Qiao Jing Jing slept unexpectedly soundly on this night.
The next day was Chinese New Year's Eve.
When she woke up, the sky was already completely bright. She opened her eyes and immediately smelled the aroma of food. She seemed to think of something. She got up of bed and opened the door of the bedroom. Sure enough, familiar voices came from the kitchen. Her parents had already arrived.
No matter how busy everyone is, the whole family must eat together on Chinese New Year's Eve. These past years, the number of times she went home to celebrate the Chinese New Year was many, but occasionally there would be times like this year, where because she had to work, her parents would come over for the New Year's reunion.
She walked to the kitchen doorway. Her parents saw her and smiles spread across their faces. "You're up? We didn't dare to disturb you."
Qiao Jing Jing walked over and hugged Mrs Qiao.
Mrs Qiao was a little surprised and patted her. "Jing Jing, what happened? Suddenly being extra affectionate and cute with me."
"Nothing," Qiao Jing Jing replied in a muffled voice.
While going about busy at work, Mr Qiao took a look at them and, a little jealous, said sourly, "Isn't your daughter always like this? Hungry, right?"
"Yes." Qiao Jing Jing let go of her mother. "What's there to eat?"
Mr Qiao had already stewed sweet porridge for her. Qiao Jing Jing was eating porridge at the small table in the kitchen while listening to her parents argue about the Chinese New Year's Eve family dinner.
"Why did you bring the beef from home? We can't finish such a big piece. I told you to have more variety, but cook smaller portions for each dish since we will be going back early in the morning tomorrow and Jing Jing does not eat." This was Mrs Qiao talking.
"How can the New Year's Eve family dinner be lacking? It is a good omen to have leftovers." This was Mr Qiao, who had switched careers in recent years to study cooking, talking.
"Superstitious and wasting," Mrs Qiao concluded.
Qiao Jing Jing raised her head. "You two are not leaving with me tomorrow night?"
Her performance at the Shanghai Dragon TV station would probably end at about eight to nine o'clock tomorrow. She had thought her parents would wait for her to return to Jing City together.
Mr Qiao was cutting the beef. "It's our family's turn to give a dinner party on New Year's night this year, so we have to go back early in the morning to start preparing."
Qiao Jing Jing was upset. "Then I might as well have gone back today to have New Year's Eve family dinner. That would have saved you from running around."
Mrs Qiao said, "Then you would have had to run around. We are free, so it's better that we come. If by any chance there is a traffic jam and you can't arrive for the program on time, that would not be good."
"Oh." Qiao Jing Jing did not say anything anymore, holding the porridge bowl and eating slowly.
With a bowl of warm sweet porridge now filling her stomach, it was as if she was starting to feel right and warmed up from the bottom of the heart, and the spacious, empty house was filled with lively human interactions once again.
The New Year's Eve family dinner that night failed to live up to Mrs Qiao's expectation. The dishes were many, but the serving sizes were also too large. After saying a few auspicious words to each other, Mrs Qiao began to harp on Mr Qiao again.
Afterwards, both of them jointly tried to persuade Qiao Jing Jing to eat more.
Qiao Jing Jing was suffering inside because she also wanted to eat more, but remembering the skirt she was to wear during the performance tomorrow, she had to control herself.
After finishing New Year's Eve family dinner, they began to watch the CCTV New Year's Gala. Her parents sat on the sofa, and Qiao Jing Jing sat with them for a while. Then she sat alone beside the floor to ceiling window, holding her mobile phone.
Those eager people had already started to send Chinese New Year's greetings, but the WeChat message that she sent in the early morning hours still received no reply.
More WeChat greetings flooded in at midnight.
Every year, she would copy and paste the same reply, but this year, she suddenly seemed to have more patience. Sitting by the window, she typed countless messages of "Wishing you a Happy Chinese New Year."
By the time everything was done, she still didn't put down her mobile phone. Her fingers unconsciously slid down on the WeChat page. When she realized what she was doing, she suddenly stood up.
It was as if she had abruptly woken out of her dream, and then she began to feel again that she was simply laughable.
On the early morning of Chinese New Year, Mr and Mrs Qiao went back home. Qiao Jing Jing ate some of the leftovers at noon and went a little earlier to the venue for rehearsal in the afternoon.
The performance went very smoothly. After it ended at eight o'clock, Qiao Jing Jing changed her clothes and left the backstage area with Xiao Zhu. While walking to the car park, the thought of being able to finally take a few days off starting tomorrow made her feel lively.
Xiao Zhu's mood seemed even better than hers. As she held some things, there was spring in her steps. She was simply unable to hold back her high spirits. Qiao Jing Jing asked in surprise, "What makes you so happy?"
"Oh, nothing, nothing." Xiao Zhu quickly shook her head in denial. Before three seconds passed, there was a mysterious smile on her face again.
Qiao Jing Jing could not be bothered to inquire.
But when they arrived at the underground car park, she finally knew where Xiao Zhu's look of excitement came from.
Not far away, a slender man stood waiting in front of her car. He was leaning against the car, his eyes lowered as if he was thinking about something.
He probably heard footsteps and, as if sensing her presence, he raised his head and stared straight at her.
Qiao Jing Jing halted her footsteps for a moment, then steadily walked over.
Yu Tu stood back up straight and watched her walk up in front of the car. He said in a deep and low voice, "Since you'll be returning to Jing City, I am here to hitch a ride."
Qiao Jing Jing was silent for a while, then turned to ask Xiao Zhu, "When did he call you?"
"Yesterday afternoon." The one who answered her was Yu Tu.
Xiao Zhu, who was beside her, smiled like a sweet and naive young woman.
Qiao Jing Jing could practically imagine how happy and excited Xiao Zhu had been when she received the phone call yesterday. Then she cooperated with him to keep her in the dark in order to give her a "surprise," because after all, Xiao Zhu didn't know anything. Anyhow, even if Xiao Zhu knew something, Yu Tu would still probably find a way to persuade her.
The driver got out of the car to help them carry things. Qiao Jing Jing opened the door of the back seat without saying a word. The vehicle today was an SUV. Xiao Zhu jogged to the other side and was about to get in, but Qiao Jing Jing stopped her. "You don't need to go with me. Spend a few more days with your mother."
Xiao Zhu was from a single-parent family. Her mother had already followed her to Shanghai, so they'll also celebrate the new year in Shanghai.
Xiao Zhu said: "It doesn't matter. I will come back with the driver tomorrow. Anyway, I've already told my mom."
Jing Jing glared at her. Xiao Zhu raised her hands. "Okay, okay, then I won't go with you. I will go with the driver to pick you up later. Whenever you pack your things yourself, you always forget this and that."
Suddenly Yu Tu said, "The driver does not need to take us either."
Everyone was surprised. Qiao Jing Jing looked at him.
Yu Tu:
"I'll drive."
Although Qiao Jing Jing didn't want to talk to him, she couldn't help doing it now. "Do you have a driver's license?"
"Yes." Yu Tu said, "Sometimes my work unit has to do some environmental field studies, and we will go to some places with extreme environments, such as the desert, snowy grounds, and the like. I've driven in all of those conditions before, so you don't need to worry about just an ordinary highway."
While talking, he took his wallet out of his pocket, opened it, took out a document, and handed it to Qiao Jing Jing. "My driver's license."