Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  He closed the document folder and coldly said, “It’s freezing today. Send a car to take him to a hospital! It’s bad luck for us if he dies here.”


  “Noted.”
……

  “It’s New Year’s Eve tomorrow!”


  Mu Yazhe was in the study, reading a book, when his wife entered the room unnoticed and rested her head on his shoulder. From her cheery expression and her bright, glistening eyes, she appeared to be giddy with excitement!

  After her youngest son’s reminder, the woman double-checked the calendar and was only then certain that it would be New Year’s Eve tomorrow!

  She was really looking forward to it since this would be the first Lunar New Year that she would be spending with her husband!

  The man, however, remained nonchalant and indifferent to the announcement as he continued reading his book and only responded with an ‘oh’.

  “Oh?”


  Feeling extremely dissatisfied with his aloof attitude, she pried the book away from his hands, forcefully grabbed his chin to make him face her, and enunciated seriously, “Don’t you look forward to the new year at all?”


  “What for?”


  “.……”


  Her mood was dampened somewhat by his emotionless response. “You don’t seem to hold much expectation regarding the New Year celebrations.”


  Her remark stunned him for a moment, but he soon shot her a bland smile in reply. “I’ve never celebrated Lunar New Year, so it doesn’t feel anything different to any other days!”


  “How’s that so?! There are so many things to pay attention to regarding Lunar New Year!”


  “Like what?!”


  “Since tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, you’re not allowed to busy yourself with work. Come and help us with the preparation.”


  Yun Shishi had already started preparing for the new year way before that.

  Even though she and the little ones had done a massive spring cleaning, they still needed to do more cleaning the next morning to ensure that both the house and the yard were in a spick-and-span state for the upcoming Lunar New Year. According to customs, one must not sweep the floor of their house for the first three days of the new year, as that would be akin to sweeping away their good fortune.

  She had even purchased firecrackers and fireworks in advance. It was a tradition to set off firecrackers in the morning and fireworks at night at the start of each year.

  Meanwhile, Youyou had prepared the calligraphy brush, ink, and paper they needed for writing the spring couplets in the living room. By the time Mu Yazhe came into the living room, his wife was already seated before the table with the brush in hand as she racked her brains to think up of some auspicious sayings.

  Lying sprawled at the side, Little Yichen mumbled under his breath, “Mommy, is your calligraphy skills up to standard at all?”


  His little brother piped up in affirmation, “Of course! Her calligraphy skills are indisputable!”


  At that, their mother smugly revealed, “I do have some skills! After all, I always practiced my calligraphy skills during my college days!”


  The man approached her and looked quizzically at the two red, spring couplets that had not been inked with words. “What do you intend to write?”


  “Erm……” Nothing came to her mind, though, so she had no idea what to write, either.

  All of a sudden, Youyou proposed, “For the front door, let’s write ‘May we all be blessed with longevity as time passes, and may our family be blessed with good fortune when spring arrives’!”


  He then took out two drawings of Yuchi Jingde and Qin Qiong. “I’ve prepared the drawings, too!”


  The older twin’s lips twitched when he saw the drawings. “What are these?”


  “Threshold guardians!”


  “Threshold guardians?!”


  He added, “They are Yuchi Jingde and Qin Qiong!”


  Feeling perplexed, his brother asked, “Why do we have to paste these two fellas up?”


  He rolled his eyes as he explained, “That’s because they are the prominent generals of the early Tang dynasty! People paste drawings of them on the doors to ward off evil spirits and calamities! Look, they each hold a weapon in their hands, looking fierce and intimidating enough to scare off all bad things.”