Chapter 21: CH 21

It was the first day of the new year. In the city, they do not allow people to light firecrackers, but in small places like the town they live in, it isn’t as strict, so it was inevitable that they would be lit here. It was not even the crack of dawn, and there were already sounds of explosions from firecrackers being lit outside. You could smell the air slowly filling with the smoky scent of fire.

The Lu family did not need to visit their relatives, and so Lu Yuan and Lu Qi woke up early to put up the scrolls of spring festival couplets1, and then they bowed their heads2 in respect to Mama Lu. After they made greetings for the new year, they were both given a hefty red pocket.

Mama Lu smiled gently, patting the heads of the two children and said the unchanging but full of sincerity celebratory greetings,

“Be safe in the new year, and may things go your way.3“

“Thank you mom. May you be healthy and live for more than a hundred years. The longer you live, the more beautiful you become!”

Lu Yuan obviously knew how to say good blessings, as with a few words, she already had Mama Lu smiling widely. After she said that, she took out two red pockets from her pocket, and gave one to Mama Lu and one to Lu Qi,

“Mom, you have worked hard. This is part of my filial duty as a daughter.”

And then turned to grin at Lu Qi,

“Ah-Qi, Happy New Year, may you succeed in your studies, succeeding all the way with no setbacks.”

Lu Yuan has been working hard as a woman out in the field, and she herself needed money for everything from clothes to food to housing. It must have been hard for her to save up enough to give them both red pockets. Lu Qi felt the hard plastic of a bank card inside and thought she must have saved up enough for at least one year of his tuition. He smiled, nodding his head,

“When your brother can finally head out to work, I’ll give you a big one.”

In the entire family, he was the only one without stable income. Even if Lu Qi gave them red pockets, they would not have accepted it. Sometimes when he thinks about it, it makes him feel like quite the failure.

On the night of New Year’s Eve, Huo Ming Chen waited right until the clock switched to the next day, and then sent him an undisclosed amount of money in an enormous red pocket. However, Lu Qi did not accept it which made Huo Ming Chen a bit unhappy. He was only pacified when Lu Qi said some good blessings to him.

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The winter break was not very long, and the two of them only stayed home for a few more days before hurrying back to the capital. Lu Qi had Lu Yuan’s arrangement in mind and did not want to dilly dally. He quickly marked his attendance at the university and then arranged a meeting with Huo Ming Chen.

Lu Yuan had changed into a more professional outfit in black and white and also wore a thin pair of glasses, which hid away some of her extravagant and seductive looks, making her seem more serious, professional, and elegant. The two of them stood next to the street, waiting for Huo Ming Chen. She could not help but ask while they were waiting,

Huo Ming Chen started the car and took a slight glance at Lu Qi, who was wearing an all black suit and his legs casually crossed. He then looked up at his face, and his gaze went from his eyes, nose, and mouth, to his suit collar which was buttoned all the way up. All to which gave off the impression of a cold and calm exterior hiding an interior of extreme and wild passion.

Mensao4, what are you pretending for.

Notes:

*1 Spring festival couplets: basically blessings on red paper to welcome the new year (such as to be blessed with money, good grades, good health, safe travels and so forth). There are modernized/commericalized ones with famous characters such as Disney or Sanrio characters or with the animal of the year (such as pigs in the year of the pig, etc). You can also write your own on red paper and paste them up like posters on walls and doors for good luck. Such as the middle picture below, the two sides would usually be placed beside a door, and the middle in the middle of the door and the top one above your door.

*2 bowing their heads: To show respect, and for thanks for the elders of the family. And then once they do that, the elder would pass along a red pocket. Usually all the youngsters will gather together and bow their heads (as in kneel and bow their heads onto the ground) to the elders, sometimes in some places you would do it for your ancestors as well. There’s also customs of how many times, etc. Lots of traditions tied to this kind of ceremony to welcome a new year full of good luck. Some places can be less formal and may not have this tradition for the new year, or they may do something else to replace this. It really depends on where you go or what family you are in as each family has their own specific traditions most of the time.

*3 Be safe in the new year, and may things go your way/blessings: it’s customary to say a certain group of blessings (or specific phrases) you would use every New Year for good luck/blessing. Some of them are tied to the animal of the New Year. 

*4 Mensao: A slang word(…that has many implications) to describe a man. It’s kind of like what Huo Ming Chen says afterwards where he’s hiding a passion inside him when he’s normally so cold/collected/calm. It’s kind of like you see someone on the streets, and they look really composed and cold, but they actually are very thoughtful, lots of passion and ideas inside them. It’s usually accompanied by the outsider to view as that person as someone with charm or a kind of sexiness that they have this passion or thoughtfulness inside them, from their outer exterior of coldness. Maybe kind of like tsundere? They usually appear cold but knowledgeable (kind of mysterious?), but they show their interesting, sexy, thoughtful interior by surprise or when you least expect it. More comprehensive explanations and research on this word can be found by searching “闷骚”.

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