“Today marks the fourth New Year we’ve spent together~”
On the balcony, a green-haired girl bundled up tightly against the cold munched on a steaming hot red bean bun, occasionally grimacing and baring her teeth from the heat.
“Junior sister, don’t keep sitting out here—you’ll catch a cold.” Gu Yuqi approached from behind with a blanket, wrapping Liang Sheng up snugly and pulling the little green-haired girl into her embrace.
Senior Sister Yuqi’s hug was as warm as ever.
“I… I want to try the sticky rice bun! This one’s just a regular red bean bun!” Song An’an’s voice rang out bright and crisp.
Liang Sheng perked up immediately, raising her hand high. “Me, me, me! Let me taste the sticky rice bun!”
Gu Yuqi let out a fond sigh and pulled Liang Sheng to her feet.
Liang Sheng scampered over to Song An’an’s side. Song An’an was nibbling on a sticky rice bun, chewing a small bite carefully. Liang Sheng grabbed her wrist and took a huge chomp right where Song An’an had bitten.
“A-Sheng, be careful…”
“Aaah!! It’s so hot, aaah!”
“Watch out for the heat…”
Song An’an’s little face went pale with fright as she scrambled to find medicine for Liang Sheng. Gu Yuqi pressed a hand to her forehead in exasperation and called out, “Hey… you’re going the wrong way!”
With no help from Song An’an, Gu Yuqi had no choice but to head upstairs herself to fetch the medicine.
“Idiot.”
Bai Zhen set aside her script and pinched Liang Sheng’s chin.
Liang Sheng’s eyes watered from the burn. She huffed out breaths, a big blister rising on her tongue as she stuck it out of her mouth, panting like a dog.
“Hoo, hoo-hoo~”
Bai Zhen blew on it gently a couple of times. “Be more careful. How are you still so clumsy?”
Just then, Gu Yuqi returned with the medicine and applied it to Liang Sheng’s tongue.
“There are plenty more treats coming up. Look at you now, you greedy cat—how are you even going to eat them?” Gu Yuqi felt both heartbroken and amused by Liang Sheng’s pitiful state.
“Wahhh…”
“What happened to my sister?” Liang Jin had just stepped through the door when she heard her sister’s cries. She immediately dropped the plastic bag of groceries, kicked off her shoes, and ran over.
Cha Susu followed close behind.
“Shengsheng’s crying?”
“Yeah, she got too eager for the bun and burned a blister on her tongue.”
Liang Jin hugged her sister, soothing her. “It’s okay, sis. I just bought your favorite shrimp. An’an sis will make you those cheesy shrimp balls you love in a bit.”
Tears streamed down Liang Sheng’s face, her words slurring from her swollen tongue. “L-look… do I even have a chance to eat now…?”
“Pfft~”
Ou Lu had just woken up and come downstairs. She overheard Liang Sheng’s comical line and couldn’t hold back a laugh. She wore only a camisole nightie, her perfect figure on full display.
“Our little klutz got burned again because of her greedy mouth?”
It seemed this wasn’t the first or second time for Liang Sheng—everyone was just about used to it.
Cha Susu huffed. “And you’re just making snide remarks while Shengsheng’s in so much pain.”
With that, she took Liang Sheng’s hand, her eyes full of heartache. “Shengsheng, does it hurt a lot? Seeing you like this makes my heart ache so much… I feel so bad for you.”
The other girls around rolled their eyes at her usual overly dramatic sympathy—they were all used to it by now.
Finally, Song An’an came back, panting and teary-eyed. “I… I couldn’t find the medicine… What do we do?!”
Gu Yuqi rubbed her temple and held up her own bottle. “It’s fine. I found some.”
“An’an sis, we got the groceries,” Liang Jin said, pointing to the assortment of plastic bags on the floor—all the veggies and meat she and Cha Susu had picked up.
Song An’an nodded and looked around, scratching her head. “Where’s An Hua? Didn’t I ask her to get the seasonings?”
Liang Jin shrugged. “No idea. We went to different stores.”
