Oh no, the aloof school beauty has been reborn too!

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, before dawn, Liu Chunmei was already busy in the kitchen again.

The water in the pot was bubbling away, chopped green onions were sprinkled into the bottom of the bowl, and the edges of the eggs were slightly browned, lying golden on the side.

"Lu Xing! Ning Ning!"

Liu Chunmei shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Get up and eat noodles!"

Soon, Lu Ningning's indistinct voice came from the next room.

"Okay... I know..."

Lu Xing got up very quickly.

When he finished dressing and came out of the door, Liu Chunmei was just putting the first bowl of noodles on the table.

A white porcelain bowl holds hot soup, thin noodles, a fried egg, and a few green vegetable leaves floating on the side.

It's just a very ordinary bowl of egg noodles.

But it's this kind of taste that Lu Xing hasn't been able to find outside for many years.

"Dumplings on the first day of the Lunar New Year, noodles on the second."

Liu Chunmei handed him the chopsticks.

"Eat quickly, or it won't taste good if it clumps together."

Lu Xing took the chopsticks and smiled.

"understood."

These noodles aren't dried; they're fresh noodles, which absorb sauce very well.

Lu Ningning sat down at the table with her hair still messy from sleep, her eyes not fully open yet.

She looked at the fried egg in the bowl, but the corners of her mouth turned up first.

"Mom, my eggs are bigger than my brother's."

Liu Chunmei glanced at her.

"Your brother's isn't small either."

"It's mine!"

Hearing their conversation, Lu Xing nearly choked on the table.

Lu Shoucheng sat beside him, silently picking up a noodle.

But the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

The house was very lively these past few days during the Chinese New Year.

People came to pay their respects on the first day of the Lunar New Year in waves, keeping Liu Chunmei busy from morning till night, with melon seeds and peanuts piled up on the table.

This morning, things finally calmed down a bit.

With most relatives and neighbors visiting other people's homes, the Lu family finally had some free time.

Lu Shoucheng was not a person who enjoyed crowds, and neither was Liu Chunmei.

In the past, there weren't actually this many people visiting our door.

Thinking of this, the two people at the dinner table couldn't help but look at Lu Xing and sighed softly.

Ultimately, it's a matter of treating people differently based on their status.

After finishing her bowl of noodles, Lu Ningning slumped into a chair, rubbing her stomach.

"So full, so good."

Liu Chunmei casually patted her on the shoulder.

"Go take the dishes to the kitchen and wash them."

Lu Xing smiled and shook his head, then got up and carried in his and Lu Ningning's bowls together.

When he came out of the kitchen, he saw his sister lying on the sofa, covered in maggots.

"Lu Ningning".

"what?"

Lu Ningning raised her head warily.

Lu Xing gestured with his chin toward the room.

"Come here for a second."

Lu Ningning immediately became more vigilant.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'll sell you."

"..."

Lu Ningning pouted, but still got up from the sofa.

"What exactly is going on...?"

Lu Xing ignored her and turned to go into the room.

His computer was already on.

The screen was divided into several pages, one side showing the catalog of online art courses, and the other side showing information on several local training institutions.

When Lu Ningning came in and looked closely at the content on the screen, her expression slowly froze.

Lu Xing pulled out a chair, sat down, and tapped on the document.

"I did a little research."

"If you're just starting out, you don't need to take expensive classes at the beginning."

"You can start by following online courses for the basics."

"I've looked at a few in-person classes, and one of them has decent reviews for weekend classes. It's only a 20-minute bus ride from my home."

Lu Ningning stood to the side, looking at the lines of text on the screen.

Her lips moved, but she couldn't say anything for a long time.

Lu Xing continued:

"There's not much time left in winter break, so try listening to online classes first."

"After school starts, I'll tell my parents that you can go to a physical class for a trial lesson on the weekend."

"If you really like it, then you can learn it slowly."

The room was quiet for a while.

