When Zhou Tingzhao’s call came through, Sang Ru had just started her New Year’s Eve dinner.

She walked to the window to answer the phone. Zhou Tingzhao’s voice echoed at the same time as fireworks exploded in the distance.

“Happy New Year’s Eve.”

Her lips unconsciously curved upward as Sang Ru returned the same greeting: “Happy New Year’s Eve.”

Zhou Tingzhao’s side was also noisy. He seemed to have moved to a different location, becoming slightly quieter, his voice transmitting more clearly through the phone.

“Have you eaten?”

At this question, Sang Ru felt both annoyed and aggrieved: “Just started eating.”

Zhou Tingzhao glanced at his watch—it was already past eight. He asked, “Why so late?”

“The dishes delivered from the hotel look nice, but after seeing the homemade dishes everyone posted in their moments, they seemed more delicious, so I wanted to cook something myself.”

Zhou Tingzhao listened patiently: “And then?”

“Then I decided to try making oyster sauce mushrooms with greens. The tutorial looked simple,” Sang Ru sighed at this point. “But then I accidentally overheated the oil, and the wok caught fire…”

Zhou Tingzhao frowned: “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Sang Ru found the situation absurd as she continued, laughing, “It’s just that my New Year’s Eve dinner turned into a firefighting scene.”

Distant fireworks exploded into beautiful shapes in the night sky. Zhou Tingzhao’s soft laughter came from the other end of the phone, sounding deeper and more sensual after passing through the electrical current. Sang Ru gripped the phone, thinking that her heart should also be classified as a no-fireworks zone.

Exchanging breaths over the phone, after a moment of silence, she heard Zhou Tingzhao say: “I’m glad you’re okay. Next time you go into the kitchen, call me.”

“Call you for what?” Sang Ru deliberately asked.

Zhou Tingzhao paused, then said with humor in his voice: “So I can be there to help put out the fire.”

“You!” Sang Ru was caught off guard, feeling both irritated and amused.

“Alright,” Zhou Tingzhao knew when to stop teasing and became more serious. “In the future, I’ll cook for you, little princess.”

Sang Ru let out a light snort, her lips and eyebrows glowing with the bright colors in the night sky.

She opened the window. In the small flower bed below the windowsill, sporadic flower buds had already emerged. She shared what she saw with the person on the other end of the phone.

Zhou Tingzhao continued to listen quietly without speaking. Sang Ru tentatively called out to him: “Zhou Tingzhao?”

“Mm.”

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

He paused, and then she heard a faint sigh. Zhou Tingzhao said, “Take me home soon, baby.”

More fireworks exploded in the sky. Sang Ru said, “So eager to marry me? Not playing hard to get at all.”

Zhou Tingzhao laughed: “Mm, I want to marry you.”

After a long while, Sang Ru stared at a slightly trembling small flower and whispered: “Zhou Tingzhao, I miss you.”

The housekeeper had gone back to her hometown for the New Year. Meals could be ordered from the hotel, but the dishes still needed to be washed by oneself. After struggling with her parents for quite some time, Sang Ru deeply felt that housework was truly not for human beings.

Having cleaned everything up and additionally prepared a fruit platter, Sang Ru sat with her parents in the living room watching TV. The Spring Festival Gala had already been going for a while.

She lay on another sofa, looking at her phone. When she opened WeChat, it even froze for a moment before being flooded with New Year’s greetings.

Yet there wasn’t a single message from the person she had pinned at the top.

What, a phone call means you don’t need to send a message?

Sang Ru turned her head to accept a cherry that her father tossed to her, biting down with force as the sweet juice immediately filled her mouth. She stared at Zhou Tingzhao’s profile picture for a while, then casually changed his contact name.

The moment she clicked “complete” after the modification, a new message came in.

[Humble Spouse: I saw it, your little garden. The flowers are blooming beautifully.]

Sang Ru casually sent a question mark back, as a passive-aggressive response to his late message.

Then her chewing motion paused as she suddenly realized a possibility.

Sang Ru quickly got up and put on her slippers, accidentally swallowing the cherry pit in her haste.

Her parents asked from behind: “Where are you going? Slow down!”

“It’s nothing! I’ll be right back!”

Opening the door, Sang Ru’s footsteps suddenly stopped. A few meters away, at another wooden doorway, in the flickering shadows of light, a tall figure was standing there.

Her first New Year’s wish was fulfilled just like that. Sang Ru stepped forward, hurriedly running toward her wish.

Zhou Tingzhao opened his arms to catch the running person, letting her burrow into his coat for warmth.

“Why did you come?”

Zhou Tingzhao kissed the top of her head: “Didn’t someone say she missed me?”

Her waist immediately received a gentle pinch as a muffled voice came from his embrace: “I think someone is just eager to get married.”

Zhou Tingzhao laughed softly, then suddenly exerted force and lifted her. Sang Ru instinctively wrapped her legs tightly around him, moving her hands to encircle his neck, softly exclaiming: “What are you doing!”

“Let’s talk in the car.”

The car wasn’t even started, the lights weren’t on, quietly hidden in the darkness.

Sang Ru was placed in the passenger seat. When Zhou Tingzhao sat in the driver’s seat, she deliberately said: “Why don’t you turn on the lights? Are you afraid my parents will find out?”

To her surprise, he simply replied: “Mm.”

“So you’ve come for a secret affair with me?”

Zhou Tingzhao took her hand in his palm, following her lead with another “Mm,” then asked: “Are you cold?”

“I’m not cold,” Sang Ru pouted. “You’re just like my dad.”

Zhou Tingzhao’s movements froze, then his tone became even more level: “We’re not the same.”

Sang Ru laughed: “How are you different?”

