Happy New Year

Happy New Year

Xiang Zhixing hadn't seen Chen Jiayu for a while, and these past few days he had indeed been considering joining the team.

As the saying goes, "One who stays near ink gets stained black, and one who stays near ink gets stained red." During his time with Shen Muwei, he found that his mindset had become more positive and optimistic. Watching her participate in competitions also made him want to shine in his own place.

The injury that once crippled my foot has actually healed long ago.

Over the years, he had to admit that, besides retaliating against Xiang Jingshan, a large part of the reason was that he had also drawn a very limiting cage for himself.

I recently met Xiang Jingshan again, and he finally resolved a long-standing issue in his heart.

I still remember that when he left for school in the morning, Xiang Jingshan drove up and asked him if he wanted a ride. He was wearing his school uniform, with his backpack on his shoulder and one foot on the ground, looking like a spirited young man.

To him at that time, his Trek bicycle was way cooler than his dad's Lexus.

He only refused Xiang Jingshan, stepped on the pedal, and drove towards his father, bending the road.

However, in just one day, after school and a simple dinner, everything at home changed.

He never saw Xiang Jingshan again after that, until the college entrance exam, which was undoubtedly a huge shock to Xiang. The man who was dressed in a suit that morning was now wearing tattered clothes, which he could not accept.

For a long time, he was trapped by this matter, and even the sight of a basketball would fill him with a sense of dread.

The sense of shame haunted him for a long time, and he felt disgusted.

A successful man with a happy family secretly hooks up with the woman of a local gangster and elopes with her, playing a life-or-death race. Xiang Zhixing thinks Xiang Jingshan has watched too many American and European gangster movies.

It wasn't until he met Shen Muwei again in college that he realized he had seen her on the basketball court before. She had performed a shoulder throw during military training, which made Zhou Chengming withdraw into himself. At that time, he became like a plant that wanted to absorb a little bit of sunlight.

Just a little bit.

Xiang Zhixing undoubtedly felt that Shen Muwei was pushing him away again recently. Although he didn't know why, he needed to take some action, whether it was to talk to her again or something else, he couldn't let her really drift further and further away from him.

Shen Muwei's rejection was within his expectations, but he still couldn't help feeling disappointed.

He was the only one on the basketball court at the moment. The lights in the court were on, and there was a layer of damp chill on the window frame, blurring the dark green shadows outside.

He has found his stage again, and every breath he takes feels incredibly smooth. Here, he seems to be in control of everything; the constantly pounding, trembling, and bouncing basketball is his beating heart.

Lively, exhilarating, until he jumped up and completed the dunk.

The swaying basketball hoop clanged and clattered, accompanied by his sweat, just like when he was back on the court.

Chen Jiayu clapped his hands as he entered, exclaiming in amazement, "It's completely fine!"

Xiang Zhixing didn't know how he found this place, so he didn't respond and just casually shot hoops, while Chen Jiayu's persuasion rang in his ears.

He was still considering it, not about whether or not to join the basketball team, but about how to bring it up with Shen Muwei.

However, when he turned around, no explanation was needed. Shen Muwei was standing by the door, wearing a dark gray plaid scarf. The ends of her short hair touched the scarf, making her face look even smaller.

Xiang Zhixing had imagined many times what it would be like to confront Shen Muwei, but he never thought it would be like this. He should at least give him some preparation. The current situation was too ugly.

Shen Muwei may be slow-witted, but she's not stupid.

She was scammed.

He's faking it, absolutely.

Shen Muwei turned and left without the slightest hesitation.

As you walk from the basketball court into the corridor, the temperature drops rapidly. Shen Muwei walks in a hurry, burying her face in her scarf.

When Xiang Zhixing caught up, she had already gone outside. The ground was wet and slippery, and she walked quickly and carefully, looking like a clumsy penguin from behind.

He walked cautiously beside her, trying to ease the tension by asking her why she had come so quietly again.

Upon hearing him utter a single syllable, Shen Muwei immediately snapped, "Shut up!"

Her face was a little pale, and the cold weather made her nose red. Clear snot was quietly trickling down her philtrum, which she wiped away forcefully.

Xiang Zhixing stood ramrod straight, feeling a sense of guilt and helplessness, wanting to speak but unable to find the words.

