Chapter 107: Chapter 101 New Year’s Celebration Part 4 Chapter 107: Chapter 101 New Year’s Celebration Part 4 Lin You also liked firing tubes and actively came over to pick up the thickest one. A black cat lay on her shoulder, both the person and the cat looking somewhat excited.

Lin Fei stood at the back, he didn’t like fireworks and simply picked up a sparkler casually. A sparkler is a kind of fire stick that hisses once ignited, it’s very thin, and the tip keeps burning, emitting sparks similar to electric sparks. Moreover, there are cheaper and slightly expensive varieties, and Grandmother had bought the more expensive kind, which can burn for a long time without going out.

Jiang Nan had been walking by his side, and seeing him pick up a sparkler, she also ran over and picked one up to hold in her hand.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you like big fireworks the most?” Lin Fei said softly to her.

Jiang Nan shook her head, but only shook her head.

“Bang!”

A red firework shot fiercely into the sky. Then it suddenly burst in the black air, illuminating half the night sky with countless pink sparks, casting a pink glow on everyone’s face. Then, another green firework burst open again.

Jiang Yan began lighting the fireworks for the children, while Lin You and Jiang Bin took their tubes to one side and focused on firing their cannons. The colored tubes continuously shot out multicolored light bullets, tracing different colored trajectories in the black sky.

Lin Fei squatted down and used the sparkler in Huanhuan’s hand to light his own sparkler. The bright firelight immediately illuminated a small area around. A slight hissing sound began in his hand.

“Bang!” Another bigger firework suddenly rushed into the sky. A bright yellow halo burst instantly in the air, forming a huge ring. Cheers from the children could be heard around. Some of the children, frolicking, ran around with sparklers. The skyrockets shot sharply into the sky making a continuous series of explosion sounds.

Countless colored lights shone on Lin Fei’s face. Everyone around was caught up in the uproar, even Jiang Yan was smiling as she handled the spinning fire cannons one after another; colorful fire orbs screamed as they spun up into the sky from her hands.

As more and more fireworks went up, the entire night sky turned into a sea of firework. Cheers, screams, it seemed the whole city’s sky was covered with curtains of firework lights. The endless explosions of the cannons were deafening. The noise from everyone was gradually suppressed.

Lin Fei watched a scene he found familiar; such a sky full of fireworks could only be seen at times like this, but after the country later restricted fireworks, he could no longer see such splendid sights.

Under the sky full of fireworks, everyone was immersed in joy, marveling at this rare spectacle.

Lin Fei lightly shook the sparkler in his hand. Suddenly, a pair of soft, small hands tightly grabbed his left hand from behind. He didn’t turn around, but just tightened his grip on the other person’s hand.

Jiang Nan stood behind Lin Fei, her head bowed, hands tightly gripping Lin Fei’s left hand. The endless roar of fireworks filled her ears. Suddenly, she lifted her little face to look at the familiar silhouette in front of her and softly said something, but it was completely drowned out by the countless fireworks.

Perhaps only at this moment did she have the courage to speak out what she most wanted to say.

In the midst of all the noise, the two quietly held hands in this unnoticed quiet corner.

************

The fireworks finally subsided after a full two hours, but intermittent sounds still emanated. Occasionally, large fireworks could still be seen in some corners of the city’s sky.

It was soon past five in the morning. Lin Jianguo and Jiang Feng discussed for a while and finally decided to lend money to Jiang Yuansheng. After all, they are family, and everyone faces difficulty at times.

Eventually, the families sat together and chatted until about six o’clock before getting up to leave.

Lin Fei knew that history had changed. In his past life, Jiang Nan hadn’t made such a move at that moment. Watching Jiang Nan who was quietly sitting next to him, he suddenly felt a strange premonition.

Lin You was unusually quiet tonight; her mood seemed upset either due to the brief argument with her uncle or something else, and she had been cold-faced ever since the fireworks ended.

“Let’s go, Yan Yan,” Jiang Yuansheng said calmly as he stood up. His wife also got up carrying her bag.

Jiang Yan responded and picked up the handbag she had placed on the table.

But Jiang Nan remained motionless next to Lin Fei.

The three walked to the door only to find Jiang Nan hadn’t followed.

“Nannan?” Jiang Yan called out in confusion.

Phew! Jiang Nan suddenly stood up. “I want to stay here,” she said softly, taking a few steps forward to the middle of the living room.

The people around her were stunned. All eyes were on her.

“We’re moving to Wuxi tomorrow. What are you staying here for?” Jiang Yan asked, baffled.

“I want to study here,” Jiang Nan said, her voice trembling slightly, her head lowered and her expression unclear.

Everyone was stunned again.

By then, the grandmother had already retired early to bed due to fatigue. In the living room were Lin Fei’s family, the second uncle, and the third uncle’s family. As soon as they heard this, all their attention was immediately drawn.

“Stay here to study? How will you live? Where will you stay? What about tuition? You make it sound so easy!” Jiang Yuansheng huffed heavily.

