“Shen Huaizhi… you…” Jiang Heng paused.
Shen Huaizhi chuckled lightly, showing no sense of overstepping, “What’s wrong with me?”
“Could you please act more like a person?” Jiang Heng couldn’t help himself, fearing Xie An might hear. He intentionally lowered his voice, sounding somewhat irritated.
Shen Huaizhi was slightly taken aback, then chuckled more visibly than before. It was unclear what was so amusing. Jiang Heng was about to continue scolding him when he heard someone speaking on Shen Huaizhi’s end.
Perhaps they were a bit far away; the voice was faint, but Jiang Heng could vaguely make out someone asking Shen Huaizhi if he wanted something to eat.
Shen Huaizhi responded, “Not for now,” in a calm and distant tone.
There really wasn’t a hint of awkwardness in the shift.
“Are you busy over there?” Jiang Heng hesitated for a moment before asking. He was somewhat selfish and didn’t really want to hang up.
“No,” Shen Huaizhi paused, “some relatives are here.”
He didn’t specify who they were.
Because it was New Year’s Eve, naturally more relatives would come, even those with whom relationships weren’t particularly close would take the opportunity to strengthen ties.
Jiang Heng acknowledged with a sound and didn’t pursue further.
After Shen Huaizhi finished speaking, he seemed to remember something and chuckled lightly, “And my grandparents, I’ll introduce you to them one by one during future New Year’s.”
Jiang Heng was momentarily stunned, taking a while to react before hesitantly speaking, “It might be a bit early in high school…?” Even though they were engaged, they were still a few years away from the legal marriage age. No matter what, it didn’t seem appropriate to visit each other’s homes for New Year’s during high school.
He paused for a moment, then continued more seriously, “At least we should wait until university, right?”
After he finished, Shen Huaizhi remained silent for a while. The amusement in his tone faded significantly, and his voice lowered, “Jiang Heng, I didn’t say high school.”
He was talking about the future.
“However, if you think starting university would be enough, I don’t mind.” Shen Huaizhi chuckled, his tone coaxing, “Just hearing you say that makes me a little impatient.”
“Jiang Heng, when will you grow up?”
Shen Huaizhi said this, and Jiang Heng suddenly realized he had said some things without thinking them through.
It made him seem impatient, just like himself!
What else is there to grow up for!
Here is the translation:
Jiang Heng’s expression went blank for a moment. After a brief silence, he abruptly changed the subject, “Didn’t you just mention giving me a red envelope?”
Sensing his unease, Shen Huaizhi replied knowingly, “Ah, how much do you want? Cash or bank transfer?”
“No, how come you’re asking me how much when you’re supposed to give red envelopes yourself?” Jiang Heng genuinely found this unusual.
Actually, he couldn’t remember the last time he received a red envelope, but Xie An had never been stingy when it came to daily necessities.
Although Xie An’s job was busy, he was well-off, otherwise he would not be able to buy a house or invite aunts like that.
Shen Huaizhi chuckled, “No, I’ll be honest, I’m not really in the mood for cards this year.” In previous years, he had always spent New Year’s with the elders, and he didn’t find it particularly dull. He was naturally composed and patient, sometimes seeming more like an adult than a high school student.
It wasn’t until he started dating Jiang Heng that he realized how boring his life had been before.
“I wanted to call you,” Shen Huaizhi added softly, “since the new year is almost here.”
Jiang Heng responded quietly, looking out the window. There were no people downstairs in the community anymore; they had probably all gone home to watch the New Year’s Gala. The sound of the TV in the living room was still audible. After thinking for a moment, Jiang Heng picked up his phone and quietly left the room.
Xie An was leaning against the sofa, seemingly asleep. Jiang Heng covered her with a blanket after whispering, “Wait for me a moment, I’ll go get a blanket for my mom.”
