Soon after, the cook at home made a table of dishes to celebrate Yan Huan’s birthday. Although there was no birthday cake, there was a bowl of longevity noodles and that was more than enough for her.
“Longevity noodles should be eaten all at once, otherwise you’ll die young,” Old Master Lu nagged again in front of Yan Huan.
“I never thought of living my life like an old monster, I also know about this custom. But now, I don’t want to live for too long, live one day at a time, if it’s my turn to die, then I’ll just die.”
When Old Master Lu heard this, he was angry up to a point that he wanted to hit someone.
“You are not responsible for your life. Your parents granted you life, which is not meant for you to ruin it. Not taking your life seriously is an insult to life. You’re sorry to your parents, your teachers, your siblings, and your food.”
“Am I not eating food right now?” Yan Huan took a mouthful of noodles. Moreover, her parents were long gone, her teachers must still be teaching other students and more importantly, she did not have siblings, she was all alone.
Old Master Lu picked up a pair of chopsticks and used it to knock on Yan Huan’s head hard. Eat your food, and shut up.
As Yan Huan was eating, she felt the urge to rebuke. However, after some thought, she chose to forget it. She was still hungry so she needed to finish up today’s noodles.
When she finished her food in the evening, she returned home. There was nothing at all, empty as usual, she had no one and no popularity. In the beginning, she had a mother and Yi Ling. Later, her mother was gone, but she still had Yi Ling. Then, Yi Ling got married but she was never alone because Lu Yi was always there for her. She thought Lu Yi would accompany her for a long time, but she never thought that they would go their separate ways one day.
They were separated by nothing but death.
Now, she was alone with one life, and herself.
“Well, I know. Let mother stay there and wait until the weather is warm. For Chinese New Year, it’s alright. I’ll spend the Chinese New Year at grandfather’s house which has everything. Besides, I’ll go on a roadshow during the Chinese New Year. Maybe I can’t always eat at home.”
“Dad, don’t worry, I’m okay. I’m not alone, there are many people in the company that don’t go home as well.”
No one knew how long they talked before Yan Huan hung up the phone. She thought Lu Jin and his wife would come back after all as Chinese New Year is the biggest festival of the Chinese community. As the saying goes, regardless of whether you are affluent, you should go home for Chinese New Year.
However, Ye Shuyun was ill and she could not take the flight, so they eventually decided not to come back.
It did not matter to Yan Huan, but she was afraid that Old Master Lu would be triggered by it.
Within these two years, many things had been going on in the Lu family. Since Lu Yi was gone, the Lu family had become more depressed. Apart from Lu Jin, Lu Qin was the only one in the Lu family now. However, Yan Huan was clear that it was very difficult for the Old Master Lu to cherish his grandson.
Unless Lu Qin got married to someone else as Su Muran could never have children in this lifetime. She was predestined to be unable to bear a child due to her illness. Other than affecting herself, the disease could be inherited.
It merely depended on whether Lu Qin would abandon Su Muran and marry someone else, but she thought that the possibility was low. Lu Qin was a man who would do anything, by hook or by crook, to achieve his goal. He would try his very best to save Su Muran since what he really wanted was the support behind Su Muran, the Su family. Without the existence of the Su family, no one would know who would lay their hands on the inheritance of the Lu family.
However, this matter did not concern her as it was none of her business. After all, she was not interested in the heritage of the Lu family.
Old Master Lu sat on his old-fashioned wooden armchair while playing with his pot. As he raised his face, he saw that the guard was carrying a lot of things.
“Did she buy them again?” Old Master Lu pulled a long face. “Ask her to stop buying, my house is already filled with her things.”
“She didn’t buy them,” the guard replied with a bitter face.
“No, then what are you holding?”
The old master pointed at the things in the guard’s hands, and his voice grew louder.
“Boss, these are all pulled by a truck which is full of New Year’s goods.”
“A truck?” Old Master Lu stood up with a shriek. “You said she bought a truck of things. Is she trying to burn up money?”
The guard felt the urge to nod, but in the end, he only laughed awkwardly in reply. Yan Huan could burn up money as she liked. He did not know how rich she was, but he knew that she had Linlang and she was an actor herself. It was impossible for her not to possess lots of money, not to mention a truck, even a few hundred trucks would not be a problem for her. She could just buy them without blinking an eye.
“Boss, don’t worry,” the guard hurriedly consoled Old Master Lu. “Miss Yan got some antiques for you. It’s not so easy to deliver, so she blocked them with new year’s products.” Look, how clever he was, to be able to think of such excuses.
“Antiques, you said antiques?” Old Master Lu could not believe his ears, hence he asked again.
The gift she gave was a real antique, no one knew where she got it from. Maybe she was well-connected; all the antiques in Lu Jin’s room were gifted by her.
“Yes,” the guard nodded quickly. “It’s antique, it’s really antique. It’s in the bottom part of the truck. However, the new year’s goods are above them so we will have to move the goods down first.”
“Then you should move them quickly.” Old Master Lu could not wait, he repeatedly urged the guards. He was not in need of the new year’s products, but he just wanted the antiques. He was only curious to know about the type and origin of the antiques.
As for Yan Huan, she packed her luggage at home because she was about to carry out publicity in various regions, however, her publicity campaign clashed with the Aster’s campaign. Even so, just let it be for they each promoted their own.
As for Old Master Lu, she brought him some good antiques which were estimated to be enough for the Old Master to play around for a period of time before getting bored. Once Lu Jin and others were back, she did not have to worry much as the son would know how to handle the father’s scolding.
She walked out with her suitcase and opened the door. The snowman outside was long gone, not sure if it had melted or the janitor had cleared it off. It disappeared without leaving a trace.
As she walked toward the area where she built a snowman, she could seemingly sense a hint of coolness from the snow. However, the snowman was indeed gone even before she had a chance to take a second look at it.
She turned around to catch a glimpse of the house behind her. In her previous life, she lived here until she passed away. In this lifetime, she had a feeling it would be the same.
Of course, she hoped to live longer but not too long because she wished to breathe her last after Lu Jin and his wife so she could care and send them off.
Gently, she took a deep breath as though she was suppressing her feelings – inexplicable loneliness for no reason or something else, she could no longer understand it herself.
