Chapter 407 - 138: [What Place?] (6200)_2
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After locking the doors, Chen Yan drove Lu Sisi on the road back to Jinling Prefecture.
As the car drove out of the village, Lu Sisi looked at the receding houses outside the window and suddenly said in a low voice, "Chen Yan."
"Hmm?"
"Can we come back for the New Year?"
Chen Yan was taken aback.
He sighed lightly, "Master Zhao was the last person in the village I felt close to... Now that he’s gone, this place no longer feels like home. Coming back for the New Year seems meaningless."
"It does." Lu Sisi tried to put on a smile while looking at Chen Yan, her eyes shining: "I’m here with you. I am your family."
Pausing, she said solemnly, "With family, there’s a home!"
Chen Yan’s heart was moved. He turned to glance at Lu Sisi and caught the sincerity in her eyes.
Chen Yan continued to drive, quickly shifting his gaze back to the road ahead, but suddenly realized something.
He didn’t have family...
Did Lu Sisi?
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At eighteen, Lu Sisi was shunned by her parents and relatives due to bad luck...
Even during the Spring Festival, her parents chose to stay away from her—the recent Spring Festival, she had come back to the countryside with him.
An eighteen-year-old girl, spending the New Year away with someone else, and her parents didn’t even ask about her.
No, Chen Yan even doubted if her parents were aware at all.
For Lu Sisi, at eighteen, she probably had long been living a life "without family."
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Chen Yan took a deep breath and freed a hand to hold Lu Sisi’s hand.
"I am your family too."
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By the time they arrived in Jinling City, it was already evening.
Chen Yan originally planned to drive directly back to their neighborhood, but Lu Sisi made a request: "Let’s go for hot pot."
"Hmm?"
"These past few days in the countryside, we’ve been eating whatever was available, and I’ve cooked no good meals. It’s been tough for you. Now that we’re back, let’s have something nice to eat?"
Lu Sisi looked at Chen Yan with expectant eyes.
Chen Yan wasn’t really in the mood, but he wouldn’t refuse such a simple request from his girlfriend—coming back this time, Lu Sisi’s warmth and understanding deeply affected him.
For her to do so much for him was truly rare.
"Sure. Let’s have hot pot." Chen Yan smiled and nodded.
Lu Sisi took out her phone and quickly set up navigation to the nearest branch of a certain hot pot restaurant.
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Walking into the hot pot restaurant located in a mall, the moment they stepped inside, feeling the lively atmosphere and the steaming aroma, Chen Yan suddenly realized something and turned to look at Lu Sisi, subconsciously tightening his grip on her hand.
It seemed like Lu Sisi had changed from her usual frugal ways, holding the menu, ordering a table full of various foods, knowing they couldn’t finish it but still showing no sign of stopping.
The food on their table was piled high, yet Lu Sisi was still using her chopsticks to feed Chen Yan small crispy meats.
It appeared a guest in the restaurant was celebrating a birthday, as a familiar song well-known to everyone in the Dragon Country began playing soon after.
"...Say goodbye...say hi hi~"
Lu Sisi blinked and softly sang along, Chen Yan smiled, dipping a piece of ox tripe into the broth before placing it on her plate.
"Thank you."
"Hmm?"
"Thank you." Chen Yan smiled.
·
There are two places in this world where even people with depression would feel a bit lighter.
One is the wet market, the other is a hot pot restaurant.
Both these places are filled with the bustling energy and lively essence of everyday life, slowly infusing people with positive emotions from life.
Anyone feeling down would feel a bit lighter after visiting these places.
——Chen Yan understood Lu Sisi’s sudden suggestion to have hot pot.
That night, after returning to the villa, both of them were covered in the smell of hot pot. As soon as they entered, they embraced each other and headed to the master bedroom. Chen Yan carried Lu Sisi into the bathroom.
Lu Sisi’s behavior tonight was unusual; she shed her previous shyness—still shy but strongly suppressing it, and even initiated in accommodating Chen Yan, using her warmth to soothe his sadness.
In the middle of the night, Chen Yan lay on the warm, soft bed, holding the already sleeping Lu Sisi, with a newfound warmth and smile in his eyes.
He quietly got up, left the bed, then walked out of the bedroom.
Lu Sisi was sleeping soundly. She seemed to have exhausted all her strength since returning at night.
Besides, after she fell asleep, Chen Yan had put a tranquilizing Talisman on her—it should allow her to sleep peacefully until morning.
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Chen Yan went downstairs to the basement and entered the training room.
He took out the Red Center mahjong tile.
Ever since the old man passed this item to him on his deathbed, Chen Yan hadn’t had the mindset to closely examine this treasure.
These past few days, he had been somewhat muddled—when the old lady passed, he had experienced this feeling in the first few days, but later, when the sadness faded, he came back to life.
But this time, the old man’s funeral was real.
In the past few days, Chen Yan had been emotionally stagnant and hadn’t been in the mood to inspect this treasure—until tonight, he felt like he was living again.
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He held the mahjong tile in his hand and carefully examined it for a while.
Chen Yan confirmed one thing: there was something wrong with the material of this item.
During the New Year, the old man had shown it to him, but at that time, Chen Yan hadn’t looked closely and assumed it was just made of ordinary mahjong tile material.