Her eyes widened, as if she couldn't breathe, and she gasped for air. She stared at him for a while, and just as she was about to leave, she turned back.

"Have you been lying to me from the very beginning? What about the ghost following you, the fact that you can't play basketball, and so many other things? Have you been lying to me all of this?"

Xiang Zhixing responded with silence.

"say!"

"Only ghosts and people who can't play ball lied to you..."

She hurriedly took a step back to create distance between herself and him, then suddenly opened her hand with her palm facing up, saying in a trembling voice, "Give it back to me, give it back to me."

"I didn't bring it with me," he said.

Shen Muwei wanted to go back to his dorm with him to get it, but she became increasingly irritable. She felt uncomfortable even looking at him.

Not carrying it on her body further proved that there were no paranormal events at all. She felt ridiculously stupid, so stupid that she wanted to crack open her head to see what was inside.

Her blood was rushing to her head, and she had so many questions she wanted to ask, but she was too weak to ask or speak. She just felt so cold and was shivering.

The snowflakes started falling then, and the weather forecast was right; there would indeed be snow around Christmas.

She wanted to go back and never speak to this person again.

After crossing the marble floor in front of the venue, she stepped onto the asphalt road. Her strides became even larger than before, as if she were wound up like a toy, rushing around recklessly. Xiang Zhixing followed three meters behind her until she safely returned to her dormitory before leaving.

Shen Muwei returned to her dormitory, threw down her backpack, went to bed, drew the curtains, and slept soundly.

When the people in the dormitory returned, they saw her sleeping and treaded lightly.

Shen Muwei slept until noon, which was unusual for her. No one woke her up, and she didn't have class the next day anyway.

When she woke up, she saw a plate of braised pork rice on the table. Zhao Ranzhu raised her hand and said, "I bought it for you."

Shen Muwei narrowed her eyes slightly: "Did you really buy it?"

Zhao Ranzhu nodded: "Yes."

She picked up the plastic handle of the braised pork rice packaging with her index finger and examined it carefully. Zhao Ranzhu was both amused and exasperated: "I really bought it. Don't be so paranoid. I wouldn't betray my own sister, okay? Here, let me show you my purchase history."

As she spoke, she actually handed over her phone screen. She had bought it outside of school, and the WeChat payment record clearly showed which merchant it was from.

Shen Muwei felt relieved and nodded, saying, "Okay, then I'll go brush my teeth and wash my face."

The dormitory staff knew the progress of Shen Muwei and Xiang Zhixing's relationship, and Zhao Ranzhu had just learned about Shen Muwei's feelings for Xiang Zhixing. In addition, she unusually went to sleep as soon as she returned to the dormitory last night, making it hard not to make connections.

She opened her tablet, selected a currently airing TV series, and casually transferred the money for the braised pork rice to Zhao Ranzhu on her phone.

A new friend request appeared in the center of WeChat. She knew who it was without even looking. She deleted him on the way home last night.

After the money was transferred, the bank card automatically displayed the deduction amount. She intended to withdraw the money, but instead clicked on her text message inbox. Several messages from unknown numbers appeared, and she knew who they were from just by glancing at the beginning of the preview.

Block them all.

Shen Muwei performed these actions with a blank expression, as if it were none of her business.

She no longer wanted to dwell on how things started. Her mind was in a mess, and when it was in a mess, she didn't want to think about it and just wanted to sleep.

So after eating, she tied the takeout bag and threw it into the trash can, then took her tablet, which was playing a TV show, to bed. After the episode ended, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

In the following days, whenever she didn't have to attend classes, she would fall asleep as soon as she got to her dorm room.

Even Zhao Ranzhu and Qian Eryun were discussing privately whether she was really okay doing this.

They had been classmates for at least three years, and he had never seen her like this before. He wondered if she had been secretly crying at night. Wearing only thermal underwear, Qian Eryun lay down beside her bed late at night, lifted the curtain, and peered inside. He could only see her back, and listened carefully for a long time but heard nothing unusual.

Shen Muwei rolled over, a smile still on her lips, and chuckled, saying the roasted chestnuts were delicious. This terrified Qian Eryun, who, in the dead of winter, scrambled into bed, shivering under the covers, and texted Zhao Ranzhu: "[Great, I'm freezing.]"