Jiang Heng squatted beside the sofa and covered Xie An with the blanket before realizing he hadn’t really looked at her closely in a long time. Perhaps because of her demanding job, Xie An was quite thin. Despite her appearance not revealing her actual age, Jiang Heng felt like Xie An had looked the same for the past decade. It could also be that he had a thick filter on his mother. However, the tiredness on Xie An’s face was still very noticeable. Even though she was sleeping, her brows were still furrowed, as if she had something to worry about.
The light in the living room was dim, and Jiang Heng turned the volume of the TV down to its lowest level. On the sofa, Xie An was half asleep. All this seemed like a scene Jiang Heng had always dreamed of. Perhaps this year was the beginning of a new life for him.
While Jiang Heng was thinking this, Xie An’s phone, which was originally placed on the coffee table, suddenly rang. Jiang Heng was squatting beside it and instinctively glanced at it.
The screen lit up for a moment and then went dark again. It seemed to be a message from her assistant, indicating that the contrast results of some substances were already out. Jiang Heng didn’t pay much attention to it. He never understood these things, nor did he want to understand what Xie An and her laboratory were researching. Previously, Xie An had tried to explain it to him, but after realizing he really didn’t want to listen, she gave up directly.
Just as he was about to stand up, Xie An, who seemed to be sleeping, suddenly woke up. Unlike her usual gentle demeanor, she looked cold, as if something had violated her. Without even looking at Jiang Heng squatting beside her, she directly grabbed her phone from the coffee table. The blanket slipped off her body, but she didn’t seem to care.
With her head down, she glanced at the message on her phone, as if confirming something. After reading the message, she glanced at Jiang Heng with a somewhat cold and distant gaze, as if warning him, “Don’t peek at my phone.”
Jiang Heng was taken aback. In all his years, he had never seen Xie An so serious. She seemed like a completely different person from her usual self—too cold, too indifferent.
After a moment of silence, Jiang Heng whispered, “I wasn’t looking, I just accidentally glanced at it.”
He hadn’t meant to look, especially since there didn’t seem to be anything on Xie An’s phone worth his attention.
After he finished speaking, Xie An, who had just been cold and distant, seemed to suddenly realize something. Her tone became a bit stiff, but her expression gradually softened. She put her phone into her jacket pocket and lightly shook her head at Jiang Heng, saying, “Sorry, I just woke up and felt a bit confused.”
Jiang Heng himself was a bit groggy from just waking up and could understand Xie An’s behavior. The strange feeling he had just now was suppressed.
After Xie An finished speaking, she pushed away the blanket that had barely hung on her legs, smiled faintly, and her eyes softened. “I’m going back to my room to sleep. You should go to bed early too.”
The blanket slipped off her completely with her movements. It was the blanket from Jiang Heng’s bed. Xie An seemed completely unaware of it.
Jiang Heng stared at the blanket and responded, “Okay.”
As he neared the door of the room, Xie An suddenly turned back and smiled, “Son, Happy New Year.”
Jiang Heng took two seconds to respond, “Happy New Year, Mom.”
After Xie An entered her room, Jiang Heng restrained his smile. He picked up the fallen blanket from the floor expressionlessly, turned off the TV, and sluggishly returned to his room.
Just as he was about to enter his room, Jiang Heng paused his steps, then turned back and switched off the living room light.
The room suddenly fell into darkness. When he pushed open his room door, his vision returned to brightness.
The call between Jiang Heng and Shen Huaizhi hadn’t been disconnected yet, but there was some noise from Shen Huaizhi’s end. It sounded like… the sound of playing mahjong?
Jiang Heng: …
What is this… He’s even playing mahjong and not muting the voice?
Just as he was about to press the disconnect button, probably hearing the sound of him closing the door and dropping the blanket, Shen Huaizhi’s voice came through the noise of the mahjong game, “Jiang Jiang, don’t hang up. Help me decide what to play.”
Jiang Heng: ?
What the hell is he calling me?
