Xiaomi Heavy Industry, its first entrepreneurial venture!

Chapter 563 Happy New Year! Happy New Year! (Third update!)
Lin Yi had messed up her hair, so Ji Shuangshuang simply took off her hair tie and let her hair fall loosely over her shoulders. Then she reached out and hugged Lin Yi: "You're the best!"

"However, I still need to get some rest!"

"Okay!" Lin Yi replied, pushed Ji Shuangshuang aside, and turned to go to the bathroom to wash up.

Silent all night.

The two, still asleep, were awakened by Ji An's voice:

"Ji Shuangshuang, get up! Mom wants you to help chop vegetables, hurry up!"

"You're asking for death!" Qingmeng was disturbed, and Ji Shuangshuang suddenly sat up in bed, her beautiful hair disheveled and her dark eyes peeking out from between her hair, flashing with a cold light.

She cracked her neck twice, muttered menacing words, and got out of bed:
"Ji An, you just wait, you're dead!"

"Even the Heavenly King himself can't protect you!"

When she and Lin Yi finished washing up and went out, intending to grab Ji An and give him a good beating, they were told that Ji An and Ji Guoping had gone to town to buy fireworks and other things they would need later.

Upon receiving this news, Ji Shuangshuang gritted her teeth and went into the kitchen. She took out the breakfast her mother, Fang Hui, had prepared from the pot and, together with Lin Yi, gritted her teeth as she ate it, as if the bun in her hand was Ji An, who had disturbed her peaceful dream.

After finishing breakfast in a fit of anger, Ji Shuangshuang changed into an apron, went into the kitchen, and began to help her mother, Fang Hui, prepare the ingredients for today's meal.

In Guangling and the surrounding areas, there is a custom of not using knives on the first day of the Lunar New Year, especially avoiding cutting raw meat or chopping vegetables.

Because in the eyes of the locals, it is unlucky to use a knife on the first day of the lunar new year, as it is believed to bring bad luck and financial loss.

Therefore, surgery is usually only performed in the second year of junior high school.

In some families, this habit continues until the third year of junior high school.

The Ji family is somewhere between conservative and open-minded; their family tradition is to continue until the afternoon of the second day of the Lunar New Year.

But we have to eat lunch on the afternoon of the second day of the Lunar New Year.

Therefore, it is essential to prepare all the dishes for New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and the second day of the Lunar New Year on New Year's Eve.

The chickens and ducks have been killed; now they need to be chopped into pieces.

The fish wasn't killed; it needs to be killed on the spot.

The shrimp still need to be processed.

While she was busy chopping chickens and ducks, Lin Yi, who had changed into an apron, also walked into the kitchen, glanced around, and his eyes fell on the fish.

Pick up the cleaver next to him, stick his left hand into the fish's mouth and scoop it up, then point the back of the cleaver at the fish's head with his right hand and swat it once.

The fish, which had been thrashing about, suddenly fell silent.

Fang turned around and saw this scene, his eyes filled with admiration:
“My son-in-law is amazing. He’s not only good at his job, but he’s also a great cook.”

The praise made Ji Shuangshuang turn around, and when she turned around, she saw Lin Yi skillfully preparing the fish.

Her face immediately darkened. "I remember you said last time that you can't cook."

"Explain to me where you got your fish-handling skills from."

"I only said I didn't want to cook, I never said I couldn't cook." Lin Yi didn't look up, still focused on processing the grass carp in his hands.

After scaling the fish and cleaning out its belly, I also pulled out that damn tendon, put the fish in a basin, and started processing the shrimp next to it.

There were so many things to deal with that it was noon before I knew it.

After a quick lunch, Ji An and Ji Guoping returned.

As soon as Ji An stepped inside, he saw Ji Shuangshuang standing at the door with a broom in hand, smiling gently, looking every bit the graceful woman from Jiangnan.

Seeing his older sister's gentle appearance, Ji An's body reacted faster than his brain. Before his head could turn around, his body had already turned around, and with both legs pushing off at the same time, he had already run outside the yard.

A step too slow, Ji Shuangshuang could only stand at the entrance of the yard, broom in hand, cursing at the departing figure:

"If you're so tough, don't come back. If you do, I'll break your legs!"

"It's alright! I have money on me!" The voice came from afar, and before it had faded away, Ji An's figure had already disappeared into the alley.

Fang Hui came out of the kitchen and saw the scene between the siblings. She was already used to it. She turned her head and went into the living room, grabbed something, and went back to the kitchen. Her voice could be heard coming from there.

"Give him a call and tell him to come home for dinner tonight. If he doesn't come back, I'll break his legs myself!"

We'll take a short break at noon and continue in the afternoon.

