Chapter 93
Song Anan looked at Song Linchuan's back and sighed silently.
Regarding her relationship with Pei Kuang, she was afraid that he would disagree before, so she wanted to bring it up slowly and gradually. It seems it's time to put it on the agenda now.
Hiding like this is not the solution. Just like just now, they were almost exposed.
Why not just do it tonight? After going back home, when it's just her and Song Linchuan, she can have a good talk with him.
Song Anan had it all planned out. She could first tell Song Linchuan that she started dating, then after he has some time to mentally prepare, tell him a couple days later that the person is Pei Kuang.
She hopes to get this done during the Spring Festival break.
With everyone gathered, the kitchen also officially got busy as Pei Kuang, being the head chef for this New Year's Eve dinner, bears heavy responsibility.
Under Pei Kuang's verbal guidance, Song Linchuan also personally cooked two dishes. The taste is yet to be determined, but the presentation looks decent.
Seeing this, Song Anan felt a little itchy to give it a try, but fortunately she was self-aware enough not to make the request.
Mainly because she didn't want to stir up trouble on New Year's Eve. That would be inauspicious.
Before long, a table full of New Year's Eve dinner was ready.
There was fish, chicken, meat, very festive.
Seeing the juice on the table, Song Linchuan was instantly unhappy. "Drinking juice on New Year's Eve? Pei Kuang, bring out your best wine."
Pei Kuang reflexively looked at Song Anan, "Is it ok to drink?"
Song Linchuan also looked over expectantly.
Song Anan: "..."
What are they doing? She didn't say no to drinking.
"Then drink a little." She said.
Having obtained approval, Song Linchuan immediately trotted to the wine cabinet to take out wine, "No, I have to pick a good one, an expensive one, make Pei Kuang feel heartache."
Pei Kuang smiled and replied, "Pick whichever you like, I guarantee I won't feel heartache."
After saying that, he looked down at Song Anan, eyes full of teasing, "Are you going to drink some too?"
Song Anan knew he was making fun of her being a lightweight. She glared at him and retorted with great backbone, "I'm not drinking!"
This was the first time the three of them celebrated Spring Festival together. Before officially starting the meal, they clinked glasses and happily started on this sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner.
There were lights on in every household outside the window, and warmth filled the room.
After the New Year's Eve dinner, Pei Kuang prepared to make dumplings according to local customs, so they could eat them in the morning tomorrow.
Instead of going to the kitchen, they brought everything to the living room and made dumplings while watching the Spring Festival Gala on TV.
Both Song Linchuan and Pei Kuang had been on the Spring Festival Gala before, and they took turns sharing funny stories from their experiences. Song Anan listened with great interest.
In between, Song Linchuan and Pei Kuang both posted on Weibo respectively.
@Song Linchuan: Happy New Year's Eve everyone.
The photo was of a table full of New Year's Eve dinner, with three pairs of chopsticks.
@Pei Kuang: Happy New Year's Eve!
The photo was of the three of them making dumplings. No faces were shown, only three rows of dumplings that looked distinctly made by three different people.
The two's posts were made almost back to back. Fans saw them and were a little surprised.
Song Linchuan's side was still ok. He would often post on Weibo during holidays, especially when together with Song Anan. He didn't mind sharing his life.
But Pei Kuang was different. He rarely updated social media during holidays, and was not often seen posting on Weibo normally either. So his fans were quite surprised this time.
[Oh, did they have New Year's Eve dinner together?]
[They must have. Look at the table in Song Linchuan's photo, it's clearly the same as the one in Pei Kuang's dumpling photo.]
[Ahhhhh my brother and auntie spent the holiday together, so happy!]
[Wuwuwuwuwu, I knew the ship I supported was real! Go SongAn X PeiKuang!]
[Whoa! Just a passerby here. Seeing Pei Kuang and Song Linchuan's posts, if I didn't know better I'd have thought they were announcing their relationship.]
[Hahahaha laughing to death here. You're right though, it does kinda look like that.]
[I'm a Pei Kuang fan. To be honest, before I didn't know about his family background so I didn't think much of it. But after everything that happened this year, seeing Pei Kuang's post makes my heart ache a little.]
[I know, it's great that he has people to accompany him on a family holiday like this.]
