The white rose I picked up cried and said she liked me.

The old year ends amidst the sound of firecrackers.

Not long after Xu Xi's birthday, the Lunar New Year arrived.

Every household celebrates the New Year with joy, and may every year bring happiness and good health.

In this country, the Lunar New Year is not only a festival, but also an expectation for people who work hard away from home.

It's Chinese New Year, and I can finally go back to my long-lost hometown.

It's Chinese New Year, time to reunite with my dear family.

Even if there are no tickets left, I'll buy a standing ticket to go home.

If you have money or not, go home for the New Year.

Even if you achieve nothing and make a name for yourself, you should still go home.

Trains, symbolizing happiness, departed Yuncheng one after another, carrying people's longing for home and heading into the distance.

Xu Nian stood in front of the station, watching the train gradually depart, lost in thought.

Back then, I was brought to Yuncheng by a train like this.

Hometown—what a distant and unfamiliar word.

"Brother, what are you still standing there for? Hurry up and let's go, it'll get dark soon."

Xu Nian rubbed her head, coming back to her senses.

He turned his head, looked at Xu Xi waving to him from afar, and smiled happily.

"Okay, I'm coming!"

Hometown can be very close.

Home is where your family is.

The little guy hopped around, looking at the candied hawthorn skewer one minute and touching the fluffy little toy the next.

"Couplets, paper-cut window decorations, the character '福' (good fortune), red lanterns, nuts—everything's ready! Brother, what else do you want to buy?"

Xu Nian thought for a moment.

"Should I buy you two new outfits?"

"No need, I just got a lot of clothes that I couldn't sell from Sister Na a few days ago."

Xu Xi happily took a candied hawthorn, carefully tore open the packaging, and held it to Xu Nian's lips.

"Brother, quickly taste it and see if it's sweet."

Xu Nian took a bite, chewed it, and said with a serious expression.

"Sweet, super sweet!"

Hearing his brother's approval, the little guy puffed out his little mouth and took a big bite of a candied hawthorn.

Her mouth is very small; she has to open it as wide as possible to swallow the candied hawthorn.

After a while, Xu Xi's pretty face twisted into a pretzel shape.

"Ugh! It's so sour! Brother, you lied to me!"

Xu Nian quickly spat out the candied hawthorn in her mouth, frowning and laughing at Xu Xi.

He almost suffered internal injuries from holding his breath while trying to trick the little guy into eating the sour candied hawthorn.

"Hahahaha... I told you this candied hawthorn would be really sour, but you didn't believe me... Ugh, what are you doing..."

While he frowned and squinted, the little guy took the opportunity to use his little hand to pull off a candied hawthorn, stuff it into his brother's mouth, and quickly covered his mouth to prevent him from spitting it out.

"Mmm...Xiaoxi, you @#￥%……"

......

After eating the whole thing, Xu Nian felt like her teeth were going to fall out from the sourness.

His forehead was furrowed into a deep frown, and he kept sticking out his tongue, making a dry heaving sound.

"Ha ha ha ha..."

Xu Xi let out a silvery laugh, revealing her curved eyes, and covered her mouth with one hand, laughing so hard she couldn't straighten up.

"Yue...Xiaoxi, you've become naughty! You dare to tease your brother now."

"Hmph, let my brother lie to me~"

Xu Xi raised her chin and snorted softly, like a little tiger that had won a hunt.

However, seeing her brother so distressed by the sour taste that he couldn't take off his mask, she quickly ran to a nearby shop, bought him a drink, and handed it to him.

After drinking the beverage, Xu Nian felt much better.

He glanced at the candied hawthorns that Xu Xi had left in her hand.

"Throw it away, Xiaoxi. It's too sour. If you want some, I'll take you to the shop up ahead. Theirs is sweet."

"Yay!"

Xu Xi was about to throw away the string of sour candied hawthorns when she suddenly remembered something, made a funny face, and put it back into the paper bag.

"Hehe, take it back for Yao Yao to try."

The market was very lively during the Spring Festival, and there were people performing dragon and lion dances, which received unanimous applause.

"Brother, come quick, come quick!"

Xu Xi stood in front of a small stall and waved to Xu Nian.

"What's wrong?"

Xu Nian looked down and saw that it was a small stall selling phone cases.

There's a huge variety of phone cases here—solid colors, patterns, designs, transparent ones... it's almost overwhelming.

Xu Xi bought two phone cases featuring anime characters, one for her own phone and the other for Xu Nian.

"What is this?"

Xu Nian took off her old, yellowed phone case and put on a new one.

I put it in the sunlight and it looks pretty good.

The design features a handsome young man with fair skin.

Xu Xi's phone case features a cute little girl with white hair.

"Hehe, this is a character from an anime I recently watched."

"Oh? What are their names?"

Xu Nian remembered that recently, the little guy had been at home all the time, always holding his phone and watching cartoons, sometimes crying and sometimes laughing.

Xu Xi blushed slightly and gently waved for Xu Nian to squat down.

"Izumi Sagiri, Izumi Masamune."

They still have two Japanese names.

Xu Nian scratched his head.

"What's their relationship?"

"Brother and sister."

"I see..."

Xu Nian nodded. No wonder the little guy wanted to buy himself a phone case like this.

It turns out it's a sibling-style set.

"Thank you, Xiaoxi, it looks quite nice."

Xu Xi breathed a sigh of relief.

Luckily, my brother doesn't watch anime and didn't know that these siblings weren't the same as the real siblings.

After a long and winding journey, filled with food and drinks, the two returned home before it got completely dark.

Wen Yao and Zhao Lin also arrived together.

"Happy New Year, Xi Bao, Xu Nian Ge!"

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year!

The two carried large and small bags of New Year's goods, looking very happy.

After learning that Wen Yao's parents had gone back to their hometown for the Chinese New Year, leaving only Wen Yao and Zhao Lin at home, Xu Xi, with her brother's consent, invited them to come to her house for New Year's Eve dinner.

"Yaoyao, Linlin, I just bought a super sweet candied hawthorn skewer, and I still have two left. Come and try them!"

Xu Xi suppressed a laugh as she took out the string of sour gourds that had been carefully preserved and handed them to them.

"Wow, that's perfect, we didn't see any candied hawthorns when we went to the market."

Wen Yao took it and slowly took a bite.

In an instant, her face contorted.

However, she quickly regained her composure, chewing while making a surprised expression.

"Linlin, it's so sweet, try a bite."

Seeing Wen Yao's praising expression, Zhao Lin had no doubts and put the last candied hawthorn into her mouth.

"Ugh!!!"

Hahahaha!

Xu Xi looked at the two people whose faces were contorted from the sourness and laughed so hard she couldn't stand up straight.

However, she was soon forced to apologize while laughing under the tickling attack of the two men.

Seeing the group playfully bickering and looking happy, Xu Nian couldn't help but smile.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Brother Xu, I couldn't get a train ticket home. Do you mind if I come over for a meal?"

Qi Yu stood outside the door with a grin on his face.

"You came empty-handed?"

Xu Nian chuckled and teased, then pulled him into the house.

"Haha, definitely next time!"