You can't eat the grass by the nest if your face isn't thick enough.

The matter of renting the family pond had been settled.

Being family, there was no need for contracts and the like, but the money couldn't be skipped. Later that evening, Shen Nian transferred the funds to his dad.

Once the pond was up and running this time, he could transfer the production costs to his dad and let Shen Shi take charge. He would also cover a portion of the labor costs. All he had to do was come back and feed the fish whenever production started, trigger his Farming Mastery, and sit back waiting for the harvest.

Wonderful, simply wonderful.

...

The sound of firecrackers gradually echoed through the streets and alleys.

Past midnight, New Year's Eve had officially arrived.

As everyone knows, there's no work on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. With no worries to deal with, these two days are prime time for staying up late. Even past midnight, the neighbors still had their lights on and were chatting away. Some were even setting off firecrackers, filling the entire street with crackling sounds and swirling smoke.

Shen Shi and Chen Minyue were also downstairs, gossiping with the neighbors and familiar faces next door, leaving a floor full of pumpkin seed shells.

The festive atmosphere of the New Year spread out, full of peace and hopeful anticipation.

Today, Shen Nian didn't go up to the third floor to look for Xia Yanchun. Instead, he changed into long pants, threw on a jacket, grabbed a plastic stool like those from a food stall, and sat on the first floor to chat with the adults.

The older generation of aunts and uncles rarely had common topics with the younger generation, so their conversations always revolved around the same few things.

"Oh my, Shen Nian is getting taller and taller. You're already two heads taller than me! Young people nowadays, drinking all that milk, they shoot up in no time!" a forty-five-year-old neighborhood aunt said to Shen Nian.

Shen Nian scratched his head. "You bet."

"You're such a big boy now, have you found a girlfriend yet? My kid has already had two. Let me tell you, it's only easy to find a partner when you're young. If you wait until you're twenty-five or twenty-six, it gets really hard!"

He got the feeling this aunt was throwing subtle shade at Shen Yue. He wasn't sure, so he listened a bit more.

Shen Nian gave a silly laugh. "Auntie, so your kid is two-timing?"

"Pfft, no, no, I mean he's had two in total. Oh my, he brought one back before, but then they broke up. And to think I even gave her a thousand-yuan red envelope!"

"Exactly, bringing them home before they've even dated that long."

"Right? My kid is a bit crazy, doesn't do well on exams, and might not even find a job after graduation. If only he were half as capable as you, tsk tsk."

"Hehe..."

Being the "other people's child" sure felt good.

Shen Nian felt delighted inside but kept a straight face. After exchanging a few more words with him, the aunt went over to chat with Chen Minyue, practically forcing her to hand over her secret child-rearing manual.

He was happy to enjoy the peace and quiet.

"Hiss, it looks like we're out of paste... Shen Nian, drive out and buy some paste," Shen Shi said.

"Alright. Did you buy the firecrackers? If not, I'll pick them up while I'm at it."

"Not yet, you buy them. Two rolls of the ten-thousand-pop ones, and one small roll."

"Consider it done."

Xia Herui suddenly came over.

"Shen Nian, go upstairs and call Xiao Chun down. Have her go with you and buy the same firecrackers as yours."

"Okay, Uncle Xia."

You couldn't blame Shen Nian for this; it was Uncle Xia who told him to go find Chunbao to play.

On the third floor, the room light was on. Xia Yanchun was nestled in her blankets binge-watching a show. Seeing Shen Nian come in, she clutched her blanket a little tighter.

"Your dad told you to come with me to buy firecrackers."

"Really?"

"Really. If I'm lying, I'll pledge my body to you."

"..." Xia Yanchun pouted and got up to pull the half-open curtains closed.

Only then did Shen Nian notice she was wearing a nightgown, her pale thighs exposed, looking even softer and whiter under the bright light.

You can't exactly wear a nightgown out. It was a no-brainer that Hachi-Chun would have to change clothes, no wonder she didn't really want to go out.

"Otherwise, I can just buy them for you and bring them back."

"Forget it, I'll accompany you out," Xia Yanchun sighed, opening her wardrobe and picking out a long-sleeved shirt and pants.

She turned her back to Shen Nian and slipped off her pure white nightgown.

Shen Nian stroked his chin.