[Sometimes I really feel like it'd be so great if Pei Kuang and auntie were really together.]
[Auntie is so amazing, I'd fully support it no matter what.]
[Who wouldn't support it? I still remember when Pei Kuang's mother was slandering him, auntie was the first to speak up for him. Thinking back now still makes me want to cry.]
[Having someone who loves him, I'm willing to support him dating. If that person is auntie, then I really have no regrets.]
[I'm a Song Linchuan fan. I don't agree with this. Then wouldn't my brother have to call Pei Kuang uncle?]
[Hahahaha true, I'm a Pei Kuang fan and I'd be totally happy with that!]
...
After the dumplings were made, they went into the fridge. Their tasks were all done for the night.
Song Anan and Song Linchuan were in no hurry to leave either, since they had agreed to stay up late together.
The three of them sat side by side on the sofa, occasionally picking up their phones to reply to messages, or send New Year blessings to friends.
Finally it was almost midnight. The hosts on TV counted down to the new year, and the three of them instinctively stood up as well.
Five, four, three, two, one...
Right as the countdown ended here, Song Linchuan turned towards Song Anan with open arms, "Auntie, happy New Year, give me the red envelope!"
Apparently Song Anan was prepared. She took out two red envelopes from her bag and handed one each to Song Linchuan and Pei Kuang.
"Happy New Year, wishing you great fortune and profits!"
Song Linchuan received his aunt's red envelope every year as a matter of course.
But Pei Kuang hesitated when faced with the red envelope in front of him, "Umm, I'll pass, thanks."
Song Linchuan glanced at him, "Don't be shy, every year my aunt prepares red envelopes for the younger generation in the family. Take it, you count as a nephew too."
Pei Kuang: "..."
That makes it even harder to accept.
He didn't want to have a generational difference with his girlfriend.
Seeing this, Song Anan quickly explained, "It's fine, take it. Peers can still give each other red envelopes during New Year, just for good fortune."
Since she put it that way, Pei Kuang no longer had a reason to refuse. He accepted the red envelope with a smile, and said he didn't prepare any for them this year but will definitely remember next year.
After midnight passed, staying up was done. Song Anan and Song Linchuan should head back too.
Song Linchuan had just taken two steps when he suddenly lost balance and swayed.
Song Anan quickly supported him, "Linchuan, are you alright?"
Pei Kuang also said, "Is it the wine? That red wine has quite the after effect. Let me take you back."
In fact, Song Linchuan didn't drink that much during dinner. But he did have a few more drinks just now. It's New Year's after all, so Song Anan didn't stop him when she saw.
Most importantly, she noticed Song Linchuan seemed a little down, so she let him be.
Song Linchuan steadied himself and replied, "I'm fine, just walked a bit fast just now."
Then he waved Pei Kuang off, "No need to take us back. It's just a short walk, it'd be annoying to keep going back and forth."
Song Anan chimed in, "And I'm here too. No need to bother this late into the night."
Seeing them insist, Pei Kuang had no choice but to send them to the elevator entrance, watching as they went down before turning back home.
Back in the living room again, Pei Kuang looked at the red envelope on the table, the fu characters on the wall and cabinet, suddenly feeling an indescribable emotion.
The new year really is great.
Although Song Linchuan said he was fine, Song Anan still insisted on supporting him.
The aunt and nephew walked out of the apartment building. At some point, snowflakes started floating down from the sky again.
The weather report said there would be sporadic snow before and after Spring Festival these few days, though not heavy.
The small district was very quiet late at night. There was only Song Anan and Song Linchuan on the road. They stepped on a thin layer of snow with crunching sounds.
Under the dim streetlights, the two walked silently. Song Anan could feel Song Linchuan was not in a good mood. She roughly guessed the reason.
Because just now at Pei Kuang's place, she inadvertently saw the content of the message Song Linchuan sent.
Song Linchuan was clearly a little tipsy. When the two were close to their apartment building, he suddenly spoke up, "Auntie, I feel unwell."
Song Anan yelped in surprise and hurried to check on him, “Are you feeling nauseous?”
Song Linchuan shook his head and said, “I’m heartbroken.”
Song Anan immediately understood what he meant. She paused for a moment before asking, “What’s wrong?”
