Shine on Me

The New Year passed without much to say—just eating, drinking, and watching the Spring Festival Gala. Aside from my dad’s phone call dampening the mood slightly, everything was perfect.

I still remember the first year I didn’t spend Spring Festival with my dad. Lying in bed late at night, listening to the firecrackers outside, I cried my eyes out under the covers. But now, hearing him say he couldn’t return home yet because of heavy snow in Japan, my reaction was so muted it was as if I didn’t even feel sadness or disappointment.

Maybe I’ve just gotten used to it.

After acting strange for a while, Jiang Rui seemed to return to normal. But then, on New Year’s Eve, after we finished our reunion dinner and went to the yard to set off fireworks, he suddenly blurted out:

“How did your chat with Aunt Zhang go the other day?”

I was dumbfounded for a moment. “Aunt Zhang… what about her?”

Jiang Rui looked up at the fireworks blooming in the night sky and stayed silent. I ignored him and took out my phone to call Lin Yusen. I was curious—when exactly did they celebrate New Year’s Eve where he was? Was it synchronized with us, or did they wait until evening? But just as the call connected, Jiang Rui suddenly turned his head and said to me seriously, “Sis, if—just if—you ever break up, tell me right away, okay?”

The fireworks were a bit loud, so Jiang Rui had leaned in close to say that. I glanced at my phone, silently hung up, and then whacked him with the long firework stick in my hand.

He covered his head and darted around the yard. “I said if !”

Still daring to spout nonsense. “Not even if .”

Jiang Rui stopped in his tracks. “You seem pretty serious about this.”

“…How could I not be serious about something like this?”

This man might very well be the one who spends the rest of his life with me. Oh wait—no, I should say, hopefully he’s the one?

Jiang Rui fell silent again.

My phone rang, but I couldn’t be bothered with him anymore. I answered, and Mr. Lin’s voice came through, faintly amused. “Your brother really does have a lot of opinions about me.”

I grinned. “Well, you bullied me before, didn’t you? I complained to him about it.”

Jiang Rui slowly wandered back over and squatted beside me like a big dog, watching intently as I talked to Lin Yusen. His stare made me so uncomfortable that I completely forgot I’d been planning to scold Mr. Lin for not calling me first.

“Happy New Year. I’ll call you back later,” I said hurriedly before hanging up. I crouched down to meet Jiang Rui’s gaze. “What’s wrong with you?”

I was a little frustrated.

Had I painted Lin Yusen in too negative a light before, making my brother so worried? I reconsidered and explained, “Actually, he’s really nice. There was just a misunderstanding before. You’ll see when you meet him.”

Jiang Rui mumbled, “Hasn’t it only been less than a month? Do I really need to step in already?”

…

In our family, “stepping in” was something reserved for marriage—and usually referred to the parents meeting. Jiang Rui was really giving himself too much credit.

I was speechless and felt like hitting him a few more times. I started looking around for the firework stick I’d thrown aside earlier when I heard Jiang Rui murmur softly beside me.

“I just don’t want you… to miss out.”

The last two words were so quiet I barely caught them. I didn’t really understand what he meant, but I didn’t feel like digging into it. It was the New Year, after all—I didn’t want to beat up my brother. I pulled him up. “Come on, let’s go watch the Spring Festival Gala. Isn’t that singer you like performing soon?”Jiang Rui's eccentric behavior lasted throughout the Spring Festival, including but not limited to interrogating me about every detail of my relationship and suddenly developing an obsession with shopping. On the first and second days of the new year, I went back to Wuxi to pay respects to my grandparents. After returning to Nanjing on the third day, he dragged me out shopping almost every day, from morning till night, and always in the same area—Xinjiekou!

I felt like my legs were about to fall off, and the cold wind was aging me by the minute. Yet, he still pulled me around like an unleashed husky, darting everywhere.

I grabbed his hand and refused to move. "Little brother, how did going to college change your entire outlook on life? Weren’t you the one who said, 'A real man doesn’t shop, period'?"

He glanced at me a few times. "There’s a decision I’m struggling to make, so I’m leaving it up to fate."

"Huh? And how does shopping every day relate to that?"

"To see if I can bump into him."

…So after all this, he’s in love! And it’s unrequited?

I instantly felt reenergized, as if I could march three more streets just to catch a glimpse of his "crush." "Is she from Nanjing too? A classmate from university? Lives around Xinjiekou?"

Just as I was rambling on with questions, Jiang Rui suddenly tugged my arm and nervously glanced into the crowd. "Sis, do me a favor."

"What?"

"If someone calls my name later, pretend to be my girlfriend."

