usatvline Chapter 491 An Ordinary Person
Chapter 491 An Ordinary Person
Chapter 491 An Ordinary Person
The bright lights illuminated the spacious room.
The three small families gathered here and naturally merged into a lively and harmonious big family.
Sixteen people, young and old, filled the house with laughter and chatter.
The two mahjong games were in full swing, with the crisp sound of mahjong tiles clattering against each other echoing throughout the room.
Those not involved in the card game nestled comfortably in the soft leather sofas, chatting about everyday matters, their conversation seemingly endless.
Happy times always fly by, and before you know it, the coffee table that was once full of snacks and fruits is now somewhat empty.
In one corner of the coffee table, peanut shells and melon seed shells were piled up in layers, like a small mountain.
In the blink of an eye, the clock struck 11 p.m.
But the lively atmosphere in the room showed no signs of abating.
Just then, Aunt and Ah Yan walked in with steady steps, each carrying a plate.
On the plate, rows of small, white porcelain bowls were neatly arranged.
In the bowl, sweet rice wine and glutinous rice balls steamed, releasing a rich and enticing aroma that gently wafted into everyone's nostrils.
"It's time to call it a day! Everyone come and grab some late-night snacks." Auntie greeted everyone with a smile and a loud, enthusiastic voice.
On the mahjong table, the mother-in-law deftly pushed the mahjong tiles into the slowly rising hole in the middle of the table.
Hearing the sound, she turned around and glanced at the wall clock, then exclaimed with a smile, "Oh my, how time flies! It's already eleven o'clock!"
To her right, her uncle's face was tense.
Upon hearing his mother-in-law's words, he reacted quickly, pressing the button on the rotating platform and saying urgently, "Just one last round! Just one more."
"Okay." Yu Huan replied readily with a smile on her lips.
As his uncle's current adversary, he glanced at his uncle's bitter face and couldn't help but smile slightly. Tonight, his uncle was probably in for another tough time.
The crisp sound of mahjong tiles clashing rang out again, and the game continued in an orderly fashion.
My uncle frowned, his expression grave. He repeatedly rubbed the mahjong tiles between his fingers, and after much hesitation, he finally played a six of bamboo.
The mother-in-law's eyes widened suddenly, a flash of surprise crossing her face, and she shouted, "I won! A pure suit!"
After saying that, she excitedly pushed all the cards in her hand over.
My uncle glanced at his mother-in-law's card and immediately deflated like a punctured balloon, letting out a long sigh.
He lowered his head, reached into the drawer, quickly counted out the bills, and slammed them on the table with a "thud," his expression a mixture of amusement and exasperation: "I knew I shouldn't have played this last round."
Lin Yourong, who was watching the battle from behind Yu Huan, was holding a bowl and gently scooping up a glutinous rice ball with a spoon.
Upon hearing her uncle's words, she couldn't help but chuckle and asked, "Uncle, how much did you lose today?"
"My luck today is absolutely terrible. I've never won a single card game against you guys... Let me see..." Uncle muttered to himself as he rapidly counted the banknotes in his hand, his voice unconsciously rising a few decibels, "Including this last hand... Goodness, it's a full two thousand seven hundred."
As the card game ended, the room was filled with figures moving about and the sounds of conversation rising and falling.
"It's alright, Uncle. Just consider it a New Year's bonus for us," Lin Yourong said half-jokingly.
Duan Yue took a sip of sweet wine with a mischievous smile, and said loudly to his uncle, "Son-in-law, it seems you've made the biggest contribution again tonight!"
The uncle glared at his nephew, feigning displeasure, but a smirk played on his lips as he said, "Stop making fun of me. You won my money and you're still joking around with me. You have no manners. Stop making sarcastic remarks. If you're so capable, try winning again next time!"
The mother-in-law stuffed a stack of colorful bills into her bag, then stood up and said with a smile, "I only won a little over two hundred! I think Xiao Yu's luck wasn't very good tonight, he must have lost quite a bit too, right?"
Holding a red bill and some change in his hand, Yu Huan replied with a smile, "My luck at cards was really bad today. I lost 6050."
"I won eight hundred yuan!" Lin Yourong's clear voice rang out, a hint of pride in her eyes.
Upon hearing this, Yu Huan immediately turned to the side, proudly giving her a thumbs-up, his tone full of praise: "Wife, you're amazing! Strong!"
Everyone smiled at the sight.
Yu Huan got up and started walking, preparing to go to the coffee table to get a bowl of sweet rice wine with glutinous rice balls.
But then he saw his grandfather sitting quietly in a corner of the sofa, holding a small bowl in his hands, watching the noisy crowd with a smile.
