Chapter 69

“Bai Kou—”

Bai Xiaochu came out of the kitchen with her hands covered in flour and called out.

The person who was squatting in front of the TV cabinet, head down searching for something, had not yet responded when the other two people sitting on the sofa looking at their phones both looked up at the same time.

This amused Bai Xiaochu so much that she laughed outright. “What? Are you two called Bai Kou too?”

Because of what Bai Xiaochu said, Bai Kou took out the scissors and turned back doubtfully to look.

The two people who had been teased by Bai Xiaochu had already lowered their heads and continued scrolling on their phones.

When Bai Kou stood up, her waist, strained from years of desk work, twinged in pain again. She hissed and drew in a sharp breath, rubbed it with her hand, then walked over and handed the scissors to Bai Xiaochu.

“Here, are these sharp enough?”

Bai Xiaochu tilted her head and thought they looked fine, but her hands were covered in flour and it wasn’t convenient to take them, so she directed her daughter instead. “You come in and help us cut it open.”

The moms were in a great mood today and wanted to knead the dough and mix the filling themselves.

Bai Kou helped cut open a bag of flour, then turned her face to look at the three moms laughing merrily on the side. For a moment, her expression turned dazed, as if she recalled how lively and bustling it had been when they were little.

Yang Wanxi came out of the kitchen, removed her “dark battle gear,” and looked somewhat worn out. She sat up straight and expressionlessly watched a TV ad.

Bai Kou thought for a moment, then quietly sat down next to Yang Wanxi and picked up a plate of melon seeds.

“Yang Wanxi, why didn’t you go on the Spring Festival Gala?” After asking, Bai Kou couldn’t hold back her own laughter.

She turned her head and saw Yang Wanxi looking at her in disbelief, her expression clearly saying—

“Is it that I didn’t want to?!”

In the end, there wasn’t much of a barrier between the two of them apart from the distance time had created.

Once Bai Kou cracked the joke and Yang Wanxi made that speechless face, the two looked into each other’s eyes and couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“So is that scandal between XXX and XXX real?”

“Fake, just hype.”

“What about those two actors in Unparalleled? Didn’t they say they’d been dating for years? Tongtong sent me a ton of shipping moments.”

“That’s fake too. Those two actors are actually from two companies under the same investor.”

“Oh! What about you and Li Wan then?”

Yang Wanxi suddenly stopped answering and frowned. “You still follow my news?”

Bai Kou cracked open a melon seed with a snap. “Yeah, it’s not me though—Tongtong’s your fan. She ships you and Li Wan.”

“She’s my mentor who brought me into the industry, but up to now we’ve only worked together on one drama.”

“Oh.” Bai Kou felt a bit regretful and cracked open another melon seed. “Well, Tongtong’s gonna be heartbroken then.” With that, she turned to look at the TV.

“…” Seeing how this person didn’t care at all, Yang Wanxi snatched the plate of melon seeds from Bai Kou’s hand, not allowing her to ship any more. “Eat fewer melon seeds. You’ll get heaty.”

Then she grabbed the unshelled one from Bai Kou’s hand too, cracked it with a snap, and shelled it expressionlessly.

“Bai Kou.” Bai Xiaochu poked her head out again and looked around. “Where’s your sister?”

Bai Kou couldn’t eat melon seeds anymore, so she started peeling candied oranges, replying without lifting her head. “No idea, probably in her room.”

Bai Xiaochu went over and knocked three times. “Yuqiao?”

Click.

Instead, the front door opened.

A gust of cold air drifted in, making Bai Kou shrink her neck. While stuffing a candied orange into her mouth, she turned to look.

Bai Yuqiao wore a white hooded coat and carried a plastic bag printed with green Chinese characters for some pharmacy.

Was she feeling unwell? Bai Kou wondered.

Bai Yuqiao closed the door, and Bai Xiaochu noticed what was in her hand too. “Oh dear, what’s wrong?”

【Little sister’s waist hurts.】

Bai Yuqiao gestured, then took out the items from the bag—two boxes of ointment and a bottle of something that looked like medicinal liquid.

