Celebrity Neighbor: My girlfriend is a big star?
Chapter 221 - 189. Bae Juhyun’s Mysterious Desire to Win (Please subscribe! Vote for monthly tickets!)_2

Chapter 221: 189. Bae Juhyun’s Mysterious Desire to Win (Please subscribe! Vote for monthly tickets!)_2

This frightened Bae Juhyun so much that her face turned pale. She took two steps back and, with no more room to retreat, nervously looked at Li Chenglu.

She couldn’t deny the cuteness of the cat, but to touch it...

"Hey, don’t tease her."

"Hmph! Let’s go out, Yuan Xiao."

Li Chenglu snorted softly and then smiled at Bae Juhyun before holding the cat and leaving the room.

It wasn’t until she heard the door close that Bae Juhyun finally relaxed. She let out a breath and pressed her lips together, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"The cat is really cute, but..."

"It’s okay, I understand. I’m also afraid of bugs." Liu Xin’an threw himself out there to comfort Bae Juhyun.

This revealing approach worked well. Bae Juhyun’s eyes lit up as if she’d heard something unbelievable: "Really?"

"Yeah... I was bitten by a bug when I was very young. That feeling of being woken up in the middle of the night by a bug bite, can you imagine it?"

Bae Juhyun shook her head. She couldn’t empathize, but just thinking about it gave her goosebumps.

Such an experience would indeed make it normal for Liu Xin’an to have a psychological shadow about bugs...

With no cat in the way, Bae Juhyun finally came to Liu Xin’an’s bedside, boldly reaching out to hug his arm and showing a giggly expression.

Liu Xin’an took the opportunity to lay down with Bae Juhyun, leaning lazily on the bed.

"Let’s sleep for a while. We have to stay up late tonight."

"Okay~"

———

Because the windows were tightly closed, even though there were occasional firecracker sounds during their nap, they didn’t wake the two sleeping on the bed.

This warm embrace made Bae Juhyun sleep soundly. It wasn’t until nearly three in the afternoon that she groggily opened her eyes in Liu Xin’an’s arms.

Liu Xin’an was still asleep. His peaceful sleeping face made Bae Juhyun’s heart flutter uncontrollably.

During those days apart, the thing she missed most was this scene. She was content with the present, quietly watching for a while before carefully getting up.

Liu Xin’an was genuinely tired. He had gotten up at dawn to go with Liu Zhengjiang to burn paper at the grave, and after returning, he was busy entertaining neighbors and showing Bae Juhyun around the town. If he didn’t take a good nap in the afternoon, he definitely wouldn’t be able to stay up late at night.

Actually, nowadays, not many people stay up all night for New Year, at least in his small town. Right after midnight, after eating the first dumplings of the new year, they could go to sleep.

But if Liu Xin’an didn’t nap in the afternoon, he wouldn’t know if he could make it to midnight.

After much effort, Bae Juhyun finally got out of bed without waking Liu Xin’an.

And the first thing she did was turn on her phone...

After sending out food photos to her members at noon, she had kept her phone off.

She was afraid that if she kept it on, she’d get bombarded with calls from Seulgi and the others. As the elder sister, she couldn’t always spoil her younger members. Occasionally teasing Kang Seulgi was quite fun.

Just as she expected, the group chat was filled with wails from the members. The photos she sent were indeed very tempting.

After selectively replying to some of their curious questions, Bae Juhyun opened the call log to check if she’d missed any important calls.

Hmm... she felt both relieved and disappointed. Apart from two calls from Seulgi, no one from the company had contacted her.

Bae Juhyun put her phone away, glanced back at the still sleeping man, tidied her clothes and hair, and left the room.

First, she listened on the second floor to confirm no unfamiliar voices, then peeked from the stairs, seeing several elders plus Li Chenglu sitting at a mahjong table.

On the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, a family gathered around a mahjong table was a natural way to pass the time.