“Let’s go! Get back!” his wife also urged. However, her eyes darted around, and it seemed she suddenly thought of something. Just as Jiang Yuansheng was about to speak again, she tugged at his sleeve. He paused, then quickly realized what she meant.

“Do whatever you want!! If you want to stay, then stay!! We’re leaving!” Jiang Yuansheng immediately cut off the discussion and turned around to leave, his wife quickly pulling the confused Jiang Yan down the stairs.

Jiang Nan stood all alone in the middle of the living room. Everyone’s gaze was still fixed on her. It was only after Jiang Yuansheng’s family had left that people began to react.

Jiang Yuanhai sneered coldly, his mind racing, and he immediately understood Jiang Yuansheng’s intentions. Jiang Nan was a high school student, needing to cover tuition and living expenses. If they could leave her in the city while they moved to the county, it would be natural for them as relatives to look after her. After all, Jiang Nan was their relative. They couldn’t possibly let her starve to death without food or clothes, right? Someone had to step forward and take responsibility. Even if she couldn’t attend school, Jiang Yuansheng wouldn’t be responsible for her living expenses. But now the question was, who would be responsible?

It was just a matter of seeing who couldn’t bear it any longer. Jiang Yuanhai scanned the other people in the living room. The eldest sister and Lin Jianguo sat in a corner, frowning, their thoughts unclear. The second brother, Jiang Yuanming, looked troubled, his wife gripping his arm tightly.

Everyone in the living room fell silent.

Jiang Nan stood in the middle, the hesitation and scrutiny from those around her putting immense pressure on her. Her parents had abandoned her, other relatives considered her a burden, and no one was willing to take her in. She felt like a rejected defective product, helpless and panicked.

No one spoke, and she bit her lip, her eyes brimming with tears, standing awkwardly alone. The fourth uncle and the others were only too eager to leave Jiang Nan with the grandmother so they wouldn’t have to worry about her tuition and such.

Lin Jianguo and Jiang Feng, both honest and kind-hearted people, were also beginning to feel reluctant to speak. Suddenly, Lin Fei coughed.

“Dad, we should take responsibility for Nannan’s matter,” he said quietly, but clearly enough for everyone to hear. “Our Swordsmanship Club is short of people recently, and we could have Nannan work as my swordsmanship attendant.”

Lin Jianguo frowned and remained silent. The others didn’t care whether what Lin Fei said was true or not; it wasn’t their concern. Jiang Yuanhai and Jiang Yuanming quickly stood up to leave, clearly looking as if they were afraid of getting entangled by Jiang Nan.

Jiang Nan’s eyes, unblinking, fixed on Lin Fei.

Jiang Feng sighed, “Nannan is still so young; why should she take on a job? High school students should focus on their studies. Nannan, why don’t you move in with us? What do you think?”

Jiang Nan nodded heavily, walked over to sit next to Lin Fei, and gripped his hand tightly. Tears finally began sliding down her cheeks.

“I will take the job,” she said calmly.

Lin Fei knew Jiang Nan seemed introverted but had a strong sense of pride.

“Actually, the job won’t take up much time. It mainly involves looking after the sword and cleaning the swordsmanship studio. It’s really just serving as my personal sword attendant. I’m the chief senior brother in our Sword Dao hobby class, you know.” He chuckled, “Initially, I was worried about finding an uncomfortable attendant, but now that Nannan is coming, that’s great. The salary is about a thousand a month, what do you think, Nannan?” In reality, this job was something he had concocted himself, involving caring for a longsword – essentially just his own – and helping him manage the routine of the swordsmanship studio. Most of the time, his practice consisted of basic movements, very slow ones at that, and occurred mostly in a club under the Rainbow Group, where he wasn’t afraid of being discovered. As for the monthly salary of a thousand, he set it high to avoid suspicion from his family.

Recently, though, he had been preparing to open his own swordsmanship club. It would allow him to select prospects from the students he recruited for future endeavors. It would also provide conditions specifically for some of his more secret training projects. He had always felt uncomfortable training in the usual place in the club. What he spoke of as the Sword Dao hobby class was a recent subdivision of the Kunpeng Club, serving as his current cover.

Lin Jianguo also saw what Jiang Nan meant. Turning to Lin Fei, he asked, “A thousand a month could support tuition and living expenses, but won’t it be too tough?”

Jiang Feng also asked, “Right, Nannan is a high school student. Won’t it be very intense with her studies?”

“It’s okay, Aunt and Uncle,” Jiang Nan knew her own academic situation. Since she had no hopes there, she simply didn’t want to try too hard.

However, Lin Fei was smiling as he said, “Actually, it’s mostly meticulous work, and she just needs to learn some professional maintenance skills. As long as Nannan is willing to learn, there won’t be a problem. After all, I am the chief of the swordsmanship club, so my words do carry some weight. It’ll only be about going for one or two hours to take care of things after school finishes in the afternoon, and I can also keep an eye on her nearby.”