Mr. Lin moved the tablet in front of the table. The four family members, plus Lu Ziqing, sat around the round dining table.
When Lin Yu was little, their family used to watch TV on an old, bulky television. Later, they upgraded to an LCD screen, but as they got used to the internet, they rarely turned on the TV anymore. Now, when they wanted to watch something, they just used a tablet.
The red round dining table was polished to a shine, and the best dishware from the cabinets was used. At the center of the table was steamed abalone with garlic and vermicelli, surrounded by stir-fried pork with chili, tofu with scallions, cola chicken wings, and razor clams with scallion oil…
The rich aroma filled the air, and the sizzling oil was still bubbling.
Mr. Lin, wearing a blue floral apron, proudly introduced the abalone dish in the center. “Kids! Do you know why I made this dish?”
Lin Yu: “Dad, every time you call us that, I feel like we’re monkeys from Hua Guo Mountain.”
“Well, answer the Monkey King’s question then,” Mr. Lin said energetically. “Take a bold guess—why did I make this dish?”
Lin Rui popped a peanut into her mouth and said dryly, “It was on sale at the market.”
“Nonsense! Do I look like someone who’s that stingy?” Mr. Lin said. “Guess again.”
Lu Ziqing: “I guess it’s because abalone is nutritious, and Uncle wants to make sure we’re all healthy.”
“That’s only part of it.” Seeing that no one guessed correctly, Mr. Lin grew even prouder. “This dish is called ‘Rong Yi Bao Fu’ (which sounds like ‘easy prosperity’ in Chinese)!”
Lin Yu pressed a hand to his forehead.
Lin Rui: “…Oh.”
“How meaningful!” Lu Ziqing exclaimed. “This is the first time I’ve heard this interpretation—so creative and profound!”
He glanced at the other dishes and suddenly understood. “I see. So the stir-fried pork with chili symbolizes ‘prosperity and success,’ the tofu with scallions means ‘wisdom and good fortune,’ the cola chicken wings represent ‘happiness and joy,’ and the razor clams with scallion oil stand for ‘wishes coming true!’ Uncle, did I get that right?”
Mr. Lin was overjoyed, constantly praising Lu Ziqing for being cultured.
Lin Rui gave him a side-eye. “Bootlicker.”
“How can you talk to a guest like that?” Mr. Lin, growing more and more fond of Lu Ziqing, said, “Xiao Lu and I really get along. Later, you have to drink a few rounds with me—no leaving the table until you’ve had enough!”
Lin Yu stifled a laugh.
When both Mr. and Mrs Lin went to the kitchen, Lu Ziqing whispered, “Baby, you should drink more fish soup.”
“What’s the meaning behind this one?” Lin Yu asked. “So we have a surplus every year?”
“No,” Lu Ziqing whispered into his ear, “It’s for… enhancing your chest.”
Lin Yu smacked him on the back of the head. “…Just eat your food!”
The Spring Festival Gala began with song and dance.
Watching the TV, Lin Rui muttered, “So garish, like they stepped into a paint bucket. Who approves this tacky aesthetic?”
Mrs Lin brought over the last dish—a fruit platter—and exchanged a glance with Mr. Lin.
“Rui Rui, I heard from your brother that you’re dating someone?” Mrs Lin asked casually.
“Oh.” Lin Rui didn’t even turn her head. “We broke up.”
Everyone: “…?”
Lin Yu: “You just told me yesterday that you had a boyfriend, and you’d only been dating for a month or two. Now you’ve broken up?”
“He was too annoying. Just because of what happened yesterday, he insisted I was unfaithful, crying and demanding a breakup—so I agreed.”
Mrs Lin had originally wanted to advise her daughter not to date so casually, to be more selective, and not get taken advantage of. But after hearing this, she had to swallow her words.
“What happened yesterday?”
Lin Rui mumbled, “…Just a little misunderstanding. Anyway, I’m single now, so it doesn’t matter.”
Lin Yu knew she didn’t want to talk about Mo Jing, so he changed the subject. “Hey, look at those dancers—they’re amazing. Their leg lifts are so high.”
Mrs Lin’s interest was piqued. “Rui Rui can do that too, right? Come on, Rui Rui, show us!”
Lin Rui: “…I’m eighteen, not eight. Do we really have to do this ‘perform something for the New Year’ routine?”
On stage, a singer sang an English lyric.
Immediately, Mrs Lin turned to Lin Yu. “Son, quick, this is your specialty—translate it!”
Lin Yu obediently translated.
Then, he whispered to Lu Ziqing, “Don’t mind her. Ever since I started learning English in third grade, every time someone speaks English on TV, my mom makes me translate.”
Lu Ziqing whispered back, “I get it. Every time we’re on a plane or see a foreigner on the street, my mom forces me to go say hello.”
After the song and dance segment, the cringe-worthy comedy sketches began.
One moment they were laughing, the next they were crying—it was like a mental asylum reunion.
Mr. Lin quickly lost interest and turned to Lu Ziqing. “Xiao Lu, you used to work at the same company as Xiao Yu. Do you know their boss? He has the same surname as you—Lu something Lin.”
Lu Ziqing choked for a moment. “I’ve heard of him.”
“Xiao Yu once came home and told us that their boss was impressive—built a big company from scratch. But, sigh, it’s a shame he had such an unlucky family and ended up with a useless son, who just takes a salary and lazes around every day…”
This time, it was Lin Yu who choked violently. “Dad! Dad, cough cough, I just ate a chili, can you get me some water…”
“These chilies aren’t even spicy. I didn’t add any bird’s eye chilies,” Mr. Lin muttered as he went to the kitchen to get water.
