Rebirth: He Decides to Lie Flat
Chapter 248 - 248 245 Marrying into a Family (Second Update)

Chapter 248: Chapter 245: Marrying into a Family (Second Update) Chapter 248: Chapter 245: Marrying into a Family (Second Update) “My grandma didn’t want to go to a hotel; she just wanted the whole family to have a meal together at home. But my cousins thought otherwise, they were like, ‘Your entrance exam celebration was so big, so grandma’s birthday should be even bigger.’ They were all sarcastic, and it was so annoying listening to them.

I didn’t want to show the painting you gave Auntie in public, but they insisted on seeing it. They started with my calligraphy, picking at it, finding fault with everything as if they knew so much about it. Grandma got angry when she heard them, and that shut everyone up.

Then they took out Auntie’s painting. You don’t know, Jiajia, how excited grandma was when she saw it. She kept looking it over and over, not willing to put it down. My cousin even asked me how much I spent on it and where I bought it?

I said it wasn’t bought; it was a gift from my roommate, but none of them believed me…”

That evening, Liang Yujun called Mu Jiawen, her tone unable to hide the excitement and pride, but she talked so much that she ended up putting Jiawen to sleep.

The day before New Year’s Eve, Jiang Yan still hadn’t returned, and Mu Jiawen couldn’t bother to text him anymore, so she called him directly—

“You still can’t come back today?”

“It’d be tough. Probably not until the second or third day of the New Year.”

Jiawen was silent for a long while before she spoke, “Then I’ll come to be with you.”

“No way. Is that a cold I hear in your voice? Just stay at home, I’ll be back in a few days.”

Jiang Yan then asked, “What are your plans for the first day of the New Year?”

“Aunt Tang has booked a hotel for us to have dinner. It seems her son has returned from abroad.”

Tang Meng?

Her son?

Alarms went off in Jiang Yan’s head. Everyone knew about him and Jiajia, yet someone still hadn’t given up?

On the morning of New Year’s Eve, the breakfast Jiang Yan prepared for Jiang Fengwei was sumptuous, with steamed dumplings, fried buns, boiled dumplings… a full spread on the table. Jiang Fengwei was pleasantly surprised and at the same time had a bad feeling.

He looked up at Jiang Yan and asked, “Are you leaving?”

Jiang Yan clicked his tongue, “With our ‘plastic’ father-son relationship, how do you still understand me so well? I could bend over, and you’d know exactly what crap I was taking.”

Jiang Fengwei: ….

Can this meal still be enjoyed properly?

He sighed, “It’s indeed unfair to keep you here with me over the New Year. Alright then, I’m almost fully recovered now; if you want to leave, you can go.”

After a pause, Jiang Fengwei added, “Can I ask where you’re going to celebrate the New Year?’

He didn’t think Jiang Yan would go to Old Master Shu’s place, and Shu Wan’s was even less likely.

“Where else could I go but to my wife’s place? Just letting you know in advance, I plan to marry into her family; we’ll get married after I graduate.”

Jiang Fengwei: …

He stared at Jiang Yan. If their father-son relationship wasn’t so awkward and he wasn’t somewhat wary of the young man, he might have wanted to throw a shoe at him.

Finally suppressing his anger, Jiang Fengwei asked in confusion, “Why would you have this idea?”

Jiang Yan replied with an even more puzzled look, “What’s wrong with that?”

“What’s good about it?”

“Marrying in means no need to prepare a house or a betrothal gift, and most importantly, I can be a ‘kept man’! My stomach is weak; I can’t stomach hard food.”

Jiang Fengwei: …

He understood everything up to that point, but what did the last sentence, forcefully unable to eat, mean?

However, Jiang Yan was already too lazy to explain to him now. He glanced at his wristwatch and said, “I need to catch a train, so Officer Xiaowang will take care of buying your meals for the next few days. Rest assured, you won’t go hungry.”

Jiang Fengwei waved his hand, not wanting to say another word to him.

But it wasn’t until after Jiang Yan had left that he remembered something—he didn’t have his mobile number.

…

On the evening of the Chinese New Year’s Eve, the family’s housekeeper had taken leave to go home for the holiday, and the New Year’s Eve dinner was prepared by Mu Chenyan.

Having watched Jiang Yan cook so many times, she had picked up a few simple tricks.

For instance, with braised chicken leg rice, just clean the chicken legs with boiling water, cut them open with scissors, marinate them with spring onion, ginger, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and peanut oil for half an hour, and then place them on top of the rice in the rice cooker and press the cook button.

The mutton soup that Xiaosi loved was also easy; clean the mutton and put it into a clay pot of cold water, add ginger, angelica, and dried chili to stew directly. Once the meat is tender, add cabbage and vermicelli, and finally, coriander is the soul—sprinkle it on top once the soup is ready, deliciously fresh.

This was their family’s New Year’s Eve dinner, a braised chicken leg rice and a mutton soup.

With both rice and soup, it was quite good.

Yu Ci, who had only returned a few days ago, sipped the mutton soup and remembered the lavish Imperial Feast for his sister’s birthday… He couldn’t help turning his head to ask Xiaosi, “When is that kid coming back?”

Sitting opposite him, Yu Heng and Yu Feng also looked up, each of them with a look of anticipation in their eyes.

“Not sure, probably after his dad gets discharged from the hospital.”

Mu Jiawen felt a sense of emptiness at the moment, partly because Jiang Yan wasn’t back, and partly because it was upsetting to think about him staying alone in a hotel during the New Year’s celebration.

Before the start of the Spring Festival Gala, Mu Jiawen stood at the junction between the living room and the balcony, looking up at the fireworks lighting up the distant sky—one after another, blooming like a celestial maiden scattering flowers in the night, extremely dazzling.

She remembered this time last year when she and Jiang Yan were still in Jianglin Village. By then, Jiang Yan had been transferred to their class for half a year, initially sitting behind her, poking her back with his pen now and then. After she broke several of his pens, he stopped poking.

He started to pull her hair instead.

Angry, Mu Jiawen cut her long hair, leaving only ear-length short hair.

Looking back now, she felt she had been so foolish. Why cut her own hair? She should have shaved his head bald so he wouldn’t have been able to pull her hair anymore.

At that time, he would pester her with questions every day. At first, she was very impatient but would reluctantly explain just to have some peace. Later, perhaps because she saw his diligent studying, she earnestly began to tutor him.

They sat in consecutive seats for half a year, and during the New Year, he bought a lot of fireworks for her to set off.

They didn’t set them off at the doorstep of the Song Family or the Jiang Family, but instead took the fireworks to a field outside the village.

Two big bags of fireworks, with Jiang Yan setting them off one by one for her—big and small, it took more than half an hour to finish. It attracted many children from the village to come and watch.

At that time, Mu Jiawen was naive and didn’t understand the significance of someone setting off fireworks for her. She was just happy that on New Year’s Eve, finally, someone was there to talk to her.

After returning, Jiang Yan was grilled by his grandmother about where the money for the fireworks came from, followed by chaotic scolding.

Only now did Mu Jiawen understand that if she hadn’t been still at the Song Family, Jiang Yan would have had no reason, nor would he have returned to his grandmother’s house.

With a “bang,” another firework exploded in the sky. Amid the brilliant speckles of light, Mu Jiawen’s expression suddenly froze. When she recognized the figure approaching from afar, getting closer and closer, she abruptly turned around. Without even changing her slippers, she dashed out the door…