A bolt of lightning seemed to strike me. Jiang Rui grabbed my hand and turned around. Unable to resist, I looked back and saw a girl standing on tiptoe, calling out excitedly, "Jiang Rui!"

Then she came trotting over, but the moment she saw me, her expression dimmed. "You really do have a girlfriend… Aren’t you going to introduce me?"

Jiang Rui said with perfect calm, "This is Xiaoguang."

The girl looked at me with envy and sadness. "You’re so lucky. Jiang Rui really likes you—he even has your photo as his phone wallpaper."

"…"

I immediately turned to glare at Jiang Rui, who wore a "oh crap" expression. The girl reluctantly walked away, and I held out my hand to him.

"Give me your phone."

Jiang Rui handed it over. I tapped the screen—the wallpaper was a cat.

"Come on, I changed it ages ago. I only used your photo when she was around. Do you know how traumatizing it is for a young man to see his sister’s face every time he picks up his phone?"

"Ha."

I couldn’t be bothered to argue. He uses me as a shield and still complains? "What’s the deal?"

"Just not interested, but she’s too persistent."

I really hated when he acted like this and couldn’t resist knocking him down a peg. "Don’t get too cocky. What if one day she stops liking you and you regret it?"

Jiang Rui suddenly looked at me, his expression serious. "Like how you don’t like Brother Zhuang anymore?"

I felt inexplicably irritated, not understanding why Jiang Rui kept bringing up Zhuang Xu so often these days. I answered firmly, "Yes."

Jiang Rui sighed and looked up at the sky for a long moment. Then, shoving his hands into his pockets, he turned and walked off. "Let’s go back."

"Wait, wait." I chased after him. "Weren’t you trying to bump into someone? Who is it? Do you have a photo? Show me…"

His pace quickened, and I panted as I struggled to keep up. "…Hey, don’t give up so fast! What about your 'fateful encounter' plan?"

He suddenly stopped in his tracks, and I nearly crashed into his back. Turning around, he nodded. "You’re right."

Me: "???"What?

Him: "Keep walking."

An hour later.

"Little brother, I'm no longer interested in your secret crush. Can we go back?"

Two hours later.

"Little brother, I don't think you two are meant to be... Maybe consider that girl we saw earlier?"

The holiday flew by in the blink of an eye—it was already the sixth day of the Lunar New Year. Work would resume on the eighth, yet poor me had wasted this precious spring break repeatedly wandering around Xinjiekou.

Mr. Lin informed me that he would land at Pudong Airport at 4 p.m. on the seventh day but wouldn’t be heading to Suzhou until the ninth because of some family banquet or something.

Big families sure have a lot going on—far less relaxed than my "nouveau riche" household.

During dinner that evening, I sternly warned Jiang Rui while eating, "After this meal, I absolutely refuse to go night-wandering in Xinjiekou with you again. Not even for a movie."

Jiang Rui weakly replied, "I’ve given up too, okay?"

Mom had been happily socializing and playing mahjong all this time, only now noticing our unusual behavior: "You two go out every day just to Xinjiekou? What’s so great about it? You haven’t even bought anything."

I teased them for a while before mercilessly betraying Jiang Rui under his warning glare. "Little brother’s grown up, that’s all."

Uncle glanced at Jiang Rui a few times, looking quite pleased. "It’s not bad to date someone in college."

Jiang Rui wore an expression of utter injustice. Just as I was making faces at him, Mom suddenly turned her attention to me: "You should find a boyfriend too."

I said seriously, "I will, I will. I must find someone who’s handsome, handsome, and super handsome."

I was clearly joking, but Mom frowned. "Character is what matters most. Looks are useless."

I immediately thought of my dad—wasn’t he exceptionally handsome when he was young? A pang of discomfort hit me, and I stopped joking around. "Got it," I said honestly.

Uncle asked me, "When are you leaving tomorrow?"

"Whenever. After lunch, I guess."

"Then ride with me. Tomorrow evening, I’m heading to Shanghai for Old Man Sheng’s birthday banquet. It’s on the way—I can drop you off in Suzhou first."

The Sheng family? Birthday banquet?

Could it be the same banquet Lin Yusan mentioned?!

Before I could think too deeply, I quickly raised my hand. "I want to go too!"

Everyone was startled, all four faces staring at me in surprise. Remembering how I used to avoid all kinds of social gatherings, I felt a little guilty.

"...Just to take a look," I weakly explained.

They looked unconvinced. I coughed. "Mom, didn’t you tell me to find a boyfriend? Maybe I’ll meet someone suitable there."

Actually, there’s already one ready-made

My mood soared, and I cheerfully said to Jiang Rui, "Hurry up and eat! We’re going to Xinjiekou tonight! I need to buy a little dress!"