It was New Year's Eve.
Bright and early in the morning, the bedroom door was banged on with loud thuds.
Shu Qingqing groggily opened her eyes and checked her phone. It wasn't even seven o'clock yet.
She closed her eyes again, ignoring the knocking outside.
Lu Bochuan was also woken up. Seeing Shu Qingqing frown, he reached out, pulled her into his arms, and covered her ears with his hands. "Go to sleep."
However, the knocking outside didn't stop.
It was accompanied by Lu Xun's faint, urging voice.
Shu Qingqing kicked Lu Bochuan. "Go catch him and give him a beating."
Lu Bochuan threw off the covers and got out of bed. He opened the door, intending to coax Lu Xun away, but the boy slipped right into the bedroom.
"Mommy, Mommy, get up! Today is New Year's Eve. Grandma says we can't sleep in today, or we'll be lazy bugs for the whole year," Lu Xun said as he pulled back the covers, thoughtfully bringing over her slippers.
"But I can't open my eyes," Shu Qingqing mumbled, burying herself in the blanket.
Lu Xun leaned over the edge of the bed, pulled back the blanket, and kissed her on the cheek. "Princess Mommy, I am your little prince. I have kissed you, so you can wake up now."
Amused by him, Shu Qingqing propped herself up on her arms and sat up. "Alright then, dress this princess."
Lu Xun happily trotted over to fetch her clothes.
After going downstairs, they saw Aunt Liu carrying a few rolls of red paper over.
"Aunt Liu, what is this for?" Shu Qingqing asked.
"The Old Madam is going to write couplets in a bit."
"Wow, my mother-in-law is writing couplets herself? I definitely have to go see." Shu Qingqing quickly ate her breakfast and ran to the study.
Red paper was already spread out on the desk.
The old lady held a calligraphy brush and fluidly wrote a few large characters before switching to another sheet.
"Celebrate the holiday with everything as you wish, welcome the new spring with five blessings at the door." Shu Qingqing read it aloud. Seeing the old lady pause at the horizontal scroll, seemingly pondering what to write, she immediately went over to suggest, "Mother-in-law, I know what horizontal scroll would be good to write."
The old lady looked at her.
"For the horizontal scroll, write... 'Bring Wealth'. No, it has to be four characters." Shu Qingqing thought for a moment and waved her hand grandly. "Then let's go with 'Wealth Pours In'."
The old lady, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, poked her forehead and ultimately wrote "Auspicious Star Shining High".
After finishing the couplets, the old lady wrote a few "Fu" characters for good fortune.
"Let's go paste the couplets."
Lu Bochuan had long prepared the ladder.
Lu Yu was helping on the side.
It was Lu Xun's first time doing this, and he was incredibly curious, clamoring to paste one too.
Shu Qingqing handed him a "Fu" character. "Go ahead."
Pinching the "Fu" character, Lu Xun imitated Lu Bochuan and stepped onto a chair.
Lu Yu quickly caught him with sharp eyes and fast hands. "Your brother will hold you while you paste it."
Lu Xun couldn't read, so he just grabbed a random corner and stuck it to the wall.
Coincidentally, he pasted the "Fu" upside down, symbolizing that fortune had arrived.
Under the sunlight, the gold character on the red background sparkled brightly.
The more Shu Qingqing looked at it, the more satisfied she felt. "Lu Bochuan, let's take a family portrait right under this 'Fu' character."
The family hadn't actually taken a family portrait yet, and hearing her say this, they all thought it was a great idea.
Shu Qingqing went back to her room to grab the camera, asked Aunt Liu to help, and they took a joyous family portrait.
After lunch, the old lady started organizing everyone to make dumplings.
Aunt Liu prepared the dough, and the family sat around the dining table to start making dumplings.
Shu Qingqing originally thought that since the old lady was so enthusiastic, she must be great at making dumplings. But when she took a look, she burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha, Mother-in-law, haha, the dumplings you made are so ugly."
