Chapter 90: Chapter 89: New Year’s Celebration
"Good night."
Norman Bennett: "Mm."
At the moment she switched off her phone, she started to observe the room. It felt like stepping out of modern life; everything had a charming, ancient elegance.
The cat beside her was already asleep. She couldn’t resist reaching out to touch its fluffy pink ears, feeling the soft, warm texture.
"Mm~" The kitty murmured in its sleep, flipped over, exposing its snowy white belly, its triangular chin resembling the logo of a powdery pink BMW.
"Here we are together again." Elliana Lyle murmured to the cat. As she gently stroked it, her thoughts drifted far away.
Hannah Collins and the police had no news of Shane Southwell lately. She pondered over everything but remained clueless.
Pikachu♪~
The phone ringtone startled both the cat and her, their hairs standing on end. Elliana quickly reached for her phone nearby.
The screen displayed the large character "Luna."
"Hello~"
Given it was nighttime, Elliana’s voice was gentler.
"Is there any news?" Elliana asked.
During her filming sessions, whenever she got a chance, she would search around with Luna, but the women in the video had either moved on, gotten married, or started anew, unwilling to revisit their past, all denying it.
They couldn’t dig into others’ wounds, so they could only continue searching one by one.
"We located a loan platform, but it closed down a year ago. Now, there are two issues." Luna sounded tired, her voice hoarse.
Hearing Luna mention two issues, she hurriedly asked, "Tell me."
"Investigating this loan platform requires money, but that’s a minor issue; the fear is that even after spending time and money, nothing comes out of it. The question now is whether to investigate or not," Luna said.
"..."
Elliana was silent for a moment, then resolutely said, "Investigate."
Better to kill a thousand wrongly than let one escape. What if this was the lead?
"Alright, I understand." Luna seemed ready to end the call.
"Wait!" Elliana stopped Luna on the phone, then said, "It’s nearly Chinese New Year. You... should go home for the holiday."
...
The person on the other end of the phone was clearly taken aback, and after a while, replied, "Celebrate what New Year? I dislike it the most; too crowded, too troublesome."
Luna definitely wouldn’t tell Elliana she was currently hiding in the sewers, escaping Norman Bennett and her brother’s joint "capture."
"Alright then... Good night."
Elliana hung up the phone; Luna cautiously switched on her mobile flashlight. It was an extremely narrow sewer tunnel, seeming to fit only one and a half people, requiring crawling to proceed.
As she crawled forward, she seemed to touch something...
"Ugh~"
...
The next morning, the first light of dawn arrived, and North City experienced the winter’s second snowfall.
The snowflakes danced and drifted, covering the ground in white.
It couldn’t help but remind one of a poem, "Suddenly, spring’s breeze arrives overnight, thousands of pear trees blossom."
As for Elliana, she woke up from the cold.
It’s strange, there seemed to be no underfloor heating in this room, icy cold, only thin warmth within the blankets, but she’s always had cold limbs, now shrunken in the chill.
"Meow~" Little Lotus tried hard to burrow into her embrace, finally settling down in a comfortable position.
Checking her phone, it was 6 AM, and the sky was still dark. The mountain wind and snow were fierce outside, whistling continuously.
She turned on the light, got up, and searched inside the room for a while but found no extra blankets. It wasn’t right to bother anyone at this hour.
AM.
Hearing knocking on the door, Elliana, already dressed, was still slipping into half-sleep under the blankets.
Knock, knock knock!
...
Opening the door, she saw a middle-aged woman, a servant of the Hue Family, come to invite her for breakfast.
Arriving at the place, she sat and waited for half an hour until breakfast was served. The large table hosted only her.
The server gestured for her to start.
What she didn’t know was that Grandma Hue was bedridden with a splitting headache whenever it snowed heavily and had just had a few sips of porridge before settling back to sleep. The others naturally preferred eating in their rooms.
She ate quickly and then turned to a maid about her age, saying: "Could you get me another blanket? I felt quite cold last night."
