Chapter 188: Nian Gao

The ring that was taken off was stuffed into Lei Dongchuan’s own pocket and kept.

During the New Year, there were many people, and the comings and goings to pay New Year’s greetings were very lively.

The family compound still maintained the old feelings from several years ago. Plus, with the Lei family elders here, quite a few people would come over to visit and bring gifts.

Grandma Lei was busy talking with them and couldn’t attend to the cooking. Lei Dongchuan knew Bai Zimu liked quietness, so he grabbed him, found an excuse to help out in the kitchen, and conveniently cooked the meal.

Bai Zimu moved a stool and sat on the side peeling peanuts—a small plate of spiced boiled peanuts, peeling and eating at the same time, the five-spice flavor was pretty good.

Lei Dongchuan had halfway finished cooking the dishes when he heard Dong Tianshuo’s voice in the courtyard.

Dong Tianshuo hadn’t let down his family’s good food, eating a lot and growing sturdy. He looked no different from an adult now, an especially robust young lad. Growing up, he wasn’t as mischievous as when he was little, and was much more steady. This time he was instructed by the elders at home to bring some New Year’s goods over. It wasn’t anything valuable, just a mesh bag of homemade steamed yellow millet nian gao (New Year’s cake).

Grandma Lei was quite enthusiastic towards all the children in the compound, and even gave Dong Tianshuo a small box of peach crisp biscuits as a return gift, smiling cheerfully and saying:

“Take it back to eat, help me send my regards to your grandma too. How is her health recently? Is everyone well at home?”

“Everything’s quite well.”

“Stay for dinner tonight? Dongchuan is busy in the kitchen.”

“No, no, no, my grandma is calling urgently, I still have to deliver New Year’s goods to several families!”

……

Dong Tianshuo shook his head like a rattle-drum. When he was little, he was terribly afraid of Lei Dongchuan. Although he didn’t do bad things anymore, his body had almost formed a conditioned reflex. If Lei Dongchuan sat at the same table face-to-face with him, he would be so nervous he couldn’t eat.

When Lei Dongchuan came out, Dong Tianshuo just walked to the courtyard gate and shouted:

“Hey!”

Dong Tianshuo immediately darted far away, running even faster.

Lei Dongchuan didn’t even have time to say a single word, furrowed his brows and said:

“What’s he running for, I don’t hit people during the New Year.”

The delivered nian gao were still there. Bai Zimu was quite happy seeing them and wanted to eat a whole piece. Lei Dongchuan was amused:

“Look at you, still wanting to eat a whole piece? If you finish eating it, you probably won’t be able to eat anything else for two or three days. Wait, I’ll pan-fry a few slices for you.”

Bai Zimu followed into the kitchen like a little tail, muttering and bargaining with his brother there.

“Brother, look, I was busy at Grandpa He’s place for several days, and still remembered to bring a gift for you when I came home… Cut a few more slices, cut the nian gao a bit thicker.”

“Was that for me?”

“How is it not? The ring is still in your pocket!”

Lei Dongchuan couldn’t out-talk him, but the kitchen knife was in his hand. No matter how lively Bai Zimu gestured, he ignored him, cutting as much or as little as he deemed fit.

When eating dinner, there was a small saucer with six or seven slices of nian gao, based on the number of people.

The yellow millet nian gao were sliced, and after being pan-fried in a small iron wok with hot oil, both sides were crispy and fragrant. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Sprinkled with white sugar, biting into it while it was fresh out of the pan and hot, it carried a slightly crispy outer shell, and tasted sweet, glutinous, and sticky, exceptionally delicious.

The nian gao sent by the Dong family had whole jujubes inside. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Cut open while frying, it brought out a hint of jujube paste fragrance.

Grandma Lei sat on the side chatting with Bai Zimu, sighing with emotion:

“When you were little, you never ate like this.”

Bai Zimu took a bite, mumbling vaguely:

“I think I have, right? I remember our family’s conditions back then were okay…”

“What you ate was jujube paste scooped out with a small spoon. I don’t know who started it, but among everyone, Dongchuan did this job the most nimbly.”

Grandma Lei said with a smile, “As for these whole jujubes, it was only when you went to junior high that the family let you eat them yourself!”

Bai Zimu also curved his eyes and smiled. He remembered things early, and had an impression of all this.