A week later, Shen Muwei finally became a normal person, but she never mentioned Xiang Zhixing again, as if he didn't exist in her life.

Zhao Ranzhu and Qian Eryun also tacitly avoided mentioning him.

One day, they went to take a general course exam early in the morning. After the exam, they ate in the cafeteria. All three of them wanted to drink milk tea, so Zhao Ranzhu stayed behind to save seats for them, while Shen Muwei and Qian Eryun went to the milk tea shop next door to buy milk tea.

Coincidentally, Zhou Chengming was also there. He greeted Shen Muwei as if he were a bit slow on the uptake, asking if Shen Muwei had been too busy with final exams lately to play basketball with Xiang Zhixing, since Xing-ge was tormenting them in the dorm every day.

"Wow, I never knew Xing-ge was such a good basketball player! He almost beat me to a pulp, and he insisted on dragging me along..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was startled by Shen Muwei's expression, and felt as if he could see flames burning fiercely behind her.

He swallowed hard, not asking why, but his brain wasn't working properly, and he blurted out, "You guys drink milk tea too... hahaha, I was given milk tea by Brother Xing..."

Realizing he had said the wrong thing again, he covered his mouth and looked around helplessly, hoping the milk tea would be made quickly so he could grab it and leave.

Qian Eryun thought this person was hopelessly stupid and rolled her eyes at him several times behind his back.

When Shen Muwei left after buying milk tea, presumably Zhou Chengming tipped off Xiang Zhixing, she turned around and saw a tall man standing in front of her.

I hadn't seen him for over a week, and he no longer needed to pretend. He looked much more handsome than before, no longer sickly. He was energetic, refreshing, and handsome.

The dark bruises on his face were a clear indication that Shen Muwei hadn't been having an easy time lately.

But so what?

Shen Muwei originally wanted to pretend she didn't know him and turn around and leave, but from the moment he appeared, the nerves in her temples started throbbing, and her hands were itching so badly that she almost wanted to punch him in the face.

Xiang Zhixing took two steps forward, his lips moved slightly, but he couldn't utter a single word when he stood in front of her.

Shen Muwei frowned and stared at him: "If you dare to say anything, you're finished."

Xiang Zhixing indeed dared not speak or move again.

Standing here was too conspicuous, so Qian Eryun gently pulled Shen Muwei away, saying, "Zhuzhu has been waiting for us for a long time. Let's go back quickly, it's so cold and the food will get cold."

Shen Muwei completely abandoned Xiang's trip, and Song Yuanbai soon learned of this.

As the weather grew colder day by day, a heavy snow fell on New Year's Eve. Shen Muwei stayed at home by the fire and made a video call with Shen Hongtao.

The conditions were harsh for Shen Hongtao; he became tanned and thinner.

Shen Muwei shook her head repeatedly: "Dad, if you come back like this, Mom will definitely not want you anymore."

Shen Hongtao laughed on the other end: "What do you know, you little kid? Do you think the relationship between your mother and me can be worn down by such a small matter as appearance?"

Shen Muwei laughed at him, saying he was a bit too confident and that he might end up with nothing.

After chatting and laughing for a while, Shen Hongtao cautiously asked her, "My dear, have you been unhappy lately?"

Shen Muwei's true feelings were exposed; she had nothing to hide from her father.

In her family, her mother was always more carefree, while her father was more sensitive. According to her uncle, Shen Hongtao's pursuit of Mu Qing was a story full of hardships and tears.

Shen Muwei's personality is largely inherited from the best of both her parents: her mother's good skin and broad-mindedness, and her father's perfect bone structure and delicate and considerate mind.

She has always been well-behaved and sensible since childhood, and she is very considerate of other people's feelings in interpersonal relationships, but she inherited her mother's gene of being very slow to understand emotions.

While her peers were already talking about handsome guys and people they liked in elementary school, Shen Muwei could only objectively say whether a person was good or bad. The good reason was that so-and-so was a responsible class leader with excellent grades, while the bad reason was that sometimes the things he said were hurtful and he didn't consider other people's feelings.

