Full-time master: I have a spirit behind me.

[Lift it higher!] Yi Hai Su Muqiu urged, holding a rag in his hand.

"Okay." Li Wen smiled and lifted Su Muqiu higher again so that he could reach the top corner of the glass.

The New Year naturally calls for a new look, so even if the house is already very clean, you still need to clean it up a bit.

Today is New Year's Eve, and except for the local staff of the studio itself, the other guild leaders have already gone home.

Li Wen took the rag handed to him by Lion Yi Hai, washed it in the bucket, and then took it to the bathroom to dump it out.

[What are we having for dinner?] Su Muqiu sighed: [It’s been so long since we’ve celebrated the New Year together. I actually forgot that we need to make a reservation if we want to take out the New Year’s Eve dinner…]

"Let me take a look, Brother Mu Qiu... There are still quite a lot of instant noodles left in the refrigerator! We can almost make ends meet." Li Wen said with a smile: "We can go to the vending machine later to see what snacks are left."

Su Muqiu smacked his lips twice: [We only eat this during the Chinese New Year...]

"Hmm?" Li Wen tilted his head: "Didn't we eat this in other places before?"

[That’s right.] Su Muqiu nodded.

Li Wen happily placed Su Muqiu on his shoulder, opened the door, and looked at the empty corridor outside. Li Wen was slightly stunned.

The Embers Club hasn't been this quiet for a long time... Before everyone goes home, it's always bustling and even a little noisy.

Li Wen calmed himself down and walked towards the vending machine at the end of the corridor.

"Sausages, braised eggs, spicy strips, beef cubes...very good!" Li Wen nodded with satisfaction.

[If you eat so early, what are you going to do afterwards? Watch the Spring Festival Gala?] Su Muqiu grabbed Li Wen's shoulder.

"Well...how about watching it for a while? If it's not good, just turn it on and listen to the sound, or go out for a walk?" Li Wen suggested.

[Well, not bad!] Su Muqiu laughed.

Li Wen returned to his room with the snacks he had bought. Since he had nothing to do anyway, he might as well study his next opponent...

Just as he placed his hand on the mouse, the desktop began to vibrate slightly. Li Wen was stunned for a moment and looked at the screen of his mobile phone.

【who is it? 】

"Brother Jiale." Li Wen replied and answered the phone: "Hello?"

"Hello? Xiao Wen? The door downstairs is locked from the inside and I can't get in!" Zhang Jiale's voice came over.

Li Wen walked towards the window while answering the phone, opened it, and saw a young man with rose-red hair standing on the third-floor platform, frowning and looking at the door in front of him.

The third floor is the dormitory for professional players. It can be locked from the inside. Li Wen locked the door from the inside because he didn't plan to go out.

"I'll be there right away, Brother Jiale!" Li Wen hung up the phone in a hurry and rushed to the platform with Su Mucheng.

"Why is Brother Jiale back? Did you forget to bring something?" Li Wen asked curiously after opening the door.

"No, I'll take you to my house to celebrate the New Year." Zhang Jiale said happily.

"Huh?" Li Wen looked at Zhang Jiale blankly.

"Come to my house to celebrate the New Year. Come on, come on, just take two sets of clothes with you." Zhang Jiale pushed Li Wen towards his room, helped Li Wen pick out two sets of clothes and stuffed them into his backpack, then helped Li Wen put on the backpack, pushed Li Wen outside, and closed the door.

"Wait, Brother Jiale, isn't this a bit inappropriate!" Li Wen turned his head and looked at Zhang Jiale and asked.

"What's inappropriate? What's inappropriate? I originally planned to have you come to our house for the New Year." Zhang Jiale said with a smile, "Don't worry, you have met my parents before. I told them. They originally thought that you went to other places to celebrate the New Year, so they didn't mention it in the past few days. When I told them today, they scolded me and asked me why I didn't bring you over earlier.

I was thinking you might have other plans. Please say a few good words for them when you see them later!"

"This..." The two got into the car parked at the door. Zhang Jiale fastened his seat belt and turned on the car music: "What's this? We're already in the car, and the door is welded shut. You still want to leave? What are you eating in the club? Instant noodles? If people find out that you're eating something on New Year's Day, we might be on the headlines of E-sports Home tomorrow, saying that the Embers Club abused the captain. Go with peace of mind. My dad is an amazing cook. I tell you, he didn't cook during the summer vacation before, so he specially prepared a big table of delicious dishes today."

[Oh! I want to try it, Xiao Wen!] Su Muqiu poked her head over from the back seat.

"Well, please help Brother Jiale..."

"What's the trouble?" Zhang Jiale waved his hand: "When I came here, I thought you were not in the club, and I was..."

