Xia Tingwang hated the Lunar New Year. After turning twenty-five, the holiday became an exercise in collective matchmaking pressure. With the night nearly over, she was about to step into her thirties, and her aunt and uncle had arranged for her to meet five Alphas, one for each day from the first to the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.
How she missed her grandfather. When he was still alive, she could at least hide in his arms and avoid all of this. He would never have forced her to marry.
Early in the morning, she got up to offer incense to her late grandparents and her Alpha and Omega mothers. Four photos hung on the wall. Apart from her grandfather, Xia Tingwang had never met the other three. Her grandmother had passed away even before her Alpha mother started university.
Her mother and Mama had both died in a plane crash the year after she was born, while traveling abroad to find a doctor for her hearing.
Growing up without a mother or a Mama had never really felt like a great tragedy to Xia Tingwang, aside from the occasional envy she felt toward other children. The love and pampering her grandfather showered her with left no room for feelings of sorrow.
She had no memory of her mother or Mama, but knowing from her grandfather that they had loved her was enough.
Yet, a sense of loneliness always erupted uncontrollably during these family-oriented holidays. She missed her grandfather; he had given her all the kinship and love she ever knew.
After finishing the ancestral rites, Xia Tingwang entered her grandfather’s study alone. Everything remained unchanged. The Buddhist prayer beads he liked were still sitting on his desk.
She sat in the large black-red sandalwood chair. When she was small, she loved to crawl up and sit beside her grandfather while he worked. No matter how busy he was, and regardless of whether she understood him or not, he would patiently explain his work to her.
Xia Tingwang opened a folder on the desk containing documents from five or six years ago, still bearing her grandfather’s signature.
Looking at that familiar, affectionate signature, Xia Tingwang could not help but pout, burying her head in her knees.
She could appear carefree and boisterous, but she still needed family. This house was full of people, but none of them were related to her by blood.
The loneliness of having no family lived in her soul; it would suddenly fracture on special days or milestones. She did not want to be a thirty-year-old adult; she wanted to go back to being the child sitting in the chair with her grandfather.
Strictly speaking, it was not that she had no relatives. Her uncle’s family were her kin, but even though they were kind to her, there was still an undeniable distance.
“Knock, knock, knock.” Someone knocked on the door. “Miss, it is Housekeeper Xu. Are you inside?”
Xia Tingwang lifted her head and rubbed her eyes, relieved she had not been crying.
“Yes, I am.”
Housekeeper Xu pushed the door open. “I guessed you would be here. The Yin family and the Li family both called to invite you for the New Year’s Eve dinner. Which one would you like to go to?”
The Yin family had a massive household, which always gave Xia Tingwang a headache just thinking about it. Her uncle’s family was a bit quieter, but they would only pester her with matchmaking plans. It was exhausting.
“Neither,” Xia Tingwang said. “Tell them I went to the other person’s house.”
“Neither?” Housekeeper Xu was surprised. “Are you going to spend New Year’s Eve here all by yourself, Miss?”
It was no wonder Housekeeper Xu was shocked. Since the old chairman passed away, Xia Tingwang had always gone to either the Yin or Li family for these special occasions. Even though she suffered through it, she had always gone.
Sensing something was wrong, Housekeeper Xu walked over. “Miss, did something upset you? Let me help you analyze it.”
Xia Tingwang leaned back against the wooden chair. “I just miss my grandfather.”
She missed him every year, but today, she missed him especially. Xia Tingwang looked somewhat dejected. Housekeeper Xu felt a pang of heartache, so she stepped behind her and gently massaged her scalp with her fingers.
“You must be happy, Miss. If Chairman Xia can see you like this from above, he would be heartbroken.”
Housekeeper Xu’s voice was soft and gentle. “It is New Year’s Eve, so missing him is inevitable, but please do not grieve too much.”
With the Housekeeper’s gentle touch and soft voice, Xia Tingwang closed her eyes in comfort. To her, Housekeeper Xu was not just a housekeeper, but more like a mother. She was also the only person whose voice Xia Tingwang could distinguish based on her soft, slow cadence.
“Mmm.” Xia Tingwang tilted her head and leaned against Housekeeper Xu’s stomach. “I will just miss him for a little while; I will be fine soon.”
Housekeeper Xu smiled. “You are just feeling lonely, Miss. If you had an Alpha, I think you would feel much better.”
Xia Tingwang’s eyelashes fluttered. The faint, uncomfortable feeling in her heart welled up again. She rubbed against the housekeeper’s stomach. “What kind of Alpha would you want me to find, Housekeeper Xu?”
“Hmm,” Housekeeper Xu pondered. “Someone responsible and reliable, who can embrace everything about you, accepting both your strengths and your flaws. They must have a good temper, and most importantly, they must love you wholeheartedly and treat you well.”
“And their family background?”
“That, naturally, should be a match for yours. You run a massive company alone; it would be best if they could help share that burden.”
Xia Tingwang shook her head. “But I do not need anyone to share that burden. Even though I hate their voices, I actually enjoy the work itself. If I wanted someone to share the work, would it not be better to hire professional talent? I do not want my Alpha to be like that.”
“Oh?” Housekeeper Xu looked down at her. “Then what kind of Alpha do you hope for?”
