Shen Nian opened all the red envelopes, spread them out on the bed, and counted them. Halfway through New Year's Eve, he had already raked in over five hundred yuan.
The neighborhood aunties who often chatted didn't give much. Some gave fifty, some gave a hundred, and there were even loose fifty-yuan bills. These red envelopes were just for good luck; only real relatives would stuff in a hundred yuan.
"How much?"
"Around five hundred. Not bad, I might break one thousand five hundred this year."
Saying this, Shen Nian looked at Xia Yanchun, thinking for a moment.
"I asked my mom, and I can keep my red envelopes this year. Since we're so close, I think we should pool our red envelopes together and spend the money together later."
"Your scheming is too obvious."
He only had one thousand five hundred in red envelopes and wanted to split her several thousands equally with him. He was dreaming.
Relatives usually didn't come until the afternoon. The red envelopes she had received so far were just a fraction of what Xia Yanchun usually got. The real bulk came from Xia Herui's colleagues who came to give gifts or eat. Even if they weren't relatives or neighbors, they would still stuff red envelopes into Xia Yanchun's hands.
The generous ones gave five hundred, the lesser ones two hundred—a small tactic to maintain relationships. Perhaps the people coming for dinner knew this small red envelope wasn't much, but they couldn't just not give one.
Counting the relatives, there were still many red envelopes to come.
Xia Yanchun wouldn't keep it all. She would take out a portion to subsidize the red envelopes her family gave out, keep a small portion to exchange for cash with her family, and deposit it into her own little treasury.
"I really don't have any bad intentions, Chunbao." Shen Nian looked innocent.
"I don't believe you."
Xia Yanchun sat on the edge of the bed and started opening her own red envelopes. Including the one Wen Zhining gave her, she already had over seven hundred.
The portion from her uncles and aunts was usually given at night. It was normally two hundred yuan, and today shouldn't be any different.
"How do you have so much?"
"Because my mom gave it to me in advance. Didn't your uncle and aunt give you yours?"
"No, I have to wait until tonight." Shen Nian folded the money and the red envelope wrappers and stuffed them into the drawer.
Xia Yanchun was sharp-eyed and saw the necklace gift boxes in the drawer.
There were actually two.
"Hmm?"
Xia Yanchun frowned. She pulled open the drawer Shen Nian had just closed, took out the two necklace gift boxes inside, and looked at Shen Nian with eyes that seemed to speak.
"Uh..."
Was there a possibility that this necklace had chakra and had learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu?
He didn't expect to be found out anyway. Shen Nian had no choice but to scratch his cheek. "What's wrong...?"
"Why are there two?" Xia Yanchun opened them one by one. Both gift boxes contained necklaces, genuine and exactly the same.
"I bought them. I saved up money from selling fish, and later went to buy another one of the same style. If my mom has one, my dad has to have one too."
Xia Yanchun narrowed her eyes into a slit, half-believing and half-doubting.
She believed him because Shen Nian really could catch fish and sell them for money, and he was very efficient at it. Fishing for an hour and spending half an afternoon selling them would net him two or three hundred. With good luck, maybe even more.
She doubted him because she was always by Shen Nian's side; if he went fishing, she should have known.
"Hehe, later when they are playing cards downstairs, I'm going to give it to them right in front of your parents to put the pressure on you." Shen Nian grinned.
"Hmph." Xia Yanchun wasn't buying it.
Thinking that Shen Nian could make money selling fish and also had a sizable scholarship, she decided not to overthink it. If he was frugal, buying an extra necklace wouldn't be too difficult.
He made good money from fishing; he even bought a NIU electric scooter before. Plus, he took so long to repay the two thousand yuan he owed her, so his financial pressure was even smaller.
"My parents got rings when they married, so the pressure won't reach me."
"So what if you have money? I fine you eight hundred yuan, give it to me."
"I haven't even asked you for money yet."
"You're so rich and you still want to ask me for money? Have some conscience, Haji Chun. In the future, when we buy a house, you pay for it and put my name on the deed."
Xia Herui was a civil servant twenty years ago. Having been promoted several times, he was now an official in the town. When it came to having a super iron rice bowl, there was truly nothing to complain about.
Coupled with Auntie Wen being quite outstanding herself, Xia Yanchun's family background was already much better than many people's.
It wasn't without reason that Shen Nian would reluctantly follow behind Xia Yanchun. In the past, only the city had so-called KFCs and McDonald's, and he had never eaten there. At the age when he craved fried chicken and French fries the most, it was Xia Yanchun who fed him the fries she had packed and brought back, one by one.
Shen Nian rubbed his chin.
If Haji Chun only made him call her big sister, fed him little snacks every day, took him out to eat good food, didn't make him the scapegoat when she got into trouble, and didn't boss him around, he might really have become Haji Chun's simp.
Haji Chun could have been his white moonlight, but her bad traits perfectly canceled that out.
Forget about white moonlights; being sworn enemies was better. He just liked this kind of life where they would start scolding each other at the drop of a hat and resort to punching and kicking over a disagreement.
"So you're giving them tonight?" Xia Yanchun carefully put away the two gift boxes.
"Yep, tonight's matters will be dealt with tonight."
After Shen Nian finished speaking, he quietly went to draw the curtains. He didn't close the bedroom door because he needed to gather information. His Agility plus three allowed him to keenly catch the sound of footsteps on the stairs, so he wasn't afraid of being caught while getting intimate with Xia Yanchun.
Xia Yanchun was a little nervous. With him drawing the curtains so carefully like that, even a pig would know what he was up to.
And he didn't even close the door. If someone came up, there wouldn't be any reaction time at all.
"Today is the last day of the year," Shen Nian said, putting his arm around the young girl's shoulders. His palm gently rubbed against her, and even through two layers of clothing, he could feel her softness.
"What about the last day?"
"Asking when you already know the answer, you rascal," Shen Nian grinned.
"I don't understand what you're talking about, I don't know."
Xia Yanchun felt shy. Even though Shen Nian didn't make any major moves, her face still uncontrollably flushed pink.
The thought that Shen Nian was going to confess his love tonight, say some embarrassing, cringe-inducing sweet words, and then add 'I like you' to ask her to be his girlfriend, made Xia Yanchun feel like she was radiating heat all over.
Sworn enemies obviously couldn't become girlfriends...!
Xia Yanchun held in a breath, bumped her forehead against Shen Nian's face, and nudged him continuously.
"It tickles." Shen Nian pushed her away with one finger.
"I hate you."
"That means you like me."
"I really do hate you!"
"Oh really." Shen Nian looked at her with one eye wide and the other narrowed, pulling at her tender little face. It was so soft.
So she was playing the hate card now.
The thought that this Haji Chun who hated him so much was still going to kiss him, be confessed to by him at midnight, and become his girlfriend made Shen Nian even happier.
Shen Nian kissed Xia Yanchun; the more she hated him, the better it was to kiss her.
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
