Shu Nian was awakened by a phone call at noon the next day.

She had stayed up very late yesterday, and now her head was aching badly due to lack of sleep. Half-dazed, she fumbled for her phone, squinted at the caller ID, and answered: “Mom?”

As if surprised that she was still sleeping at this hour, Deng Qingyu asked with surprise: “Not awake yet?”

Shu Nian rolled over and buried herself back into the blankets, her voice muffled: “Just woke up.”

“Don’t you need to go to the recording studio today?”

Hearing this, Shu Nian immediately became alert and sat up. After thinking clearly, she promptly lay back down and obediently said: “No need, I don’t have any work until the seventh day of the New Year.”

“Then…” Deng Qingyu hesitantly asked, “Would you like to go back to our hometown with Mom?”

Shu Nian instantly fell silent, not knowing how to respond.

“If you don’t want to, I can bring some food over to you now.” Deng Qingyu sighed, “We didn’t go back last year, we can’t miss this year too. I called your grandmother yesterday, and she said her heart hasn’t been well lately. We should go back to see her.”

The “grandmother” Deng Qingyu mentioned wasn’t Wang Hao’s mother.

But rather Shu Gaolin’s mother, Shu Nian’s paternal grandmother.

Shu Nian gripped her phone tightly and made up her mind: “When are we going back?”

“If we’re going, we’ll prepare to leave this afternoon.” Deng Qingyu said, “We’ll drive there directly. If there’s no traffic, we should arrive around six or seven in the evening.”

“Okay, I’ll pack my things now.”

“Alright then.” Deng Qingyu said, “We’ll come directly to your building later. Oh, and you don’t need to come down too early. Wait until I call you before coming down.”

“Okay.”

After hanging up, Shu Nian pulled out her suitcase from her room. Thinking that she would probably stay for a week, she packed several thick clothes, took her makeup bag and skincare products, and absent-mindedly wandered around the house, collecting everything she needed to bring.

Confirming she hadn’t forgotten anything, Shu Nian zipped up her suitcase.

She sat on the carpet, looking at her phone with a hesitant expression. If it were before, Shu Nian thought she would have carefully packed everything and then just sat aside waiting for Deng Qingyu to contact her.

Not like now, when she couldn’t even focus on packing without constantly thinking about one question—

Should she tell Xie Ruhe about her trip back to her hometown?

Shu Nian didn’t know if it was necessary to tell him about this.

Telling him would seem a bit deliberate, but not telling him might make it difficult for him to find her later.

She agonized over it for a while, then dejectedly tossed her phone aside, not understanding why she was being so coy, overthinking a simple phone call.

Shu Nian stood up and changed her clothes. She walked to the mirror and applied a thin layer of lipstick. Then she knelt beside the wardrobe to look for socks and happened to glance at her phone on the floor.

A moment of silence.

Shu Nian picked it up and dialed Xie Ruhe’s number.

He answered quickly: “Shu Nian?”

“Mm.” Shu Nian licked her lips, “It’s me.”

Xie Ruhe asked: “What’s up?”

“I’m going back to my hometown in a while.” Shu Nian felt a bit nervous and honestly said, “So I won’t be able to accompany you for rehabilitation during this time. I just wanted to let you know.”

Hearing this, Xie Ruhe fell silent on the other end.

When he didn’t speak, Shu Nian didn’t know what else to say: “That’s all, nothing else.”

Soon, Xie Ruhe asked: “Going back to Shi Yan Town?”

“Yes.”

Xie Ruhe thought for a moment and gave her some extra advice: “Be careful, don’t go out alone. Try to find someone you know to go out with, don’t be alone.”

After saying this, he seemed to feel his reaction was a bit excessive, and added softly:

“Thieves are more rampant during the New Year.”

Shu Nian lowered her eyes, as if recalling something, and seemed a bit dazed: “I know.”

They didn’t say much more. Just then, Deng Qingyu called, and after saying goodbye to Xie Ruhe, Shu Nian pulled her suitcase and went out. By now, Deng Qingyu and Wang Hao had arrived downstairs.

Wang Hao came up to help her with the suitcase, smiling kindly at her: “Nian Nian has become more beautiful.”

Shu Nian smiled awkwardly: “Hello, Uncle Wang.”

Deng Qingyu came over to adjust her scarf, looking at her complexion with a frown: “What time did you go to sleep yesterday? Why are your dark circles so heavy?”

Shu Nian mumbled unclearly: “Had some insomnia.”

The three of them got into the car.

Wang Linxi hadn’t gotten out of the car and remained inside, waving his hand happily: “Sister.”

Shu Nian nodded to him and sat with him in the back seat. She lowered her head to fasten her seatbelt but for some reason couldn’t insert it into the buckle.

Noticing her actions, Wang Linxi blinked and pointed to another buckle: “Sister, you should insert it here.”