Lu Ningning lowered her head, her fingers gripping the hem of her clothes.

She should have been stubborn.

But now, watching my brother list all of these things out one by one, even writing down the prices and class times clearly, I realized that...

She felt a slight soreness in her nose.

"I didn't say you had to learn it."

Lu Ningning muttered to herself, but her voice clearly lacked confidence.

Lu Xing glanced at her.

"I insisted on paying for it for you, okay?"

Lu Ningning sniffed and immediately looked up at him.

"Who told you to sign up!"

"So you're not going to report it?"

"..."

Lu Ningning fell silent.

Lu Xing almost burst out laughing.

He reached out and tapped her on the head.

"If you don't study well, I'll take away all your snacks."

"And these are considered 'older brother' student loans, so you'll have to make a lot of money to pay me back when you grow up."

Lu Ningning covered her head and glared at him angrily.

"Bad guy!"

Lu Xing leaned back in his chair, his tone calm.

"uh-huh."

Lu Ningning held it in for a long time, and finally could only let out a heavy groan.

"He's a bad guy!"

She turned and ran out of the room, but a few seconds later she secretly peeked back in.

"Um... when is the trial class?"

Lu Xing looked up at her.

"After the seventh day of the lunar new year."

"I'll contact them first."

Lu Ningning then withdrew her head.

"oh."

After she left, Lu Xing looked back at the computer screen.

Next to the list of art supplies is a list of prices.

For him now, it's not entirely unaffordable.

It's just a little tiring...

Lu Xing closed the document, his gaze gradually darkening.

This wall leading to art shouldn't still be blocking her way.

At lunchtime, the atmosphere at home remained ordinary.

Liu Chunmei cooked two dishes and reheated a plate of leftover meat from yesterday.

Lu Ningning held her bowl and buried her head in her rice, but her eyes kept glancing at Lu Xing.

Lu Xing had just picked up a piece of potato when his phone vibrated.

It was a message from Zhao Lin.

Zhao Lin: [President Lu, something's happened.]

Lu Xing's eyebrows twitched slightly.

Lu Xing: [What's wrong?]

Zhao Lin: [The data in the tool's backend has increased a bit too much.]

Zhao Lin: [As soon as the game's Spring Festival event started, the number of users suddenly surged.]

Zhao Lin: [The number of feedback issues has surged, and some scripts are even experiencing incompatibility, delays, and freezes.]

Zhao Lin: [I feel that a systemic optimization is needed.]

Lu Xing paused for a moment as he looked at the message.

Lu Xing: [I'll take a look.]

Liu Chunmei noticed his actions and asked in confusion:

"What's wrong?"

Lu Xing raised his head, trying to keep his tone natural.

"Something's happened on the project side."

"project?"

Liu Chunmei was stunned for a moment.

Lu Shoucheng also looked up.

Lu Xing thought for a moment and then simply brought out the explanation he had prepared long ago.

"It's the software that I made with my college classmates."

"A tool for game assistance."

"During the Chinese New Year period, the game was running a Spring Festival event, which led to a rapid increase in users."

"A whole host of problems have arisen, waiting for me to deal with them."

Liu Chunmei listened, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Lu Xing continued to explain:

"I might have to go back to Jiangcheng to deal with this."

The dinner table suddenly fell silent.

Liu Chunmei paused in her action of picking up food.

Lu Shoucheng didn't say anything, but put down his chopsticks, picked up his water glass and took a sip.

Lu Ningning kept her head down and frantically ate her rice.

But her eyes were already full of laughter, and the meaning was obvious.

Keep making things up.

That's quite a convincing story.

Lu Xing stroked his chin.

"I was planning to visit relatives and friends on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, and then return to Jiangcheng for a few days early on the sixth day."

Liu Chunmei remained silent for a long while before asking in a low voice:

"Do you...do you really have to go back?"

Lu Xing nodded.

"Well, I wrote more of the core tool code."

