72: Chapter 72 Chinese New Year

Those with a guilty conscience are easily flustered.

He hurriedly invited the two young ladies to sit on the reception sofa, then went to serve tea and water.

Although flustered, Sun Ning still asked with a hint of reproach: "Senior Sister, didn't I say not to come over? I'm going to pay my respects to Teacher after the New Year anyway."

Shang Rou and Zhao Xue had come directly to Heyang Province from Hong Kong.

It was because Sun Ning had boasted to them that the Party Secretary, being considerate of the Township Head, had given him a few days of vacation.

That was what had lured the two women over.

"Hey, it's not New Year's yet, is it? We might as well take a trip to the capital during these few days before going home for the New Year, so you won't have to run around after the holiday!"

Zhao Xue's words made sense; going to the capital before the New Year would save him from running around after it.

Sun Ning agreed without a second thought.

To make it easier to return to his hometown, he first left his car in Zhongzhou.

Then, at the strong insistence of the two women, they drove to the capital.

After this trip to the capital, even with his physical condition, he was completely exhausted.

This was Sun Ning's first time dealing with the two women together; Shang Rou and the other acted as if nothing was the matter.

Sun Ning, however, was careful at every step.

Call it playing both sides, or call it treating them equally.

But he simply dared not show his true feelings in front of both of them.

Once in the capital, he had spent one day accompanying each of them, resulting in two days of chaotic absurdity.

These small matters were actually just happy troubles; they weren't enough to make Sun Ning completely exhausted.

When he arrived at Teacher's home, Teacher still didn't give him a pleasant look, which made him feel mentally drained.

But the affection toward him remained unchanged.

With the Spring Festival approaching, everyone was busy, so Sun Ning just made individual visits and didn't organize any dinner parties.

Before he left, the Senior Brother called and asked Sun Ning to join them in paying respects to Elder Shang on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.

This call left Sun Ning stunned.

According to Sun Ning's plan, having just left the capital, he wouldn't be returning to visit the old man with his fellow apprentices.

When he came, he had naturally assumed that Shang Rou had already told the fellow apprentices.

That was why he hadn't mentioned it when he went to pay early New Year's greetings to the fellow apprentices in the capital.

Sun Ning looked at Shang Rou, who was still snickering, and gritted his teeth in frustration.

He hadn't expected that he would be set up by Shang Rou.

Sun Ning knew that Shang Rou just wanted to spend more time with him.

Come to think of it, ever since he came to Heyang and Shang Rou went to Hong Kong, the number of times they had met could be counted on one hand!

On the contrary, he could go home to visit on weekends.

It was understandable that Shang Rou wanted him to spend more time with her!

Sun Ning agreed over the phone and then boarded the flight from the capital back to Zhongzhou.

By the time he arrived home, it was exactly New Year's Eve.

The whole family gathered together, lively and warm, to eat the New Year's Eve dinner.

Unfortunately, from the moment Zhu Zihao's first phone call came in, Sun Ning hadn't been able to eat this meal in peace.

After hanging up on Zhu Zihao, Sun Ning felt a wave of happiness.

He hadn't expected that the first subordinate to wish him a Happy New Year would be him.

Receiving a New Year's greeting call in front of his family satisfied his vanity immensely.

Only in this way did he feel he was successful, making his family proud of him.

People say that in the first thirty years of life, one is respected because of their father, and in the last thirty years, one's father is respected because of their child.

In his previous life, he had been a failure.

In this life, he didn't want his parents to worry about him.

He also wanted his father to be able to walk with his head held high in the center of the village.

While feeling secretly pleased, Sun Ning also felt he should make some New Year's greeting calls to others.

After all, everyone has vanity, and by wishing them a Happy New Year earlier, he could be among the first!

Thinking of this, Sun Ning dialed Secretary Xue Hongtao's number.

From the bottom of his heart, Secretary Xue Hongtao was definitely the most important person to Sun Ning since he returned to Heyang.

He was also the person he respected the most since coming to Heyang.

For the next two hours, Sun Ning's phone didn't stop ringing.

There were calls others made to him, and calls he made to others.

It wasn't until the phone pressed against his ear became hot that he finally finished.

And the way his family looked at him with pride made Sun Ning feel that those two hours of calls were worth it.

This New Year's Eve dinner officially started two hours later.

That night, firecrackers blared outside, and fireworks were dazzling.

That night, the family gathered in the room, happy and harmonious.

From the first to the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Sun Ning spent a few days like a lazy bum.

During these few days, there were no work interruptions or worries.

As long as he was home, his wandering heart finally found a place to rest.

Early on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, he headed to Zhongzhou under the reluctant gazes of his family.

The truth was, the fellow apprentices gathered every year, and it wouldn't be good for him to be absent.

The fellow apprentices paid their respects to Elder Shang every year, and it was usually on the evening of the fifth day.

They would wrap dumplings and eat together at Teacher's house.

Sun Ning had come from Heyang; having traveled dusty and tired, he managed to arrive by the afternoon.

It was Shang Rou who came to pick him up at the airport; as long as Sun Ning came to the capital, Shang Rou would always come to pick him up in person.

This had been going on for many years.

After getting into the car, Sun Ning bit down hard on Shang Rou's lips.

He felt that if he didn't act, he couldn't vent the anger in his heart.

You have to know that he had spent a few carefree and happy days at home, and he had to get up early this morning to catch the flight.

It was all her fault for not explaining clearly, making him run back and forth between Heyang and the capital during this holiday.

Shang Rou had just driven Sun Ning into the courtyard of the residential compound.

Shang Ningyong's tall figure caught Sun Ning's eye, and the girl Shang Rou subconsciously pulled on Sun Ning's arm when she saw him.

Sun Ning also felt his scalp tingle when he saw Shang Ningyong.

As the youngest daughter, Shang Rou feared nothing in heaven or earth, except for Shang Ningyong.

For no other reason!

When they were young, only Shang Ningyong would actually hit her!

Later, Shang Ningyong even joined the military.

The main purpose of that unit was to deploy in the Southeast.

Therefore, the training was very strict, and Shang Ningyong, who was already big and tall, became even tougher.

Now, Shang Rou knew she had made a mistake, and she felt nervous whenever she saw Shang Ningyong, which explained her earlier behavior.

And the reason Sun Ning's scalp was tingling was that he already had a premonition that he was going to get beaten up.

Of course, it wasn't just a simple beating; usually, when the two of them sparred, it was Shang Ningyong who took the beating.

Today, since he was in the wrong, the possibility of Sun Ning getting beaten was very high.

Sure enough, as Sun Ning walked into the courtyard trembling, a gust of wind from a punch struck out.

Sun Ning subconsciously tilted his head.

He dodged backward.

But Shang Ningyong didn't intend to let it go.

He followed up with a high kick.

Sun Ning understood that he couldn't avoid this fight, so he stepped up to meet it.

Half an hour later, two men with bruised faces and swollen eyes appeared in the Shang family's living room.

Elder Shang sat on the sofa, watching the two men with black and blue marks, and was so angry he laughed!

He scolded them furiously: "Trash! You can't even beat a scholar? Have you been eating for free for these decades?"

Then he looked at Sun Ning and snorted coldly: "You, a scholar, fighting and killing all day long—what kind of decorum is that!"

Well, it seemed the old man was still not in a good mood.