Chapter 22 – Xing Baichuan 1.0

When the clock struck twelve, we stepped into the new year along with everyone else.

That moment seemed to leave all our fatigue and pain behind us in the past year. Of course, that included my brother too.

His young life was frozen in time, ruthlessly left behind by us as we moved forward.

A door seemed to appear on the path of life, and we strode through it boldly, while Bolin remained inside, his face still filled with sorrow.

I watched the fireworks exploding in the ink-blue sky, feeling an unprecedented emptiness in my heart.

I turned to look at Jiangluo, who was staring at the sky in a daze.

The two of us seemed out of place in this bustling world. I sighed lightly and patted his hand.

He looked at me, first startled, then squinted his eyes and smiled at me.

When would we finally be able to dispel all the gloom in our hearts?

None of us knew the answer to that question.

The New Year’s celebrations continued until around three in the morning. Jiangluo and I had been sitting there feeling cold, so we got up and started walking around.

After wandering for a while, we finally found Mother and Father.

They were strolling aimlessly, seemingly unconcerned about getting separated from us.

“Eat some?” Mother held out a paper bag with its opening wide, offering it to us.

I glanced inside and saw it was full of sunflower seeds.

I felt a bit helpless as I grabbed a handful and stuffed it into Jiangluo’s hand. “Mother, you’ve been shopping for so long and all you bought was a bag of sunflower seeds?”

“It wasn’t her idea to buy them,” Father said. “We both left our money with you, and someone took pity on her and gave these to her.”

After he finished speaking, Mother playfully nudged him with her shoulder and asked us with a smile, “Are you cold? Want to go back?”

I turned to ask Jiangluo, but as usual, he didn’t offer an opinion. Looking at his bright red nose tip, I said, “Let’s go back. Get a good sleep. We have to return home this afternoon.”

The four of us walked back together. Mother pulled Jiangluo aside, talking to him about something. Father and I followed behind them, and he said to me, “Your mother has been much happier recently. She’s treating Jiangluo like her own son now.”

Looking at their backs, I felt that allowing Jiangluo to live with us was a very right decision.

“What about you?” I draped my arm over Father’s shoulders. “Do you feel jealous because Mother is being too nice to Jiangluo?”

Father glared at me. “What nonsense are you talking about, brat!”

Amidst the sounds of fireworks, the two of us laughed heartily.

Now that it was the New Year, my only wish was that my family would remain healthy and happy from now on.

In the afternoon, we hired a business van to drive directly from the Arctic Village to the airport in Mohe. The driver and the chatty tour guide were in front, while Jiangluo and I sat in the middle row, and Mother and Father were in the back.

Since everyone was exhausted, we all fell asleep shortly after getting in the car.

I’m a light sleeper, so I woke up whenever the road became bumpy.

Turning my head, I saw Jiangluo leaning against the backrest, nodding off repeatedly.

His appearance was both adorable and pitiful. After hesitating for a moment, I reached out and gently drew his head towards me, letting him rest against my shoulder.

I looked back at the two people behind us. They were in the same situation. Father was leaning against the backrest, looking as though he had just woken up. Mother was sleeping soundly in his arms.

Everyone was indeed tired. After returning to our room earlier, Jiangluo and I had argued for a while over who should sleep in the bed. In the end, he slept on the sofa, and I slept on the floor, leaving the spacious double bed empty.

This showed that we were both stubborn people, which was both laughable and lamentable.

To be honest, sleeping on the floor wasn’t comfortable, especially in such a freezing place. This winery was heated by warm water, and although the room temperature was fine, the floor was still quite chilly during the late hours of the night.

After waking up today, I felt somewhat unwell, but I didn’t dare say anything for fear they would worry. More importantly, I didn’t want Jiangluo to feel guilty, so I kept silent.

My constitution was generally quite good, and I seldom fell ill. However, when I did get sick, it usually lasted for a long time. All I could do now was silently pray that I could pull through.

Nevertheless, I still fell ill.

As soon as we returned from the Arctic Village, I developed a high fever.

Initially, I had been worried that my parents wouldn’t acclimate well to such a cold place, but it turned out that I was the only one who became sick in the family.

Only one day remained of the New Year’s holiday, and I still had a lot of things to do. Tomorrow, I had to personally distribute red envelopes to the employees when I went to work.

But here I was, lying in bed, being watched over by Jiangluo and Mother. After taking my temperature, they made me take medicine, and then forced me to sleep.

Perhaps it was true that a sick person’s mind was as fragile as they said. Thinking about the mountain of work waiting for me, yet having to stay in bed, made me incredibly frustrated.

