Chapter One: Daily Life Before the New Year

"Hey, Mom! I’m coming home this year! But I’ll be a bit late, there’s an urgent deadline here!" Nan Nan said, turning on the speakerphone as she connected her laptop cables.

"I don’t care if you come home early or late, but if you don’t bring a boyfriend again this year, you might as well not come back at all!" The voice on the other end was blunt and unmistakably that of her own mother.

"I told you, he has to go home for the New Year, too." Nan Nan wiped her face, shoved the CPU under the desk, and pressed the power button.

"I don’t buy it! Stop trying to fool me with those doctored photos from Meitu!" her mother retorted.

"It’s true! Lei Tian, say something!" Nan Nan moved the phone in front of the young man next to her.

"Auntie, I really am going home for New Year’s this time, don’t worry. Next year, I’ll definitely visit you with Nan Nan," Lei Tian replied promptly, already seated at the computer, waiting for it to boot. As the phone was passed over, he immediately spoke up.

Beep. The call was abruptly ended.

"Were your previous roommates all scared off by you? You’re not unattractive, you know—just look at that face, that figure!" Lei Tian glanced over at Nan Nan.

"Get lost! If you want to say I look young, just say so! Anyway, I’ll fix your computer, and you pretend to be my boyfriend for a bit. My mom will definitely video call later, so do a good job and I’ll buy you instant noodles for dinner!"

"Seriously? That’s all you’re offering…" Lei Tian hadn’t finished complaining before Nan Nan’s WeChat began to ring with a video call.

"Mom!" Nan Nan picked up with an exasperated face. "What do you want?"

"What do I want? I want to see you!" Her mother’s face appeared on the screen, makeup carefully done, wearing a look even more disgruntled than Nan Nan’s.

"Wow, nice makeup today. Off to meet some old man?"

"Oh, your mom’s fine, she’s out every day for square dancing in this freezing weather!" came a hearty male voice from the phone.

"If you’re so worried, why don’t you come with me?" Nan Nan’s mom shot her dad a glare.

"I’m not worried! You go ahead and dance, I’ll stay home and watch TV," her father replied, waving his hand.

"Alright, enough deflecting. You know why I’m video calling," her mother said, holding the phone farther away so her face appeared smaller on screen.

Nan Nan switched the camera, aiming it at Lei Tian, who was sitting at the computer desk. "This is Lei Tian. See?"

"Hello, Auntie. My name is Lei Tian…" Lei Tian waved from his chair, dressed in a white shirt and black-rimmed glasses—the current ideal look for young men.

"Hello, hello! So you’re Lei Tian? Handsome guy. Nan Nan, this is where Lei Tian lives?" her mom asked.

"Yeah," Nan Nan replied, switching the camera back to herself. "Why?"

"Come on, turn the phone around slowly."

Puzzled, Nan Nan spun around with her phone. "What for?"

The video call ended abruptly.

"Wow, new tactics?" Nan Nan muttered to herself, staring at her phone.

"All done?" Lei Tian looked pleased. "Easy job! I was worried your mom would ask questions I couldn’t answer!"

Just as Nan Nan was feeling confused, a text message popped up on WeChat.

"This boy is not bad. The place is so clean—definitely not your handiwork! Men like this are hard to find these days!"

"Mom, he’s a Virgo, he loves cleanliness! Didn’t you see he buys disinfectant in bulk? He even wears a mask when he goes out…" Nan Nan replied, adding two exasperated emojis.

"Alright, go on and dance!" she sent another voice message.

"By the way, I read somewhere there’s a virus in your area?" her mom replied with a voice message.

"Virus? Do you know anything about that?" Nan Nan’s WeChat was on speaker, so she directly asked Lei Tian, who was gearing up for a game.

"Virus? Oh, there was a news article today—it’s been debunked. Some doctor claimed there was SARS here, got reported and fined…"

"Oh…" Nan Nan nodded and texted back, "Mom, it’s a rumor, not true. Don’t believe everything you hear!"

"Alright, I’m off to dance," her mom replied.

"Don’t take this lightly. Tell her to come home early this year!" her dad said to her mom, overhearing the voice messages.

"So, did the hospital hear about this?" her mom asked in surprise.

"No, but if a doctor said it, better safe than sorry. We don’t joke about these things," her father replied.

"You’re just a male head nurse, and you dare call yourself a doctor? If I hadn’t been foolish back then and married you just because you worked in a hospital, I’d be embarrassed to admit you’re a nurse now!" her mom scoffed. Nurses earned less and worked harder, but because male nurses were rare, Old Zhao’s benefits were better than most doctors’. That was why he could now stay home watching TV and drinking tea.

"Hmph," Old Zhao snorted, not bothering to argue. Whenever this topic came up, it would go on endlessly. He used to argue for the importance of male nurses and how changing patients’ beds was hard work, but now he simply replied with a haughty snort.

Her mom didn’t want to bicker either—she had dancing to do! Although they nearly quarreled, she still sent her husband’s warning to Nan Nan, telling her to come home early.

Nan Nan glanced at the message, not taking it to heart. After all, the parents’ social circles were always full of health and wellness rumors.

After a brief word with Lei Tian, Nan Nan returned to her room. The two-bedroom apartment they shared was just a rental, and they generally only exchanged greetings. Lei Tian had only moved in less than a month ago after the last tenant left, and had been roped into this charade by Nan Nan, unable to refuse.

Looking at her messy bedroom, Nan Nan scratched her head. She really didn’t seem much like a woman. Because she’d been short since childhood, her family had worried about her being bullied and had enrolled her in taekwondo and kickboxing instead of dance. By high school, boys stopped seeing her as a girl. She glanced at herself in the full-length mirror, then looked down—she really didn’t seem feminine at all.

If only she had a good voice, she could be an internet celebrity like the neighbor, instead of toiling away writing novels nobody read!

Picking up her phone, she opened WeChat to book tickets. Didn’t the ads say booking flights and trains on WeChat was the way to go?

She booked a ticket for the morning of January 23rd, just in time to get home for New Year’s Eve dinner. But thinking about facing all the aunts pressuring her to get married, she almost wished she could skip the holiday altogether, even if it meant lying around here for days. Her manuscript drafts were nearly done, so she didn’t need to research anything for a while; she could finally get some rest, buy some New Year’s goods, and prepare for the coming family battle!