the point?

【Chongran】: You didn't tell me ahead of time, so I opened it right in front of my family!

【ZaoShuiHuiChangGao】: So what? It's just underwear.

【Chongran】: Haha, if it were normal underwear, fine—but why is one box Pikachu and the other Doraemon?!

【Chongran】: Where the hell did you even get these underwear??

【ZaoShuiHuiChangGao】: Custom-made! They let you pick the design—I remembered Xixi's underwear had these two patterns, so I specifically picked them for you. Aren't I thoughtful?

【Chongran】: I really appreciate it...

【ZaoShuiHuiChangGao】: Don't mention it, so tell me now.

【Chongran】: Tell you what?

【ZaoShuiHuiChangGao】: Your thoughts, of course! Other than your mom, has any girl ever bought you underwear before?

【Chongran】: That's obvious—who the hell buys underwear for someone else?!

【ZaoShuiHuiChangGao】: A girlfriend.

【Chongran】: Are you one?

【ZaoShuiHuiChangGao】: In the book, you are.

【ZaoShuiHuiChangGao】: Come on, tell me! I'm writing a scene right now where the heroine buys the hero underwear—share your reaction, I need material.

【Chongran】:...

【ZaoShuiHuiChangGao】: Big bro~ Please~ Hurry up~ I can't wait~

【Chongran】: Stop! I'll tell you!

In the third-floor bedroom, Li Luo, expressionless, put away the underwear, then launched a barrage of accusations at Xu Youyu on QQ—only to be utterly crushed by his senior's relentless assault.

Only when Ying Chanxi came upstairs calling him down for ancestral worship did Li Luo finally escape his senior's exploitation; he messaged her on QQ, then stepped out of his room.

Outside the door, Ying Chanxi, waiting for him, instinctively glanced at Li Luo's pants and blinked.

The thought that Li Luo might already be wearing those underwear made her inexplicably want to punch him twice.

She'd truly gotten into the habit.

"So those things just now—did you buy them yourself?" Ying Chanxi asked as they went downstairs.

"Y-yes," Li Luo replied, forcing himself to answer.

Admitting he bought them himself was at least slightly less strange than saying Xu Youyu bought them for him.

Even so, Ying Chanxi gave him a skeptical look.

It wasn't that she doubted whether Li Luo bought the underwear himself—she doubted something else.

Because Ying Chanxi knew herself: many of her own underwear bore Pikachu and Doraemon patterns.

Now Li Luo had bought the same ones...

What was he trying to say?

Slightly embarrassed, Ying Chanxi tugged at her pants, wondering if this counted as matching outfits.

"What are you thinking about?" Li Luo asked, noticing her odd expression.

"Nothing," Ying Chanxi quickly shook her head. "Hurry down, Lin Yi and the others are waiting."

On New Year's Eve afternoon, it was the Li family's ancestral worship day.

The dining table was piled high with pork, lamb, beef, chicken, duck, and fish; around it stood cups and chopsticks; at the front, two long candles burned, offered to the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and ancestors.

When Li Luo came down, Li Guohong waved him over, signaling him to step forward and pay respects.

Following Li Guohong's instructions, Li Luo stood on the cushion before the table, bowed three times toward the candles, then knelt on the cushion and bowed three more times, finally rising and bowing three times again—thus completing the ritual.

The Li family, in order of seniority, took turns paying respects; Uncle Li Guoru then brought out a large iron pot, blackened and charred from use, lit some paper money and ingots, and tossed them inside.

Ying Zhicheng's family, being outsiders from years past, had no such custom; they waited in the neighboring room and did not join.

Ying Chanxi stayed beside Li Luo, observing.

She was not yet part of the Li family, so she could not step forward to worship or pray to the burning ingots in the fire basin as Li Luo had.

After the paper money burned out, the Li family repeated the same sequence of bows once more, concluding the ancestral worship ritual.

Lin Xiuhong and others began gathering the cups and chopsticks from the table.

The candles were removed, the fire basin put away, the cushions stored.

Dishes were carried back into the kitchen, where Uncle Chen Hailin reheated them all.

Meanwhile, a second round table had been set up in the living room.

Today's meal included not only Uncle Li Guoru's family of five, but also Second Aunt Li Xuefeng, who had returned with her daughter Chen Lu.

Little Aunt Li Xuemei, who had to take her daughter Chen Sijia to her father's house for the New Year's Eve dinner, had come early to eat lunch here first.

