After hanging up the phone, Zhang Yue was still not quite satisfied. Flipping through the red packet records in her family group chat, she said, “My dad sent twenty small red packets in the group for me to grab, and my luck was so bad I got the smallest one. Is your family group lively?”
“No group,” Jiang Lai said. “My mom only sends them to me alone.”
Zhang Yue glanced at her, her tone not turning cautious. “Then the one you grabbed is the biggest of them all.”
“Of course. No denominator, all of it goes to me.”
[Keyword detected, triggering Compensation. WeChat transfer received: 12,000 yuan.]
Both of them laughed at the same time. The sound of the waves rose just a beat in the twilight. Someone set off fireworks on the distant beach, tiny golden sparks exploding in the air and falling, reflecting shimmering light on the sea surface.
Jiang Shan picked up a scallop for herself. After taking just one bite, she suddenly let out a soft “ah.”
“What’s wrong, Mom?” Jiang Lai looked down at her plate.
“It’s nothing.” Jiang Shan shook her head with a smile and said, “In the past, when staying up for New Year’s Eve at home, it was always just me alone. Now it’s gone from two people to three.”
[Keyword detected, triggering Compensation. WeChat transfer received: 15,000 yuan.]
Jiang Lai reached her chopsticks toward the king crab, the corner of her mouth twitching before settling back. Her mom had casually sighed, and the System had directly maxed it out. The cost of tonight’s New Year’s Eve dinner had been completely earned back, plus several extra zeros.
After finishing the New Year’s Eve dinner, Jiang Lai took out a small box from her bag. It was dark blue velvet with no brand logo. Inside was a pearl necklace—freshwater pearls bought at a Sanya night market, each one selected for its luster.
“Mom, a New Year’s gift.”
Jiang Shan took the box, rubbing her thumb over the velvet twice before opening it. She held the necklace in her hand, stroking it for a while without saying a word. The pearls glowed with a soft, milky-white luster under the warm yellow light of the dining table. None of them were perfectly round, but their shine was smooth and rich.
“I’ve never worn pearls before,” she said, looking up before lowering her eyes again to touch the beads. Then she turned around, lifting her hair with her back to Jiang Lai.
Jiang Lai fastened the necklace for her, the clasp clicking shut at the nape of her neck. The pearls rested against the skin of her collarbone, the milky-white color making her complexion appear brighter.
Jiang Shan lowered her head, touching the necklace. “Does it look good?”
“It looks good.” Jiang Lai studied it seriously for a moment. “From now on, let’s spend every winter celebrating the New Year outside.”
She said this with great confidence.
After booking all the flights, accommodations, and daily expenses for this Sanya trip, she and Zhang Yue had each bought a new pair of headphones, and the balance in the System was still more than enough.
Back at the homestay, Zhang Yue curled up on the sofa, hugging her knees. Her gaze as she watched the Spring Festival Gala was absent-minded, frequently glancing at her phone. If there was a new message notification, she would pick it up immediately to check.
Jiang Lai ate an orange while watching her. “Sis, something’s off with you.”
Zhang Yue glanced at Jiang Lai with a lack of confidence, showing an uncharacteristically shy expression. “I’m chatting with Senior Lu Shiyu.”
Jiang Lai: “When did you add him on WeChat?”
Zhang Yue’s eyes darted around. “Well… I kept going to accompany you swimming, and last month I finally seized an opportunity. I racked my brains and came up with a reason: your swimming goggles are really nice, send me the link.”
Jiang Lai could already foresee Lu Shiyu’s reaction. “His gear is definitely top-tier professional brands. Does he even need links?”
Zhang Yue pouted, “Yeah, he said he bought it at the downtown mall. I insisted on getting his WeChat, telling him I couldn’t spell those letters and asked him to send them to me.”
Jiang Lai remarked, “Your intentions were really obvious.”
Zhang Yue switched back to her sunny smile, “The process doesn’t matter—the result is that the senior actually added me, and he even chats with me sometimes.”
Jiang Lai gave a thumbs-up. “Wishing you success.”
Just as Jiang Shan came in from the balcony, the Spring Festival Gala on TV began the countdown to midnight. Zhang Yue loudly counted down along with the broadcast. When they reached “one,” Jiang Shan pulled two red envelopes from her pocket.
“Here, kids. One for each of you.”
Zhang Yue was taken aback. “Auntie, I get one too?”
“Of course you do. We’re spending the New Year together, so consider yourself family. You can definitely accept a red envelope—go buy yourself some new clothes.” As she spoke, Jiang Shan pressed the envelope into Zhang Yue’s hand.
Zhang Yue glanced down at the thickness of the envelope, then looked up at Jiang Shan. She opened her mouth to speak but closed it again.
She stood up and gave Jiang Shan a quick hug, so sudden that the orange in Jiang Shan’s hand nearly rolled to the floor. “Thank you, Auntie. I’m going to tell my mom when I get back—Mom Jiang gave me New Year’s money too, so she should learn from you.”
This made Jiang Shan burst into laughter.
Jiang Lai took her own red envelope and squeezed it, estimating it contained about two thousand yuan. Zhang Yue’s was likely the same amount.
Nowadays, she naturally didn’t consider two thousand yuan a lot, but for both girls, that amount represented a month’s salary for her mother.
In previous years, her parents had each given her a thousand yuan. This year’s two thousand was an unspoken understanding between mother and daughter.
The midnight chimes of the Spring Festival Gala echoed from the TV, while fireworks rose over Haitang Bay outside the window, illuminating the entire balcony as they burst in the sky. Jiang Shan stood by the balcony door, one hand resting on her pearl necklace, the other holding the doorframe, gazing up at the layers of fireworks blooming overhead.
Zhang Yue clutched her phone, biting her lip as she waited. After what felt like forever, her phone vibrated. On the screen was a message from Lu Shiyu: “Thank you, Happy New Year to you too.”
She flashed a wide grin, showing all eight front teeth, and wiggled her feet excitedly.
After returning home once the Spring Festival ended, winter break was still ongoing. Zhang Yue made pursuing Lu Shiyu her top priority.
However, Valentine’s Day arrived just a few days later. She had carefully prepared her message to ask him out, but after sending it, there was no reply.
That evening, while scrolling through her social media feed, she saw a post from Lu Shiyu—a photo of him and a senior from the swim team, officially together as a couple.
The caption was a simple heart emoji. The comments section was likely filled with well-wishes, to which he had replied with a few thank-yous and some reflections, making it seem like the senior had pursued him.
Zhang Yue’s face mask had dried, tightening uncomfortably on her skin.
She took a screenshot and sent it to Jiang Lai.
“Sis.”
“I’m dead.”
“He didn’t reply because he was on a date with his girlfriend.”
Jiang Lai’s reply came two minutes later. “My condolences, bestie. Let’s go get bubble tea—my treat.”
At the bubble tea shop, Zhang Yue turned her phone screen toward Jiang Lai, her expression caught between sorrow and resentment.
She used her straw to poke through each tapioca pearl in her milk tea one by one, leaving a layer of burst “pearl corpses” at the bottom of the cup.
After looking at the photo, Jiang Lai flipped the phone over and placed it on the table. “You two never really made any progress anyway, so it’s not like you lost a relationship.”
Zhang Yue stuck the straw into her cup and rolled her eyes at her. “If you don’t know how to comfort people, just say less.”
Then she slumped onto the table. “Love leaves too fast, like a tornado.”
The second half was sung.
Jiang Lai looked at her pitiful expression, torn between morality and the urge to laugh.