"A classmate might not be able to handle this alone."

Upon hearing this, Liu Chunmei sighed softly.

She doesn't understand software or college students starting their own businesses.

But she could tell that her son had something else to do.

The child she used to nag about every time she went out seems to have gradually drifted away without her noticing.

Lu Shoucheng was silent for a moment, then spoke:

"Let's get down to business."

His voice was not high.

"Be careful on the road."

Liu Chunmei glared at him.

"You're so good at talking."

After she finished speaking, she looked at Lu Xing again.

"Go back, but wear more clothes."

"Is there enough money?"

"If it's not enough, tell your family."

"Don't always eat whatever you can find; never eat instant noodles or order takeout every day."

"You have to know how to take care of yourself when you're out there."

Lu Xing lowered his head, took a bite of rice, and replied with a smile:

"Know."

Looking at him like this, Liu Chunmei's reluctance became even more obvious.

She suddenly reached out and ruffled Lu Ningning's hair.

"Your brother is also at the age where he's starting to leave home."

Lu Ningning almost choked on her food.

She looked up, intending to say something.

Seeing Liu Chunmei's expression, he swallowed his words back.

Finally, he only muttered one sentence in a low voice:

"It's not like I'm not coming back."

Liu Chunmei glanced at her.

"You talk too much."

Lu Ningning immediately lowered her head and continued eating.

……

Back in his room in the afternoon, Lu Xing immediately picked up his phone and sent a message to Shen Qingyi.

Lu Xing: [I've found a legitimate reason!]

Lu Xing: [I'll set off for Jiangcheng right after the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.]

Just a few seconds after the message was sent, Shen Qingyi replied with an emoji.

The elderly man was shocked!

Shen Qingyi: [So fast?]

Lu Xing: [Sigh, Zhao Lin really did a great job this time.]

Shen Qingyi: [Can we video chat?]

Lu Xing: [Of course.]

He had just finished replying and was about to send the request when the other party's video call popped up.

Lu walked to the window and pressed the answer button.

On the screen, Shen Qingyi was sitting in the living room.

The faint sound of spatulas clattering in the distance could be heard; it must be her housekeeper cooking.

Apart from that, you can hardly hear any human voices.

Shen Qingyi sat in the corner of the sofa, hugging a cushion, her long hair draped over her shoulders.

Lu Xing looked at her, and his heart suddenly softened.

"...Where are your uncle and aunt?"

Shen Qingyi blinked.

"I'm going out for a social engagement."

Her tone was very soft, as if she had long been used to it.

"During the Chinese New Year, there are always dinner parties you can't refuse and endless relatives to talk to."

Lu Xing opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.

Shen Qingyi quickly smiled.

"You're really coming to Jiangcheng on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year?"

"Um."

Lu Xing leaned back in his chair and looked at her.

"After paying New Year's visits on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, I took a car there on the morning of the sixth day."

Shen Qingyi's eyes were almost instantly filled with bright light.

She pursed her lips.

"But didn't you say you had to handle a project?"

Lu Xing was very serious.

"yes."

"I'll take care of my girlfriend while I'm at it."

Shen Qingyi was stunned for a moment, and the tips of her ears slowly turned red.

"What does 'handling your girlfriend' mean?"

"Wrong, wrong, it should be 'maintenance'."

Lu Xing, with a serious expression, spouted nonsense:

"Long-term long-distance relationships can easily lead to emotional fluctuations, so it's natural to need to optimize things offline."

Shen Qingyi felt both embarrassed and amused by his words.

"Lu Xing, you're getting more and more irreverent."

Lu Xing chuckled.

"There's nothing we can do."

"I'm in a hurry to fulfill my promise to give you a hug."

Shen Qingyi tightened her grip on the cushion.

"Who's waiting for you to deliver on your promise?"

She paused for a moment, glancing slightly to the side.

"Once it's outdated... it won't wait for you anymore."