In sixth grade, someone gave her a love letter. The next day, she wrote back a letter that read: "[Dear XX, as your classmate, I also like you. As a class leader, you are conscientious and responsible, but as a classmate, you lack a certain amount of empathy. I hope you can correct this, and I believe you will definitely become a well-liked class leader.]"

When the male student received the love letter, he broke down in tears. His homeroom teacher noticed this and, after learning about the love letter, carefully comforted him. Because she was familiar with Mu Qing, she gave Mu Qing the letter from Shen Muwei.

Mu Qing was speechless and immediately complained to her daughter, "She thinks she's a homeroom teacher writing end-of-term comments."

Looking at her father, who looked emaciated on the phone, Shen Muwei said, "I'm not unhappy. I just got bitten by a dog. I can't bite back."

Shen Hongtao was shocked: "Why didn't your mother mention it? You were bitten by a stray dog? You need to get a rabies vaccine."

Shen Muwei discovered that her father was also quite worried about her, even a little too much.

"Oh dear, it's a metaphor, a metaphor! It's not a real dog, it's a person!"

"Oh, it's a person... Oh dear! That's strange, you've been bitten, haven't you..."

Before Shen Hongtao could finish speaking, Shen Muwei immediately hung up the phone.

Two seconds later, Shen Hongtao sent a voice message: "Baby, you need to get vaccinated even if you get bitten."

It's hopeless.

Shen Muwei sent an angry emoji, and Shen Hongtao replied with a silly grin.

I was just teasing her.

Just as the phone call ended, there was a knock on the door. Shen Muwei, wearing a coral fleece pajama, lazily got up from the fire to open the door.

Covered in snow, Song Yuanbai, who hadn't even had time to put his schoolbag home, rushed over to ask her, "What happened between you and Xiang Zhixing?"

Shen Muwei was already annoyed by Shen Hongtao, and a single keyword from Song Yuanbai triggered her emotions, causing her to erupt like a volcano: "Dare you mention him again?!"

Song Yuanbai: "Okay, okay, let's not talk about it anymore. It's freezing. I'll sit for a while."

He changed his shoes and shrank into the sofa, sitting by the fire. He was excited and wanted to ask for more details, but when he turned his head, he saw that Shen Muwei's expression was not very good.

The TV is showing a New Year's Eve concert, which is very lively. The melodies are all the popular songs that are currently overused and not as good as the old hits. They are so badly parodied that they are awful. I just use them as background music to watch the fun.

Shen Muwei frowned as she played Gardenscapes. She tried several items but still couldn't pass this level. Losing patience, she put down her phone and slumped onto the sofa.

"Hey, why don't you go home? You come all the time during the holidays to come here. What's so attractive about my place?"

After saying that, Shen Muwei also felt something was off. Could it be because of her? She didn't seem to have that much charm...

"The two elderly people have gone on another trip. I'll be bored and freezing when I go back alone. I'll just mooch off your electricity bill."

Shen Muwei made a move to punch him twice, gritting her teeth as she said, "Song, Yuan, Bai!"

Song Yuanbai's parents are currently with a scientific expedition team in Antarctica. He hasn't seen them for several years and can only make a video call to them on New Year's Eve.

The other end didn't answer at first, but called back a while later. Song Yuanbai usually pretended not to care, but he still missed his parents. His parents' call made him a little excited. He was embarrassed to answer the phone in front of Shen Muwei, afraid that he would lose his composure, so he hid on Shen Muwei's balcony.

Shen Muwei knew that Song Yuanbai missed his parents, but she didn't say anything. Afraid that he would be cold on the balcony, she quietly handed him her hand warmer. The uncle and aunt in the video saw this and chatted with him for a while.

They asked her about her recent situation, whether she had a boyfriend, and if her parents were doing well, thanking her family for helping take care of Song Yuanbai. Shen Muwei couldn't help but want to cry as she listened to these words; she didn't know what Song Yuanbai would think.

She didn't want to take up anyone's precious family time; after a few words of conversation, she quickly left, closing the balcony door to give Song Yuanbai ample private space.

The call was short, and it's unclear what they talked about, but when Song Yuanbai returned, his eyes were red, as was the tip of his nose. He pretended to be nonchalant, sniffed, and moved closer to the fire, placing the now-cold hand warmer aside to recharge.

