Mabel Quinn sighed; perhaps some things can truly never be understood by those outside the situation.
"Alice, be kinder to yourself." It’s all she could advise.
"Mm, I know," Alice Conley replied with a smile.
In the evening, Mabel Quinn mentioned the New Year to Kyle Kinston, "Are you planning to go back to Falling City for the New Year this year?" she asked.
"What, already thinking about how to spend the New Year?" he replied, "Do you want to spend it in Falling City or J City? However..."
His voice trailed off, as if he had something difficult to express.
"However, what?" she probed.
"However, no matter where we spend the New Year, it might just be you and me," Kyle Kinston said.
Mabel Quinn was taken aback. Yes, their New Year might indeed be just the two of them, without the scene of a whole family gathered around a table full of New Year’s Eve dinner.
Yet she still looked forward to the New Year with just the two of them. In the past, although she celebrated with her mother and older brother, her mother would always skimp on smiles for her, only showing concern for her brother. After the New Year’s Eve dinner, her mother would always go out with her brother to set off fireworks or sit together in the living room watching the Spring Festival Gala. Meanwhile, she could only hide alone in her room.
Once, she had gathered the courage to join her mother and brother for the Spring Festival Gala, but her mother just coldly looked at her and said, "You should go back to your room. Seeing you in the living room ruins my mood for watching the show!"
Ruins her mood? As if her mere presence could sour her mother’s mood. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on noⅴelfire.net
Sometimes, she really wanted to ask her mother, why exactly, when she gave birth to her, she wouldn’t give her a bit of love. Was it truly because of the preference for sons over daughters? Because she was a daughter while her brother was a son?
"Then let’s just spend the New Year together, and I’ll prepare the food. On New Year’s Eve, I’ll go grocery shopping and cook. We can also buy some snacks, and then we’ll sit and eat while watching the Spring Festival Gala, how about that?"
Even she didn’t realize how much longing was in her eyes and tone as she spoke those words.
Perhaps this was the New Year she had longed for all these years.
"Alright, on that day, you can choose to spend it however you like. But have you decided between J City or Falling City?"
"Either is fine." To her, as long as she spends the New Year with him, it will certainly be a good one!
"Then this year, let’s stay in J City. In the future, after we get married, most New Year’s will be in Falling City. In J City, we might have one less to spend together," Kyle Kinston said.
Mabel Quinn naturally had no objections and eagerly took out pen and paper to start planning the New Year’s activities. Besides the shopping list for the New Year, she also meticulously arranged the itinerary from the first to the eighth day of the New Year.
Seeing Mabel Quinn’s earnest demeanor, Kyle Kinston couldn’t help but smile. How many years had it been since he truly celebrated the New Year? Ever since his father passed away, every New Year’s Eve had passed with just him sitting quietly, looking at his parents’ photos, the whole night passing just like that.
And when his father was still alive, all he heard were his father’s rants. Outside the Kinston Family, his father might seem like a normal person without any odd behavior. But once in the Kinston mansion, his father was just a madman.