Lu Ziqing looked at a certain someone who was avoiding his gaze, his expression half-smiling.
“So this is how you used to see me.”
Lin Yu: “Back then, I didn’t really understand…”
Lu Ziqing: “And now?”
“Handsome and dashing, refined and graceful, a young talent, a dragon among men.” Lin Yu answered without hesitation.
“Give me a final phrase to sum it up?”
“Unparalleled in the world!”
…….
After the New Year’s Eve dinner, Lin Yu’s parents started feeling sleepy and went back to their room to rest.
Lin Yu grabbed some sparklers and took Lu Ziqing and Lin Rui to the rooftop to play with small fireworks.
Lin Rui scoffed, “So childish, I stopped playing with these when I was ten,” but when the sparkler was shoved into her hand, she held it with a disinterested cool-girl look.
Lin Yu took pictures of her from every angle, making a fireworks photoshoot.
“Wow, Rui Rui, you look so good spinning like that, just like a magical girl.”
“This angle makes your legs look so long, your arms too.”
“The dancers on TV just now weren’t as pretty as you.”
Lin Rui had intended to keep up her cool act, but after all the compliments, she couldn’t hold it anymore. “Make my legs look longer, and snap a shot when I do the splits. Hmph, I want my friends to wake up tomorrow and see my gorgeous photos first thing!”
When she got the photos, Lin Rui was beyond satisfied and immediately rushed downstairs to edit them.
Lu Ziqing chuckled, “You really have a heavy bias when it comes to your little sister.”
“Isn’t that normal?” Lin Yu twirled a sparkler in his hand. “She’s my sister, of course, she’s the cutest in my eyes.”
“What about me?” Lu Ziqing leaned in. “I’m your rightful husband. Am I cute?”
“Just average,” Lin Yu said with feigned indifference.
Lu Ziqing’s face fell. “Really?”
“Not bad.”
“Look again?”
“You’re slightly more pleasing to the eye than a moment ago.”
Putting on a serious act.
“And now?” Eyes full of anticipation.
Lin Yu grabbed both his ears and smiled. “Super cute.”
When the sparklers burned out, Lu Ziqing brought two lounge chairs from the house, and they lay side by side watching the fireworks.
“Let’s buy a house next year, near your company. The location is pretty good.”
“No more renting?”
“A rented place will never truly be ours. Didn’t you want a big-screen TV? Imagine how great it would be to watch movies at home.”
“Then we should start picking out furniture in advance.”
“Check online, and after the New Year, we can go to the furniture mall. What kind of decor style do you like?”
“Hmm, never really thought about it…”
“Then start thinking now. Once you’ve decided, we’ll go buy it.”
Under the dark night sky, fireworks bloomed like flowers, cascading in streams of light, dazzling like the Milky Way.
“Make a wish,” Lin Yu said. “The new year is almost here.”
“Do I have to say it out loud?”
“If you say it, it won’t come true.”
“Alright then.”
Lu Ziqing closed his eyes and muttered under his breath.
“Dear Jade Emperor, I’ve already gotten everything I’ve ever wanted in this life, so I’d like to give my wish to my beloved. He says wishes don’t come true if you say them aloud, but I think you wouldn’t be that unreasonable. And besides, if I don’t say it, how will he know? So I’ve decided to say it—to let him know how much I truly love him.”
Lu Ziqing opened his eyes and smiled at Lin Yu.
“Alright. baby, I’ve submitted an application to the Jade Emperor. Now you can make two wishes.”
Lin Yu: “Isn’t that a bit greedy?”
“What’s wrong with being greedy? It’s not illegal,” Lu Ziqing argued. “Hurry up and make your wish, before the Jade Emperor changes his mind. You know how it is—New Year’s is a busy time for the gods. He might leave at any moment.”
Under Lu Ziqing’s urging, Lin Yu pressed his hands together, closed his eyes, and made his wish.
About a minute later, he opened his eyes.
Suddenly, a warmth touched his lips—Lu Ziqing’s face was right in front of him.
Supporting himself with both hands, his lips still pressed against Lin Yu’s, he asked in a husky voice, “What did you wish for?”
The tiny specks of starlight above were completely blocked by Lu Ziqing, shrouding the night in total darkness. The fireworks had gone silent, the moonlight still and quiet.
Lin Yu swallowed, his throat dry. “That everyone stays healthy, with no illness or misfortune.”
“And?”
Lips brushed gently, breaths tangled together, heat rising.
Lin Yu’s chest trembled slightly.
“…I want to watch the fireworks with you again next year.”
Lu Ziqing chuckled lowly against him.
The laughter echoed through his chest, the vibrations passing through to Lin Yu’s, syncing their rhythm on this same night, like a song sung together.
Lin Yu suddenly asked, “If this were the ending of a story, how do you think it should be written?”
“Are we the main characters?”
“Mm. You and me.”
Lu Ziqing tilted his head. “We make dumplings together?”
Lin Yu pushed him. “Come up with another one.”
“Then… ‘And so, the prince and the prince lived happily ever after’?” Lu Ziqing said. “But wait, we live in modern times, no monarchy here… That’s not quite right.”
…
Lu Ziqing fell into deep thought.
Lin Yu glanced at him. “Can’t think of anything?”
“I give up,” Lu Ziqing admitted freely. “Baby, tell me then—what’s the right answer?”
Behind them, in the northern part of the town, the biggest firework of the night soared into the sky, illuminating the entire night.
The brilliant fire reflected in their eyes, like poetry marking the end of a chapter.
“Year after year with you, morning and night,” Lin Yu said.
[mfn]
[Author’s Note]
There’s one final epilogue chapter.
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