Shen Muwei didn't dare to speak, and only kept her eyes on the television.

Song Yuanbai tried to start a conversation, turning to look around and asking her, "Where's Auntie?"

Shen Muwei then dared to turn around and look at him directly: "I went to a friend's house to play. You know she has a lot of friends."

Mu Qing has an outgoing personality and many friends. On New Year's Eve, she doesn't have to take care of her adult daughter, so she can freely go out and have a party with her friends.

Noticing a clump of tears still clinging to Song Yuanbai's eyelashes, she picked up a peeled pomelo from the table and handed it to him: "Eat some, don't cry."

When Song Yuanbai touches the cool pomelo, a bite is sweet and refreshing, not sour at all.

"Thank you," he said politely, his voice choked with emotion.

Shen Muwei didn't intend to laugh at him, because she also missed her father.

Although they have all grown up, they are still essentially pampered children, and missing their parents is an instinct.

However, Shen Muwei felt that she was better off than him because at least she had her mother by her side, and the two of them could see each other often.

She patted his back and gently comforted him, "Okay, don't cry, don't cry. Why are you crying on New Year's Eve? Let me tell you a joke. When you came in, didn't you ask me about Xiang Zhixing? Okay, I'll tell you now. I was lied to by him. We're no longer friends."

Song Yuanbai knew exactly what was going on. He had discovered Xiang Zhixing's despicable behavior earlier and had "kindly" reminded him not to deceive Shen Muwei like that, because Shen Muwei would never forgive him if she found out.

But at this point, he had to pretend he didn't know.

He feigned surprise: "Really? My God, I had no idea he was such a nasty person."

Shen Muwei sneered: "This is nothing. That's the kind of person he is. He's been lying to me from the very beginning."

"To be honest, Shen Muwei, I told you before not to get too close to him, because I felt that he seemed like a shrewd person, but you didn't listen to me at all and thought I was lying to you."

She interrupted him promptly: "No, he's not the kind of person you imagine."

Song Yuanbai: "..."

“I’m very angry that he lied to me, but whatever the reason, he’s not a bad person, and I can’t just falsely accuse him.”

"Although I don't know why he lied to me, he didn't do anything excessive to me during the time we spent together. On the contrary, our interactions were very relaxed and pleasant, so you don't need to have any prejudice against him. I know you don't like him, but let's be objective..."

"Oh, by the way, did you know that he's actually pretty good at basketball?" Shen Muwei later secretly checked his personal information. Although she wasn't particularly good at basketball, she could already tell from Xiang Zhixing's movements that he was showing off his skills. At that level, he probably wouldn't have been unknown during middle school.

Of course, you can find some information about him. Just enter his name online, and you can find his name in both city-level and provincial-level competitions. There are even photos of him looking dashing on the court.

"But he kept lying to me that he couldn't play basketball, and he even put on a show for me. Do you know how blatant his acting was? He even pretended to miss shots, but he's actually the team's shooting guard, and..."

At this point, she suddenly paused: "Wait a minute. Didn't you participate in the high school league when you were in school? Then you should have met Xiang Zhixing..."

Shen Muwei frowned: "Didn't you encounter...you...didn't you play a match with him?"

Song Yuanbai had almost forgotten about this incident, never expecting that the fire at the city gate would affect innocent bystanders.

"So you recognized him a long time ago?"

"...I can explain."

"Go back home, don't try to mooch electricity from my house!"

The New Year's Eve concert on TV was counting down, the hosts beamed with joy as they welcomed the new year, and the Arabic numerals on the large screen behind them were decreasing.

"10, 9, 8, 7..."

In front of the television, Shen Muwei beat up Song Yuanbai and kicked him out of the house.

Her footsteps pounded heavily on the floor. She wondered which popular young actor was performing after the New Year, singing some awful rearranged songs. She turned off the TV and then switched off the heater in the living room. She figured she should just go to bed early, or she'd be driven crazy by the situation.

Snuggling under the covers to block out the cold air.

Shen Muwei checked her phone and sent New Year's messages to her friends.

Suddenly, a message from an unknown phone number appeared above the screen.