Zhou Tingzhao ignored her, his gaze falling on their interlocked hands as he focused on warming her.

Sang Ru pulled her hand away, then put it palm-up facing him. She blinked and said: “Red envelope.”

Zhou Tingzhao looked up at her. Sang Ru raised an eyebrow, then saw him take out a red envelope from the storage compartment and place it in her hand.

It was heavy, quite substantial.

Sang Ru happily accepted it, but said, “Treating me like a child?”

Zhou Tingzhao: “Aren’t you one?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Only children burn down kitchens.”

Sang Ru: “…Stop bringing that up!”

Zhou Tingzhao patted her head: “Happy New Year, grow up well.”

“No need to grow anymore,” Sang Ru couldn’t stand the provocation. Her brain short-circuited, and she tossed aside the red envelope, grabbing Zhou Tingzhao’s hand and placing it on her chest: “I’m. Very. Big.”

Zhou Tingzhao was stunned for a few seconds, then couldn’t help laughing. His hand moved to her back, pulling her toward himself, while his other hand remained on her chest.

Zhou Tingzhao lowered his head, their noses touching. His palm gently squeezed once as he said softly: “Mm, not lying.”

A fine tingling sensation immediately spread throughout her body. The barely-there touch was like a switch opening the valve of desire.

Sang Ru’s voice lowered: “Let go.”

The atmosphere suddenly became filled with ambiguity. Zhou Tingzhao said in a deep voice: “No.”

Sang Ru looked up at him, drowning in Zhou Tingzhao’s profound gaze, but spoke something completely unrelated: “Are you hot?”

Hearing this, he laughed softly, his breath falling on her lips as he suddenly kissed her.

He had always been a passionate person inside, kissing deeply as if he wanted to devour her whole. Sang Ru almost couldn’t catch her breath. But she wasn’t willing to give in, using all her strength to engage in an equally matched kiss.

Feeling the passionate response from the person in his arms, Zhou Tingzhao ardently sucked on her lips and tongue, breathing heavily as he asked: “Do you miss me, hmm?”

Sang Ru simply straddled him, sticking herself entirely to him, and said: “No.”

Then she felt her chest loosen as Zhou Tingzhao undid her bra clasp from under her clothes, cupping her soft flesh entirely in his hand.

“Do you miss me?”

Sang Ru let out a small gasp, answering: “No.”

Understanding her game of denial, Zhou Tingzhao suddenly lifted her top, taking her nipple into his mouth.

The sensitive bud was teased by the tip of his tongue. Wet sounds accompanied the moist sensation in this corner, while Zhou Tingzhao’s hand remained on her waist, occasionally giving gentle squeezes, tormenting her until she felt like melting in his embrace.

Sang Ru’s fingers disappeared into his hair, biting her lip to prevent moans from escaping. Her breast was suddenly sucked with great force, and she finally couldn’t help but tremble, her cheek rubbing against his hair as she moaned softly.

Zhou Tingzhao raised his head, his face slightly flushed from being pressed against her chest. He asked once more: “Do you miss me?”

Her voice seemed to melt into water, flowing into his ears with the ambiguous night: “I did…”

“Say it again.”

Sang Ru kissed him messily, sticking close as she said, “I missed you.”

Just one affirmative answer, and Zhou Tingzhao completely abandoned his earlier restraint. As he raised his hand to remove her lower garments, he asked in a deep voice: “Do you want to?”

His fingers were already touching her buttocks without any barrier. Sang Ru’s hand on his shoulder gripped tightly: “I do.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the sound of a zipper could be heard. The time from him freeing his member to positioning it at her entrance was short, yet each second felt stretched due to anticipation.

Sang Ru anxiously awaited his arrival, but when she felt the thick, hot hardness touch her entrance, she hesitated slightly. She discreetly raised her hips to move away a bit, but Zhou Tingzhao pulled her back.

He held his shaft, rubbing it back and forth between her labia, sucking and biting her earlobe as he whispered: “You asked for this, don’t run.”

Sang Ru felt her opening begin to contract at his words, with some of her fluids likely dripping down from the friction. She tried to tighten, but was suddenly penetrated by a hard object.

Zhou Tingzhao inhaled sharply at the tightness, increasing the force of his grip on her buttocks: “Don’t squeeze me so hard.”

“I’m not…”

Despite her words, Zhou Tingzhao felt her grip on him tighten even more, so he raised his hips to deliberately target her sensitive spots, making her gasp repeatedly.

Zhou Tingzhao brushed aside her scattered hair, pushing her head down slightly. He rubbed against her lips, whispering in a lover’s tone: “Baby, does it feel good?”

With her sensitive spots being repeatedly stimulated, Sang Ru’s voice trembled as she vaguely responded with an “Mm” to his question.

Zhou Tingzhao increased the pace of his thrusts into her body. Seeing the redness at the corners of her eyes, tears pooling but not falling, his heart softened, but he still pressed her verbally: “What do you call me?”

Sang Ru knew what answer he wanted but refused to give in so easily. Enduring the wild tide below, she called out with a trembling voice: “Humble Spouse…”

It took Zhou Tingzhao a moment to understand, and he thrust even more fiercely, laughing despite his anger: “Say it again?”

Sang Ru became obedient, wrapping her arms around his neck to offer a passionate kiss. After appeasing him, she raised her hips to rub against him, softly calling: “Husband, husband…”

Fireworks rose and fell in the distance, continuing for a long time without ceasing. They were like lovers who had resided in this darkness for ages, passionately leaving marks on each other’s bodies repeatedly.

As Sang Ru trembled in the moment of climax, Zhou Tingzhao stroked her spine up and down, placing light kisses on her hair. He whispered the warm blessings he had accumulated along the way into her ear.

“Baby, Happy New Year.”