Compared to the other three families' happiness, Second Aunt and Little Aunt Li's lives had been far less smooth.

Like Big Aunt, both aunts had married men from Chenjiacun next door.

But while Big Uncle had moved into the Li household, Second Aunt and Little Aunt had married into Chenjiacun.

Second Aunt's husband died early; his parents, devastated by their son's death, passed away soon after.

This made Second Aunt's reputation terrible—many in Chenjiacun secretly said she brought misfortune to her husband, and remarriage was out of the question.

Afterward, Second Aunt moved to the city with her daughter Chen Lu, rented a house, worked to support her, and paid for her schooling.

During the New Year, she also returned to Li Luo's grandfather's home, staying temporarily with her uncle's family.

Now, Chen Lu has been graduated from university for over a year; she studied accounting and finance, and after graduation, she joined a bank.

Though she's only a teller, it's far more respectable than Second Aunt's own job, offering her some comfort.

After raising her daughter for over twenty years, it has finally borne fruit—Second Aunt's complexion has noticeably improved.

In contrast, Little Aunt's situation is far worse.

After marrying into Chen Village, her husband constantly abused her, beating and scolding her at the drop of a hat.

Later, Little Aunt could no longer endure it; she ran home to complain to Li Luo's grandfather, who immediately brought his daughter back.

Little Aunt's husband stormed over, demanding she return home, his demeanor furious and threatening.

Fortunately, the Li family was large and strong; Li Guoru, Chen Hailin, and Li Guohong stood in the courtyard, and the men from Second Grandfather and Third Grandfather's households also came out to watch—Little Aunt's husband ultimately withdrew, daunted.

But later, Little Aunt's daughter, Chen Sijia, then only over ten years old, ran back to Little Aunt one night, her face bruised and swollen, clearly beaten badly.

Little Aunt, heartbroken for her daughter, refused to let her return, deciding to raise her at home.

After that, her husband came to cause trouble many times, but eventually gave up; only a few years ago did he get arrested and sentenced to over a decade in prison.

Only then did Little Aunt agree to bring her daughter to visit her grandparents.

Her husband's parents weren't bad people—just overly indulgent toward their youngest son; now that their son was imprisoned, they treated their own flesh and blood with unusual kindness.

So every New Year, Little Aunt now brings Chen Sijia to visit her grandparents.

Like Chen Yongqi, Chen Sijia is a quiet soul, rarely speaking a word—but she gets along very well with Sister Chen Lu.

Excluding Li Dao, who is already married with children, the Li family has four children: Chen Yongqi is twenty-six, the oldest.

? cO

Chen Lu is twenty-four, Chen Sijia is twenty, and Li Luo is the youngest, just sixteen this year.

The next generation down includes Li Xiang, the youngest in the entire gathering, but he is already nineteen.

After two round tables were set up in the living room, the adults sat at one for drinking, while the women and children sat at the other.

After sitting down, Chen Lu, with her smooth long hair, turned to her brother, sister, and younger brother and said: "Let's buy some snacks this afternoon and play cards when we get back?"

"Sure," Li Luo nodded. "Snacks as stakes?"

"The loser does the turtle crawl," Chen Lu grinned. "Same old rule."

Lin Xiuhong, seated at the table, heard them discussing cards and said to Li Luo: "Later, help us bring out the mahjong machine—it's probably gathering dust in the storage room."

"Yes, let's play some mahjong too," Auntie chuckled. "Xuemei is leaving this afternoon; Xuexian and Xuefeng, come join."

With afternoon entertainment arranged, the diners began casual chatter.

It was the usual topics, mostly centered on each other's children.

"Chen Lu, working at the bank—have you met any suitable boys?" Auntie asked curiously. "Girls are twenty-four already; you should start looking early. If you can't find anyone, I'll help you ask around."

"I'm looking," Chen Lu grinned. "But it doesn't happen overnight—I've only been on the job two months. I need to stabilize first. Why don't you pressure Brother Yongqi instead?"

Hearing Chen Lu shift the blame onto him, Chen Yongqi paused mid-bite, secretly glancing at the expressions of the elder women.

As expected, Lin Xiuhong and Li Xuexian began: "Yongqi too—yes, men in their thirties are desirable now, but settling down sooner is better."

"Exactly! I always tell him that, but all he does is work and come home to play games—he never listens."