"Okay..."
Before she could finish, the maid was tugged away by someone.
She saw an older woman, smiling towards Elliana, say: "Miss Lyle, there aren’t any spare blankets in the house. We can go buy some, but as you know, it takes hours just to get out here, and the roads are slippery with snow, making it tough to go out."
Upon hearing there were none, she understood everything. Having lived with the Southwell Family for three years, she naturally perceived someone was overtly troubling her.
"Mm, then don’t bother."
She didn’t care about such trivial matters; she simply recalled a phrase her mother once said to her while alive.
"I wonder when we’ll be able to spend Chinese New Year at your grandmother’s."
"Then let’s go this year, Mom."
Her mother, hearing her seven-year-old’s words, merely smiled helplessly, leaving the topic there.
The past resurfaced in her mind, inevitably dashed with sorrow. Her visit here was simply to accompany her grandmother for the holiday; the malice from others meant little to her.
Walking through the corridor, snow crunched under her feet, echoing crisply as she made her way to Grandma Hue’s place. She’d been there once the day before, so she remembered.
"Miss Lyle, where are you heading?" The woman who stopped her was the same one who said there were no extra blankets.
Upon hearing this, Elliana turned and smiled, asking the woman trailing her, "May I know how you’re addressed?"
The smiling woman paused, then said with a laugh: "My surname is Huang, first name is Xiu."
"Then I’ll call you Aunt Huang. Do you not have your errands?" Elliana queried.
This woman, though barely over thirty, appeared simple and honest, but looks can be deceiving.
Aunt Huang continued to laugh: "Miss Lyle, you’re unfamiliar here. I’m worried you might lose your way, given how cold and frozen the paths are."
"Indeed!"
Listening to Aunt Huang, Elliana stretched out her hand to catch some fluttering snowflakes. The crisp white snow settled on her palm without melting.
With a faint smile, she sighed: "This cold and frozen weather; it’s warmer outside, the inside’s too chilly. I’d rather sit outside, to avoid catching a cold."
Then she looked at Aunt Huang, as if in ordinary conversation: "My body is fragile; catching even a minor illness would be troublesome during snowy seasons, only dragging on if it happens."
"Miss Lyle, where’s this talk coming from? You’re a valuable guest of the Hue household; there’s no way you’d be left unattended if ill." Aunt Huang’s laugh remained, making it hard to feel any annoyance.
"Getting cold here is bound to bring illness, so it’s better to stay where it’s warm. How about accompanying me to the pavilion outside?"
She could see Aunt Huang beginning to shiver from the cold, likely used to residing in warm places, wearing only a thin traditional gray coat.
"This..." During such cold days, even fools would know to stay inside. Aunt Huang felt like cursing in her mind.
To hurry back inside, she decided it was better to turn on the underfloor heating for Elliana. Should she really fall ill... she wouldn’t take responsibility.
"Miss Lyle, you must be joking. How could inside be colder than the outside? Perhaps the heating system is broken? May I check your room?"
Aunt Huang found herself an excuse, considering the heavy snow likely stopped Hue Mei from inspection.
...
――― Lunar Year’s Eve, the night of Chinese New Year’s Eve.
The entire family gathered together, Grandma Hue’s face was filled with uncontrollable joy.
Several children setting off fireworks, lighting firecrackers, filled the event with lively hustle.
Since Aunt Huang turned on the heating, her second aunt never treated her kindly, though she didn’t see further intentional trouble.
Overall, the Hue Family indeed didn’t seem a suitable place for her.
Moreover, she mostly guessed the reason from her second aunt’s remark to her sister-in-law yesterday: "I had three sons, and my husband doesn’t earn much; unlike you, who just had a daughter, saving money. My family... fears it’s getting hard to feed."
They were afraid she’d seek Hue Family’s inheritance.
Truthfully, she didn’t need it. The film payments alone were enough for her to live a peaceful life. Besides, she had her earthly treasure, Norman Bennett.