"Wait a moment, Brother Jiale and Brother Zheping will call." Li Wen said apologetically.

Zhang Jiale immediately looked at his nose and then his heart, pretending he didn't see it.

"Xiao Wen, open the door to the terrace." Sun Zheping's stern yet gentle voice sounded: "Pack your things and come to our house for New Year's Eve dinner tonight."

"Eh?" Li Wen was stunned for a moment: "Brother Jiale and I are on our way to his house now..."

"..." The other end of the phone fell silent. Just when Li Wen thought the call had been hung up, Sun Zheping asked in a deep voice, "Is Zhang Jiale driving his uncle's car or his aunt's car?"

"This……"

"Ahem, ahem, forget it, grandson. Xiao Wen will come to our house to celebrate New Year's Eve today. On the second day of the New Year, Xiao Wen and I will go to your house to pay New Year's greetings. It's decided. Don't even think about riding your little two-wheeled bike to chase us. Goodbye." Zhang Jiale took Li Wen's phone and hung up after talking nonstop: "Don't answer the phone for a while, Xiao Wen. I was just waiting for the traffic light. It's better not to answer the phone while driving."

"Um...okay..."

Li Wen finally understood what Zhang Jiale meant by what he had just said.

At the gate of the Embers Club, Sun Zheping, holding a helmet, silently looked at the hung up phone. After hesitating for a moment, he finally decided not to go to Zhang Jiale's house to pick him up today.

Forget it, Xiao Wen just needs a place to have a hot meal.

Sun Zheping put on his helmet and drove in the opposite direction of Zhang Jiale. In addition to picking up Xiao Wen, he also needed to buy two more Spring Festival couplets. The size his mother bought was a bit too big...

Parking lot at the entrance of Zhang Jiale's community

Li Wen hesitated for a moment: "Well, let's buy something..."

"What are you buying? You're just going home. Besides, where can you buy things now? Let's go." Zhang Jiale closed the car door.

That's right... Then tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? Li Wen sighed inwardly, carrying his bag and following Zhang Jiale into the community.

"Xiao Wen is back, come in, come in!" As soon as the elevator door opened, Jiale's mother happily grabbed Li Wen's hand and led him home: "If you want to change your shoes, change them. If you don't want to change them, don't change them. It's cold outside, come in first..."

"Wait, Mom, don't lock me out!" Zhang Jiale held the door and said speechlessly.

"Oh, I almost forgot about Lele, just like Lele forgot to bring Xiaowen to live home earlier." Jiale's mother said sarcastically and rolled her eyes.

【Puff.】Su Muqiu couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Li Wen scratched his head embarrassedly.

Zhang Jiale's family was very warm to Li Wen. Jiale's mother kept pushing fruits in front of Li Wen. Jiale's father was busy in the kitchen. When he heard the noise, he stuck his head out to look, and greeted Li Wen with a smile.

Zhang Jiale's family is extremely open-minded. They respect his opinions no matter what he does. Just like when Zhang Jiale said he wanted to play professionally, after a long talk with Zhang Jiale, they all agreed with his decision.

[If they are not open-minded, it is hard to imagine that there are parents who can tolerate their children dyeing their hair in this color. It is really coquettish.] Su Muqiu complained.

Li Wen smiled and listened carefully to Jiale's mother talking about family matters.

During the summer break, Li Wen lived here for a while. After the initial nervousness, he no longer felt any particular restraint. Zhang Jiale kicked off his slippers, walked over with freshly washed fruit, sat next to his mother, and happily watched the scene in front of him.

There is actually a reason why Jiale's mother has such a high favorability towards Li Wen. In the first few years when Zhang Jiale first started playing Glory, he was always very happy and would even share interesting stories with his family when he returned home.

But gradually, Zhang Jiale became less willing to talk about those things, which started when Zheping was injured while saving someone, and since then, Jiale's mother has not seen Sun Zheping again. Jiale seems to have become much more mature, but it seems that every day is very depressed, as if something is weighing heavily on him and he can't breathe.

A few years ago, Zhang Jiale suddenly told them that he didn't want to play professionally anymore, and locked himself in the room for a long time.

These parents saw it all, but didn't know what to say.

They don't understand these things, so naturally there is no way to enlighten them.

But after a while, Zhang Jiale slowly became cheerful again, as if he was as happy as when he excitedly told them that he wanted to play professionally with his friends.

Later, Jiale’s mother also began to learn to understand Rong Yao, knew about Zhang Jiale’s pain, knew that he was being abused, and knew that there were new friends who pulled him out of his original self-consumption. How could Jiale’s mother not thank this child?