"That won't do. Isn't Yongqi working with Li Dao now? Are there any good girls at the factory you could introduce?"

"Right! Sister-in-law, tell Li Dao to help look for someone for Qiqi."

Auntie smiled and nodded: "I'll mention it to him later—help Qiqi find someone."

Chen Yongqi listened in utter disbelief, then glanced at Chen Lu, giving her a look that said: "You figure this out."

"What about Sijia and Li Xiang?" Li Xuefeng asked curiously. "Both in university? Any love interests? Look at Chen Lu—they graduated and now it's harder to find someone. You should try harder while still in school."

Chen Sijia remained silent, completely uninterested in the topic of romance.

Li Xiang shook his head, then rolled his eyes slightly, glancing at Li Luo before saying to Li Xuefeng: "At school, I just attend classes and read novels—no time for love interests."

"Novels? What kind of novels?"

"My uncle wrote them," Li Xiang chuckled, easily shifting the subject, and patted Li Luo's shoulder. "They're amazing—my roommates love them."

Li Luo: "……?!"

Li Luo had been eating well, quietly watching the scene, thoroughly entertained.

Then, out of nowhere, his own cheap nephew blindsided him.

"Huh?" Chen Lu turned curiously. "When did Li Luo write novels?"

Not just Chen Lu—all others at the table turned their gazes toward Li Luo, instantly making him feel as if under a spotlight.

Li Luo's lip twitched; he glared fiercely at Li Xiang, utterly at a loss for words.

Then Lin Xiuhong spoke up: "It's just a kid playing around—he showed it to Brother and the others before, nothing worth mentioning."

Hearing his mother come to his rescue, Li Luo cast her a grateful look.

But beside him, Li Xiang sneered: "It's just that Grandpa and the others don't understand modern tastes—Uncle's novels are fantastic, they just don't get it."

"Can you shut the hell up?" Li Luo leaned close to Li Xiang's ear, his teeth clenched, whispering a warning: "Just stop talking."

"What's the big deal?" Li Xiang was baffled. "You don't know—my roommates are reading your books too, chasing every update. I told them my uncle wrote them, and they didn't believe me."

Li Luo: "……"

Just how many other secrets have you been hiding from him?

"What book is it?" Chen Lu pressed again. "Li Xiang, show me."

Watching Li Xiang's phone begin circulating among everyone, Li Luo clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and barely restrained himself from grinding his teeth to dust.

Ying Chanxi beside him was laughing uncontrollably, leaning close to whisper: "Serves you right—now everyone knows."

As Ying Chanxi spoke, Li Xiang added: "By the way, there's a female lead in the book who's kind of like Ying Chanxi in personality—I only remembered that after meeting her."

"Wow! Li Luo, did you put Chanxi in your book?" Chen Lu had been uninterested at first upon seeing the book's title, but now he perked up instantly.

Li Luo, meanwhile, was perfectly fine—he'd already hit social death, so what did it matter if it happened a few more times?

But when Ying Chanxi heard this, her face flushed bright red; she lowered her head, blushed, and blinked shyly, not knowing how to respond.

"It's all your fault..." Ying Chanxi muttered softly, complaining beside Li Luo, "I'm so embarrassed."

Li Luo chuckled: "Who was the one laughing at others just now? Now you're getting your comeuppance, huh?"

Upon hearing this, Ying Chanxi angrily stomped on his foot under the table.

But it was Li Xiang who let out a yelp: "Who stepped on my foot?!"

Now Ying Chanxi's face turned even more crimson with embarrassment; she didn't know what to do at all.

Li Luo, however, glanced at Li Xiang and said coolly, "I did. So what?"

At that moment, Li Guoru, who was passing by with a bowl of rice, heard the conversation at their table and stopped, turning to look at Li Luo.

Then he chuckled and shook his head, saying to the group, "Earlier, it was indeed my mistake—I didn't understand the Online Novel scene. Li Luo's book really does have substance."

"You don't know, I'm always hanging around the Writers' Association, right?"

"I never expected that just the other day, I saw Li Luo's photo on the notice board."

"His book won first prize in a writing contest—the cash reward was a full fifty thousand yuan!"

At these words, the table erupted in shock.

Even Li Xiang exclaimed in surprise: "Fifty thousand yuan?! Uncle, aren't you supposed to give me a red envelope?"

Li Luo heard this and immediately broke into a dark expression: "How can you even say that? Asking a minor for a red envelope?"