By 4 p.m., the last dish of braised pork with preserved mustard greens was ready. Fang Hui breathed a sigh of relief, took out a portion, inverted it onto a plate, and carried it to Ji An's room, placing it in front of Lin Yi and Ji Shuangshuang, who were playing games. "Here, have a taste!"

Lin Yi was using Ji An's account to run a dungeon when Fang Hui casually put the plate in his hand aside.

Seeing the delicious food, Ji Shuangshuang was about to pick up her chopsticks when her mother, Fang Hui, slapped her: "It's not for you!"

"He doesn't eat fatty food!"

"I won't eat it, and I won't give it to you either!"

"You're my mom!"

Go eat your preserved mustard greens!

"Fine, I won't eat then. We'll have New Year's Eve dinner tonight, I'll eat more! Humph!"

"We'll talk about it tonight!" Leaving those words behind, Fang Hui turned and left, closing the door behind him. Ji Shuangshuang took two steps forward, locked the door from the inside, returned to the table, picked up her chopsticks, and fed a piece of meat to Lin Yi.

"Taste it!"

After feeding him a couple of bites, she noticed Lin Yi arguing with someone in the game. Turning around, she rolled up her sleeves and said:
"Let me criticize him!"

The roles were reversed. Lin Yi sat next to Ji Shuangshuang and fed her with chopsticks, while Ji Shuangshuang sat in front of the computer, typing away on the keyboard and starting to hurl insults at the person opposite her.

So when Ji An returned home around dinner time and saw his sister and brother-in-law in his room, sitting in front of his computer, using his account to argue with people in his DKP team, he felt like the sky had fallen.

He knelt down with a thud, staring at the character on the computer screen who no longer had a guild title, and muttered to himself:
"I finally managed to join a DKP raid! I saved up DKP for a whole month!"

Hearing his wailing, Fang appeared at the door: "Dinner's ready. What are you yelling about?"

Wiping away his tears, Ji An was about to cry to his mother when he caught a glimpse of his sister's slight smile out of the corner of his eye.

At that moment, he remembered his identity.

A high school student.

A high school senior who is studying hard to prepare for the college entrance examination.

If my mother found out that I was playing games and had joined a DKP guild where points are awarded based on raid contribution, she would chop me into tiny pieces, not a single fat or thin part of me could be stuck on.

Having understood all this, he wiped away his tears, stood up, and said, "Okay!"

When it's just family eating together, there aren't so many formalities.

Once everyone was seated, Ji Guoping began pouring wine—not strong liquor, but low-alcohol rice wine.

He poured the slightly cloudy wine into glasses and then distributed it to Lin Yi and the others, including Ji An, who also received an extra glass.

Ji An was completely dumbfounded. You see, in the past, if he dared to touch beer, his father would beat him to death. Now, he was actually pouring him a drink.

Noticing his confusion, Ji Guoping raised his glass:

"Go ahead and drink. You're an adult now, we're bound to run into each other sooner or later."

After finishing the first cup of rice wine, he started eating again. After a couple of bites, Ji Guoping picked up his second cup of wine. This time, he didn't look at Ji An, but at Ji Shuangshuang and Lin Yi:

"Don't think your dad talks too much. Although you're busy with work, I know you're very tired."

"But I still have to say, when will I be able to hold my grandson!"

"Give me a straight answer!" Hearing her father's nagging, Ji Shuangshuang began to play dead, staring intently at the plate of food in front of her, constantly poking at the food with her chopsticks.

She had barely started to eat when her elderly mother, Fang Hui, smacked her hand with her chopsticks.

"Answer your dad's question, and don't rummage through the dishes!"

"If your maternal grandfather or paternal grandfather were here, they would talk to you for at least two hours!"

Even though she wasn't allowed to pick at the food, Ji Shuangshuang started picking at the rice in front of her again.

After a few seconds, realizing that her elderly parents were still looking at her, she turned to Lin Yi for help, while Lin Yi began an even more exaggerated performance.

He frantically scooped at the rice in his bowl and frantically picked up the vegetables, but each time he scooped, he only managed to remove a few grains of rice and a small amount of vegetables. The amount of rice in the bowl never seemed to decrease.

Seeing the young couple like this, Ji Guoping brought the cup to his lips and said, "Never mind, you young people can have fun as long as you're happy!"

"Come on, let's have two more drinks!"

"I went to town with Ji An today, and they said there will be a fireworks display in the district tonight."

"It's right over by Slender West Lake. You can go and take a look tonight. It's only about seven or eight kilometers by car, so it's easy to get there and back. Don't drive."

Listening to her father's nagging, Ji Shuangshuang picked up her chopsticks and quickly ate the rice in her hands. "I'm full!"

Then he nudged Lin Yi with his elbow: "Hurry up, let's go see the fireworks!"

Lin Yi understood immediately, quickly shoveled the rice out of his bowl, and stood up.

In less than 10 minutes, the two were dressed, wrapped in scarves, and went out.

