After Reborn, I Became the Bigshots' Beloved-Chapter 373: This is the First Year We Spent Together

Chapter 373: Chapter 373: This is the First Year We Spent Together

The last day of the twelfth lunar month, also known as Chinese New Year’s Eve.

If Lu Sheng spent every New Year’s Eve of her previous life alone and lonely, then Li Muchen was the same.

They used to be the most solitary souls, without family or friends, let alone someone to love. On nights when families reunited and every household was illuminated brightly, the only company they had was themselves.

But this year was different. They not only had each other, but also close family members now.

On the afternoon of the 30th, Jiang Ting had already led the house’s servants and her two young sons to hang lanterns and decorate the house for the New Year in a bustling manner.

When Lu Sheng and Li Muchen walked into the living room, they were greeted by an atmosphere of festive red.

There were red HAPPY NEW YEAR balloons, an elegant vase filled with red plum blossoms, an assortment of candies and nuts placed on the table, and a pile of fireworks and firecrackers that Lu Jingyan had specifically asked a friend to buy.

Even more surprising was the stark contrast between the abundance of red indoors and the white wonderland outside. Last night, Jiang City had coincidentally experienced a snowfall, and now large flakes were still fluttering gracefully from the sky.

A night of heavy snow had settled into thick layers, painting the outside world in pure white—immaculate and holy, but carrying an innate romantic charm.

Lu Sheng stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, watching a few of her brothers in the yard.

Her eldest brother was inspecting his precious bonsai, which had endured a night in the freezing snow. Her second brother, standing tall in his down jacket, was taking pictures of the rare snowy landscape with a camera.

Her fifth brother, wearing a knitted hat and thick gloves, was meticulously building a snowman in the yard. His nose had turned red from the cold, his breaths visible in the air as he exhaled warm puffs.

"Do you want to go outside?" Li Muchen noticed Lu Sheng staring intently outside and asked.

Lu Sheng nodded slightly.

Li Muchen said, "Wait for me."

A few minutes later, Li Muchen returned to the living room, carrying a thick white cloak with a fur-lined collar.

He stood before the petite girl, who was more than a full head shorter than him, and bowed to drape the cloak over her shoulders. He pulled the hood up for her and carefully tied the ribbon at the neckline.

Then he took Lu Sheng’s hand in his, his warm, large palm enveloping her slightly cool fingers. His voice was so tender it seemed capable of melting the snow: "Let’s go. We’ll go watch the snow."

Lu Youye, seeing Lu Sheng step outside, eagerly grabbed her to join in building the snowman.

Noticing Lu Sheng was without gloves, he instinctively removed his own gloves to give to his sister, preparing to dig snow with his bare hands. Lu Jingyan quickly stopped him and instructed the servant to fetch another pair of gloves.

Lu Sheng crouched down and joined Lu Youye in rolling snowballs in the snow-covered yard. The fifth brother rolled the snowman’s body while she crafted its head, creating footprints all over the snowy ground.

Li Muchen watched silently from the side, his gaze never straying from Lu Sheng’s figure.

Whenever he saw the girl laugh, a faint smile would form at the corner of his own lips. It seemed that merely watching the person he loved brought him sufficient joy.

After several minutes of effort, a stout, crooked little snowman took shape under Lu Sheng and Lu Youye’s teamwork.

Lu Youye scoured the yard for items to serve as the snowman’s facial features, while Lu Youming unexpectedly appeared silently, handing Lu Sheng half a carrot and two black buttons.

"When did you come out? Wait, are you seriously building a snowman with us?"

Seeing Lu Youming, Lu Youye stood in the yard, visibly surprised.

In previous years, Lu Youming had always maintained his aloof demeanor, rarely even coming downstairs during such times.

"Who wants to build a snowman with you?" Lu Youming replied, his expression slightly awkward. "I only came out because you were too inept to even find something for the eyes and nose, leaving Shengsheng to freeze out here with you."

"Ha! You clearly wanted to come out and play with me and Shengsheng," Lu Youye refused to believe him. "Come on, what’s the point of staying cooped up in the room reading all the time? It’s so rare to have snow; of course you should come out and enjoy it."

"Here, catch—"

As he spoke, Lu Youye bent down, rolled another snowball, and without delay flung it at Lu Youming.

Taken off guard, the snowball squarely hit Lu Youming, landing, of all places, straight on his forehead. Snow exploded across his face instantly.

"Hahahahaha! My aim is impeccable!"

Lu Youye clutched his waist and burst into laughter, gleefully mocking the usually composed and elite-looking Lu Youming for his current disheveled state.

"..." Lu Youming took a deep breath, his gaze icier than the snow, clenching his fists as he coldly said, "Lu Youye, you’re finished."

Saying so, he also bent down, rolling a larger snowball, and aimed it straight at Lu Youye.

The initial snowman-building activity turned into a full-fledged snowball fight, leaving only Lu Sheng, under Li Muchen’s watchful eye, pressing the buttons and carrot into the snowman’s head.

The little snowman instantly gained a face.

"It’s cute, isn’t it?" Lu Sheng asked.

"Mm." Li Muchen rubbed her head gently, used his thumb to softly brush away the snowflakes clinging to her fluttering eyelashes, and rested a light kiss on her forehead. "But my baby is even cuter."