“She does not have to be a match for my family background.” Xia Tingwang shifted her position, turning to lie with her legs on the armrest and her upper body in Housekeeper Xu’s lap. “She can have her own hobbies, and I will support her. I only need her to truly love me. Of course, if she has an interest in managing the company, I can hand that over to her too. As long as she is happy, that is enough.”
A vision of Sang Ying, wearing a white lab coat and standing in front of her instruments, flashed through her mind. The fantasy came to an abrupt halt.
Yes, at this moment, I am missing her.
“Ah!” Xia Tingwang suddenly cried out.
Housekeeper Xu was startled. “What is wrong?”
“Nothing, nothing.” Sang Ying poked her head out from the kitchen. “The spatula fell on the floor.”
Sang Cheng shook his head helplessly. “Be careful.”
“Okay.” Sang Ying closed the kitchen door, her smile fading. Her father’s check-up results were not ideal; his liver showed signs of cirrhosis, and his kidneys were failing.
She picked up the spatula and rinsed it in the sink. During her college years, she lived far from home, and her father had never told her the truth so as not to worry her, always claiming everything was fine.
After her college entrance exams, she had not wanted to go too far from home, but unfortunately, there were no good universities in their city. Wen University’s chemistry department was one of the best in the country. Her father had pleaded with her, insisting he could take care of himself, using every emotional appeal until Sang Ying reluctantly applied to Wen University.
Fortunately, the illness was discovered early enough that her father’s health could be managed with proper treatment.
She had no more classes for the next semester. If she had not already signed the contract with Xia Tingwang, she would have had no reason to return to the university.
Their New Year’s Eve dinner was a simple meal of dumplings. They had spent over twenty years like this. Sang Ying did not think anything of it, but Sang Cheng sighed. “The house is a bit cold. It would be livelier if you brought an Omega home one day.”
“You should focus more on your own health,” Sang Ying said helplessly. “I am still young; I am in no rush.”
“You are not that young anymore.” Sang Cheng took a sip of wine. “I had you when I was twenty-two.”
Sang Ying took the bottle away. “Only one glass allowed.”
“Sigh.”
“Sighing will not help. Have you forgotten what the doctor said?”
“Fine, fine, fine.” Sang Cheng raised his hands in surrender, laughing. “You have been bossing me around ever since you learned how to talk. Sometimes I wonder if you are the elder.”
Sang Ying lowered her head and smiled, popping a dumpling into her mouth. Sang Cheng turned on the TV; the Spring Festival Gala was playing. He stared at it for a few minutes. “The gala is getting more boring these days. I do not recognize a single one of these celebrities.”
“It is just for fun,” Sang Ying said. “Do you want some more dumplings?”
“No, no, I am stuffed.”
“You barely ate anything. You did not even have ten, did you?”
“I did.” Sang Cheng smiled, holding up one and two fingers. “Twelve! I am full up to my throat.”
Her father’s appetite was getting smaller and smaller; even twelve dumplings were too much. Sang Ying did not push him and took the empty bowl to the kitchen to wash it.
Once finished, Sang Cheng was still intently watching the gala.
“Come.” Sang Cheng patted the sofa beside him. “Sit.”
Sang Ying sat down. Sang Cheng pulled a red envelope from under the blanket covering his legs and handed it to her. “Lucky money. I hope my precious daughter has peace and safety every year.”
The envelope was very thin. Sang Ying knew what was inside. She opened it to find, as always, a hand-embroidered charm for peace and a one-hundred-yuan bill.
It was the same every year.
Sang Ying turned and hugged Sang Cheng. “Thank you, Dad.”
“Little Yin, may you always be safe.”
“Dad!”
“Oh, oh, oh.” Sang Cheng pursed his lips to hide a smile. “I forgot you do not like that nickname.”
“It is not that I do not like it; I just feel I am too grown up for it now.”
“What is wrong with it? I think it is cute.”
Sang Ying took out her wallet, replaced last year’s charm with the new one, and shook her head. “It is exactly too cute; it does not suit me, an adult Alpha.”
“You.” Sang Cheng shook his head with a smile. “You are so stubborn.”
Sang Cheng went to bed early. After taking his medicine at around ten o’clock, he went to sleep. Sang Ying stood by the bedroom window. This was a county town, and there were no bans on fireworks or firecrackers, so the sound of them echoed through the air outside.
She could not leave her father home alone. Either she would stay, or her father would have to come with her to Wen City. Wen City was a big metropolis, and its medical standards were far superior to this small county town of Pingcheng.
She leaned toward taking her father to Wen City. Sang Ying looked at rental listings on her phone, hoping to find a place near her streaming studio, a location that would allow her to care for her father while balancing her work.
The VW company was located in the center of the business district, and there were three top-tier hospitals nearby. Unfortunately, the rent was too high; there were no affordable residential areas, as everything within a twenty-mile radius of the business district was new commercial property.
The cheapest apartments cost several thousand yuan a month in rent.
It was too expensive; she could not afford it.
Sang Ying sat on the window sill. If she did not go to Wen City and stayed in this county town, no job she could find would pay enough to cover her father’s medical expenses.
She began to regret not accepting Xia Tingwang’s proposal earlier.
Ding Han was right, why not wait until Qing Deng had gained popularity and a good reputation before lowering the price? She, who usually had a sharp mind, had been so stubborn and narrow-minded that night. Not only did she lose such a good opportunity, but she also made Xia Tingwang stop talking to her altogether.
Her father was right. She was stubborn.