Finally, when my parents left to buy groceries, I told Jiangluo, “I’m really fine, no need to make a big deal out of it.”

Li Jiangluo was completely unlovable and uncooperative at this moment. He narrowed his eyes and examined the thermometer he had just taken from under my armpit. “38.9 degrees Celsius. You should lie down.”

I let out a long sigh and said helplessly, “There’s not even an ally in this family…”

He paused for a moment before smiling. “Ally?”

“Yes, but I can understand you. After all, to you, my parents are more important than me in your heart.” I was intentionally provoking him. I rarely said such mushy words, but since I was sick, please forgive me.

Unexpectedly, he lowered his head shyly. Then, holding my water cup, he stood up and walked out, saying softly like a mosquito, “You’re important too.”

For some reason, his reaction reminded me of a word.

Cute shyness.

Although it was inappropriate, seeing his blushing cheeks and bashful silence, I couldn’t help but think of this term.

Recently, thanks to the efforts of the whole family, Jiangluo had gained a little weight. His previously hollowed-out cheeks gradually plumped up, sometimes puffing out like a little goldfish.

He returned with a glass of water, wearing that expression.

I sat up in bed, took the water cup, and asked him, “What are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking about when you’ll get better,” he replied, sitting back down and resting his hands on the edge of the bed. “Did you catch a cold because you slept on the floor?”

I knew he would ask that, so I had prepared my answer beforehand. “Probably not. I had some symptoms before we left. A few of the guys at the company caught a cold from working overtime. I guess it spread to me.”

This lie was quite convincing. He blinked his eyes at me, looking thoughtful.

“By the way,” I quickly changed the subject. “Weren’t you looking for a job? How’s it going? Any news?”

“There is some news,” he said, looking troubled. “They’re all small companies. None of the big companies I liked have responded to me.”

Disappointment was written all over his face. He had once had a good job and prospects, but was fired for skipping work. Given his personality, he wouldn’t have lied on his resume, which led to many difficulties in finding a new job. Moreover, most companies wouldn’t recruit new employees before the New Year, so he was destined to face rejection.

“It’s hard to find a job before the New Year. It’s not your fault,” I comforted him. “Actually, you could take a break for a while longer and start looking again after the New Year.”

He shook his head and let out a soft sigh. “I want to go back to work, and I’m in a hurry.”

I think I could understand how he felt. Being busy was actually a good thing. Like me, after Bolin’s incident, I was busy taking care of my parents and Jiangluo, busy transferring my work to China, and busy enough to not have more time to think about Bolin.

“Okay,” I said. “If there’s nothing suitable now, you can come work at my small company if you’re not picky. Are you in the same field as Bolin? Or, if you have something in mind, we can discuss it.”

Jiangluo looked surprised, his mouth forming a perfect circle.

Seeing his silly expression, I chuckled, but then I sneezed.

He hastily handed me a tissue, then smiled shyly. “I studied information management. I don’t know what I could do at your place, but if Brother doesn’t mind, I’m willing to try anything.”

To be honest, his major had no relevance to my company; it was completely unrelated. But since he said that, I didn’t plan on being polite.

“I’m currently short of an assistant. Can you handle it?” In my heart, Jiangluo was a person with lofty aspirations. I still remembered what Bolin used to say about him: talented and capable. An assistant at a small company might indeed be a waste of his potential, but it was like when he first came to my house. We needed each other at that time.

He needed a job, and I needed help.

“I haven’t done it before,” he admitted, lacking confidence. But then he immediately looked at me and said, “But I’m willing to work hard and give it a shot.”

I threw the used tissue into the trash can beside the bed and asked him seriously, “Don’t you think your abilities are being wasted?”

“How could it be,” he chuckled, lowering his eyes. “People always have to bow to reality, right? Besides, if I do a good job as an assistant, won’t you give me a raise, Brother?”

I was taken aback by his question. We locked eyes, and unable to resist the twinkle in his eyes, I burst out laughing.

I instinctively reached up to tousle his hair, then lay back down. “Then you can start now. Go prepare twenty red envelopes and withdraw 20,000 yuan from my card. You don’t need me to teach you how to pack the red envelopes, right?”

He nodded vigorously but didn’t move.

“Why aren’t you going?”

Li Jiangluo grinned at me. “I promised Auntie to watch over you here. I’ll leave after they come back.”

Well, my “escape” plan failed. The pile of tasks waiting for me would have to be put off for now. Suddenly, I felt a little inclined to fire Li Jiangluo.