Chapter 83 END

Even though Mi Zhao had mentally prepared himself before coming, he was still taken aback when he saw the sheer number of people in the Li family.

Looking around, all he could see were heads packed densely together.

What a huge family…

But Pei Yu was easy to recognize. Even if he hadn’t seen her photos online, he could have picked her out from the crowd instantly. She bore a strong resemblance to Li Sipei—not just in appearance, but also in demeanor, though Li Sipei seemed a bit colder and less approachable.

“Mom,” Li Sipei greeted first.

Hearing this, Mi Zhao followed suit. “Auntie Pei.”

Pei Yu beamed and responded warmly, then pulled Mi Zhao forward to introduce him to the others. “This is Sipei’s partner, Mi Zhao.”

“……”

Silence fell over the room.

The older family members managed to remain composed, but the younger ones were visibly shocked, their mouths hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.

Feeling a bit awkward, Mi Zhao gave a polite smile and greeted everyone generally before pulling out Mi Bin and He Linfang, who had been standing behind him.

Pei Yu had already met Mi Bin and his wife before over a meal, so they were familiar with each other. When she saw the couple carrying a heap of gifts, she quickly signaled Li Kejian and Li Tianqing to take them. Smiling, she took He Linfang’s hand and said, “I told you not to bring anything, but you still did.”

He Linfang, being led toward the dining room by Pei Yu, was practically floating with delight, her voice turning light and airy. “It’s our first time visiting—we couldn’t come empty-handed.”

“But this isn’t our first time meeting, and you’re still being so polite,” Pei Yu said, while also calling Mi Bin over. Meanwhile, she left Li Sipei and Mi Zhao behind—figuring the younger generation had their own things to talk about.

Mi Zhao discreetly tugged at Li Sipei’s hand and whispered in his ear, “Your mom is really nice.”

Li Sipei turned to him with a soft chuckle. “What kind of person did you think she was?”

Mi Zhao blinked innocently, too embarrassed to say it out loud.

He had thought Pei Yu would be really strict.

Once everyone was seated in the dining room, aside from Pei Yu and the mother-son pair, the rest of the Li family members displayed a mix of expressions. Though they didn’t dare openly stare at Mi Zhao, they kept sneaking glances at him.

As the servants brought in the dishes, Pei Yu took the opportunity to introduce the rest of the family to Mi Bin and He Linfang. This massive family had over twenty members, and even with just one or two sentences per person, the introductions took more than ten minutes.

By the end, Mi Zhao was struggling to remember who was who. He tugged at Li Sipei’s sleeve, leaned in, and whispered, “Who’s the one who made the dumplings worth ten yuan each?”

He was quite curious about what kind of people Li Yan’s parents were.

Covering his mouth slightly, Li Sipei replied in a low voice, “The woman in the white sweater sitting directly across from you. She’s also my eldest cousin’s wife.”

Mi Zhao secretly looked over—only to lock eyes with Li Yan, who was sitting beside Li Tianqing.

It was obvious that Li Yan had put extra effort into his appearance today, even styling his hair. But no amount of grooming could hide the dark, stormy expression on his face.

Clearly, his bad mood was entirely due to Mi Zhao’s presence.

With a lingering smile, Mi Zhao held Li Yan’s gaze without hesitation.

At that moment, satisfaction swelled in his chest, nearly overwhelming him.

In the past, he never wanted to compare Li Yan to Li Sipei. But now, the reality was right in front of him—Li Sipei was wealthier, more accomplished, and more devoted than Li Yan. And on top of that, Mi Zhao was now sitting near the head of the table in the Li family’s home.

These were things he had never gotten while dating Li Yan.

So what if Li Yan had cheated? Mi Zhao had found someone even better.

With that thought in mind, he suddenly called out, “Li Yan.”

Li Yan visibly flinched, nearly jumping out of his chair. When he felt all eyes in the room shift toward him, he stiffened even more.

“You two know each other?” Pei Yu asked in surprise, glancing between them before something clicked in her memory. “Oh, that’s right—you both studied at A University, didn’t you?”

“Yes, Auntie Pei,” Mi Zhao answered politely. “We weren’t in the same department, but we had many mutual friends, so we can be considered acquaintances.”

After speaking, he raised his chin slightly at Li Yan. “Isn’t that right, Li Yan?”

Li Yan’s brows furrowed so tightly they nearly knotted together. He was clearly tense but didn’t dare show it. Sneaking a glance at Pei Yu, he forced out a smile and nodded stiffly. “Yeah, we both went to A University. We’ve seen each other many times.”

Hearing this, Li Tianqing was overjoyed.