Jiang Heng frowned, and watched as Shen Huaizhi changed the audio call to a video call.
After hesitating for a moment and looking around, Jiang Heng cleared his throat softly and pressed the answer button.
On the screen was Shen Huaizhi’s face. Jiang Heng instinctively covered his own camera with his hand.
Perhaps noticing his action, Shen Huaizhi chuckled. Then, the camera on Shen Huaizhi’s end was turned towards the mahjong game.
“Huaizhi, this move is against the rules.”
“Yeah, yeah. Get a substitute to bully us old ladies. Shu Shu, aren’t you going to control your son?”
Originally, Ruan Shu thought that Shen Huaizhi had come back to play mahjong after hanging up the phone. As soon as they started, her son said he didn’t mind if he found a substitute. The elders at the table had a good relationship with Shen Huaizhi. They all knew that he had just called someone, and when they heard him say he wanted to find a substitute, they immediately agreed.
Shen Huaizhi sat in Ruan Shu’s original seat. After Ruan Shu gave up her seat to her son, she stood behind him. When Shen Huaizhi turned the video on, Ruan Shu looked at her son again and stood elsewhere.
Now hearing the elders say that, she immediately shook her head. “Where can I control him?”
Shen Huaizhi responded with an “Hmm.”
Hearing them talk like this on the other end, Jiang Heng felt a bit embarrassed. Who speaks to their elders like this?
Shen Huaizhi really is…
“Oh my, look at Huaizhi’s expression, my old man at home! I want my old man to play cards with me too!”
“Grandma, don’t be like this, Jiang Jiang is thin-skinned,” Shen Huaizhi’s voice carried a hint of amusement.
“Oh my, why are you so protective? No wonder you never want to bring anyone home to meet us. Afraid we old ladies will scare them away?”
“It’s not like that, he’s still young.”
Jiang Heng: …
Jiang Heng endured it.
There were still elders over there.
But with Shen Huaizhi causing such a stir, it seemed like he himself was experiencing a lively New Year.
Although Shen Huaizhi said to help him decide what to play, in reality, after initially aiming the camera at the mahjong, he switched back to the audio call. The audio call had been on the whole time.
Those elders probably feared embarrassing him, so they hadn’t deliberately sought to talk to him, instead teasing Shen Huaizhi.
Someone even said there, “I’ve never seen Huai Zhi like this before.”
Jiang Heng had originally thought that Shen Huaizhi’s overly strict demeanor in the past was due to upbringing. However, from the implications in the elders’ words, they seemed to really enjoy seeing Shen Huaizhi in his current state, with the vigor of a young man, which made the elders laugh even more heartily.
It made Jiang Heng unable to help but smile.
The New Year atmosphere at Shen Huaizhi’s home was truly rich.
Jiang Heng even began to wonder what it would be like to spend New Year’s with Shen Huaizhi in the future. Shen Huaizhi initially played mahjong there, but later, when the elders couldn’t beat him, they started to be cheeky and replaced him with Ruan Shu.
Shen Huaizhi stood aside and watched.
Jiang Heng had nothing else to do and didn’t feel like sleeping, so he brought his winter vacation homework to do.
While Shen Huaizhi watched his mom play mahjong, occasionally giving instructions, he also listened to Jiang Heng’s questions about the homework from time to time. He was probably the busiest one.
Spending New Year’s Eve night doing homework with his boyfriend on a voice call was probably a rare occurrence.
In the end, Jiang Heng started to feel a bit drowsy.
It was the sound of the clock in Shen Huaizhi’s house that pulled Jiang Heng back from the brink of sleep.
“It’s midnight! Old folks, wake up!” accompanied by the sound of a loud bell, Ruan Shu’s clear voice echoed in the Shen family’s living room.
“Alright, alright! Don’t try to renege!”
“Pay up! Pay up!”
In a moment, the atmosphere became lively again.
