System Came When the Doctor was Thirty

”Sigh...” Yan Sangyue let out a long sigh.

Mu Nanshu took the phone and whispered, ”We’re going to pack things up.”

Just like that, Lu Cheng’s video call was immediately cut off.

But the good part was, at eight o’clock in the evening, Lu Cheng saw the living Mu Nanshu.

Moreover, Mu Leng and Yan Sangyue also came over, and when Lu Cheng went down to the underground garage, they started unloading stuff from the trunk.

Alcohol, drinks, vegetables, meat, non-vegetarian dishes, oil, and salt were all readily available.

Mu Leng and Yan Sangyue had prepared everything meticulously to go home for the New Year, only a stove was missing to start cooking; they were already quite compromising, leaving no room for criticism.

However, even so, Mu Leng and the others returned the same way.

Only after Lu Cheng finished moving the items did he realize that Mu Leng and the others were so upset they didn’t even have time for dinner.

They did have lunch, but it was during lunch that Mu Leng and his brother got into an argument.

Lu Cheng, being the junior, after hearing what Mu Nanshu said, remarked, ”Uncle Mu, I’m the junior, so I can’t judge Uncle Xiao Shu and Aunt’s fault, I can only give a vague suggestion.”

”When encountering such dim-wits, just avoid them and don’t meet them.”

Mu Nanshu grunted, ”Then you might as well call them out by name.”

Lu Cheng replied, ”I can’t do that, or Uncle and Aunt might say I’m being disrespectful.”

Lu Cheng continued drinking with Mu Leng.

With reddened eyes, Mu Leng drank and spoke, ”When I was at my lowest, my own brother backstabbed me, insisting that I repay his share of the partnership. My dad was the same, behaving as if they wouldn’t be satisfied unless they forced me to the edge.”

”What could I do?”

”At that time, it was my friends who helped me, not my brothers.”

”Oh, now that I’ve made it, suddenly it’s all about the partnership again? Now they want to talk about brotherly feelings?”

”My dad too, all his life, he just wanted both sons to do well. If I was doing well, I had to help my brother, otherwise I was considered unfilial.”

”That’s impossible.”

”Back then, he even faked a promissory note, which the whole village witnessed and testified to.”

”I acknowledged it, kept it all along. My signature might have been fake, but his fingerprint was real.”

...

On the morning of New Year’s Eve at the Mu family, they certainly wouldn’t stay up late to cook, dishes had to be prepared the night before.

After eating, the entire Mu family got busy...

The gas stove had only two burners, so Mu Leng went out and bought three electric cookers, flaunting a bit of wealth.

That night, naturally Mu Leng and Yan Sangyue didn’t leave but stayed in the house.

Only one master bedroom and a guest room were open in the house, with no extra winter quilts available.

Without saying anything else, Mu Leng and Yan Sangyue took a bath and rested in the guest room.

Mu Nanshu bashfully stood in the living room, glancing at his parents’ bedroom, fiddling with his phone, feeling somewhat shy for the moment.

But as it was getting late, Lu Cheng said, ”Come on, let’s go to sleep. We have to wake up at five for the New Year.”

”My parents are here.”

”We’re not doing anything wrong, what’s there to fear,” Lu Cheng said.

”Uncle and Aunt aren’t unaware.”

Mu Nanshu was directly pulled into a hug by Lu Cheng...

Before four in the morning, Lu Cheng heard clanking noises from the kitchen.

Lu Cheng really wasn’t used to celebrating the New Year in the morning, but the custom in Mu Nanshu’s house was to eat as soon as it was nearly light. Even if the dishes were prepared the day before, they had to start cooking around four.

Not yet engaged, Lu Cheng couldn’t act like a lazy son-in-law, so he got up to help.

Mu Nanshu was still asleep and wasn’t woken up...

When Mu Nanshu woke up, it was already five, and after freshening up, he joined in, mainly to stir-fry some small dishes.

The meal was very lavish, with twelve different dishes in total.

Just four people for twelve dishes, it was truly extravagant.

But the timing was off, at seven in the morning, who has an appetite?

Still, the atmosphere was lively.

Lu Cheng and Mu Leng drank morning wine together, each glass a hefty two ounces, sipping for a full forty minutes...

During that time, everyone was discussing Lu Cheng and Mu Nanshu’s wedding plans and other arrangements. Eventually, they settled on the engagement date as the eighteenth of the first lunar month.

After the meal, only three bowls needed washing; none of the twelve dishes were finished.

Considering they would eat again for lunch, everything was just placed in the fridge.

”Are you two going out to play?” Yan Sangyue asked.

Lu Cheng chuckled, ”Auntie, where can we go to play today? I mean, if there’s nothing else, shall we play a game of mahjong together?”

”Five bucks a round. Uncle, are you in?”

Yan Sangyue replied, ”Sure, sure, we always needed one more player, now we’re just right.”

Mu Leng gave Lu Cheng a resentful glance but agreed nonetheless.

”...”

New Year’s Eve, evening, eight o’clock.

The sound of the gala was playing everywhere in the emergency department!

Lu Cheng did the same, leaving the gala window floating, just listening to the sounds while chatting with his parents and Mu Nanshu.

Nobody knew when the gala had started being overlooked, lacking charm, yet somehow it felt necessary to listen to the lively sounds to evoke the slightest sense of the New Year.

It wasn’t that spending New Years as a child was more interesting, it was just that back then, without any stress, all your energy was focused on feeling happiness. As you grew up, your energy and capabilities fell short in letting you experience enough happiness...

”How are Uncle and Aunt feeling? Are they alright?” Lu Cheng asked.