Chapter 8: New Year’s Visits
“Where do you want to go?” Huai Dan asked the child holding a bag with a dog in the back seat after fastening his seatbelt.
The car started, and the car’s heater slowly began to work, gradually dispelling the chill.
Luo Jing shivered while holding the dog, one hand hovering near the air vent for warmth, looking quite cold.
“…” Huai Dan looked at him speechlessly, not understanding why, on such a cold day, and being someone so afraid of the cold, Luo Jing insisted on coming out to torture himself.
He sighed, “Why don’t we just go back?”
“N-no…” Luo Jing replied, his voice trembling. “I’ll get moldy staying at home.”
“Would becoming an ice sculpture be any better than getting moldy?”
“A little better.” Luo Jing recovered slightly and took out his phone to send a message to Wu Li.
AAA.Homework Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [So bored, what are you doing?]
Wu Li also seemed bored and replied almost instantly: [Home alone, they went out to pay New Year’s visits, I didn’t want to go]
Wu Li: [Play games?]
AAA.Homework Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [No]
Wu Li: [?]
AAA.Homework Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [Just asking]
Wu Li: […]
Luo Jing interpreted the six dots as “get lost.”
Putting away his phone, Luo Jing said seriously, “Brother, I know where to go.”
Huai Dan followed the location Luo Jing sent him and turned on the navigation. The mechanical female voice sounded in the car: “Ready to depart, the total distance is 24 kilometers, estimated travel time is 34 minutes.”
Plastic Bag seemed fascinated by the sudden female voice. After she finished speaking, it barked a few times, its furry head looking left and right, as if searching for the source of the sound.
The destination Luo Jing set was a residential complex. A half-hour drive wasn’t too far or too close. Perhaps because it was New Year’s, there weren’t many cars on the road. While driving, Huai Dan glanced at the navigation and asked, “Who are you going to see?”
“Wu Li, the guy who played games with us last night.” Luo Jing stroked Plastic Bag’s head. “He’s home alone now. I’m going to give him a surprise.”
“…” Huai Dan was silent for a moment, then commented, “You’re very good at giving people surprises.”
Due to the smooth traffic, they arrived at their destination in less than half an hour. The complex was located on a tree-lined avenue, with a small convenience store at the corner that Luo Jing and Wu Li frequented when they were younger.
A sudden thought struck him: “Shouldn’t we buy something for a New Year’s visit?”
Huai Dan felt this New Year’s visit was rather abstract, and he had the ominous premonition of being dragged onto a pirate ship.
Following Luo Jing’s gaze and seeing the convenience store, Huai Dan silently parked the car under a tree across the street and said to Luo Jing, “Let’s go.”
Luo Jing mentally prepared himself and pushed open the car door. Just then, a gust of wind blew, and he almost recoiled.
Overcoming numerous difficulties, he got out of the car, feeling almost moved by his own perseverance.
After taking Plastic Bag out as well, Luo Jing closed the car door, and Huai Dan walked over to him.
Plastic Bag barked, its front paws scratching at the carrier bag, making a pattering sound.
“Do you want to come out?” Luo Jing asked Plastic Bag, seeing this, then subconsciously looked at Huai Dan.
The puppy couldn’t answer, so Huai Dan relayed the message: “Try putting it down.”
Luo Jing put the bag on the ground and opened the flap, signaling Plastic Bag to come out.
Plastic Bag looked around, tentatively sticking half its body out, but then thought of something and retreated, looking at Luo Jing with its dark eyes.
For some reason, it looked a little pitiful.
Oblivious, Luo Jing took out a leash from the side of the bag: “Let me see how this works…”
The leash was a harness type, which wouldn’t be too tight on the pet while also keeping it warm. Luo Jing squatted down, studied it, and then tentatively put Plastic Bag’s paw through it.
To his surprise, the expected struggle didn’t happen. Plastic Bag cooperated throughout, and Luo Jing even sensed a kind of eagerness from it.
It looked as if, if it had hands, it would have put the harness on itself.
Once in the harness, Plastic Bag was happy.
It seemed to like the snow, frolicking in the snowdrifts by the roadside grass, led by Luo Jing.
“Why doesn’t Plastic Bag hate the leash?” Luo Jing looked at the puppy, finding it strange. “It seems to like it.”
“Maybe it’s afraid you’ll leave it,” Huai Dan replied, a hint of laughter in his voice. “Don’t let it walk for too long, its leg hasn’t healed yet.”
“I know, just for a little while…”
Before he could finish, a small figure suddenly darted out of the convenience store, heading straight towards them.
Because it was moving so quickly, Luo Jing only reacted when it rushed between them.
It was a beautiful tabby cat, its fur sleek and shiny, clearly well-cared for.
It ran from afar, with the air of someone fleeing for their life.
The tabby cat ran blindly all the way to Plastic Bag, but because it kept looking back while running, it didn’t see the road ahead and bumped into the car wheel, cushioned only slightly by Luo Jing’s shoe.
