Happy New Year

Chapter 70

After helping Ye Shulian carry the sleeping Lao Gu back to the bedroom, Gu Ran clapped his hands and sighed softly.

So much for going out to set off fireworks tonight. How could they when he was sleeping like a log?

"Alright, Xiao Ran, let's go out. Just let your dad sleep."

Ye Shulian carefully helped Lao Gu take off his clothes, wiped his face clean with a towel, and turned to say this to him.

Gu Ran nodded with a face full of envy and walked out of the bedroom with a sigh.

Seeing the virtuous young girl rolling up her sleeves and clearing the dishes, his feelings of envy instantly weakened quite a bit.

Setting everything else aside, if he ever drank too much in the future, given her motherly older sister attributes, Ye Zhenzhen would likely take care of him just like this too.

However, unlike Aunt Ye's mindset, perhaps...

This girl would probably feel more like she was taking care of her son.

After all, he was just a younger brother...

Then, thinking about how Ye Zhenzhen would get married one day and treat her future husband with the same gentle consideration as Ye Shulian, Gu Ran felt a sudden pang of discomfort in his heart.

It was strange, but it felt just like jealousy.

Being jealous of the girl's future husband!

But it was just a fleeting thought, because he couldn't exactly stop the sister who cared for him from getting married just to monopolize her...

Wait!

Gu Ran's eyes suddenly lit up as he found a blind spot.

If Ye Zhenzhen married into the Gu family, wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?!

In the past, he only had a joking mindset, just teasing the cute girl, but now he was actually treating it as a serious matter with a very earnest attitude.

How about...

Actually making their families even closer through marriage?

He cast a meaningful glance at the virtuous girl.

Noticing his gaze, Ye Zhenzhen instantly felt her hairs stand on end and a chill run down her spine.

Why were this guy's eyes practically glowing?

She furrowed her pretty brows and glared back at a certain someone. "Wh-what are you looking at? Hurry up and come clear the table."

"Ah, alrighty."

Hearing this, Gu Ran quickly stepped forward to clear the table, wearing a slightly sycophantic smile that earned him a bashful, reproachful eye-roll from the girl.

Watching their interaction, Ye Shulian chuckled softly.

The fact that the two children of this blended family didn't have any discord was the most comforting thing of all.

This New Year was truly wonderful; after all, a harmonious family prospers in everything...

...

After clearing the table, Gu Ran helped wash the dishes, and then, urged by Ye Shulian, he and Ye Zhenzhen carried the fireworks out the door.

Walking along the road hung with lanterns, he looked up at the sky, watching the ceaseless fireworks, and gently came to a halt.

The girl beside him, with her hands behind her back, followed him step by step, stretching out her foot to step on his shadow, having the time of her life.

Seeing him stop, Ye Zhenzhen couldn't halt her steps in time and bumped her head right into his back.

"Gu 'Dog' Ran! Why did you stop so suddenly?"

Rubbing her nose, she bashfully stretched out her little foot and kicked a certain someone's calf.

Without retorting, Gu Ran turned around, stared at the girl in front of him, and a gentle smile appeared on his face. "Ye Zhenzhen, Happy New Year."

Made somewhat bashful by his sudden display of deep affection, the girl slightly pursed her lips.

Ripples formed in her clear, cool eyes. She looked at the boy, and a blush uncontrollably crept onto her cheeks.

"Wh-why are you saying this all of a sudden? D-didn't we just say it earlier? A-and also, you need to call me older sister!"

As she spoke, Ye Zhenzhen felt like she had nowhere to put her little hands, so she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Earlier was earlier, now is now. I just wanted to say it to you alone right now."

Gu Ran's tone was overly gentle, making the girl, who always thought he was a bit cheeky, feel somewhat unaccustomed. Her pretty face was covered in a rosy flush, and for a moment, she didn't know what to do.

"Y-you... don't say weird things. Hurry up and go set off the fireworks."

Ye Zhenzhen gradually started to stutter, her face turning redder and redder, looking as if it might bleed.

