Chapter 269: Attic

"I don't know, Dad said it's a surprise, we'll only know when we get there."

Su Yu nods thoughtfully, "Hmm, maybe it's fun over there?"

【Since it's a surprise, I won't go and be a nuisance!】

"Huo Huo!"

Zhu Xueheng called out to Liang Yan, and Liang Yan replied from over there, "I'll be right there!"

"Goodbye, little sister Xiao Yu! Goodbye, Can Can!"

"Goodbye~"

"Bye~"

Tang Can watches Liang Yan leave, hangs his head, "So annoying, we already have guests now, and they're super super loud!"

Tang Can has already closed the curtains and windows, yet can still hear the sounds outside.

"Can Can, you can wear headphones to listen to music, or watch cartoons!"

Tang Can rests both hands on the table, shakes his head while resting it on his hands, "I don't really want to watch!"

"Then shall we look at the gifts together?"

Su Yu holds the gift list in her hand.

Tang Can nods happily, "Alright!"

All morning, Su Yu and Tang Can were picking gifts. Until Tang Can's family called her to eat, they finally ended the video call.

Su Yu takes a sip of juice, "Butler Uncle, it's almost twelve o'clock!"

【It's been twelve hours since last night at twelve, still not awake?】

"Miss Xiao Yu, are you hungry?"

"Mm-hmm!"

【It's already lunchtime!】

"Alright, I'll arrange that right away!"

The butler went to the kitchen to make arrangements, and Su Yu wandered around alone. When she went upstairs she was alone, and when she went downstairs she was still alone. The only difference was that each room's doorway now had one or two cute red sachets, each containing the little "Fu" character charms she had prepared earlier and a small red envelope!

Su Yu finished lunch, and under the butler's supervision she toured the house's conservatory, picked a few flowers to bring back to the villa, then went upstairs to take a nap.

After waking from her nap, Su Yu, wearing a cute bear pajama, went downstairs.

"Mom, you're awake?"

Su Yu ran over and skillfully tucked herself into Ji Yan's arms.

"Mm!"

"Mom, have you eaten?"

"I have!"

"Shall we go out to play? Huo Huo went out to play!"

Ji Yan looks at Su Yi, who thinks for a moment, "Do you want to go to the lantern festival, the light show, the ice rink, or the zoo and botanical garden?"

He remembers that four years ago, those places were bustling and had VIP viewing/play areas. Secretly, Su Yi wants to take Ji Yan to the temple fair. But he has a premonition that if he mentions it, Su Yu, the clingy mama's girl, will definitely stick to them. If they go to the temple fair, her safety would be a big concern.

Su Yi recalls that Jing Ming's family set up a small plum blossom promenade. During the day everyone enjoys the blossoms while leaning on the rail and brewing wine; at night they watch lanterns and eat barbecue.

"Or would you like to see plum blossoms?"

Su Yu looks up at Ji Yan's chin, "Mom, do you want to go?"

Ji Yan gently turns Su Yu's head back, "Good girl, that's dangerous, Mom wants to go."

Su Yu turns her head, snuggles against Ji Yan's chest, "Then I also want to go! I want to go with Uncle, Great-Grandma, and my maternal grandparents!"

Su Yi gives a thumbs‑up, "I'll call and see if there are any slots left!"

"Jing Ming set aside an attic for us; we can go there anytime."

Su Yi sees Su Yu's pajamas, "Quick, change clothes!"

"Got it!"

Su Yu happily runs upstairs to change into the clothes for going out. Ji Yan goes over to help, and Su Yi notifies the rest of the family.

Su Yu, Ji Yan, Su Yi and Su Xi travel in one car, while Yang Zhichun, Xu Mingyue and Ji Tianlin sit in another car.

Clad in a cute plush cape, Su Yu steps out of the car and is chilled by the north wind; her voice sounds a bit muffled under the thick mask, "So cold!"

Su Yi holds Su Yu tightly in his arms, eyes full of helplessness, "I said we could enter from the underground garage, but you wanted to see the scenery."

Su Yi now regrets that he had the speaker on when he answered the call. Jing Ming told him that it's snowing here, and the snowy scenery combined with plum blossoms is uniquely beautiful. If they want to see it they can get off at the entrance; if they find it too cold they can go from the underground garage straight to the attic, where the whole route is heated.

"But it's so beautiful~"

The exposed skin on Su Yu feels the chill in the air, and her big eyes quickly become misted with water.

Su Yu sees Yang Zhichun and the others have already entered the promenade ahead, and she hurriedly extends her hand, wearing fluffy gloves, to catch the snowflakes drifting down from the sky.

The large hood blocks snowflakes that try to brush her face, and she looks up and also sees the plum blossoms, even more beautiful and dazzling beneath the snow.

Red, pink‑white, green, and yellow plum blossoms appear in succession in her view. On the wooden promenade they walk, occasional plum branches seem to "reach out" and block the path.

"Were these deliberately transplanted?"

Su Yu looks at the blocking red plum and reaches out to touch it from a distance.

"No, this place used to be a private residence of a royal merchant. Back then the Jing family bought it intending to live there. Supposedly it was the courtyard of a favored concubine, and she cultivated these plum trees herself. The Jing family never moved in. Jing Ming turned it into a niche gathering spot within the circle, while preserving the plum blossoms' characteristics."

"Living here? Won't it be cold?"

【The house looks ancient in style, distinctive, but it also feels cold!】

"No! You'll know once you go inside!"

Su Yi, still holding Su Yu, hasn't gone far when Su Yu spots a small building in the distance.

