Chapter 90: Side Story Five

As Chinese New Year drew near, the calls from Mom and Mother grew more frequent. They were mostly asking when Ye Chengxing and Li Jia would come home for the holiday.

Ye Chengxing checked the messages and replied that it would be soon.

She and Li Jia had only one last task left, and they were wrapping it up.

Even so, time would be tight by the time they finished and headed back home. Fortunately, all the gifts had been prepared well in advance.

After loading everything into the trunk and tidying themselves up, Ye Chengxing and Li Jia set off.

While waiting at a red light, she glanced over at Li Jia in the passenger seat.

Li Jia always got a little nervous whenever they went home to visit Mom and Mother.

Ye Chengxing spoke up to reassure her. “Xiao Li, everything’s fine. Mom and Mother like you so much. You don’t need to be nervous.”

She meant every word. Mom and Mother truly adored Li Jia. If the two of them weren’t already so intimate, they probably would have adopted her as a goddaughter on the spot.

Li Jia met her gaze, still looking tense. “This is our first New Year together back home, after all…”

Ye Chengxing could only keep reassuring her.

Before they even got out of the car, they shared kisses and hugs for quite a while until Li Jia finally relaxed.

Ye Sheng and Ye Shinian knew they were coming home that day. They arrived at the door right on time to greet them after getting the message.

The Ye Family home was a cozy three-story villa, where plum blossoms released their faint, chilly fragrance in the front courtyard.

Ye Chengxing held Li Jia’s hand with one hand while carrying bags with the other. Li Jia did the same.

The moment the car pulled up, Ye Sheng spotted them. Even before they drew close, she called out happily, “Xiao Li Jia is finally here!”

The first time Ye Sheng had met Li Jia, she had been quite proper and reserved. But after more visits, she had loosened up considerably.

“Mom, Mother,” Li Jia said obediently, greeting them. She had started using those terms long ago.

Ye Shinian had her hair pinned up, her features soft and gentle. “Jiajia, are those bags heavy? Let us take them.”

Li Jia shook her head. “They’re not heavy.”

Seeing Mom about to chime in as well, Ye Chengxing cleared her throat. “Alright, everyone, let’s head inside. Mom, Mother—you two as well. Next time, don’t wait out here for us. It’s pretty cold.”

“Got it, got it. We’re going in,” Ye Sheng said as she linked arms with Ye Shinian. Her voice floated over lightly. “Ye Chengxing, don’t worry. We’ll still come out next time.”

Ye Chengxing couldn’t help laughing.

Mom, honestly…

She rubbed her fingertip against Li Jia’s palm and curved her eyes toward her. “Let’s go inside too.”

The moment they stepped into the villa, the household aunts swooped in to take the bags and put them away.

Ye Sheng and Ye Shinian had already begun preparing the New Year’s Eve feast before Ye Chengxing and Li Jia arrived. The relatives had all come over to gather together.

The aunts and a specially hired chef handled most of the cooking, customizing the dishes. By then, everyone was chatting amiably in the living room.

Ye Chengxing had been worried that Li Jia might feel too nervous, but once they were inside, Li Jia blended in effortlessly. Seeing that put Ye Chengxing’s mind at ease, though she still kept secretly holding Li Jia’s hand under the table.

Dozens of dishes were prepared one after another and brought to the table.

Outside the window, night deepened. There were no fireworks crackling in the distance, but the New Year spirit filled the air all the same.

By the time they finished the New Year’s Eve dinner, it was quite late. The relatives began taking their leave one by one.

Fireworks would normally start around now, but they were mostly banned these days.

“Even without fireworks, we can still light some fairy sticks,” Ye Chengxing said. She led Li Jia to the villa’s backyard garden and found an open spot. She pulled out the fairy sticks she had prepared ahead of time.

She lit two of them and handed one to Li Jia, beaming at her with curved eyes.

“Happy New Year, Xiao Li.”

The heart-shaped sparks from the fairy stick illuminated a patch of the night.

The surroundings weren’t particularly bright, and even two fairy sticks together barely pushed back the darkness. Yet in that instant, everything felt radiant and warm to Li Jia—so much so that tears pricked at her eyes.

With the fairy stick raised beside her, Ye Chengxing drew hearts in the air for her. “No fireworks, so this will have to do for now. Okay?”

Li Jia stared at her steadily, her dark pupils brimming with the glow of the fairy stick and Ye Chengxing’s radiant smile.

…So beautiful.

After a long moment, she murmured softly, “No, it’s not just making do. It’s beautiful.”

“The most beautiful fireworks I’ve ever seen.”

Ye Chengxing smiled at her words.

“That’s good, then,” she replied.

That silent snowy night was long in the past. This time, they were truly spending New Year together—truly lighting fireworks side by side.

These two fairy sticks were nothing compared to that grand display from before, which Ye Chengxing had missed in the moment. But just thinking of the details Li Jia had arranged, along with the videos of the riverside fireworks that later spread across Star Net, she could picture their brilliance.

And… the emotions Li Jia must have felt, watching fireworks alone for all those years afterward.

With that, Ye Chengxing glanced at the fairy stick in her hand and asked, “Is it lively today?”

“Very lively,” Li Jia replied.

There had been a full table for the New Year’s Eve dinner amid a warm, bustling atmosphere, surrounded by family as loving as Mom and Mother.

Most of all…

This time, she was right there beside her—vividly, warmly alive.

In the second the fairy sticks burned out, darkness closed in again.

And in that same second, Li Jia pulled Ye Chengxing into an embrace and kissed her lips.

“Sister, Happy New Year.”

She believed that from here on, every year would bring new beginnings.

Their New Year’s kiss was tender and lingering, as if time itself had frozen.

When it ended, their breaths came a little ragged.

Still holding each other, Ye Chengxing kissed Li Jia’s ear and winked at her. “Let’s head back to the room. I still have one New Year’s gift I haven’t shown Xiao Li yet.”

Li Jia made a few guesses when she heard that, but none came close to the truth.

Fingers laced together, they returned to their room. When Li Jia saw what the gift was, she froze completely.

Under the lights, the woman’s skin gleamed smooth and pale. The butterfly tattoo along her ribs stood out vividly—

Fluttering delicately, wings poised to take flight.

Starlight danced lightly across it, lending the butterfly even greater splendor.

Li Jia nearly forgot to blink. After a long moment, she reached out with a fingertip to brush it lightly, her voice turning faintly hoarse. “…Why get this tattoo all of a sudden?”

“It’s not sudden,” Ye Chengxing said, gazing at her with gentle eyes. “I’ve had the idea for a while. I just wanted to give it to you at a more special time.”

“I saw the rose tattoo Xiao Li got, and the star navel piercing.” And I will always respond to you with equal passion.

Li Jia’s eyes reddened. Almost reverently, she lowered her gaze and pressed a kiss to the butterfly on Ye Chengxing’s ribs.

Like the night sky embracing the stars.

From then on, the star river would shine forever.

(The book is complete.)