Bai Kou, who had been watching from the side, couldn’t help but frown. The candied orange in her mouth suddenly lost its flavor.

Yang Wanxi, after seeing Bai Yuqiao’s gestures, quickly looked away too.

Yang Wanxi lowered her lashes, at a loss for what to do. In the end, she rummaged around and pulled a tin of toothpicks from the table organizer, twisting one absentmindedly.

Bai Kou took the bag. Facing Bai Yuqiao’s gaze, which burned like it wanted to devour her, she dodged it, looked down into the bag, and said softly, “Thanks.”

After a couple of seconds, she felt Bai Yuqiao still watching her. She pursed her lips and turned her head.

【Go to the room and apply it. It’ll feel better.】 Bai Yuqiao reminded her. 【Don’t ignore a waist injury. Go to the hospital for a checkup after the New Year.】

Bai Kou set the bag down, endured the soreness in her waist, and replied flatly, “Okay, thanks for the concern. It doesn’t hurt now.”

But Bai Yuqiao frowned, grabbed Bai Kou’s wrist forcefully, picked up the bag she had just set down, and headed straight to the room.

“Bai Yuqiao! Bai Yuqiao!” Bai Kou stumbled along, half-pushing half-following, but still protested in a low voice. “I told you it doesn’t hurt!”

Bang.

That door was finally closed gently.

Yang Wanxi stared fixedly for a moment, then let out a breath and leaned back on the sofa, hugging a pillow and closing her eyes.

In the room, the two stood in quiet confrontation.

After entering the room, Bai Yuqiao let go of Bai Kou and looked around for a place to set the bag down. But Bai Kou’s bedroom featured a low-profile layout—the bed was a tatami even lower than the window sill, the low table at the foot was level with the bed, and the extra small cabinets and nightstand were only a bit taller than the tatami.

As for higher spots, the wall had six dolls hung in a swing-like rack, and next to them was a vertical photo wall.

There were photos of Bai Kou and Bai Xiaochu together, Bai Kou and Lu Tongtong together…

“That’s enough, Bai Yuqiao.” Bai Kou spoke coldly, interrupting Bai Yuqiao’s observation.

Bai Yuqiao’s gaze fell back on Bai Kou. She opened her mouth, as if about to explain on instinct.

Bai Kou watched, blinking slowly and coldly.

They said online that people living together would start to look alike. Bai Kou felt that over these years, Bai Yuqiao had grown more and more like Auntie Gao, no longer the person in her memories.

Her eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth… even the slightly raised chin exuded an inadvertent coldness—that day at the zoo meeting, Bai Kou had watched Bai Yuqiao from afar and really hoped she would stay that cold forever.

Not like at home, where she would act erratically out of nowhere and suddenly care about her.

Suddenly look at her with those eyes that should have been cold, carrying a strange vulnerability and sorrow.

“Bai Yuqiao, I’m not a little kid anymore.”

She said steadily, “I know my own body. Whether to buy medicine or see a doctor, even if I don’t understand, I have my mom.”

Bai Yuqiao pursed her lips, sighed, turned her face away, and avoided Bai Kou’s gaze.

Bai Kou reached out and took the plastic bag from Bai Yuqiao’s hand again. She looked down into it and lied, “You think I don’t have these medicines in my room? I just don’t hurt, so I don’t want to apply them. You only come back once or twice a year, Bai Yuqiao—”

After calling her name, Bai Kou patiently waited for her to look back.

This time, looking into her eyes, there were no extra emotions in her heart. She just said softly.

“It was you who didn’t want me back then.”

“You’re not my sister anymore.”

“If not for my mom wanting to spend New Year with you all, we wouldn’t have any relationship now.”

“You don’t need to bother taking care of me.”

Bai Kou thought she was just stating a fact they both knew well, but unexpectedly, those few short sentences made Bai Yuqiao’s eyes visibly redden.

“…” Not?

Bai Kou, who had just laid down the harsh words, was immediately stunned. Her fingers clenched unconsciously.

While she was silent, Bai Yuqiao took a deep breath, nodded, pointed at the door, and turned to leave.