Pushing Gu Ran's head aside, she continued, "H-hurry up and go. I want to see the fireworks."

Being pushed forward, Gu Ran turned his head to look at the blushing girl and chuckled, deliberately asking, "What's the rush? I still have things left to say."

Ye Zhenzhen's face grew even redder, and the speed at which she pushed him forward gradually began to increase.

"I-I am in a rush. Where do you get so many words from? If you really want to talk so much, go home and write an essay later. I'll see exactly what you haven't finished saying."

Gu Ran: "..."

Woman, thy name is viciousness!

...

On the night of New Year's Eve, the roar of firecrackers echoed everywhere. Even the cold winter wind was permeated with a lively and festive atmosphere.

Finding an empty spot in the small plaza, Gu Ran set up the fireworks. Then, he glanced back at the hiding girl and gently curled up the corners of his mouth.

"Ye Zhenzhen, I'm setting them off!"

Shouting the girl's name loudly instantly attracted the gazes of the people around them, causing the blush that had just faded from the girl's face to surge back up again.

"H-hurry up!"

Glaring at him in bashful annoyance, Ye Zhenzhen pulled her head back and hid her pretty self behind the fitness equipment, as if only this could give her a slight sense of security.

Otherwise, being with this guy often gave her the feeling of streaking and suffering social death.

Bang!

As the first firework shot into the sky, Gu Ran also ran back.

"Gu Ran, Gu Ran, look!"

Watching the fireworks they had lit themselves go off always felt somewhat different from watching others.

Ye Zhenzhen's face brimmed with an excited smile as she reached out her little hand, repeatedly patting his shoulder and speaking excitedly.

But at this moment, Gu Ran wasn't looking at the fireworks. Instead, he turned his head to look at the girl beside him, a trace of imperceptible deep affection revealing itself in the depths of his eyes.

The spent fireworks in the sky fell like starlight sprinkled from the Milky Way, twinkling with residual light.

As each one fell, another rose. Sparks ignited, bursting forth with a dazzlingly brilliant light that illuminated the entire night sky.

"Squint your eyes a little, be careful not to let the falling ash get into them."

Hearing his voice, Ye Zhenzhen obediently squinted her eyes. But then, feeling that being so obedient didn't match the domineering aura of an older sister, she turned her head and haughtily raised her chin.

"It won't!"

Just as she finished speaking, a spent piece of ash fell right onto the girl's head.

Ye Zhenzhen: "..."

Seeing this, Gu Ran chuckled softly. He subconsciously reached out to help her pick it off, and the girl cooperatively leaned toward him, slightly lowering her head.

Seeing this incredibly harmonious scene, Gu Ran raised an eyebrow, feeling that it was a bit abnormal, yet at the same time completely normal.

Feeling that the atmosphere was a bit ambiguous, his brain short-circuited. He took the ash he had just picked off and put it right back, rubbing the girl's hair while he was at it.

"Ye Zhenzhen, you sure are self-aware. Pick it off yourself!"

Ye Zhenzhen: "???"

Is he a dog?!

He took it off, and then put it back on her. Is this something a human would do?!

Biting her silvery teeth, she slightly clenched her little fists. Her eyes were full of indignation. Narrowing her beautiful eyes, she raised her hand high, full of threatening intent.

It was the New Year; he had better not force her to get physical!

"Hey, hey, it's no big deal. Don't get mad, don't get mad."

Seeing this, Gu Ran immediately gave in. He carefully picked off the debris and thoughtfully smoothed the girl's hair.

"Hmph!"

Seeing how tactful he was being, Ye Zhenzhen lifted her chin and gave him a gentle kick.

After finishing with the fireworks, Gu Ran looked around and asked, "Ye Zhenzhen, do you want to go play with some fairy wands?"

Fairy wands?

It was obvious the girl had no idea what the term meant, so Gu Ran had to explain it to her.

"Um... fairy wands, as the name suggests, are... things that fairies play with..."

Ye Zhenzhen: "???"

Why did it feel like this guy was saying weird things again!

Before Gu Ran could finish speaking, she kicked out at him, interrupting his nonsense.