Chapter 146: Happy New Year
Hearing the system speak, Shen Xiu temporarily shifted his attention away from the box full of Spring Festival couplets and nodded. “Mm, I understand.”
System: [!]
Impossible—this isn’t scientific at all…
Just as the system’s database started to glitch for a second, Shen Xiu’s voice came through again. “New Year’s Eve should indeed be a lively occasion.”
“Spring couplets, firecrackers, fireworks…” Shen Xiu muttered aloud the items he had seen his friends mention in the group chat, listing them one by one. After finishing, his voice turned serious: “What others have, we can have too.”
System: […‘we’?]
No, that’s not the point. The point is—when Shen Xiu said he “understood,” he meant he knew about these things? Not what the system had meant!
System: [……]
Shen Xiu was busy planning in his mind how to celebrate New Year’s Eve and didn’t pay much attention to the system. After answering its question, he completely forgot about it and started ordering everything he needed on his phone.
In less than an hour, Shen Xiu had bought all the items he needed.
Looking at the growing pile of goods in his room, Shen Xiu belatedly remembered the system. Thick-skinned, he asked, “System, can I borrow the car to go out?”
The buses had already stopped running—and even if they hadn’t, he had too many things this time. Bringing all this onto a bus would definitely inconvenience others.
As for calling a cab…
Shen Xiu quietly glanced at the time on his phone. It was already five in the afternoon. Even if there were still some taxi drivers not home with their families yet, if he said he was heading to a cemetery, the driver would probably think he was completely out of his mind.
Taking everything into consideration, Shen Xiu thick-skinnedly asked the system to borrow a car.
System: [Of course you can.]
Shen Xiu: “Thank you!”
With the system’s permission, Shen Xiu began moving his things from the elevator down to the second basement level one by one.
To keep as low a profile as possible, Shen Xiu once again chose the same car he had driven out last time, without hesitation.
Every time he used the elevator to transport items, he worried about running into someone. Fortunately, he didn’t see a single person the entire time he was moving his things.
On the final trip, Shen Xiu dressed Lucky in a new outfit, clipped on the leash, and carried him in his arms. “We’re going to celebrate the New Year.”
The system finally let out a sigh of relief. So that’s what all the shopping was for—he was planning to celebrate New Year’s Eve with Lucky.
Makes sense. Fireworks and firecrackers weren’t allowed in the city. Shen Xiu was probably driving to the outskirts to light them.
—
An hour later, Shen Xiu parked the car.
The system looked at the location where the car had stopped and began doubting its existence once again.
By now, the sky had darkened. Looking at the eerie and shadow-filled place, the system was so nervous its database was practically shaking: [Shen Xiu, d-did you take a wrong turn?]
Of all the nice open places in the suburbs, he just had to come to this creepy cemetery? What normal person does this?!
Shen Xiu looked out. The cemetery was completely empty—he was the only one there. Even the elderly caretaker who usually watched over the grounds had probably gone home for the New Year. The place would likely remain unguarded during this period.
Only then did Shen Xiu relax. But then he heard the system’s question and didn’t quite understand why it asked that. He answered honestly, “No mistake.”
“I came here to celebrate the New Year.”
System: [……]
Who celebrates New Year’s Eve at a cemetery?!
Now the system finally understood what Shen Xiu had meant earlier by “we.”
No—wait, that’s not the point. The real issue is…
The system watched as Shen Xiu pulled out a stack of Spring Festival couplets and began questioning the very nature of its own existence.
At that moment, the system really wanted to roar — What kind of normal person brings Spring Festival couplets to a grave?!
And not just one or two—he brought a whole bunch!
It had never seen anything like this before!
System: [You’re not seriously planning to stick those couplets on your parents’ graves, and even share the rest with other graves around, are you?!]
The system didn’t dare imagine what kind of horrifying scene it would be if people came to visit after the holiday and saw couplets pasted all over the cemetery headstones.
Shen Xiu: “…No.”
Why would he paste them on anyone else’s?
System: [Oh thank goodness!]
It had been scared to death—it thought Shen Xiu had completely lost his mind!
——
Meanwhile, among the trending topics that were almost entirely dominated by the Spring Festival Gala and celebrities performing on it this year, a few hashtags stood out like sore thumbs.
#WhereDidBossXiuGoOnNewYear’sEve
#FarewellToTheLuxuryCar
#Can’tAffordItNotEvenClose
#IfYouDareTakePhotosDon’tUseAPotatoPhone
…
Clicking into any of these trending topics revealed, without exception, posts about Shen Xiu driving away from Yulin Banxia earlier that evening.
The original photos were blurry, but some tech-savvy users had used software to drastically improve the image quality.
Still, it was clear that someone had just snapped the photos casually after spotting him; no one had seriously thought of tailing Shen Xiu on New Year’s Eve, a night meant for family reunions.
—— He’s not spending New Year’s Eve at Yulin Banxia? And he left right around dinnertime? A reasonable guess would be that he was heading to his parents’ house for dinner.