Shu Nian instinctively switched to the buckle he mentioned and successfully fastened it.

“Thank you.”

Wang Linxi was thirteen this year, at the age of rapid growth. Compared to when Shu Nian last saw him, he seemed to have grown taller. He had delicate features, and a fair complexion, and his round eyes made him look like a small hamster.

Shu Nian hadn’t spent much time with him, and they weren’t familiar with each other.

She had always heard from Deng Qingyu that Wang Linxi had a very boisterous personality. Despite his innocent appearance, he was like a little tyrant at school, with the number of times his parents were called to school in a semester too many to count on ten fingers.

But in front of Shu Nian, he became like a real little lamb.

He was very obedient to her, and his attitude was both close and friendly.

Shu Nian remembered that when they first met, Wang Linxi wasn’t like this toward her. He was very guarded, resisting her arrival, as if afraid she would take his father away.

She couldn’t remember when this attitude began to change.

She felt grateful.

Because of his attitude, occasionally Shu Nian would have a feeling that she wasn’t completely an outsider, that besides her mother, there was someone else who looked forward to her arrival.

Shu Nian truly hadn’t slept well last night. Listening to Wang Linxi’s chittering voice, she unknowingly leaned against the seat back and fell asleep. When she woke up and looked outside, she realized they had already entered Shi Yan Town.

It was already dark, with few pedestrians on the road, making it cold and desolate.

She instinctively clutched the hem of her clothes and withdrew her gaze.

Wang Linxi beside her wasn’t sleeping. Catching her movement from the corner of his eye, he looked up from his phone and showed her his neat white teeth: “Sis, do you want some water?”

Shu Nian lowered her head and rummaged through her bag: “It’s okay, I have some.”

Deng Qingyu, sitting in the front passenger seat, heard the sound and looked back: “Nian Nian’s awake? We’re almost there. Should we go to your maternal grandfather’s place first? Or would you prefer to stay at your paternal grandfather’s?”

Shu Nian thought for a moment: “I’ll go to Grandpa’s place.”

“…” Deng Qingyu’s expression was hesitant, and she tentatively asked for her opinion, “Then shall we go to your maternal grandfather’s place together first, and then go see your paternal grandfather later?”

Shu Nian nodded: “Okay.”

The house they used to live in at Shi Yan Town had already been sold.

Her maternal grandfather’s house still had her uncle’s family living there, with no extra rooms for them to stay. Deng Qingyu could only stay with her husband at his parents’ home, but the house wasn’t big enough to accommodate so many people.

Shu Nian thought it would be more appropriate for her to stay at her paternal grandfather’s house.

Shu Nian’s maternal grandfather and grandmother were somewhat partial to boys over girls. Deng Qingyu’s brother had two sons who were raised by them, so they weren’t very close to Shu Nian, their granddaughter.

Their attitude wasn’t bad, just not particularly warm. Despite not having seen her for a long time, they didn’t ask about her recent situation.

Wang Linxi was the child of Deng Qingyu’s remarriage. Besides the three of them, no one took the initiative to speak to him, making them seem like guests.

After dinner,

Sensing the silence of the two children, Deng Qingyu didn’t stay long and took the initiative to leave. The four of them said their goodbyes one by one and got back into the car. Shu Nian’s paternal grandparents lived nearby, only a few minutes drive away.

The elderly couple had been informed in advance that Shu Nian was coming back, and they were waiting at the door.

Shu Nian got out of the car and obediently greeted them: “Grandpa, Grandma, I’m back.”

“Is that Nian Nian?” Grandma Shu smiled kindly, came over to hold her hand, and looked at her carefully: “Why have you become so thin? Doesn’t Ruchuan feed you well?”

Shu Nian pressed her lips into a smile without speaking.

Grandpa Shu reminded from behind: “Come in first, don’t let the child get cold outside.”

Deng Qingyu exchanged a few words with the elderly couple, then gave Shu Nian some instructions before leaving with Wang Hao for his parents’ home.

After their car drove away, Shu Nian was about to enter the house with her arm linked with her grandparents when she suddenly heard a woman crying from not far away.

She turned to look.

It was a middle-aged woman, disheveled, looking deranged. Behind her followed a young man, helplessly pulling her: “Mom, don’t be like this… Can we go home?”

The woman was crying, talking to herself: “Xiang Xiang… where did our Xiang Xiang go, why can’t we find her… It’s almost New Year, why isn’t she coming home…”

The young man coaxed her: “Can we go home first? Xiang Xiang might be at home.”

Shu Nian recognized her.

She was Chen Xiang’s mother.

Chen Xiang, from the neighboring class in middle school, suddenly disappeared and was found dead a week later.

Grandpa Shu looked at Shu Nian and instinctively pulled her: “Let’s go back.”

