Chapter 846: Chapter 571: Reunion for the New Year
Seeing Chuxia’s expectant look, Yu Tao couldn’t help but laugh: “Sister-in-law, looking at you, it’s like you’re hoping Third Brother also can’t carry a tune?”
Chuxia nodded earnestly: “Yes, apart from his bad temper, I haven’t found any other flaws, so I always want to find something he’s not as good at as me, just to keep him from being so arrogantly bossy with me.”
“Third Brother isn’t bullying you. If he were willing to say all those things to anyone else in our family, they’d be so happy they wouldn’t sleep for half the night.
However, I’ve never heard Third Brother sing, but I have heard him play the erhu, and he’s quite good. When he comes back, Sister-in-law can let him play a piece.”
“The erhu, huh?” Wearing a military uniform, sitting upright on a bench, holding an erhu… Chuxia imagined it and felt a chill down her spine, shivering slightly, “Let’s not. It’s the New Year, and I like something a bit more upbeat.”
“Third Brother can play lively tunes on the erhu,” Yu Tao said seriously. “It’s not only for sad songs, Sister-in-law, you seem to have some misunderstandings about the erhu.”
“Looks like Sister-in-law is also good at the erhu.” Chuxia laughed, “I know it can play lively tunes, but I just can’t imagine someone like Zhou Mikang playing a cheerful song with the erhu.”
“True.” Yu Tao laughed, “Before you came, Sister-in-law, I was afraid whenever I saw Third Brother. I wasn’t even that scared of our dad.” She was referring to Zhou Jingping.
“Our dad’s temper is way better than Zhou Mikang’s.” Chuxia proudly raised her eyebrows, “Sister-in-law, from what you said, my arrival kind of saved everyone?”
“Of course.”
“Chuxia, it’s the New Year, watch what you say.” Zhao Yulan pulled her daughter aside, quietly warning her, “Don’t get carried away with happiness. This is your husband’s family.”
As soon as Chuxia spoke, she realized she might have gone a bit too far. After all, it’s the New Year, and saying something like this made it seem like she expected the entire Zhou family to be grateful to her, which was a bit too much. Fortunately, at that moment, Old Master Zhou was getting ready to perform on stage, so no one noticed her. She quietly stuck out her tongue: “As you command!”
Zhou Mikang returned just as Old Master Zhou was passionately singing, a smile unwittingly forming on his face. Catching his expression, Old Master Zhou sang even more energetically…
“What’s gotten into Grandpa today?” Sitting down next to Chuxia, Zhou Mikang lowered his voice and asked, “Usually getting him to sing is harder than reaching the sky.”
“Grandpa said something wrong and punished himself…” Chuxia quietly explained what had happened earlier to Zhou Mikang, then nudged him playfully, “Are you really good at playing the erhu?”
“Not bad, who told you I could play the erhu?”
“The whole family, I guess?” Chuxia scrutinized him, “Unless you still see me as an outsider and deliberately kept it from me?”
“I was afraid if I told you, you’d make fun of me…” With a cold snort, Zhou Mikang side-eyed her, “Given your personality, if you knew I could play the erhu, you’d immediately imagine me wearing a long gown, wearing sunglasses, sitting on a chair playing the erhu.”
“You see, you don’t know me well enough. When I found out you could play the erhu, I did imagine it, but I thought about you playing in a military uniform. It’s the New Year, I don’t want to put sunglasses on you. No matter, you misspoke too, so I’ll punish you to perform a program later. You can’t play the erhu or recite a poem, you can only choose between singing and dancing.”
“Can’t bear not to see me make a fool of myself, can you?” Zhou Mikang looked at her helplessly, “Are you really my wife?”
“Oh, where did you learn that, calling me your wife?” Chuxia laughed at him, “Did you learn it from Zhou Hanliang?”
Zhou Mikang just closed his mouth and didn’t respond. Chuxia had guessed right; he really did learn it from Zhou Hanliang. That kid had already gained the approval of Yun Guoguo’s parents and was quite gleeful recently, grinning from ear to ear daily.
Old Master Zhou’s rendition of “Wisdom in Conquering Mount Weihu” received enthusiastic applause, and it seemed to awaken his interest in opera, so he performed another piece from “Judge Bao’s Case”.
After “Judge Bao’s Case”, before anyone could speak, the old master pointed at Zhou Mikang: “You came back late, so you must also perform an opera segment as punishment, quickly!”
“Grandpa, spare me, I can’t sing opera. How about you perform another piece yourself instead?”
“Alright, I’ll do another piece then…”
Everyone was speechless, realizing the old master wanted to sing another song and cleverly used this method to do so without seeming eager.
In the end, Zhou Mikang couldn’t escape; showing his creativity, he directly sang the national anthem…
By around nine o’clock, Mrs. Zhang, together with Little Jing, had finished preparing the New Year’s Eve dinner, and the whole family sat at the table eating, drinking, and waiting for the midnight bell to ring in the New Year, where they’d eat dumplings.
According to local customs, after eating dumplings, one could go visit and wish a happy New Year to relatives and friends.
Knowing Zhao Yulan and Lin Baohe were surely thinking about Fat Auntie’s family, Zhou Mikang had already talked it over with them, and after eating the dumplings, he took them to wish Fat Auntie’s family a happy New Year.
During the meal, Old Master Wan was mostly silent, so Chuxia took the opportunity to move closer to him, occasionally engaging him in conversation. The old master realized her intentions and smilingly patted her on the head: “Girl, I’m quite happy inside, I just think it’s nice to listen to everyone talk with so many people around.”
“Grandpa, you’re not lying to me, right?” Chuxia looked at him somewhat uncertainly, “We agreed that you can’t keep your thoughts to yourself.”
“This is the liveliest Spring Festival I’ve ever had in my life, I truly am happy. Even when your Grandma Wan was alive, the house was lively, but we would at most have New Year’s Eve dinner, chat a bit, and then go to bed.
Since your Grandma Wan passed away, I haven’t celebrated the Spring Festival again. Over time, I got used to it. On New Year’s Day, closing the door, it just didn’t feel like New Year’s anymore.
I originally thought there wouldn’t be another opportunity to celebrate again in this life, but unexpectedly, I met you, girl…” He shook his head with a smile, “This is truly unexpected, I’m really happy.”
“Grandpa, if you’re truly happy, then in the future, I will spend every Spring Festival with you.” Chuxia looked at him with a smile, “Even though my dad found his roots, he still considers you his father, given he found it at this age. If Grandpa is willing, they’d love to live together with you all the time. This is what they asked me to convey; Grandpa doesn’t have to answer right away, but you probably know what answer we want.”
“I understand how they feel about me…” Old Master Wan nodded with a smile. “Grandpa promises you, I’ll consider it thoroughly. After all, some issues are a bit complicated.”
“Grandpa, they only want to be your children, nothing else. If Auntie has anything to say, you can directly tell her this.”
“Alright.” Old Master Wan agreed, “Don’t worry, Chuxia, Grandpa won’t let Wan Yuqiong bother your parents, and she doesn’t have the qualification to do so.”
Old Master Zhou walked over with a wine glass: “Brother Wan, let me toast to you. From now on, we are like brothers. As long as Big Brother Wan doesn’t mind, we’ll celebrate New Year together every year!”
Old Master Wan quickly stood up, raised his glass to clink with Old Master Zhou: “Great, as long as Baohe and Yulan are here, so will I be!” (To be continued. If you enjoyed this story, please visit Qidian () to vote for it with recommendation votes or monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to to read.)