“Cheers! Happy New Year!”

The table was laden with dishes, and the three families sat joyfully around it.

Bai Kou happily downed half a glass of orange juice. Auntie Yang and Yang Wanxi hadn’t driven today, so after midnight passed, she still had to see them home.

“Oh, another year gone by.” Bai Xiaochu set down her wine glass and sighed. “It always feels like the years fly by once the kids grow up.”

“Yeah.” Yang Yingyun agreed. “I still remember that one year we went for a walk by the river. Bai Kou and the others were just that tall, walking side by side by the riverbank—so adorable.”

“Oh! Auntie Yang, are you saying we’re not cute anymore now?” Bai Kou laughed as she chimed in.

“Hahaha, I didn’t mean that at all.”

“Hmph, no matter.” Bai Kou turned and pulled five red envelopes from her bag, waving them. “Uncute people are giving out red envelopes. Everyone has to say something auspicious to me.”

With that, Bai Kou stood from her seat. The first, of course, was to Bai Xiaochu, whom she presented with both hands.

Bai Xiaochu took it and said, “Then I wish my baby good health, all goes well, and every day of the new year brings happiness!”

“Mm! Very good!” Bai Kou let go.

The second was in order, to Gao Wenlan. She first said generously, “Happy New Year, Auntie Gao!” Gao Wenlan took the red envelope, smiled around the table, and said, “These past few years, it’s because of Bai Kou that someone my age still gets red envelopes every year.” She paused, then looked at Bai Kou. “So I wish little Kou endless courage to keep moving forward! Keep learning! Always progressing!”

“Good!” Bai Kou clenched her fist. “Always progressing!”

For the third, Bai Kou circled Yang Yingyun’s head with the red envelope. “Auntie Yang, you missed New Year the past two years because of work shifts. If you don’t say something good this year, no red envelope for you.”

“Pfft.” Yang Yingyun laughed, crossed her arms, and said, “Well then, I wish our little Bai Doudou’s painting career to flourish, always with new challenges and gains, and striking it rich soon!”

“Haha, alright, that barely passes.”

Now it was Bai Yuqiao’s turn.

As Bai Kou approached her, she didn’t turn around right away, just gripped her chopsticks tightly.

Normally she wouldn’t be like this—normally she would turn ahead of time, considering that Bai Kou didn’t like calling her “sister.”

“Bai Yuqiao.”

Unfortunately, even with Bai Yuqiao deliberately forcing it like this, even in front of the elders, Bai Kou didn’t waver at all and called her full name bluntly.

Bai Yuqiao had to turn around, look up into Bai Kou’s smiling eyes, and in the distance she heard Bai Xiaochu go “Oh dear” and say that little Doudou was really getting too casual with her sister now.

“Don’t space out.” Bai Kou acted like she hadn’t quarreled with Bai Yuqiao at all. When Bai Yuqiao just looked at her without moving, she proactively waved the red envelope. “Give me your blessing, and the red envelope’s yours.”

【Happy New Year.】 Bai Yuqiao made a simple gesture.

“Thanks, you too.” Bai Kou handed the red envelope to Bai Yuqiao.

For the last red envelope, the Spring Festival Gala happened to start, drawing the elders’ attention.

Yang Wanxi propped her cheek on her hand, leaning obliquely against the table, looking up at Bai Kou with a smile. “How much money’s in this red envelope anyway?”

Bai Kou rested her elbows on the back of Bai Yuqiao’s chair, holding the red envelope in both hands. She “hmm”ed for a bit and said, “Plenty for others, but in yours, probably just one or two bucks?”

Yang Wanxi nodded and smiled, playing along with Bai Kou. “So stingy, then I don’t have time to think of a blessing.”

“Think of one anyway.” Bai Kou said. “You earn a lot, but a buck is still money. Cherish the small money to make the big money.”

“Oh, that does make sense.” Yang Wanxi said as she stood up.

“Then I wish you, in the new year—”

Her eyes were full of gentleness, reflecting only Bai Kou’s figure, and she said the words Bai Kou had once written in her birthday letter. “Justice is never absent.”