Song Linchuan was silent for a few seconds before suddenly blurting out angrily, “Damn love, it’s all lies and not sweet at all!”
He was clearly tipsy now. Gripping Song Anan's hand, he continued to vent, “Auntie, it’s good that I have you with me. Let's not fall in love with anyone, who cares about this goddamn love... us Song family folks won't bother with it...”
That night, Song Anan just stayed with Song Linchuan, listening as he finally poured out everything that had been pent up in his heart.
His feelings for someone, his unrequited love in romance... he told her everything.
Song Anan understood that feeling of unrequited love better than anyone, and she knew how badly Song Linchuan was hurting inside.
So she had to abandon her earlier decision to confess to Song Linchuan about her and Pei Kuang. He already had enough on his plate, and she didn’t want to add to his troubles with her business. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝔀𝓮𝘣𝘯𝘰𝘷𝑒𝓵.𝒸𝑜𝘮
I'll wait a little longer, Song Anan thought. At least until Song Linchuan gets over this phase.
On the third day of the lunar new year, Song Linchuan returned to the drama set. Pei Kuang left a little later, on the fifth. Once back on set, they resumed their busy schedules.
Days passed one by one.
The seasons changed from winter to spring.
Song Anan's internship at the hospital was coming to an end. According to the school's arrangements, their focus starting in the second half of year six would shift towards research training.
In mid-April, Song Anan and her cohort temporarily ended their internships at the hospital and returned to school once more.
Cheng Ke and Cai Xiaodi were finally coming back from the international department too. The four roommates would finally be reunited after being apart for almost two years.
That day, Song Anan suddenly received a call from her advisor Professor Jing Wenjin asking her to come over.
When she arrived at the dean’s office, Song Anan knocked and entered.
“Professor, did you need me for something?”
Jing Wenjin pointed to the seat across from him and said, “Have a seat, let’s talk.”
Song Anan nodded lightly and sat down.
Seeing his beloved student, Jing Wenjin smiled warmly, “Anan, your internship is over now too. Are you interested in any research projects?”
As Jing Wenjin’s PhD student, research projects were generally arranged by him.
Of course, if there were projects in the professor’s hands that students were interested in, they could also actively seek them out.
She thought for a moment before asking, “Do you have any suggestions, Professor?”
Jing Wenjin seemed to be waiting for this question. He smiled and pulled a folder from the side, handing it over.
“Take a look at this first. I happen to have a project that I'm collaborating on with the Cleveland Clinic in Country M. If you don't have any issues, I'd like to send you there to do research.”
The Cleveland Clinic was one of the top laboratories in the world, and a globally renowned center of excellence for cardiac medicine. This was every medical student’s dream.
Although B University Medical School was the leader of medical schools nationwide, and naturally had top-notch research projects, opportunities like this were hard to come by.
As a professor at their school of medicine and dean of the B University Hospital, Jing Wenjin was able to have access to projects like these.
Song Anan was excited but also apprehensive. “Professor, am I qualified?”
Seeing her silly expression, Jing Wenjin couldn't help but shake his head. His beloved student seemed to never realize just how outstanding she was.
He joked, “Have more confidence. If you're not qualified, I really don't know who is.”
Song Anan scratched her head shyly.
Jing Wenjin replied, “Mid-June at the latest.”
Song Anan was stunned. That soon?
Since becoming his student, she had always mentally prepared herself to go abroad, but didn’t expect it to happen this quickly. She had assumed it would be in her final year.
Like many senior students before her who went for a year of exchange in year eight, and would choose to stay for postdoc if they wanted to continue being overseas.
Yet she was going to be abroad for over two years this time, and to such a prestigious lab too. This was unprecedented.
In fact, Jing Wenjin had planned this from the beginning. Song Anan was a rare talent, and he naturally wanted to nurture her.
That’s why when he had Song Anan participate in that intern reality show, he mentioned having other plans for her. This was what he was referring to.
Jing Wenjin joked casually, “It’s settled then. You’re not even dating anyone, going abroad for two years won’t have any strings attached.”
With that, he shooed her out, “I’ll send the materials you need to prepare to your email later. Just get ready in advance.”
After Song Anan dazedly left, she reacted belatedly to what he said.
That’s right, she was in a relationship!
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