Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  He never knew that celebrating the new year with his family could be so heartwarming and blissful.

  Truth be told, the true festive spirit was not on the streets but at home and in one’s heart.

  Having a family reunion was the true meaning of the festive season!

  Mu Yazhe suddenly understood the reason why his employees were all so eager to rush back home at the end of each year. According to the company’s usual practice, they were free to go on an earlier leave, provided they were done with whatever work they had on hand. They would, therefore, muster all their energy and do their best to clear the pile of work they had over the fortnight before year end. It was for the sake of spending some quality time with their family and loved ones on the meaningful day!

  He pasted the last paper-cutting on the study room’s window and lifted Little Yichen in his arms, exchanging warm smiles with each other.

  “Daddy! Daddy!”


  Smiling brightly at him, Youyou came running toward him with two big, red lanterns in his hands. “I need your help, daddy!”


  “What do you need help with?”


  The man put down the boy in his arms and walked over to his other son, only to be eagerly pulled toward the front door by the latter. It turned out that the younger twin wanted to hang two red lanterns at the entranceway of their house to create a festive mood.

  Unfortunately, due to his short stature, it was hard for him to hang them up even with his mother carrying him up. There was also no ladder at home, so he could only seek help from his father.

  Standing at 1.88-meter tall, the man lifted his son high in the air effortlessly, allowing the little one to hang up the lanterns easily. The moment the lanterns were hung, their house was filled with a festive mood.

  As the eve of the lunar new year was drawing near, Yun Shishi specially drove to the supermarket to buy the vegetables and meat, as well as the dumpling skins for dumpling-making, needed for the reunion dinner in advance.

  It was a custom for families to gather together, wrap dumplings, and eat them for dinner on Lunar New Year’s Eve.

  While on the way home, she was suddenly reminded of something and, as such, suggested, “Let’s invite Xiao Jie over for dinner tomorrow! It’s only another pair of chopsticks at most, anyway! It’ll be livelier with more people around!”


  “Okay!” Youyou expressed his agreement excitedly.

  Her husband had no objections regarding her suggestion, either. It was his first time celebrating the new year with his family, so he, too, felt that it would be livelier with more people around.

  She, therefore, made a call to Gong Jie and excitedly extended the invitation to him as soon as the call connected. “Xiao Jie, it’s Lunar New Year’s Eve tomorrow. Do you want to join us for a reunion dinner tomorrow?”


  There was a long period of silence on the other end before her brother eventually posed a question. “Lunar New Year’s Eve? What’s that?”


  His question stumped her.

  Somehow, she had momentarily forgotten that she and her brother had never truly celebrated the new year when they were young. She could vaguely recall that their mother had been tight on cash back then; as such, having meat and fish for their New Year’s Eve dinner basically meant that they were having a decent new-year celebration.

  Her brother, who grew up abroad after their mother’s demise, could be considered half a foreigner. As such, it was only understandable that he was unfamiliar with the practice and terms regarding the spring festival.

  She, therefore, earnestly explained, “It’s the eve of the Chinese New Year tomorrow, so I’m thinking that we should have a reunion dinner together! It’s livelier with more people around! After dinner, we’re going to the riverside to release fireworks in celebration of the new year. Do you want to join us?”


  She had already purchased the fireworks, in fact.

  For this year’s celebration, she had bought a lot of pretty, artistic fireworks for them to release at the riverside by midnight to welcome the new year.