Usually, Liu Xin’an was the fourth player, but since he was sleeping, the fourth player was Liu Zhengjiang, who gave the impression of being meticulous.

Li Chenglu noticed her coming downstairs, turned her head, and saw Bae Juhyun: "Irene, did you sleep well?"

Being confronted with her nap in front of the elders made Bae Juhyun a bit embarrassed. She pressed her lips and nodded awkwardly, carefully observing the elders’ expressions.

Once she confirmed no one looked displeased, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes, I slept well. Xin’an is still sleeping; he seemed very tired..."

"Xin’an got up at five this morning. Let him sleep more. He has to go with me to pay New Year’s visits later at night."

Liu Zhengjiang said slowly, holding a jade-green tile in his hand, frowning in deep thought.

This posture made the other three show expressions of dissatisfaction. Park Jinsuk, who was resting her chin on her hand, complained about her husband’s hesitant appearance.

"Could you hurry up? Why are you so slow at playing?"

"I need to think it through carefully."

Tianjin mahjong doesn’t have the concept of "calling" with someone else’s discard. You either win by self-draw or by "Kang" draw, so there’s no need to consider defense or offense.

For this reason, sometimes Liu Xin’an really didn’t enjoy playing mahjong with his family.

What’s the fun in mahjong without defense? Is it all about luck?

"Playing with you is really tedious." Park Jinsuk sighed. It would be nice to have a quicker player...

Eh?

Wait?

There’s someone right here!

Park Jinsuk looked at Bae Juhyun, who was sitting obediently on the sofa, and her eyes lit up.

"Juhyun, do you know how to play?"

Feeling excited by Park Jinsuk’s invitation, Bae Juhyun had actually taken note when Li Chenglu asked her if she could play mahjong last night.

Last night, she even got up in the middle of the night to learn vigorously.

As they say, never underestimate an artist’s eagerness to improve, even if her goal was a bit off, like playing mahjong...

But where there’s effort, there’s a reward.

Of course, she’s currently a complete novice with full theoretical knowledge and zero practical experience, so Bae Juhyun just nodded and then shook her head.

"I’ve done some homework and learned a bit before coming, but I’m not very good at playing yet..."

"No worries, just come and play. Ya, go and change seats."

"Wait, I can win big this hand!" Liu Zhengjiang frowned, cautiously playing a tile.

The next draw was by Li Chenglu, who confirmed her tile and showed a smile that made Liu Zhengjiang nervous.

Then, his goddaughter pushed her tiles forward with an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, it’s a straight, bring out the cash."

"... You’re having such good luck today?"

"Hehe~"

Liu Zhengjiang sighed, standing up reluctantly, then looked at Bae Juhyun with a kindly smile.

"Juhyun, you can give it a try."

"Okay! Thank you, uncle."

Bae Juhyun held her breath. This was the perfect chance to get closer to Liu Xin’an’s family.

She had already prepared to pretend not to see any winning hands.

Winning... wasn’t important!

But making Liu Xin’an’s mother and godmother happy was the most important thing!

Bae Juhyun reminded herself as she sat down at Liu Zhengjiang’s vacated seat, taking a deep breath.

Li Chenglu curiously tilted her head, looking at Bae Juhyun, then stood up to explain how to arrange the tiles and draw them.

Bae Juhyun actually knew these things, but it was her first time actually playing, so she felt a bit awkward.

Fortunately, she wasn’t stupid. After a brief teaching session from Li Chenglu, she understood the sequence of drawing and discarding tiles.

"Ready? Shall we start?"

Bae Juhyun nodded vigorously. They were still using the money Liu Zhengjiang had left behind. Playing mahjong as a family was just for fun, not for winning money.

Alright! She was now ready to use her "superb" mahjong skills to please her future mother-in-law and godmother!

Bae Juhyun set her lofty goal in her heart, but she seemed to forget something very important...

She was someone who would develop a strong desire to win in strange places.

Yes, the desire to win.