Shen Huaizhi took off his headphones, turned the sound to speaker mode, and walked to the window.
Outside the window, the courtyard was brightly lit.
In the distance, there was a large artificial lake.
Shen Huaizhi called out, “Jiang Heng.”
Jiang Heng was actually woken up by the noise, but he was a bit sleepy and responded somewhat dazedly.
Listening to him speak, he sounded a bit unclear, and Shen Huaizhi couldn’t help but laugh, “Do you want to watch the fireworks?”
“It’s almost New Year.”
Jiang Heng lowered his eyes, glanced at the messy papers he had written, and subconsciously said, “Isn’t there a fireworks ban?”
Fireworks were not allowed in the city.
Shen Huaizhi responded with an “Hmm.”
“I’m at the old house.”
Jiang Heng suddenly realized. No wonder he felt that the background he accidentally glimpsed in the video earlier didn’t quite match the scenes he knew from Shen Huaizhi’s home before. He thought that Shen’s family had renovated before the New Year.
“There’s no fireworks ban at the old house. My dad arranged fireworks.”
Every year, Shen’s father would arrange fireworks by the artificial lake.
However, in previous years, Shen Huaizhi had never seen it.
Jiang Heng was stunned for a moment, silently lamenting the wickedness of the wealthy.
“Well, that’s fine?” Jiang Heng hesitated. He actually wanted to see them. That bit of dazzling fireworks he glimpsed from afar in the evening had indeed made Jiang Heng a bit itchy with curiosity.
Shen Huaizhi responded with an “Hmm.”
The two switched back to the video call.
Shen Huaizhi was in a good spot to watch the fireworks.
The elders and relatives at home were nonchalant about it, and no one crowded by the window to watch.
For a moment, Jiang Heng felt as if it were just him and Shen Huaizhi together, as if watching fireworks together.
The fireworks hadn’t started yet, but the countdown to midnight came through the earpiece.
Shen Huaizhi also counted aloud, “Five, four, three, two, one.”
With the sound of the midnight bell, the sound of fireworks bursting echoed.
“Jiang Heng, Happy New Year.” Shen Huaizhi aimed the camera at the fireworks.
Jiang Heng raised his eyelids and looked at the screen of his phone.
The brilliant and grand fireworks bloomed in the dark, illuminating the artificial lake.
The fireworks lingered in the sky for a moment before dispersing like flowing light.
A true momentary beauty.
It was beautiful.
And awe-inspiring.
Jiang Heng couldn’t remember the last time he had seen such beautiful fireworks.
He remembered when he was young, Xie An and Jiang Jin hadn’t divorced yet, they had also taken him to see fireworks by the river.
But that fireworks display was not as grand as the one Shen Huaizhi’s family had just set off. Truly worthy of being a lavish expenditure, truly the product of the wicked wealthy. The variety of fireworks was so vast that it dazzled the spectators.
Later, after their divorce, Xie An had also promised to take him to see fireworks, but she was always too busy.
There was a year when Jiang Jin had come back and promised to take him to see fireworks. Jiang Heng was already sensible at that time. He hated Jiang Jin because Jiang Jin had betrayed him and his mother.
He didn’t want to watch fireworks with Jiang Jin.
Somehow, he suddenly remembered the day when Jiang Jin had left after he had harshly rejected her, feeling a bit disheartened.
Putting aside these jumbled thoughts, Jiang Heng smiled, “Happy New Year, Shen Huaizhi.”
“Congratulations, you’ve grown a year older.” He paused and added, “Brother Huaizhi.”
The Omega’s voice was soft, almost hidden beneath the booming sound of the fireworks.
But Shen Huaizhi’s attention was entirely on Jiang Heng. As soon as he spoke, he fully captured his words.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Heng would suddenly say this. Shen Huaizhi was slightly taken aback. Since the camera was aimed outside the window, he couldn’t see Jiang Heng’s expression at the moment. However, he estimated that it was precisely because of this that Jiang Heng called out to him in this way.