Haha, my bad, forgot to turn off auto-target lock.

"What are you looking at? Speechless..." Xia Yanchun finished changing and stepped out of the room in her slippers.

There was no need to care too much about one's image late at night. She just left her hair down and disheveled, turning into a female ghost.

Once night fell, the small town had almost no vendors or shops open. When Shen Nian drove Xia Yanchun out, they only saw a few fruit stands closing up. The firework sellers were the exception; even though it was past midnight, there were still a few older men buying fireworks.

Shen Nian had quite a bit to buy. Three rolls of firecrackers, plus Xia Yanchun's three rolls, fit perfectly on the footboard. These things were pretty expensive, about a hundred yuan a roll.

"What kind of fireworks should we buy..." Xia Yanchun stood in front of a firework stall.

"Let's buy this Big Landmine."

"...When that thing explodes, all the cars on the street will start blaring their alarms. No way."

"What about this Gatling one? It looks fun."

"Isn't it just a bunch of those long ones that point at the sky bundled together?"

"Looks like we can only buy the most authoritative sparklers," Shen Nian said seriously.

"Exactly, buy, buy, buy! Boss, pack two bundles of these for me, a few small spinning tops, and give me a whole box of those matchcrackers too!"

Shen Nian: "..."

Matchcrackers... He had a bad feeling about this.

After buying the paste, they headed straight home.

A very happy Xia Yanchun had no intention of returning to her room. Instead, she opened the fireworks... specifically, the matchcrackers.

Other people were still setting off crackling firecrackers, so Xia Yanchun wasn't afraid of getting scolded. She struck a matchcracker against the box to light it and immediately tossed it onto the street.

Bang!

"Wahahaha!"

"Idiot," Shen Nian was always blunt.

Xia Yanchun instantly puffed up her cheeks in anger. She struck another one, held it for a moment, and then threw it at Shen Nian's feet, where it quickly popped.

The thing didn't have much power, but it was great for startling people.

Good thing Shen Nian dodged quickly.

"Hachi-Chun, you rascal..." Shen Nian laughed out of anger.

It seemed Hachi-Chun wanted a duel between bombardiers.

Just as he was about to take out a box for a fair duel with Xia Yanchun, she chickened out first, humming, "No more playing. Lighting firecrackers at this hour, aren't you afraid of being called a public nuisance!"

"You literally just lit two."

"But I'm not lighting them now. Can you not always bring up the past? It's really boring."

Shen Nian: "..."

Had something from thirty seconds ago already become the past?

This was classic Xiaohongshu logic.

"Yawn... I'm sleepy. Time to go rest." The clever Xia Yanchun bounced back into the house.

The clever Shen Nian followed right behind her.

Xia Yanchun ran as fast as a little bird being chased by a cat, diving headfirst into her bed. As long as she was covered by the blanket, even if a ghost came, there was nothing it could do to her!

Fortunately, Shen Nian wasn't a ghost.

He was more of an open lid, ready to eat kind of guy.

The curtains were already drawn. Lifting the blanket, Shen Nian slipped into bed right next to Xia Yanchun.

Xia Yanchun was super fussy, kicking her feet against his legs.

"Weren't you sleepy? Go to sleep." Shen Nian lay down peacefully. He wasn't leaving tonight.

"Go home to sleep..."

"The more you try to chase me away, the more it proves I was right to stick around."

"What the heck." Xia Yanchun slapped Shen Nian, quickly got up, and ran to close the door.

That idiot Shen Nian came in and didn't even close the door behind him. So annoying.

Looking at Shen Nian, who was already lying flat, Xia Yanchun reached out and pinched his cheek. "You are so thick-skinned!"

"If I wasn't thick-skinned, I wouldn't be able to eat the grass near my own burrow."

"!"

Xia Yanchun's face quietly flushed. This whole "grass by the burrow" thing sounded super weird!

Ironically, she was the one who had first described herself that way. Now, every time Shen Nian called her his little patch of grass, she felt a helpless sense of being beaten at her own game.

She really did find Shen Nian to be the most annoying!

"Stop saying that!"

"I'll say it if I want to. Hurry up and come to sleep, my little grass."

"Ahhh, I'm kicking you! Take this!"

Xia Yanchun's little feet continued to playfully kick him over and over again.