Moreover, Zhang Jiale had mentioned Xiao Wen's situation to his family in a vague way, which made Jiale's mother feel distressed and fond of him. She was just about to find a good time to adopt Xiao Wen as her godson...

When is a good time?
"Mom? Dad is calling you!" Zhang Jiale waved his hand in front of his mother.

"Ah? Oh! Okay, I'll go take a look, you play with Xiao Wen." Jiale's mother came back to her senses and hurried to the kitchen.

"My mother is too happy to see you and a little nagging. Please don't mind it..." Zhang Jiale handed Li Wen a glass of water and explained helplessly.

Li Wen was silent for a long time, then looked up and smiled: "That's great, Brother Jiale."

[Hmm...] Su Muqiu also nodded.

Li Wen and Su Muqiu both cherish this relationship very much.

This New Year’s Eve dinner was very lively, and it felt different from the previous New Year’s Eve dinner I had with Sister Mu Cheng and the others.

His uncles and aunts would urge him to eat more, and would ask nervously whether the food was to his taste. When they got a positive answer, they would smile happily.

but……

"Xiao Wen left, and we put up Spring Festival couplets. After that, we played cards or mahjong together."

"it is good!"

After dinner, the TV was on and the four of them set up mahjong on the table. Mahjong in different places has different rules. Zhang Jiale's family played mahjong according to national standard rules, but Li Wen was not very good at either of them.

Jiale's mother introduced the rules to Xiao Wen with a smile, and Li Wen nodded as if he understood.

"You'll get it after you play it once. Come on, come on!" Zhang Jiale, who was sitting opposite, rubbed his hands excitedly.

In terms of games, he has never beaten Li Wen, except for the time when he had just met Li Wen and had not been in contact with Glory for a long time, when he won a lot. Later on, Zhang Jiale no longer entered the duel room with Li Wen.

This is even more true for other games, such as fighting games, shooting games, board games, and level-breaking games...

Forget it! Mahjong is also a game!
Zhang Jiale took a deep breath and his eyes became sharp. I'm sorry, Xiao Wen, today, I just want to win!
"Hmm?" Li Wen, who had just finished playing mahjong, frowned.

"What's wrong, Xiao Wen?" Jiale's mother asked curiously.

"Is this just nonsense?" Li Wen asked.

Jiale's mother was startled. This round, Xiao Wen was the banker. After jumping the cards, there were fourteen cards. If she won right at the start...

Jiale's mother turned sideways and widened her eyes: "All the same color?"

"What?" Zhang Jiale was stunned.

Li Wen pushed down the cards in front of him.

The cards are all the same color, the banker draws a self-drawn card...

“It’s just beginner’s luck.” Zhang Jiale consoled himself: “Try again, try again…”

……

"Four loaves!"

"Self-draw... Four hidden knights and one rider."

……

"Yaoji!"

"It's a win, 13-13..."

……

"Hu……"

"Or, let's not fight anymore. At least watch TV for a while?" Jiale's father coughed twice.

From the beginning till now, Xiao Wen has been winning, and every time he wins, it's so big that Zhang Jiale has begun to doubt his life.

Jiale's mother seemed a little reluctant to leave, and said she would bring Xiao Wen along when she met with her sisters in a couple of days.

Li Wen responded with a smile.

We were talking and chatting while watching the not-so-good Spring Festival Gala. The thing we were most looking forward to was probably the last song, "Unforgettable Tonight"...

It is indeed unforgettable.

The clock strikes midnight, the new year begins, and fireworks begin to rise outside the window.

Jiale's parents had already gone back to their room to rest, while Zhang Jiale and Li Wen were outside responding to New Year's greetings from their friends.

There was the New Year's Eve dinner from Wei Lao Da, the scenery photos from Bai Shu, the Happy New Year from Qiu Fei, the picture of a big family with three or four tables from Lu Liang, the couplets written by Lin Jingyan himself, the ugly dumplings made by Fang Rui, the big yellow dog from Fang Shijing's hometown, the red envelope from Sun Zheping, and the group photo from Su Mucheng, Ye Xiu, and Chen Guo...

There were many more possible group blessing messages, and Li Wen replied carefully to them one by one.

only……

Sister Xue, are you asleep? Li Wen looked at the message that had not been replied to, feeling a little depressed.

"Xiao Wen." Zhang Jiale put down his phone and spoke.

"Hmm?" Li Wen tilted his head and looked at Zhang Jiale: "What's wrong, brother Jiale?"

"You and Boss Chu..." Zhang Jiale asked stealthily.

"Um, wait a moment, Brother Jiale, I have a call!" Li Wen didn't even notice that his eyes lit up when he saw the caller.

(End of this chapter)