Chapter 247 244. New Year’s Eve
“Wait, the side effect is that my hair grows longer?”
About… a few centimeters?
An Han pressed her face almost against the mirror, carefully tugging at her smooth, soft short hair, unsure of what expression to make.
If she were happy… now that her family fully knew her gender, she did hope to grow beautiful long hair. At this point, she could openly live as a girl—except when dealing with Lin Fan’s harassment.
If she were worried… using this item to grow her hair might give her away, revealing something suspicious.
“Could it be like hair extensions?” An Han muttered under her breath. “Or maybe a little at a time, only showing one person the effect, a few centimeters each time?”
“Such a weird side effect…”
Her hair had grown slightly, and she tried to gather it into a small ponytail, but all she could manage was a tiny tuft.
“Set a small goal: by the start of next semester, I want to be able to tie a ponytail.”
An Han said to herself, delighted: “Ideally, long hair down to the waist! Black and straight would be so cool! I wonder what expression Su Peng would have.”
Her mischievous streak bubbled up—just imagining Su Peng’s face going from shock to confusion to completely dumbfounded made her excited.
She loved seeing that kind of reaction!
But she still needed to test it on her father…
An Han thought to herself that the previous two items had different effects depending on gender, so this one might too. Perhaps it made hair grow for females but caused another effect for males?
“An Han! Come downstairs to watch the Spring Festival Gala! Take your sister with you!”
Her mother’s call came from downstairs. Although An Han wasn’t particularly interested in the Gala, joining her family to watch it and play on their phones for the New Year sounded nice.
Stepping out of the bathroom, she opened her door and called to her sister inside: “Let’s go downstairs to watch the Gala!”
Her sister lifted her head, looking gloomy, her cheeks puffed in frustration. “Sis! Why can’t I hit anyone?! I shot a whole clip and didn’t hit a single one!”
“What a broken game!”
Seeing her sister being frustrated by the AI, An Han couldn’t help but be amused. “Alright, stop playing.”
“I wouldn’t play this garbage game even if you begged me!”
Her sister stomped out of the room, always so lively—if she could walk, she had to run, crashing around recklessly.
Bringing her sister downstairs, An Han noticed her parents weren’t very interested in the Gala either. They sat side by side on the sofa, heads down, excitedly grabbing red envelopes on their phones.
“An Han! Your aunt sent a big red envelope! Go grab it!”
An Han’s eyes lit up. She didn’t even sit down, immediately taking out her phone to check WeChat.
However, the “big” envelope was just a few yuan… and her luck was terrible—she only got one cent.
Scrolling through the chat, she saw the largest red envelope in the family group was from her uncle: fifty yuan, with most being tiny amounts.
Who knew what her parents found so exciting?
After a day of grabbing red envelopes, she probably wouldn’t even have enough for a bubble tea.
An Han lost interest and plopped down on the sofa, yawning and resting her chin on her hand while staring at the TV.
“Mom! Move over a bit!”
Her sister, holding a peach cookie, squeezed onto the small sofa, carving out a tiny space.
As usual, the Gala was boring, even the comedy skits didn’t hold An Han’s attention, until she noticed something exciting.
She glanced at the other side of the sofa. Because her sister squeezed in, her parents were shoulder to shoulder. Her father raised a hand over the back of the sofa, hesitating, seemingly trying to wrap his arm around her mother’s shoulder.
Her parents had been in a minor quarrel for half a year. Even after her father returned, they rarely spoke, let alone sat so close together.
Ever since her father knew An Han’s gender, he hadn’t dared reclaim her bedroom, sleeping on the sofa instead, never sharing a bed with her mother.
The reason for their quarrel didn’t matter anymore. Now, both were proud people, unwilling to give way.
An Han watched her father’s movements with keen interest.
Her mother was focused on grabbing red envelopes, while her father’s gaze kept landing on her mother. His arm on the sofa back slowly crept downward.
An Han carefully reached out and grabbed her father’s wrist, placing it directly on her mother’s shoulder. Her father’s surprised, dumbfounded look didn’t faze her.
Perfect!
Her mother was startled, glanced at her shoulder, then at her father’s awkward smile, and didn’t say anything, comfortably leaning into her father’s chest.
Suddenly, An Han felt like she’d been force-fed a mouthful of romance.
She pouted, nudging her sister toward her mother with her hip.
Now the sofa space was tighter. The couple leaned together comfortably.
“Sis! Why is your butt so big? Why are you taking up so much space?”
Her sister grumbled, standing up, while An Han’s brows rose, her face slightly flushed, glaring fiercely.
Look at your flat figure now—you’ll be jealous when you grow up!
Even with her sister gone, the sofa had more space, but her parents didn’t move apart. Her mother continued grabbing envelopes with a neutral expression, saying plainly: “Peach cookie.”
Her father immediately broke off a small piece and fed it to her mother.
Ugh, can’t watch this anymore.
An Han lowered her head and checked the message Su Peng sent her.
“Happy New Year.”
“It’s still more than three hours until the New Year.” She crossed her legs, leaned against the sofa armrest, propping her chin with one hand, lightly swinging her legs with pleasure.
“Why so formal? Any plans for the New Year?”
“None, just staying home on the computer, maybe going out with Lin Yue occasionally.”
Su Peng sent a “I see” sticker. An Han suddenly felt this guy might pull a surprise attack…
No way, that’s not allowed. If Su Peng came, her parents would each kick him out.
Before she could reply, her mother said: “An Han, go check on your sister, make sure she’s careful with the sparklers.”
“Got it.”
An Han leaned out from the sofa, spotting her sister at the doorway, waving two sparklers around.
Her interest piqued, she bent down under the coffee table, grabbed her sister’s stash of fireworks, and headed outside.
“You’re old enough to play with this?” her mother muttered. “Can’t a girl be more quiet?”
Her father echoed: “Exactly, exactly, be quiet. Your sister is already rowdy enough.”
An Han thought her father was practically repeating everything her mother said.
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