—— But isn’t this the kind of evening where families start preparing from morning till night? Shen Xiu only started driving over when dinner was about to begin—doesn’t that seem a little cold and distant?
— Uh… I just arrived at my parents’ house myself, and I suddenly feel like I’ve taken an arrow to the knee. But I’m not being cold-hearted, I swear! My parents just flew back from abroad…
— Mystery solved. Boss Xiu’s family must’ve just returned from all over the world too, and he drove over right away to have dinner with them! After all, Boss Xiu is very likely the heir to K Corp—his parents and relatives are probably all super busy. As long as they can sit down for dinner together, that’s already a blessing. No one’s gonna nitpick the timing.
— Am I the only one wondering what it feels like to drive that car?
— Maybe… like flying?
—
Cemetery.
While netizens continued speculating wildly, Shen Xiu was busy carrying items to his parents’ graves.
He had brought a whole lot of stuff—so much that he had to make several trips back and forth.
No one in their right mind would show up at a cemetery on New Year’s Eve, so Shen Xiu walked back and forth freely, his steps light and unbothered.
Streetlamps lined both sides of the steps in the cemetery, casting long shadows behind him. Trees surrounded the graveyard, and in the chill wind of this New Year’s night, their branches rustled and hissed. Under the moonlight, the swaying shadows of the trees made everything feel even eerier.
The system tapped into the cemetery’s security feed. As it took in the full scene, its entire database felt like it was frosting over.
Especially when Shen Xiu made his final trip and carried Lucky—dressed all in black—out of the car, the system suddenly remembered some horror stories it had read before. The fear hit a peak.
[Shen Xiu, a-aren’t you scared at all?]
In horror novels, black cats in ghostly graveyards are practically cursed symbols!
Scared?
When Shen Xiu heard those two words, his steps on the staircase instinctively paused. His body tensed as he swept his gaze around.
Finding no one, he relaxed.
“…There’s no one here.”
What’s there to be scared of?
System: […You’re something else.]
Why did the conversation suddenly turn into praising him?
Shen Xiu was confused. “Thanks?”
The system didn’t respond again. Shen Xiu figured it had gone silent once more and simply lifted his foot to keep walking.
He didn’t stop until he reached his parents’ graves, only then gently setting Lucky down.
Although he had already scanned the surroundings and confirmed no one else was nearby, Shen Xiu still unconsciously lowered his voice: “Lucky, this is Grandpa and Grandma’s place.”
Lucky, though not frightened by the unfamiliar environment, was smart enough not to run around in the pitch-dark setting. Hearing Shen Xiu’s soft voice, he didn’t meow—just rubbed his furry head against Shen Xiu’s palm and quietly crouched beside him.
Shen Xiu introduced Lucky to his parents, then turned to the headstones and spoke softly: “Mom, Dad, this is Lucky.”
After a brief pause, Shen Xiu added, “He’s really sweet. Seeing him makes me happy every day.”
As he finished, a slight ache rose at the tip of his nose.
He awkwardly raised a hand to tap it, trying not to let the fragile emotions weigh down his plans to spend New Year’s Eve with his family.
Taking a deep breath, Shen Xiu pushed the sadness aside. With great care, he took a knife and sliced open the plastic wrap, then opened the box of Spring Festival couplets and began taking them out one by one, placing them neatly on the offering table in front of the graves.
“Mom, Dad, these are the best I could buy this year. The cemetery doesn’t allow anything to be pasted directly on the headstones.”
There was a hint of regret in his voice as he continued, “So I’ll burn them for you instead. Take a look, and if there’s anything else you’d like, I’ll burn it next year.”
After finishing his words, Shen Xiu was about to begin burning the offerings when he noticed the offering table was still empty. A wave of belated guilt washed over him, and he quickly took out the prepared offerings.
“Mom, Dad, I’m sorry. I was so happy about celebrating the New Year together that I messed up a little.”
“These were all homemade. I was short on time, so I only managed to prepare a small amount. I’ll make more next year.”
Until this year, his parents’ urns had been stored in a small compartment at the crematorium—just a plain, tiny box of a room. He could only go there to talk to them. He couldn’t bring offerings. This was the first time Shen Xiu had properly paid respects at their actual gravesite, so he was a bit inexperienced.
After arranging the food and fruit he’d prepared himself, Shen Xiu took out a lighter and lit the Spring Festival couplets he had bought earlier, placing the burning papers into the designated paper-burning area for offerings.
When the couplets had finished burning, Shen Xiu glanced at the pile of fireworks and firecrackers he’d brought. Looking at the nameless tombstones with only inscriptions and no photos, his gaze turned regretful.
“I checked—firecrackers aren’t allowed in the cemetery.”
System: [……]
If they were allowed… was Shen Xiu seriously going to light firecrackers in a graveyard on New Year’s Eve?!
“But I can light some sparklers,” Shen Xiu added calmly. He reached into the open box, pulled out a sparkler, and lit it.