The next moment, Auntie Chen looked up and saw Shu Nian. She stopped crying as if recognizing something, her eyes widened, and she slowly walked over, standing in front of Shu Nian.

Shu Nian instinctively held her breath and stepped back.

The young man quickly pulled her: “Mom!”

But Auntie Chen had no other reaction, staring blankly at her, and then began to cry again: “Good child… good child…”

Shu Nian’s fists clenched and relaxed, and she comforted in a soft voice: “Auntie, don’t be sad anymore.”

Auntie Chen should be about the same age as Deng Qingyu, but her hair had already turned white, and her face was full of wrinkles, looking aged and decadent. Because her daughter had died tragically at the hands of someone else in the flower of her youth, she was no longer happy.

No matter what happened, she was no longer happy.

Every day and night was like living in hell.

She would rather die in her daughter’s place than live alone in this world like this.

Shu Nian was a bit nervous, and fine sweat formed on her palms. She wiped the sweat on her pants, reached out to hold Auntie Chen’s hand, and said gently: “The bad person has already been caught. Chen Xiang’s spirit in heaven will rest in peace.”

Perhaps because of seeing Auntie Chen in that state, the mood of her grandparents became heavy.

The three of them entered the house, and Grandma Shu said to her: “Actually, it’s usually fine, but whenever a holiday comes, she starts crying and searching everywhere for that Chen Xiang girl.”

Shu Nian gave a muffled “mm” in response.

Seeing her expression, Grandma Shu didn’t continue on the subject and sighed: “In the blink of an eye, your father has been gone for almost five years. It’s fast… How come he was buried in Sichuan? It makes it difficult for your grandpa and me to visit him.”

Shu Nian curved her lips and said: “I’ll drive you there in the future, we’ll go together.”

“Nian Nian.” Grandpa Shu beckoned to her.

Shu Nian went over and crouched in front of him like a little puppy: “Grandpa.”

Grandpa Shu rubbed her head, his expression dazed, staring at her eyebrows and eyes that resembled Shu Gaolin’s. Unknowingly, his eyes reddened, tears flowing, and he repeated three words over and over.

“That’s good…”

The elderly couple couldn’t stay up late and went to their room to sleep promptly at nine o’clock.

Shu Nian took out her suitcase, went to the bathroom to take a shower, and then returned to her room. She was sleeping in Shu Gaolin’s former room, where the furnishings remained exactly as they were before.

Only the window had been fitted with security bars, and two additional locks had been installed on the door.

When she saw those two locks, Shu Nian’s expression froze, and she could guess what Deng Qingyu had told them. She pressed her lips together, feeling an inexplicable ache in her nose.

She kept the light on, climbed onto the bed, and snuggled into the blanket.

The past few days were all holidays.

Yesterday was Shu Nian’s birthday, today was Valentine’s Day, and tomorrow would be New Year’s Eve. Shu Nian checked her social media and was fed a mouthful of romantic posts from couples, so she quickly exited.

Not knowing what else to do, Shu Nian lay on the bed aimlessly and practiced making bubble sounds for a while.

Soon she felt sleepy, her eyelids gradually drooping as if being pulled down by something. She rolled over, just about to bury her entire head into the blanket to sleep.

The next moment, her phone suddenly rang.

Shu Nian was so tired she could barely open her eyes and answered the phone groggily: “Hello?”

Xie Ruhe’s voice came through: “Shu Nian.”

It was just after ten o’clock, which was still considered early for their normal schedules.

Shu Nian rubbed her eyes hard, not knowing why he was calling her, just wanting to hear what he had to say, and then quickly hung up to continue sleeping: “What’s the matter?”

He was silent for a few seconds, then softly asked: “Are you planning to stay up for New Year’s Eve?”

Shu Nian repeated: “Stay up for New Year’s Eve?”

“Mm.”

Shu Nian thought it was a bit strange, but after trying hard to think for a long time, she couldn’t figure out what was strange. She could only sit up, suppressing her drowsiness, and nodded seriously: “I will.”

They talked for a while, and Shu Nian gradually became more awake.

She recalled what she had done throughout the day and hesitantly said: “Is today New Year’s Eve?”

“…” Xie Ruhe remained silent.

“Then I don’t think I had the New Year’s Eve dinner today.” Shu Nian confusedly scratched her head and asked softly, “Should I go make up for it now?”

The other end remained silent.

Shu Nian thought for a moment and asked puzzledly: “But didn’t I just celebrate my birthday yesterday…”

Before Shu Nian could finish, Xie Ruhe suddenly interrupted her, as if someone had exposed his lie, his tone somewhat embarrassed: “I got the time wrong.”

Shu Nian hadn’t yet reacted: “Hm?”

“Today isn’t New Year’s Eve.”

“Then what is it?”

Xie Ruhe paused, then said in a low voice: “…Valentine’s Day.”