He remained silent for a moment, sighed softly, sounding somewhat regretful, “Unfortunately, you still haven’t come of age.”
He had just had his birthday.
Jiang Heng didn’t know why he suddenly brought this up, hesitated for a few seconds, “After the New Year, school will start again.”
“And it’ll be classes all day long.” Jiang Heng paused, somewhat complaining, “I haven’t finished my winter vacation homework yet.”
In this setting, suddenly bringing this up was quite a mood dampener.
Jiang Heng probably realized this belatedly himself, cleared his throat lightly, and returned to the previous topic, “My birthday is in May, it’s coming soon.” Jiang Heng thought for a moment, “Monitor, what birthday gift would you like?”
Hearing him change the address again, Shen Huaizhi felt a slight regret, but he didn’t insist on him changing it back. There would be plenty of opportunities to address each other in the future.
“Well, I’ll have to think about it.”
Jiang Heng nodded, “Okay, take your time to think about it.”
“As long as it’s within my means, I’ll definitely give it.”
Shen Huaizhi chuckled lightly, “Hmm, I’ll really have to think about it.”
“But don’t go overboard too?”
Jiang Heng thought for a moment, still wanting to leave himself an exit in case it turned out to be an inappropriate gift.
Hearing him say this, Shen Huaizhi couldn’t help but laugh, “Then I’ll try not to.”
“You know us Alphas can be quite excessive.”
—
Jiang Heng couldn’t quite remember when he had fallen asleep.
When he woke up, it still wasn’t completely light outside. He had a very long dream where Jiang Jin held his hand and Xie An waved goodbye. Xie An’s figure grew farther and farther away, but neither he nor Jiang Jin went after her.
Perhaps it was because just before the call was hung up, Shen Huaizhi suddenly mentioned Jiang Jin to him? He really didn’t understand how Jiang Jin had the nerve to have Shen Huaizhi contact him. He also didn’t know what Jiang Jin wanted to do.
But he wasn’t the hot-tempered boy he used to be. He simply said he would consider it carefully.
Perhaps he really needed to meet Jiang Jin face-to-face to dispel Jiang Jin’s unrealistic thoughts.
Jiang Heng lowered his head, ran his hand through his hair, felt a bit hungry, and after a brief consideration, decided to go to the kitchen to find something to eat.
They had dumplings for dinner, and he probably didn’t eat enough.
Just as he stepped out of his room, Jiang Heng noticed that the study door, which was usually locked, wasn’t completely shut. Xie An’s room door was tightly closed.
Jiang Heng stood still for a moment, somewhat oddly turned his head to look in the direction of the study, where the light was on. After a moment’s thought, he walked towards the study.
The study was filled with Xie An’s research materials and some obscure biology books. Since moving here, this study had been Xie An’s personal space, and Jiang Heng had never entered nor thought about entering it.
He had initially thought Xie An was in the study, but upon entering, he found that although the light was on, there was no one inside.
He wasn’t particularly curious about these miscellaneous things. He looked along the wall for a while for the switch, but surprisingly didn’t find it.
Jiang Heng was puzzled for a moment, realizing for the first time that the layout of this room was different from the other rooms in the house. He glanced at the things in the study a few more times out of curiosity.
The switch was on the wall next to the desk.
Yawning, Jiang Heng walked slowly toward the desk.
There were a few pieces of paper on the desk, seeming to be experimental data.
As Jiang Heng leaned over to turn off the light, he subconsciously glanced down.
“Diary Entry: Name: Jiang Heng, Age: Ten, Gender: Omega… Record of Consumption: Nutrient Type H, Drug Content: 0.01%.”
Author’s note: Don’t blame me, blame Xie An. Rest assured, there won’t be any whitewashing.
1TL: YSIAD “You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you and Enjoy reading ❤️”