"You all stop fooling around and come inside to help me make dumplings!" Jiang Ting called from the house.

The group shook the snow from their clothes and returned indoors, washing up before gathering in the living room to wrap dumplings.

The entire family, except for Lu Siyan who lived independently and preferred not to hire help or order takeout, resulting in his cooking skills, didn’t know the first thing about cooking.

Each person’s dumplings turned out strange and misshapen, their awkward shapes varied yet equally amusing.

Jiang Ting remembered something Lu Sheng had mentioned earlier. Although the Lu Family had never included money-filled dumplings in their traditions before, she made sure to wrap several five- or ten-cent coins into some dumplings that day.

She even wrapped a 100-yuan banknote into one particular dumpling. Like Du Ran, Jiang Ting declared the single 100-yuan dumpling a sign of luck—whoever found it would be the luckiest in the family.

Jiang Ting prepared the New Year’s Eve dinner herself, putting together a lavish spread with the assistance of servants.

After dinner, the family did something they had never done before—they gathered on the living room sofa to watch the Spring Festival Gala together.

In truth, the gala on TV served more as background noise; everyone was busy on their phones, sending and replying to messages.

But just the feeling of everyone sitting together as a family made everything feel warm and fulfilling.

The fireplace glowed with cozy flames. Lu Sheng was draped in the blanket Li Muchen had brought her, lazily leaning against his broad chest.

For Li Muchen and Lu Jingyan, the New Year inevitably involved exchanging greetings with people from the business world. Lu Sheng, meanwhile, received countless messages wishing her a Happy New Year.

Messages came from Lan Yu, Han Jing, Huo Yu, her classmates, and other acquaintances.

Even Shi Suyu sent her a message wishing her a Happy New Year—whether it was sent specifically to her or as part of a group broadcast, she couldn’t tell.

The class group chat was bustling with activity as people sent red envelopes one after another, to the point that new messages would reach 99+ within a few minutes.

On New Year’s Eve, WeChat’s red envelope feature had no limit.

The students of Class A, being children of affluent families, sent red envelopes worth thousands, far surpassing the few hundred usually sent by ordinary people.

Lu Sheng thought briefly, then sent a red envelope worth 20,000 yuan to the group, setting the number equal to the total members in the group.

[Lu Sheng: Wishing everyone a Happy New Year. I’m glad to have met you all.]

A simple-sounding message, yet sincerely expressed, immediately caused an uproar in the group. Teng Yue was the first to enthusiastically reply with thanks, exclaiming how lucky they all felt to know someone as impressive as Lu Sheng.

Nearing midnight, the servants brought freshly cooked dumplings to the dining table. Despite everyone being full from dinner, the excitement of possibly finding money in the dumplings kept spirits high. Even Lu Jingyan, usually stern and reserved, joined in.

Most of all, everyone wanted to see who would get the single 100-yuan dumpling.

Coincidentally, Lu Sheng discovered it in her third dumpling. Upon biting into it, she pulled out a 100-yuan bill wrapped in tin foil.

"Wow, Shengsheng found the 100-yuan dumpling!" Jiang Ting, even happier than Lu Sheng herself, touched her head with an affectionate smile.

Tears shimmered slightly in Jiang Ting’s eyes, as if out of gratitude or relief. "My precious daughter, the new year is going to be your luckiest yet."

Jiang Ting thought about the letter Du Ran had written to her before his passing.

In the letter, Du Ran had said he didn’t expect her to treat Lu Sheng as her own child, but he hoped she wouldn’t be too harsh on her.

Jiang Ting now felt she had met Du Ran’s request. In her heart, Lu Sheng was her child—no different from the children she had given birth to herself.

As the clock neared midnight, Jiang Ting and the brothers went to the yard to set off fireworks. At the same time, the Spring Festival Gala on TV began its countdown to the new year.

Ten, nine, eight, seven...

Six, five, four...

Three.

Two.

One.

The TV resounded with the ringing of New Year’s bells, accompanied by the cheer of the gala’s audience, erupting in exuberant celebration.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, several fireworks streaked across the night sky, exploding amidst the wide, starry canvas of night, adorning it with radiant bursts of color.

The beauty was dazzling, almost surreal.

At that moment, amid the clamor of fireworks and firecrackers from the outside world—Li Muchen suddenly leaned down and softly kissed Lu Sheng’s lips.

In the instant their lips met, Lu Sheng felt as though time itself had frozen.

The noise from outside blurred into insignificance, while the sound of her lover’s breathing became vividly distinct.

The entire world seemed to be reduced to just the two of them.

"Happy New Year, baby,"

"This marks the first New Year we’ve spent together, and there will be countless more to come," Li Muchen gazed at Lu Sheng, his eyes reflecting only her, his tone deep and reverent, "Until the end of my life, I will always love you."

Li Muchen didn’t promise "forever"—instead, he vowed "until the end of his life."

The words "future," "later," and "to the end of life" had once seemed distant and unfamiliar to Lu Sheng. But now, with Li Muchen’s presence, those phrases sparkled with meaning.

"Happy New Year—" Lu Sheng exhaled deeply, and under the vast sky filled with dazzling fireworks, she held the man before her tightly. Her voice was equally solemn, "Li Muchen, I love you too."