There was a thud, which sounded painful.
The tabby cat was visibly dazed, but after a moment, it turned to Plastic Bag and suddenly swiped at it with its paw.
Plastic Bag: “???”
Because of the harness, Plastic Bag couldn’t retaliate effectively—in fact, even without the harness and with healthy limbs, Plastic Bag might not be a match for this tabby. It was simply too fierce.
Plastic Bag looked helplessly at its owner. Luo Jing froze, then quickly squatted down and grabbed the tabby cat by the scruff of its neck while it was off guard.
Held by the scruff of its neck, the tabby cat’s limbs flailed uselessly. Now it was the one looking helpless, but more than helpless, it looked defiant and unwilling to submit.
“Woof, woof, woof!” Seeing the perpetrator apprehended, Plastic Bag regained its momentum, barking at the tabby cat with its head held high.
Luo Jing also looked at the tabby cat, shaking it, and threatened, “This is a society ruled by law, how can you hit a… dog?”
“Hey, you caught it, student, don’t let go!” An adult male voice sounded from not far away. Luo Jing, still holding the cat, turned around and saw the convenience store owner.
“Is this yours, Uncle?” They were somewhat familiar. Walking closer, Luo Jing stood up, holding the cat, and handed it over, complaining, “It’s very fierce, it just hit our dog.”
“Not yet.” The convenience store owner completed the scruff-of-the-neck handover ritual with Luo Jing. “This cat is so ungrateful. I saw it wandering around here before, felt sorry for it, and often gave it some food. I even cooked it a fish two days ago.”
“And guess what? The next time it came, it started stealing food from my store!” The convenience store owner became more and more indignant as he spoke. “Those vacuum-packed chicken legs, it secretly ate seven! The floor was covered with bones, crumbs, and plastic bag fragments!”
Hearing what sounded like its name, Plastic Bag barked in response.
“So this time, I’m going to detain it.” The owner said, looking at the tabby cat in his hand. “But I have to say, since it came, there have been fewer rats in my store… Thank you for catching it for me.”
Luo Jing found this a bit funny.
“But why are you here today… It’s been a while, you’ve grown so much. Are you here to play with Wu Li?” After venting, the convenience store owner calmed down considerably and started chatting with Luo Jing. “Who is this?”
“Yes, I’m here to give him a New Year’s greeting,” Luo Jing replied. “This is the brother who’s spending New Year’s at my house this year.”
“Oh.” The convenience store owner praised, “He’s a good young man.”
Huai Dan thanked him politely.
Luo Jing glanced at the time and said generously to the convenience store owner, “Boss, give me a sheet of Ultraman stickers.”
Huai Dan: “…”
The convenience store owner was stunned, then chuckled, “You still play with these at your age?”
“It’s not for me,” Luo Jing said. “It’s a New Year’s gift for Wu Li. His childhood dream was to have a whole sheet of them.”
The convenience store owner, still holding the cat, said, “Alright, I’ll give you a discount.”
Huai Dan carried the now-empty pet carrier bag. Luo Jing, holding Plastic Bag’s leash in one hand and the newly purchased New Year’s gifts in the other, expertly signed the visitor log at the entrance of the complex, walked straight in, and familiarly rang the doorbell at Wu Li’s door.
Wu Li was completely dumbfounded when he opened the door. Seeing Luo Jing and another handsome guy through the peephole, he even wondered if he was still dreaming.
The door opened, revealing Wu Li wearing a rather complex, dark green floral padded jacket, his face a mixture of confusion and bewilderment, as if asking who they were, where they came from, and why they were here.
“Surprise!” Luo Jing greeted first, his voice brimming with the joy of some unknown but successful mischief.
Wu Li looked exasperated, a curse about to escape his lips: “You have…”
Luo Jing quickly slapped the sheet of Ultraman stickers onto his face and said cheerfully, “Happy New Year.”
Wu Li, holding the sheet of Ultraman stickers, grumbled as he led them inside.
“Actually, I came to show you Plastic Bag,” Luo Jing said, picking up the puppy, whose daily steps had been met, and showing it to Wu Li.
“Woof!” Held by its owner, the puppy wagged its short tail and barked obligingly.
Wu Li thought his childhood friend was a bit crazy, coming all this way just to show him a dog.
“Where’s your Xiao Hua?” Luo Jing asked, looking around and not seeing the calico cat Wu Li had.
“Xiao Hua!” Wu Li called out. Soon, a calico cat sauntered out of a room.
Plastic Bag and Xiao Hua hit it off instantly, playing well together. Wu Li led the two to the sofa, poured them some water, and watched the two play on the floor: “Sigh, Xiao Hua is pregnant recently, I don’t know which stray cat did it.”
Visiting a friend’s house, apart from giving him a fright, wasn’t much different from being at his own home. Sitting on the sofa, Luo Jing planned to organize some exciting three-person offline games.
Opening the game, he said, “You might be able to find the father of the kittens at the convenience store downstairs.”