“No seasonings, no New Year’s feast~” Ou Lu drawled lazily from the sofa, stretching languidly.
Right then—
Knock knock knock.
Someone rapped on the door.
“It’s An Hua!”
Cha Susu hurried over to open it.
“Huh…? Sister Yue?”
It was Dong Yue.
“Sister Yue, when did you head out?” Bai Zhen leaned over to peek behind her, but there was no sign of An Hua. “Where’s An Hua?”
“An Hua?” Dong Yue stepped inside, puzzled. “No clue. I went out to buy fireworks—you guys didn’t think of that? I remembered Little Sheng loves watching them, so I grabbed some.”
“What’s going on? Is An Hua missing?”
“No, I sent her for seasonings,” Song An’an explained.
“Oh… no seasonings, no New Year’s feast, huh.” Dong Yue echoed the sentiment.
“Little Sheng, I got you fireworks~” Dong Yue called into the house.
The medicine must have kicked in—Liang Sheng’s tongue felt less painful now.
“Yay~” Liang Sheng jumped up, waving her arms excitedly. “I knew Teacher Dong Yue always has me at the top of her mind!”
Dong Yue smiled, her expression sweet and tender.
Knock knock knock.
The door rang again.
This time, it was An Hua.
“Phew~” She set down her plastic bag and pulled a string of lollipops from her pocket. “I think I’m late. Zhen Zhu messaged me on Weixing to bring her some lollipops.”
“Oh…”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Zhen Zhu, sprawled on the beanbag chair engrossed in her handheld game. She didn’t notice until Liang Sheng shoved the lollipops right in her face.
“Here, Little Glutton No. 2—your lollipops that you had An Hua sis buy for you.”
Zhen Zhu snatched them up and yelled, “I’m not a glutton! Old hag!”
“Hey! You little brat!”
Everyone pressed their hands to their foreheads as they watched the two kids bicker and tussle. Sigh… even after all this time, they hadn’t grown up a bit.
Meanwhile, An Hua muttered under her breath, “If it were me getting hit by Shengsheng, I wouldn’t fight back…”
“What was that?” Liang Jin beside her thought she’d misheard.
“Nothing.” An Hua straightened up primly in an instant.
“Alright, alright, you all play. I’m off to cook.” Song An’an struggled to lift several bags of groceries and headed to the kitchen.
“I’ll help.”
“One person’s not enough. I’ll pitch in too.”
Gu Yuqi and Bai Zhen followed right after, ready to head into the kitchen.
“Wait~!”
Footsteps thundered down the stairs.
“Hana wants to help too…”
“No! Go back! You can’t come into the kitchen!” Liang Sheng shouted in horror.
They absolutely couldn’t let Hana near the kitchen—this kitchen killer would ruin everything, and they’d all end up ordering takeout from a hotel.
Hana pouted pitifully. “Hana’s cooking isn’t that bad~ It’s not as exaggerated as all that~ Sheng-chan~”
“No, no, absolutely not!” Liang Sheng shook her head like a rattle.
“Fine…”
Hana drooped her head dejectedly, but then perked up again. She dashed to Liang Sheng’s side, hugged her arm, and rubbed her cheek against Liang Sheng’s face. “Then! Hana wants to sit next to Sheng-chan at dinner! Because… Hana loves Sheng-chan the most, the most~!”
“Okay~”
Liang Sheng’s tone softened. She reached up and ruffled Hana’s fluffy little head. “I love you the most too, Hana.”
At the dinner table, the girls raised their glasses.
Liang Sheng cleared her throat and flashed a huge smile, hoisting her glass high.
“Happy New Year! Let’s all have a joyful and blessed 2024!”
Mo Qingrou is missing. This is the last chapter; I hope to find everyone’s name, but it looks like a good ending for everyone, including Mo Qingrou, because everyone is living together now.
Fixed the missing extras and placed them in order between chapters 485 and 486, where the content had been cut before….no idea how that happened, lol. So now all the content is complete; just need to fix the titles.