Since that incident, Pei Yu’s attitude toward their side of the family had been lukewarm at best. She was much closer to the other relatives’ families. Just the other day, Pei Yu had even agreed to be a guest at her younger sister’s art exhibition—something she would have never considered in the past, given her distaste for flashy affairs.

Although Li Tianqing wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of two men being together, the fact that Li Sipei’s partner was her son’s university peer…

Didn’t that mean her family had a chance now?

“Oh, so you were classmates! That’s such a wonderful coincidence. Now you’re practically family,” Li Tianqing said with a beaming smile that was several times brighter than her son’s. She clasped her hands together and suggested, “Why don’t you exchange contact information? You can keep in touch, visit each other when you have time.”

Mi Zhao: “……”

Li Yan’s mother was even more opportunistic than his own.

Li Yan remained silent, looking like he had swallowed a brick and couldn’t even let out a squeak.

Li Tianqing nudged her son several times with her elbow, hinting, “Considering seniority, Xiao Mi is technically your aunt. Shouldn’t you be more proactive?”

Mi Zhao almost choked on his own breath. Just as he was about to speak, Li Sipei patted his back and interjected, “They already have each other’s contact information. In fact, Mi Zhao has even tasted my cousin-in-law’s cooking before.”

Li Tianqing was pleasantly surprised. “Oh? When was this? I don’t remember at all.”

“Last year, when you made dumplings. Xiao Yan took a bag to Mi Zhao.”

At the mention of dumplings, Li Yan, who had been keeping his head down, suddenly snapped his head up. It was as if he had guessed what Li Sipei was about to say, and his expression instantly turned ghastly. In a panic, he blurted out, “U-Uncle…”

Li Sipei smiled at him. “Ten yuan per dumpling—do you still remember that?”

The entire dining room fell into dead silence. Even the smile on Li Tianqing’s face froze.

Li Kejian’s expression turned awkward as he stared at Li Yan in disbelief. “What the hell? You sold the dumplings your mother made for you?”

“N-No, Dad…”

Before Li Yan could explain, Li Sipei nonchalantly repeated what Mi Zhao had told him. “Xiao Yan said the dumpling filling was made with Wagyu beef that our cousin brought back from Japan, so it was worth more than regular dumplings.”

With so many eyes watching the scene unfold like a live drama, Li Kejian felt utterly humiliated. His face turned red with anger, and he shot to his feet, raising his hand and bringing it down hard on Li Yan’s head.

A loud thud echoed in the room.

Li Yan was hit so hard that he toppled over onto Li Tianqing, his vision spinning.

Normally, Li Tianqing would have felt sorry for her son. But at that moment, she only looked at him with disappointment, as if blaming him for not living up to expectations.

Only Pei Yu spoke in a calm, indifferent tone. “It’s New Year’s Eve. Don’t make a scene over something so trivial. It’s just a few dumplings—it’s not like they’re some rare delicacy.”

Li Tianqing’s face went from pale to blue, then from blue to red. She bit her lip and turned to Mi Zhao. “Xiao Mi, Li Yan was young and ignorant. If there were any misunderstandings in the past, I apologize on his behalf. If you like my dumplings, I’ll have Li Yan bring you some next time.”

Mi Bin and He Linfang were utterly dumbfounded, while Mi Zhao was still in shock from witnessing Li Yan’s father’s explosive temper.

Although his own parents often scolded him, they had never actually hit him. Yet Li Yan’s father had struck him without hesitation. What was even more shocking was that after getting hit, Li Yan didn’t react at all—he just sat there silently, holding his head, as if he was used to it.

“No need for that,” Mi Zhao quickly declined, waving both hands as if they were windshield wipers. He had absolutely no desire to eat anything made by Li Yan’s mother.

At that moment, Li Sipei casually added, “Ten yuan per dumpling isn’t worth it.”

Mi Zhao: “……”

Someone in the room let out a sudden snicker, and soon, most of the family burst into laughter at Li Sipei’s rare attempt at a joke. Even Pei Yu pressed her lips together to suppress a smile.

Only Li Yan’s family of three sat there, their faces a mix of blue, white, and red, completely out of sync with the joyful atmosphere in the dining room.

—

After dinner, Li Yan slipped away quietly. Meanwhile, Li Kejian and Li Tianqing were still trying to keep up appearances and chat with the others.

As midnight approached, the younger generation started offering their New Year’s greetings, and the elders brought out the red envelopes they had prepared in advance—even Mi Bin and He Linfang had some ready.

At first, Mi Zhao stood off to the side, feeling like an outsider. But suddenly, the younger family members swarmed toward him, chattering excitedly.

“Aunt! Happy New Year! Wishing you prosperity!”

“May Aunt and Uncle live happily ever after, forever in love!”

“Red envelopes! Red envelopes!”

