Chapter 21 Celebrating New Year in Rongcheng

Chapter 21: Spending the New Year in Rongcheng

"What?" Lu Jingtang paused at his words, looking up in confusion just as her phone buzzed several times. Fu Nanyu, looking as if he'd caught her red-handed, gestured with his chin, "Check it now."

Lu Jingtang had no choice but to open her messages. They were from her grandmother in Rongcheng. When she first started chatting with that WeChat friend from Rongcheng a few days ago, she hadn't known who it was. But later, the person referred to herself as "Grandma," and Lu Jingtang realized it was the original owner's biological grandmother.

Recalling Fu Nanyu’s earlier words, Lu Jingtang understood—they thought she was having an online romance. She opened the chat interface and held the phone out to him. "Big brother, I’m really not dating anyone. I’ve been chatting with my grandma."

Afraid he wouldn’t believe her, she scrolled up through the chat history. Fu Nanyu quickly scanned it; indeed, they'd been texting a lot over the past few days, and the messages around mealtimes were clearly from Lu Jingtang’s grandmother.

Realizing it was a misunderstanding, Fu Nanyu’s expression softened, and he sounded slightly apologetic. "My mistake this time. Go pick out whatever you want, and Xiao Qin will reimburse you."

As expected of a big shot—so generous. But Lu Jingtang didn’t feel offended at all. The Fu family never stinted on her food or clothing and truly treated her as family, which was why they worried about her.

Thinking of the original owner’s grandmother, she said, "Brother, I don’t want anything, but the New Year is coming soon. This year, I’d like to go to Rongcheng to spend some time with Grandma. Could you help me talk to Uncle and Auntie Xi about it?"

The original owner’s grandmother was nearly 80 years old. Since the original owner was adopted by the Fu family, aside from the times Fu Xiaqing and his wife took her back, she had never visited the elderly woman alone. The original owner, having fallen into the Fu family’s lap of luxury, hadn’t been very close to her grandmother and uncle, who offered her no material benefits.

Lately, the grandmother had been subtly expressing her strong desire for Lu Jingtang to come to Rongcheng for the New Year. Regardless of what the original owner would have done, since she now occupied this body, she was herself, and she felt she had to do something.

"Sure."

Fu Nanyu thought it wouldn’t be difficult and readily agreed.

"Thank you. I'll let you get back to work, big brother." Seeing that his computer was still on and he likely had more work to do, Lu Jingtang thanked him and left.

After the study door closed, Fu Nanyu let out a sigh, took off his gold-rimmed glasses, and pinched the bridge of his nose. It turned out to be a misunderstanding, but he couldn’t blame Ye Xixi for overthinking it. Lu Jingtang really did seem to have changed so much she appeared less sharp, which was somewhat worrying. He wondered where her former cunning and scheming nature had gone.

When Lu Jingtang herself requested to spend the New Year in Rongcheng, Fu Xiaqing and Ye Xixi were quite pleased. After all, that was her biological grandmother. In the past, she hadn’t been keen on going, and they didn’t want to push it, lest she think they were trying to get rid of her or something.

Ye Xixi had someone prepare all the New Year’s gifts for her. Lu Jingtang didn’t need to do anything except show up.

The day before her departure, Fu Shengzhou also returned from out of town, and Fu Nanyu’s company was on break. The family had an early New Year’s Eve dinner together.

Fu Xiaqing opened a bottle of red wine and poured a glass for everyone. Since Lu Jingtang had an early flight the next morning, she only got a small glass. Fu Shengzhou took a sip, his eyes widening in appreciation. "Great wine, Dad. Isn’t this the bottle you’ve been hiding for almost two years? Finally decided to bring it out."

"You’re the one always eyeing my wine," Fu Xiaqing laughed and gave him a light slap on the back of the head.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, snow covered the ground. Delicate lights lined the corridors on both sides, casting a warm, yellowish glow. Lu Jingtang looked up and noticed Fu Nanyu staring outside, spaced out, as if a little drunk.

His dark, bright eyes were partly obscured by strands of hair falling over his forehead. His features were sharp and well-defined, with a clean, smooth jawline—quite handsome.

Nibbling on a chicken wing, Lu Jingtang thought to herself, the male lead is quite a looker; no wonder the female lead fell for the same person twice in two lifetimes.

Perhaps because her gaze lingered on him too long, Fu Nanyu noticed and turned to look at her. "What is it?"

"Big brother, are you drunk?" Lu Jingtang asked.

Fu Nanyu shook his head, showing no obvious signs of drunkenness, though his voice was slightly hoarse from the alcohol. "No."

Fu Shengzhou, overhearing their conversation, sneered, "Worry about yourself first. You’re red as a monkey's butt after less than half a glass, while big brother could outdrink a hundred of you."

Lu Jingtang snorted and retorted, "If we want to see a golden monkey in the future, we won’t need to go to Emei Mountain. We can just look at you." Fu Shengzhou had recently dyed his hair golden blonde, infuriating Fu Xiaqing to the point of wanting to send him to the Qi family as their son.

"You!" Fu Shengzhou was about to fire back when Fu Ting slapped the back of his head. "Is she wrong? I’m annoyed just looking at your head. You’d get it shaved bald if you were in the military."

Fu Shengzhou didn’t dare say another word, afraid Fu Ting would actually shave his head.

Early the next morning, Ye Xixi arranged for a driver to take her to the airport. As she wheeled her luggage out of her room, Fu Nanyu happened to open his door and step out.

He was dressed simply in a black sweater and pants, looking as though he’d been awake for a while. Lu Jingtang was surprised. "Big brother, why are you up so early?"

Fu Nanyu took her luggage and carried it downstairs for her, replying lightly, "It's a habit."

The driver was already waiting. Stepping out into the yard, she could see several snowmen standing in the snowy courtyard—ones she had built the night before. Fu Ting had given his own scarf to one of the snowmen. Lu Jingtang had checked the scarf’s brand last night; it was a well-known domestic luxury label. This was probably the world’s most expensive snowman.

She got into the car, half of her face buried in a beige scarf, her skin fair and tender, making her look like a stuffed mochi ball. She waved at Fu Nanyu. "Big brother, go back inside. I’ll call home when I arrive."

Fu Nanyu gave a low "mm" in response, watching until the car disappeared from sight before turning to go back inside.