At the dinner table, Fang Hui looked at the two seats near the air conditioner and sighed, "You shouldn't have rushed things so much!"

"The young couple definitely want to enjoy their time a little longer. Your urging will only backfire."

"Never mind them!" Ji Guoping sighed softly, his gaze falling on his son Ji An: "A semester of senior year has passed, and your academic ranking in school has consistently been in the top 50."

"If this were in the city, this ranking would put you in the hundreds, making it difficult to get into a top school. Do you have any ideas?"

At the dinner table, Ji An slowly hunched his neck, lowered his head, and ate his rice in small bites.

At this moment, he felt extremely regretful, regretting why he hadn't finished his meal in a few bites and why he hadn't gone out as a third wheel.

At that moment, he felt as if each day was an eternity, and he kept calling out in his heart.

Come back soon!

Ji Shuangshuang, come back soon!
Unfortunately, his calls were to no avail.

Upon hearing her husband talk about their son's grades, Fang Hui sat down next to Ji An with her rice bowl in hand and asked very considerately, "Son, what are your thoughts?"

"Are you confident you can get to Wudaokou?"

“When I was chatting with your sister on the phone before, she said that her company was recruiting people, and the new people they recruited were all graduates from top universities.”

"They have high requirements, and they pay high wages."

"You've always said you're no worse than your sister. Now that your sister's a senior executive at such a top company, you must be just as good, right?"

“Your sister only has a regular undergraduate degree in accounting. If you get into Wudaokou Vocational and Technical College, your first step will be a higher degree than your sister's, and your salary will definitely be higher than hers!”

"That way you can prove you're better than your sister!"

"Tell me! Do you have confidence?"

In the time it took his mother to say a few words, Ji An lowered his head even further.

He wished he could travel back in time like in the novels, slap his past self for his arrogant words, and send those words back to him.

Strong my ass!
The greatest skill a person can have is self-awareness.

He has it now!
He's better than everyone else!

On the other side, Lin Yi and Ji Shuangshuang went out and happened to meet some villagers who wanted to watch fireworks, so they hitched a ride with them.

West Lake is not large, but Slender West Lake is truly slender.

Several bridges connect the islands in the middle of Slender West Lake, and the New Year's Eve fireworks display takes place on those islands in the middle of the Slender West Lake scenic area.

The two arrived relatively early, and apart from the staff maintaining order and handling fireworks, there were not many tourists in Slender West Lake.

After strolling around for a while, the two found a sheltered spot with a good view and sat down.

Ji Shuangshuang rested her head on Lin Yi's shoulder and looked up at the sky.

Located in the center of Guangling District, Slender West Lake is surrounded by city lights. Looking up at the sky, you can't see any stars, only a crescent moon hidden behind the clouds, which disappears in the blink of an eye.

After a while, she shifted her body slightly and said in a very soft voice:

"I'm going to sleep for a bit. Wake me when the fireworks show starts!"

"it is good!"

She slept until just before the fireworks display began.

Before I closed my eyes, there were hardly any people around me; when I opened them, there were people everywhere.

Amidst the clamor, a point of light suddenly appeared on the small island opposite the crowd, then shot straight into the sky, followed by the sharp sound of gunpowder exploding and propelling objects into the air.

Before the sharp sound had even faded, the point of light that shot into the sky suddenly exploded, blooming into a purplish-red peony flower under everyone's gaze.

Before the peony flower had faded, more fireworks shot into the sky, exploding into even more flowers, creating a spectacular display of blooming flowers in the dark night.

"How can it be so beautiful?" Ji Shuangshuang tilted her head and asked softly.

"Because everyone wants to see something good!" Lin Yi said, then took out his phone and directed Ji Shuangshuang to turn around.

The two people stood with their backs to the fireworks, brought their heads together, and faced the camera.

As fireworks burst forth once more, Lin Yi pressed the shutter button, capturing the two faces in a single moment.

After taking the photos, Ji Shuangshuang snatched the phone and began to look at the pictures inside:

"The photos are good, but I feel like you've made me look fat!"

"Whether I'm fat or not, some people know the truth in their hearts!"

"Don't you understand?"

"I understand, but some people don't!"

"Hehe!" Ji Shuangshuang sneered twice, brought up the camera again, then pulled Lin Yi up and kept looking for the best angle for a selfie with her phone.

After searching for a while, she finally rested her head on Lin Yi's shoulder: "Come on, smile!"

Click.

The image froze once more, and this time, Ji Shuangshuang was very satisfied.

Just as Lin Yi was about to transfer the photos to his phone, his phone started ringing with a barrage of messages.

Happy New Year, Boss!

Happy New Year, senior!

Happy New Year, boss!

Meanwhile, Lin Yi's other phone also received a bunch of text messages.

(End of this chapter)