Chapter 146 - I Miss You
Chapter 146: I Miss You
Song Meng started handling the crowdfunding matter the next day. Yun Xiangxiang rested in her home for a whole day. She went to her second uncle’s home on the last day of the year for a reunion meal.
Their family’s reunion meal venue would change every year. Yun Zhiwu extremely treasured Yun Xiangxiang now. His confectionery shop’s business was booming right now.
Even though Yun Zhibin deliberately lowered the price and kept it cheap, his sales numbers were great. He was even widely praised by a lot of the kids’ parents.
“Big Sis, I want to learn how to paint. Please help me in telling mummy about that,” Yun Zhaozhao, her cousin in her second uncle’s family tugged on Yun Xiangxiang and begged.
Yun Zhaozhao was Yun Zhibin’s youngest daughter. She was younger than Yun Xiangxiang by two and a half years old. She was just starting her first year in high school.
“Do you like to paint?” Yun Xiangxiang asked softly.
“En, I only like to paint,” Yun Zhaozhao puffed her cheeks. “I flunked my finals.”
The results would have been released at this point in time. Yun Xiangxiang remembered that Yun Zhaozhao seemed to enroll in her alma mater last year with the last place.
“How much did you score?” Yun Xiangxiang asked.
“Less than five hundred…,” Yun Zhaozhao answered quietly. “I’m tired. I can’t keep on studying. I only want to draw in class.”
“Let’s go and see your drawings,” Yun Xiangxiang patted her shoulder.
Yun Zhaozhao also had a little room. She happily took all her drawings to Yun Xiangxiang.
Yun Xiangxiang flipped it over page by page. She used to learn how to draw. Appraising paintings wasn’t beyond her.
She felt that Yun Zhaozhao had more soul in her drawings compared to herself. She also had great imagination and creativity.
She faced Yun Zhaozhao who was staring at her after she finished looking through. Yun Xiangxiang said, “I’ll try to talk to your mother.”
Even though she didn’t spend much time with her second uncle, Yun Xiangxiang knew that her second uncle listened to his wife. His wife regarded the arts with disdain. She had always thought that doing arts or music had no future.
Since Yun Zhaozhao could recognize her path so early, naturally Yun Xiangxiang must help her since she was the elder sister.
Second uncle and second auntie trusted her a lot. It wasn’t because she was famous; it was because she was the first place in the national college entrance exam.
Yun Xiangxiang specifically talked about the talented people in arts when they were chatting after the meal. She didn’t talk about Yun Zhaozhao directly.
She also mentioned her high school classmates who took arts and talked about their current condition.
She sighed at the end, “She said that it was fortunate that she took arts back then. She wouldn’t even be able to enter a proper university and go overseas student exchange program otherwise. All roads really do lead to Rome.”
Perhaps it was because Yun Zhaozhao had mentioned that she wanted to take up arts before. Second auntie asked everything in detail once she heard Yun Xiangxiang say that.
Yun Xiangxiang naturally analyzed every aspect in detail for her.
She only said what was needed to say. Any more or any less would ruin everything.
After having the reunion meal, little cousin Yun Miaomiao tugged on Yun Xiangxiang’s shirt’s hem. She wanted her signature as a gift for her friends.
This little cousin was quite pretty, especially that pair of big sparkling eyes. Her eyelashes were long and curved. Even though she was only eight years old, she was quite likable. Yun Xiangxiang liked her a lot too, so she would of course grant her wish.
Everyone went back to their own homes after that to prepare the main meal in their homes.
Yun Xiangxiang also busied herself in the kitchen. She liked this atmosphere of her family getting together happily a lot.
Yun Xiangxiang saw Song Mian sending a video to her phone when she was almost done.
The video turned out to be the process of Song Mian preparing New Year’s Eve’s dinner in the kitchen. The one who recorded it was actually Mr. Song.
“Ai, twenty-seven years. This is the first time that this brat is making New Year’s Eve’s dinner for me. I’m really surprised. Naturally I must do my best to help him market himself. Xiangxiang, I’ll be depending on you for my meals from now on.”
Yun Xiangxiang felt that Mr. Song was too adorable. She couldn’t keep her laughter in. However, the last frame of the video that showed every dish on the table made Yun Xiangxiang gulp.
She closed the video and took her phone to the living room to snap the picture of their family’s New Year’s Eve’s dinner before posting it to her wall. She discovered that all her friends were showing off their family’s New Year’s Eve dinner.
The whole family gathered around the TV to watch some dramas after they finished dinner. Fireworks kept on blossoming once the sky turned dark.
Their family didn’t have the habit of staying up all night on lunar New Year’s Eve. However, Yun Zhibin would hurry to the Guanyin Temple [1] to light some incense on the first day of every New Year.
Song Mian called Yun Xiangxiang at about eleven fifty-five, “I want to countdown to the New Year with you.”
It was such a plain sentence, but Yun Xiangxiang still felt sweet, “Do you guys stay up all night on lunar New Year’s Eve?”
“En, this is our family’s tradition,” Song Mian answered. “Only the males are required to do it.”
The message between the lines was: You can also sleep early before the new year if you marry me.
There was no way Yun Xiangxiang couldn’t understand that. However, she still made a serious face, “Does your family have a misogynistic tradition?”
This was the case during the ancient era. Only men were needed to stay up for the transition of the year.
“It’s the opposite in our family. We have a tradition of misandry. Father has always regretted not having a daughter that could take care of him,” Song Mian dragged his father out to distract Yun Xiangxiang. “I am also persuading him to put his back into it.”
Yun Xiangxiang covered her mouth in an attempt to not laugh. However, it was quite funny how Song Mian was getting along with Mr. Song, “You just know how to anger him.”
“Since my girlfriend’s admonishment last time, I have deeply reflected upon myself. I have never angered him since,” Song Mian vowed.
Yun Xiangxiang touched her face which became warmer. She diverted the topic, “What’s your plan for the next few days?”
“No plans for now.”
“I will be at my home for the next few days just doing my homework and accompanying my family. I will return to Beijing on the fourth day.”
Both of them chatted on and off like this. The time arrived quickly.
Yun Xiangxiang stood in front of the window. She looked outside and counted down silently in her heart: Five, four, three, two, one…
“Happy New Year.” The bell of the New Year rang. Both of them said the same thing at the same time.
“I can’t talk to you now. I need to reply to everyone else’s celebratory remarks,” said Yun Xiangxaing reluctantly.
Song Mian didn’t cling to her. He knew that she needed to maintain her own circle and promptly hung up.
She pulled the chair of her desk out and sat down. Yun Xiangxiang replied one by one. There were erstwhile classmates, as well as the friends of the industry whom she knew in the last couple of years.
She had never replied to every single person like this in her previous life. This feeling was inexplicably good.
Yun Zhibin had also returned from lighting the incense after she finished replying. She only relaxed, turned her lights off, and went to sleep then.
She woke up at five-thirty in the morning. She donned her practice attire and started practicing. She went outside to practice so that she wouldn’t disturb her brothers’ rest.
She had just arrived at the sports field when she saw a slender figure. Her heart started beating audibly.
The closer she got, the more familiar she felt. She dashed forward when she got a clear sight, “Why did you come? When did you arrive? Why didn’t you call me? How long have you been standing…?”
Yun Xiangxiang didn’t even finish her barrage of questions before getting pulled into Song Mian’s embrace where she was tightly hugged by him.
His misty, baritone voice sung by her ear, “I miss you.”
Nobody could make him fall into such an insane longing that he couldn’t sleep for the whole night like this before.