Chapter 249 - 131: Are You Two an Item?

Chapter 249: Chapter 131: Are You Two an Item?

There wasn’t much to do, but it kept him busy for the entire day.

That evening, Chen Yuan received a message from Fang Youqing.

Fang Youqing: "Did you mail something to me?"

Chen Yuan: "I just sent it. How did you know already?"

Fang Youqing: "I got a notification. Someone sent me a package from Ice City. I couldn’t think of anyone else but you."

Chen Yuan: "They’re all local specialties from here. For Chengcheng to eat."

Fang Youqing: "Come over for dinner during the break."

Fang Youqing: "If you don’t come this time, then don’t bother coming in the future."

’She invited me before the break started, but I didn’t go, so she was a little annoyed.’

’If I turned her down again, I’d just be unappreciative.’

Chen Yuan: "Is Chengcheng inviting me, or are you?"

Fang Youqing: "Is there a difference?"

Chen Yuan: "Of course there is."

Fang Youqing: "Chengcheng is. He’s been clamoring to play with you every day."

Chen Yuan: "If a kid’s inviting me, then I’m not going."

Fang Youqing: "Why?"

Chen Yuan: "He’s not the head of the household. His invitation doesn’t carry any weight."

Fang Youqing: "The other party is rolling their eyes at you. I’ll let you figure that out.jpg"

’In his daily chats with Fang Youqing, it was rare to see her use stickers.’

Fang Youqing: "I’m inviting you."

Chen Yuan: "That works."

Chen Yuan chatted with Fang Youqing for a while longer and soon arrived home, but there wasn’t much for him to do around the house.

He’d help out if needed, but when he wasn’t, he’d just team up for some games with his three ’sons’ from the dorm.

A few days later, Chen Yuan received the New Year’s gifts the three of them had mailed.

The nearby package pickup station didn’t offer home delivery, so he had to pick them up himself. Chen Yuan waited a couple more days until everything had arrived, then asked Comrade Chen to drive him to get all the packages.

’As for learning to drive, Chen Yuan didn’t bring it up. Signing up for driving school would cost over 3,000 yuan, which was no small amount.’

’He didn’t want to waste his breath explaining, so he just kept quiet.’

The packages from Jiang Wanyi and Fang Youqing were filled with food, all local specialties. Each had sent four large, exquisitely wrapped boxes.

In addition, Song Jianye had also mailed something.

There was tea, abalone, sea cucumber, and specialty pastries from Hang City.

’But she definitely hadn’t bought these things herself. Uncle Zhang must have arranged it all.’

’The sea cucumber, in particular, looked very familiar.’

’When he’d gone to Jiang Wanyi’s house before, she had made him sea cucumber congee, and he thought it was this same brand. The quality must be pretty good.’

"Son, what on earth have you been doing in Zhonghai?"

Watching the father-son duo haul in more than a dozen boxes, Li Huiping said, "How come people are sending you so many things? Even your father has never received this many gifts."

"I get along well with my classmates, so they sent me a little something for the New Year."

"Did you send them gifts in return?"

"I already did, so you don’t need to worry about it."

"Your classmates must be pretty well-off, huh? Sending you sea cucumber and abalone?"

"They are. Keep this stuff for yourselves; don’t give it away to others," Chen Yuan said.

’That’s how New Year’s gift-giving often worked. You give me something, I regift it to someone else, and then I don’t have to spend money on a gift.’

’But every one of these gifts came from the heart, and Chen Yuan had no intention of letting his parents give them away.’

"None of this stuff is cheap. It would be a waste to regift it."

Comrade Li was quite frugal. The value of gifts given and received was always kept roughly equivalent.

You could call it a street-smart mentality, but it had kept the household running in perfect order for years. They weren’t rolling in dough, but they’d never had to worry about money.

"Let me open them and see what’s inside."

It wasn’t that Chen Yuan was afraid Comrade Li would secretly give the things away; he was just genuinely curious.

Opening the gift boxes, he saw that the ones from Jiang Wanyi and Fang Youqing were all local specialty pastries. Some tasted good, some were just okay.

’So-called local specialties were really all about the same. They couldn’t possibly suit everyone’s tastes; it was more about the novelty.’

"Whoa, this girl’s gorgeous. Why does she look a little familiar?"

Chen Jingshan had opened the package from Song Jianye. Inside, besides the food, there were also many photos.

Every photo was a selfie of her, with different scenery in the background.

Seeing the photos, Li Huiping immediately leaned in for a closer look.

"Isn’t this the girl I had a video call with a while back? She’s so tall and pretty," Li Huiping said.

"Son, be honest. Are you two an item?"

"No, we’re just good friends. Stop letting your imaginations run wild."

’If it weren’t for that so-called system mission, some sparks really might have flown.’

’But the moment he thought of her as the ’girl baby’ of the boy-girl twins, any other ideas vanished from his mind.’

’It was strange to think about, though. All this time, and the ’boy baby’ was still missing. Where could he be?’

’Could it be Fang Youqing’s son?’

’That seemed unlikely, didn’t it?’

"There’s writing on the back," Chen Jingshan said.

Curious, Chen Yuan flipped a photo over. On the back were the time and place—all the details of when the picture was taken were written there.

’She probably provided the information, but she couldn’t have written it herself, since she’s abroad right now.’

’Song Jianye was so thoughtful, sharing everything she’d seen and heard with me.’

Life went on, day by day, and time passed in a flash.

「In the blink of an eye, it was New Year’s Eve.」

Chen Yuan’s family was just the three of them, so they didn’t celebrate at their own home. Instead, they went to his paternal aunt’s house.

Whenever there was a holiday or some other important festival, the relatives in the family would gather together. It was always more lively with more people.

This had been the pattern for many years. Last year, the relatives had gathered at Chen Yuan’s house, so this year, they went to his paternal aunt’s to celebrate.