The next day—
It was noon when Qiu Xi finished packing her things and prepared to head to the airport.
"Aunt Chu, I'll be leaving now. See you after the New Year."
"Alright," Chu Sheng nodded, looking at the young girl before her.
"Nan Hua, drive carefully and be safe."
She couldn't forget to remind her son, who was driving.
"Ms. Chu, it's getting late, so we'll be heading off now."
"Go ahead."
With that, the two of them departed.
...
"Xi Xi, call me when you get home."
"I know, you've already said it a dozen times," Qiu Xi chuckled.
"Mm."
Before leaving, Nan Hua reached out for a hug.
"Goodbye."
"Okay~"
...
In the afternoon—
"Little Ge, why are you here?"
Qiu Xi was surprised to see Qiu Ge when she came out.
Out of everyone in the family, it was her younger brother who came to pick her up today.
"It's all because of Dad. He heard you were back and insisted on preparing a big feast for you," Qiu Ge mumbled as soon as he opened his mouth.
"...If you weren't coming back, I probably wouldn't have the honor of being welcomed like this!"
"And this grand feast, why didn't I get such good treatment when I came back a while ago?"
"Even though I'm the eldest young master of our family, why is there such a big difference compared to you, the eldest young lady?"
Qiu Xi, "..."
"Little Ge, the way you're acting makes me a little... worried about your mental state!"
Qiu Xi looked at her silly brother, who had been chattering non-stop all the way, her eyes shifting with genuine concern.
"..." Qiu Ge rolled his eyes at his sister.
"Isn't my family status and mental state perfectly normal?" he shot back.
"Besides, look at Dad's doting eyes. Only Mom can manage him..."
"Not to mention the elders at home, who nag constantly..."
Qiu Xi also wore a look of... helplessness.
She just reached out and gently patted his arm, "Brother, you... have worked hard!"
"..."
"Oh, come on!" Qiu Ge grumbled while driving.
"Buckle up, let's hurry back. Thinking about all the dishes at home today, I can't help but drool~"
As he said that, Qiu Ge swallowed his saliva before anyone else could.
"Let's go, let's go!"
"Dad started preparing early this morning, he went to the wet market and bought so many things..."
Qiu Xi, "..."
This cheerful, almost shameless expression.
It seemed... she didn't need to comfort him that much.
This person was quite happy.
"Alright, let's get back quickly. I want to see what delicious food has made you chatter all the way."
It was only a short while, but Qiu Xi observed her silly brother... Hmm!
Very good!
No different from before.
"Almost there!" Qiu Ge said.
"Remind me when we're close to home, Dad asked me to bring back some drinks."
"Okay, I'll remind you when we get there."
"Alright."
They chatted all the way, finally arriving home with the items.
"Grandma, Grandpa, Master... I'm back~"
As soon as she entered the door and saw the elders, Qiu Xi excitedly went forward for a gentle hug.
"Little Xi, it's good that you're back, it's good that you're back~"
"Hurry and tidy up a bit, your father will be serving dinner soon."
"Okay~" Qiu Xi nodded with a smile.
However, she didn't leave immediately after speaking. Instead, she opened her suitcase and took out the gifts that Chu Sheng had prepared.
After rummaging through it, only a small travel bag for Qiu Xi herself remained in the suitcase.
Very light!
"Grandma, I'll leave these here for now and tidy them up later."
"Okay, okay, you go tidy up, just leave the food here," Grandma Qiu replied with a眯起眼睛 smile.
"Mm." Qiu Xi nodded.
Half an hour later—
"Little Xi, come quickly!"
It was the excited and joyful voice of Father Qiu.
"Dad~"
"Come, come, come, Dad has been preparing all day, sit down quickly."
After not seeing his daughter for more than half a year, Father Qiu missed her.
"Coming~"
After sitting down, Qiu Xi finally saw the lavish spread of dishes.
Very abundant!
Normally, five dishes were the most for their family, but now there was a table full, about ten dishes.
"Dad, you're the best!" Qiu Xi gave her father a thumbs-up.
"Try them, most of them are your favorites," Father Qiu said cheerfully.
If asked why not all of them...
Well, some were what his wife liked, and some were ordered after asking the elders...
As for his son...
His son wasn't a picky eater, the entire table was full of his favorites!
"Okay~ Thank you, Dad." Qiu Xi smiled and nodded, replying as she ate.
Qiu Ge, sitting nearby, didn't say a word, only focused on eating.
"Mmm!"
Really good!
This is delicious, and this is also delicious!
By the end of the meal, Qiu Ge was completely satisfied.
"Dad!"
"Your cooking is really good!" He even smiled and praised his biased but adorable father.
Ever since his father specifically learned to cook, his dietary standards had reached a new level!
Eating out was not as good as eating his dad's cooking at home.
No money spent and still enjoying it!
"You brat, you sure ate happily," Father Qiu glanced at his biological son. "Come here quickly and help clear the dishes."
"Got it~"
After eating his fill, this bit of work was quite easy.
While father and son were busy with the aftermath, the mother and daughter, along with the elders, were examining the gifts Qiu Xi brought back.
"Mom, Aunt Chu asked me to give this to you. You can look at it yourself."
"And this one too..."
"Right! Grandpa, Grandma, these are from Ah Hua for you, and some supplements from Aunt Chu..."
"Finally, this big pile is from Aunt Chu and Grandpa Nan, specially for Master and Grandma Li."
Qiu Xi sat there and sorted through everything, talking a lot before finally distributing the items.
"Look at how much they went through for us, it's truly too much effort!"
"No!"
"Little Xi, when you go back to school, we'll have to bring a whole pile of return gifts."
"Mom, this... how about we bring it when you go over later?"
"After all, I'll need to prepare gifts for myself when I go over too," Qiu Xi subtly advised her mother.
Mother Qiu thought for a moment, "That works too!"
It's not like she wasn't going over. Although it would be a few days later, it was normal.
"Mm." Qiu Xi nodded in agreement.
...