"It was originally a boudoir, then renovated a bit: the first floor is very cold, the second floor is warm, the third floor is cold again. If you want to go downstairs to play in the snow or go upstairs to look out, you must dress warmly!"

Su Yu's concern isn't about whether it's cold; she's very curious, "Is there any water nearby?"

"No."

Jing Ming thoughtfully chose an attic that has no water around it and can be accessed directly from the underground garage.

Upon entering the attic, Su Yu, with Ji Yan's help, took off her heavy cloak and coat, leaving only a bright red dress, and perched on the second‑floor glass window to look at the plum blossoms outside, "Dad, there's a huge road in the plum garden!"

"Right, that road is the driveway here; if you want to visit another attic or room, you can call a car to take you over."

In this place, you admire plum blossoms in winter, stroll the peach grove in spring, pick various flowers in summer, and harvest osmanthus in autumn.

"Dad, you're so familiar with this place!"

"Not at all; when I was renovating this garden, I even had my older brother invest money. He was too busy, so I often came to check on it."

Su Xi's mouth twitched slightly; back then Su Yi had signed a contract with Jing Ming but couldn't pay the final installment. Su Yi didn't want to be looked down upon, so he pressured Su Xi to invest money. Su Xi had saved a year's worth of money and poured it into this place, yet its returns fell short of expectations. In recent years, the revenue here has finally begun to rise.

When Jing Ming came in, he heard Su Yi talking about the past.

"Back then, you made us stop at the design stage, and in the end you forcibly changed my original concept."

This place was the eighteenth‑birthday gift the Jing family gave to Jing Ming. Back then, aside from some shares in the family's companies, this was his only real estate.

Jing Ming wanted to travel the world and be a carefree young master; the Jing family's shares alone weren't enough.

So he planned to remodel this place into private clubs, restaurants, and similar commercial venues.

Originally his idea was to turn each courtyard into the style of a different country, gather characteristic items from those nations, arrange them inside the courtyards, and let guests choose their preferred theme.

During the actual design phase, he was thinking about the design while Su Yi was calculating how much the infrastructure would cost; the two of them wrestled with it for a long time and eventually ended up with the current result.

"I think the development these past few years has been good!"

The ownership of this place went to the older brother, but he has seen the financial reports; the revenue is continuously rising.

"Indeed."

Back then, because Su Yi caused trouble, this place only had its basic infrastructure completed, preserving the pure ancient style of the buildings, which didn't match the contemporary aesthetic trends. Only a few elderly people came here to drink tea and fish, so the revenue was average.

In recent years, the ancient‑style trend has surged. People increasingly seek authentic ancient architecture, and this place has become a hit within the circle, with revenue continuously climbing.

"Happy New Year, Uncle Jing!"

"Happy New Year, Xiao Yu!"

Jing Ming took a red envelope from the pocket of his trench coat and handed it to Su Yu.

Su Yu took it, thanked sweetly, "Thank you, Uncle Jing!"

"So well-behaved!"

Jing Ming squatted down, patted Su Yu's head, and said, "If you can't handle barbecue, you can order dishes; the Chinese food here is quite good, made by the descendants of imperial chefs!"

"Alright, thank you, Uncle Jing!"

Jing Ming greeted the few people inside who were brewing wine, received two red envelopes, walked with a surprised face to Su Yi, who was still by the glass window with Su Yu, shook the big red envelope in his hand, and said, "I didn't know being single has this advantage!"

Jing Ming was just coming over to see his brother, give Su Yu a red envelope, and also greet his brother's family; he completed all the formalities and didn't expect to receive red envelopes himself, let alone two!

"If you get married and have children, the more children you have, the more you receive."

Jing Ming rolled his eyes, "That's not my red envelope."

"It's for the kids; could he be shameless enough to snatch it? And the more kids, the more you spend! It's better to be a single aristocrat, earning and spending on one's own, making every place a home!"

"Xiao Yu, keep the red envelope safe; don't let your dad snatch it!"

"Okay! Thank you, Uncle! I'll give the red envelope to my big uncle to hold!"

Su Yu, also tired of looking at the plum blossoms outside, ran into the inner room to find her big uncle.

"Fine, your daughter knows how to suppress the bloodline!"

Jing Ming's deep blue eyes were full of amusement as he mockingly looked at the sullen Su Yi.

"Heh, I've been waiting for the day you have a daughter!"

Su Yi turned and left; Jing Ming cheerfully patted Su Yi's back, returned to his own attic, snapped a photo of the red envelope, and posted the two pictures together on his Moments.

……

Inside the attic, Su Yu was eating the Chinese meal ordered by Ji Yan, while the adults were drinking wine and eating barbecue.

The clouds were quickly covered with a black veil, but the once‑beautiful plum blossoms were not devoured by darkness. Bathed in the warm yellow glow of lanterns, they displayed a different charm.

Su Yu, full and satisfied, held a skewer by the glass window and watched the lanterns below.

"Dad, why didn't Uncle add a fireworks show? I want to play with fireworks! The fairy wand that Uncle the steward prepared is still at home!"

Speaking of the fairy wand, Su Yu decided that next time she goes out she must think more carefully and not forget anything again!

Thank you, darlings, for your votes~

This chapter is three thousand words~

Darlings, I heard that in the past few days your comments might not be showing up, or may have been deleted. Mention it in the chat; it's not me who deleted them—perhaps after the system maintenance ends, everyone will be able to see their comments again! On my side I can see your comments normally~