His brother had always taken very good care of him.

During dinner, Lei Dongchuan didn’t let Bai Zimu eat too much pan-fried nian gao, taking care of the rest himself.

Bai Zimu had some regrets. When the plate was taken away, he couldn’t help but sigh softly.

Taking advantage of Lei Dongchuan clearing the plates and not being around, Grandma Lei asked Bai Zimu:

“Precious treasure, you were just saying you wanted to find someone like Dongchuan, now you don’t think it’s good?”

Bai Zimu looked serious, thought for a long time and shook his head:

“I want to find someone who will at least let me eat three slices of nian gao.”

Grandma Lei was extremely amused by him.

The closer it got to the end of the year, the busier the adults in the family were. The Lei family elders rested early, falling asleep around ten o’clock.

Lei Dongchuan had several phone calls coming in. Afraid of disturbing the old folks’ rest, he went to Bai Zimu’s home next door. The two of them were used to this since childhood; the two families were no different from one family.

Bai Zimu also had the habit of sleeping early. After reading a book at the desk for a while, he washed up and went to rest.

Unlike Lei Dongchuan, his phone lay quietly on the table without any calls coming in—in his phone’s address book, besides his mom, there were only the numbers of the Lei family, and nothing else.

While Bai Zimu was lying down, groggy and about to fall asleep, he could still hear Lei Dongchuan lowering his voice to make phone calls in the living room. The words spoken transmitted over indistinctly, seeming to be busy with work. He remembered his brother had some new business to do recently. At first, he could still catch a bit, but later he was truly too sleepy, and slowly fell asleep.

In the middle of the night, the bed trembled slightly.

Bai Zimu woke up from his sleep, letting out a “wu”, sounding like he was frightened.

Lei Dongchuan reached out, hugged him and patted him. Only after soothing the person did he whisper:

“Had a nightmare?”

Bai Zimu wasn’t fully awake yet, carrying a bit of a nasal tone:

“I dreamt of an earthquake, Grandpa took me to run, there was a crack in the courtyard… It shook just now, I almost fell in.”

Lei Dongchuan kissed the crown of his head, coaxing: “Don’t be afraid, it’s fine now.”

The earthquake in Dongchang small city many years ago still left some lingering shadows. Lei Dongchuan was bold and slowly recovered on his own, but Bai Zimu was different. He was still too small back then. After the earthquake, he had nightmares for nearly half a year. Sometimes, even a slight shaking would turn his small face pale, and he would repeatedly dream of the earthquake at night, sometimes even crying.

Bai Zimu recovered for a while, lowered his eyes, and pinched Lei Dongchuan’s fingers to play.

Lei Dongchuan asked in a low voice:

“Haven’t had such a dream for many years, why did you suddenly remember the earthquake?”

Bai Zimu shook his head gently:

“I don’t know, my heart has just been feeling unsettled these past two days, couldn’t sleep well.”

Lei Dongchuan was silent for a while, and said to him:

“Today I went to Baichuan and received a file bag sent by Boss He.”

Bai Zimu was stunned for a moment, and asked: “Why are you only telling me now? What’s inside the file bag? Is it the information of the people who smashed the warehouse back then?”

“Hard to say. Old He is shrewd, probably not wanting to offend either side, so he just sent some newspaper clippings over…”

Lei Dongchuan told Bai Zimu what was inside the file bag, and also mentioned his own guess.

Bai Zimu thought the same as him, nodded and said:

“Tomorrow morning I’ll let Uncle Lu and the others know. If it’s aimed at Grandpa’s side, it’s good to be prepared.”

“I didn’t let Fang Qi tell anyone else.”

“Mn, Grandpa is advanced in age, it’s better he doesn’t know. Anyway, there are many people at the studio now, so we’re not afraid of anything.”

After Bai Zimu finished speaking, he thought for a moment and asked Lei Dongchuan:

“Brother, if it’s aimed at the Lei family, Father Lei eating and living at the factory in Qindao City is actually very safe, but Mother Lei is always running to the countryside. You better let her know, I’m afraid something might happen to her.”

Lei Dongchuan laughed, and amidst Bai Zimu’s confusion, still nodded and agreed:

“Alright.”

He didn’t tell Bai Zimu what his mom said during the day.

Who could have thought, what these two people considered was the other’s safety, and what they said was exactly the same.