The old lady glared at her. "I just haven't learned it yet. The next ones will definitely be better than this."
Not long after, it was Shu Qingqing's turn to be mocked. "Hahaha, the ones you made are even uglier than mine."
Looking at the ones made by the three Lu men, well, you couldn't even tell they were dumplings.
Fortunately, Aunt Liu was patient enough to teach them hand-in-hand, one by one.
Only then did the dumplings made by the group look somewhat presentable.
The phone on the table lit up. Shu Qingqing checked it and saw a message from Feng Xiangdi, saying that she was taking Xiao You back to her hometown tonight and would come over for New Year's greetings after they returned.
After Feng Xiangdi eloped, her relationship with her parents had soured, and she hadn't been back in years. Originally, she said she didn't plan to go back, so it was unexpected that she suddenly changed her mind.
But this was a good thing.
Yesterday, a brand had sent her some gifts, including two pieces of little girls' clothing. Shu Qingqing had originally planned to give them to her when Feng Xiangdi brought Xiao You over to visit, but now hearing that she was returning to her hometown, she thought about bringing them over in advance.
Moreover, the original owner of her body had once gone home with Feng Xiangdi to celebrate the Spring Festival, and Feng's parents had treated her exceptionally well. Now that she knew Feng Xiangdi was going back, she had to buy some gifts for her to take along.
Shu Qingqing put away her phone, stood up, and said she needed to make a trip to Feng Xiangdi's house.
Hearing this, the father and sons immediately stood up, wanting to go with her.
Shu Qingqing glanced at the dining table. Aunt Liu had been so busy teaching them just now that they hadn't actually made many dumplings.
"No need, you guys should stay home and make dumplings. I'll be back in a bit."
Shu Qingqing left the house with the gifts. Passing by a shopping mall, she went in and bought a few boxes of health supplements.
The mall was exceptionally lively, with children running around from time to time.
Shu Qingqing dodged a child who almost bumped into her. Just as she stood steady, someone suddenly bumped hard into her.
She frowned and looked up, meeting a pair of sinister eyes.
The man was wearing a military overcoat and a mask. After bumping into her, he didn't say anything; he just gave her a deep look, checked his phone, and turned to leave.
That look made her feel very uncomfortable.
But the uncomfortable feeling only lasted for a moment.
She quickly carried her things out of the mall.
During the Spring Festival, there were vehicles and pedestrians everywhere. The mall's parking lot had been full for a while, so Shu Qingqing had to park her car in a lot a bit far from the mall.
She carried her things onto the sidewalk, then turned a corner and stopped at an intersection.
The red light came on, and cars sped along the road one after another.
A few dozen seconds later, the green light flashed.
Shu Qingqing habitually glanced left and right, then stepped onto the crosswalk.
Right at that moment, a black sedan suddenly sped over from the right, heading straight in Shu Qingqing's direction.
Startled, Shu Qingqing quickly dodged to the side.
Unexpectedly, at the critical moment, the black car suddenly swerved and turned in another direction.
Just as Shu Qingqing was about to sigh in relief, she saw the black car crash directly into another person.
The next second, a woman covered in blood collapsed at her feet.
Bright red blood soaked the woman's white puffer jacket, and her head had been crushed.
The woman in white raised her hand and grabbed the hem of Shu Qingqing's pants, as if trying to ask for help.
But it was only for a moment before her arm dropped straight down.
Something seemed to slide down her face.
Shu Qingqing reached up and touched it; it was bright red blood.
A crowd quickly formed a circle around them, filled with gasps of horror and the honking of car horns.
Shu Qingqing looked up.
The black sedan that caused the accident was parked not far away, and the driver did not get out to check on the victim's condition.
Instead, he sat steadily in the driver's seat.
His expression was incredibly indifferent.
Shu Qingqing met those eyes.
She felt like she had seen them somewhere before.