“……”

Mi Zhao looked at a few of the so-called “younger” members—some of whom were actually taller than him and probably not much younger—and felt extremely conflicted.

He hadn’t prepared any red envelopes!

Even when he visited his hometown, any younger cousins he met were much younger than him, and it was always his parents who handed out red envelopes, not him.

“Li Sipei…” Mi Zhao quickly tugged at Li Sipei’s sleeve.

Li Sipei remained calm, holding him and looking toward the younger generation who had surrounded them. “Don’t call him aunt, call Mi Zhao brother.”

The younger generation, usually a bunch of unruly troublemakers at home, were particularly obedient in front of Li Sipei. They chattered in unison, “ Brother Mi Zhao!”

Mi Zhao gave an awkward smile. “Good.”

“Now, give out the red envelopes,” Li Sipei whispered in his ear. “It’s in the pocket on your right.”

Mi Zhao was momentarily stunned, reaching into his pocket and feeling a stack of stiff rectangular objects. Pulling them out, he saw they were indeed red envelopes.

When did they end up in his pocket?

He sighed with relief and then reached around Li Sipei’s waist, giving him a playful pinch. “You should have told me earlier. You scared me to death.”

Each red envelope was very thin, and there was hardly any weight to them. Mi Zhao strongly suspected that Li Sipei had only stuffed two or three hundred yuan in each.

The younger generation, thrilled with their red envelopes, still stayed close, surrounding them.

In fact, they were more interested in the “aunt” than the “uncle.” The “aunt” looked young but had a much gentler and livelier personality compared to the “uncle.” Though he was dressed in a proper winter coat, his face was fair and his features were delicate. His long lashes framed eyes that were both dark and bright, and when he smiled, there were two subtle dimples on his cheeks.

He really had a face that people found easy to like.

Perhaps due to the contrast with Pei Yu and Li Sipei, the younger generation was extremely fond of Mi Zhao, pulling him out to set off fireworks and ring in the new year.

Mi Zhao wasn’t too interested in the Spring Festival Gala and didn’t want to remain stiffly seated in the living room. As the younger ones pushed him toward the door, he didn’t forget to pull Li Sipei along.

“Can we set off fireworks here?”

“We can’t set off fireworks in the sky, but we can light ground fireworks,” a boy answered.

The butler had already bought dozens of types of fireworks and arranged them neatly in the garden outside. The light was dim, and everyone couldn’t clearly see the packaging, so they decided to open blind boxes and set off whichever fireworks they picked.

Mi Zhao opened a box of sparklers. Compared to everyone else’s large fireworks, his sparklers seemed much more delicate. He lit three at once and handed two to Li Sipei.

Li Sipei stood still, holding one sparkler in each hand, looking silly.

Mi Zhao burst out laughing and pulled out his phone to take a picture of Li Sipei.

Li Sipei sighed. “You’re filming again.”

Mi Zhao said, “You should move, standing there is boring.”

“How should I move?”

Mi Zhao thought for a moment and suggested, “Why don’t you just walk around casually, and I’ll follow you and film.”

He then switched his camera to video mode.

Li Sipei, holding two sparklers, didn’t seem like he wanted to walk, but since Mi Zhao insisted, he reluctantly took a few steps forward.

The younger generation was setting off large fireworks nearby, laughing and shouting. Someone reminded them, “It’s almost New Year! It’s almost time!”

“Ten.”

“Nine.”

“Eight.”

Mi Zhao tossed his finished sparklers aside and quickly switched his phone to selfie mode.

The loud fireworks were still crackling, and the bright light of the flames illuminated half of Mi Zhao’s face. He quickly ran over to Li Sipei, hooked his arm through Li Sipei’s, and aimed the front camera at both of them.

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

“Happy New Year.” He looked up and kissed Li Sipei on the lips.

Laughter erupted from the younger generation.

Li Sipei curled the corner of his mouth but didn’t pay attention to the noise. Amidst the flickering lights, he slipped a red envelope into Mi Zhao’s hand. “Happy New Year, little one.”

Mi Zhao took the red envelope and squeezed it. It was still very thin.

“You didn’t really only put two or three hundred in there, did you?”

“Want to open it and see?”

Mi Zhao, with no hesitation, opened the envelope, and to his surprise, there wasn’t a few bills, but only one.

He pulled it out to look.

Oh.

A check.

He had clearly underestimated these wealthy people—after all, how many commoners like him had ever seen a check inside a New Year’s red envelope?

“Thank you.” Mi Zhao smiled brightly. Since there were kids around, he only kissed Li Sipei’s cheek this time. “Happy New Year to you too, Uncle Sipei.”

As for everything else…

That could wait for another time.

•

Author’s note:

The main story has ended! There will be two side stories coming up. Thank you all!