Sparklers burned fast. The flickering flame cast a brief glow over Shen Xiu’s face, expressionless as always, unreadable—neither joyful nor sad. Before the light could fully illuminate him, it sputtered out.
“Was it pretty?”
Naturally, no one would answer him at a moment like this. Shen Xiu could only murmur to himself, “I think it was pretty. Just a little short… but it’s okay, I brought a lot.”
With that, Shen Xiu picked up another sparkler and lit it again.
System: [……]
At this point, the system was convinced—Shen Xiu’s actions weren’t just “cool” anymore. They were legendary-level cool.
What made it even more legendary—
The system’s gaze shifted to the curled-up black fluffball, Lucky, sound asleep in its little nest nearby, snoring gently. It was bewildered.
All it could say was—as expected of Shen Xiu’s cat. In a certain sense, astonishingly impressive.
No—wait. The system’s attention finally landed on the cat bed Lucky was sleeping in, and it fell completely speechless.
Coming to a cemetery to celebrate New Year’s was already outrageous enough… but bringing a cat along, and not forgetting to bring a proper cat bed too?!
After burning the Spring Festival couplets, lighting sparklers, and burning joss paper, Shen Xiu took out cleaning supplies and began to wipe down the gravestone. “They say it’s important to do a deep clean before the New Year…”
Guuuu…
Before he could finish his sentence, his stomach growled in protest.
At the sound of his rumbling stomach, Shen Xiu belatedly realized he’d been so busy all day that—aside from a casual bite at noon—he hadn’t had a proper meal.
His gaze fell to one of the apples placed in offering before the tomb.
“Mom, Dad, I’ll just have one. That should be okay, right?”
The system glanced at its already scrambled database and decided it had seen enough. It was genuinely afraid it would lose its mind if it witnessed Shen Xiu actually eating the offering apple. Without hesitation, it chose to go offline—temporarily.
Meanwhile, Shen Xiu picked up the apple, carefully wiped it clean with a wet tissue, and began to eat it while pulling out his phone.
When his eyes caught the numbers 11:59 on the screen, Shen Xiu blinked, briefly dazed. Time had passed so quickly. He felt like he’d barely done anything since arriving, and now it was nearly midnight—time to ring in the new year.
Snapping out of it, Shen Xiu didn’t dare space out any longer. Focused now, he opened his chat window and began typing a message.
Once finished, he gently picked up Lucky, casually sat down in front of his parents’ graves, and stared intently at the countdown on his phone—nervous.
At the final three seconds of the countdown, Shen Xiu pressed send on the message and, in the same breath, looked toward his parents’ tombstone and softly said:
“Happy New Year.”
“Meow~”
The tombstone stood solemnly before him, while the soft mewl from Lucky in his arms gently broke the quiet. Shen Xiu couldn’t stop the damp warmth from welling up in his eyes. He murmured, “In the new year, we’ll all become better…”
Bzzzz bzzz bzzz—
Just as he finished speaking, his phone started to buzz continuously in his hand.
Holding Lucky in one arm, Shen Xiu glanced down and tapped his screen with slender fingers, unlocking it.
Message after message flowed in—New Year greetings from close friends and former colleagues. Shen Xiu read each one carefully and responded to them all, then switched over to the group chat.
As soon as he opened the group interface, a group call popped up.
Shen Xiu hesitated for a couple of seconds, then tapped the green button to answer.
“Did you hear that?! That was my firework!”
Song Chengwang’s cheerful voice came through the shared call, accompanied by the sound of fireworks in the background.
“Hahaha, I heard it! Happy New Year, brothers!”
Ke Zi’an’s voice chirped through, using Xia Wenhao’s phone to join the call.
Mu Zhenchu said, “An’an, Happy New Year! By the way, where’s Xia Wenhao?”
Ke Zi’an glanced over at Xia Wenhao, who was currently wrestling with a dog, and replied honestly, “He’s fighting with my Alaskan Malamute.”
Just as Xiang Yueting entered the call, he caught that sentence and cheerfully chimed in, “An’an, tell Xia Wenhao this from me—your Alaskan isn’t the dog, he is! Xia Wenhao is the real dog, hahaha…”
Listening to everyone’s cheerful voices, Shen Xiu realized he was unknowingly smiling, warmed by their happiness.
“Captain Xiu? You’re here too?! Ahhh I thought you’d be like Shang Yu—crazy busy during New Year’s and too swamped to talk to us!”
Shen Xiu didn’t have the heart to admit that he wasn’t busy at all. In fact, he had even peeked at the chat earlier that afternoon, but since he hadn’t contributed anything, he felt awkward about joining in and stayed silent.
“I’m here,” Shen Xiu said, tightening his arms around Lucky.
Xiang Yueting seemed to remember something, and as he sent a photo to the group chat, he asked curiously, “Captain Xiu, someone posted a photo of you driving out of Yulin Banxia on the trending page—where were you going?”