The mother-in-law followed Yu Huan briskly. When she saw her grandfather, a hint of reproach appeared on her face: "Dad, it's so late, why aren't you asleep yet? Why are you still sitting here?"
She had been so engrossed in playing cards that she hadn't noticed the old man had also stayed up late into the night.
“I’ve tried to persuade Dad to sit for a while longer, but he always says he’ll sit for a while longer.” After saying this, Auntie, who was sitting next to Grandpa, scooped up a spoonful of glutinous rice balls, blew on them gently, and then put them in her mouth.
“It’s the Lunar New Year, and it’s not easy for the whole family to get together. I just want to sit a little longer and see you all a bit more.” Grandpa’s gaze was gentle as he slowly looked at Yu Huan and continued cheerfully, “I heard that Xiao Yu and You Rong are leaving early tomorrow morning. I’m really a little reluctant to see them go.”
Yu Huan saw his mother-in-law bend down to pick up a bowl of sweet rice wine and cooked dumplings, but she turned around and handed it to him first.
He hurriedly reached out and took the warm little bowl, saying, "Thank you, Mom." Then, he turned to his grandfather and earnestly replied, "Grandpa, there's still a long way to go. When the weather gets warmer, Rongrong and I will come to pick you up and take you to Changsha for a trip."
Grandpa's eyes narrowed into slits as he listened to Yu Huan's words, and he nodded repeatedly, saying, "Good, good, good, then I'll be looking forward to it."
Uncle strode over to the coffee table, bent down and picked up a small bowl, half-jokingly interjecting, "Why don't we just let You Rong drive to Xingcheng by herself tomorrow? Xiao Yu still has several days of leave, so he can stay here and play for a few more days. Then he can go back to Xingcheng with his father-in-law. Wouldn't that be great?"
Upon hearing her uncle's words, Yu Huan was slightly taken aback.
However, a bright smile appeared on his face in an instant, and he quickly joked, "Uncle, you can't do that! I'm the man behind Rongrong. She wants to shine on stage, so of course I have to cheer her on from the sidelines and help her out. I can't let her down."
As soon as Yu Huan uttered these witty and humorous words, everyone found them amusing and laughed in unison.
Auntie gently shook her head and said, "How can I feel at ease having Rong driving all this way alone?"
Old Lin strolled over leisurely, picked up a bowl of sweet rice wine with glutinous rice balls, brought it to his lips, and took a small sip.
The warm, sweet, and sticky flavor spread across his tongue, bringing a contented smile to his face.
“Xiao Yu is the man behind You Rong, that’s not far off.” Old Lin raised his head slightly and said slowly, “Actually, there’s not much else to the reason they got together. It’s just that Xiao Yu himself is very outstanding—he’s quite talented. Those songs of You Rong’s were all written by Xiao Yu.”
"Huh?" Upon hearing this, Duan Yue's face instantly showed a look of surprise, and he stared at Yu Huan as if he had just met him.
He didn't even bother to swallow the glutinous rice ball he was chewing, and hurriedly asked, "Which songs?"
Auntie, beaming, chimed in, "I remember Xiaofang mentioning on the phone before that Xiaoyu is very good at playing the guitar."
The mother-in-law turned to the side, glanced at Yu Huan, and said with a smile, "Yu Huan's pen name is Mr. Y. Songs like 'It's You,' 'Time Thief,' and 'The Wind Rises' were all written by him."
Hearing these familiar words, Duan Yue was speechless. His throat bobbed as he swallowed the sweet wine in his mouth and said, "These... these are all of You Rong's most popular songs!"
The room fell silent for a moment, and the others who were eating their late-night snack all turned their attention to Yu Huan.
My uncle sat on a stool to the side, a smile in his eyes, and said admiringly, "Xiao Yu, you're really something! I only knew you were the 'leader brother' of the Jiangnan Morning Post, but I never expected you to have such great talent in music composition. It's truly impressive."
The mother-in-law nodded vigorously and chimed in, "That's right, Xiao Yu deserves a lot of credit for the many popular and well-known works that You Rong has created."
Just as her uncle placed the empty bowl he was holding on the coffee table, he heard this conversation and turned around and strode over to Yu Huan's side.
He patted Yu Huan's shoulder heavily, grinned to reveal two big gold teeth, and laughed, "Little Yu, you're a real hidden talent! I never expected you to be such a genius! Now I understand why You Rong was able to win you over!"
Yu Huan held the warm white porcelain bowl in one hand and scratched his head with the other.
He truly didn't expect that Lao Lin would suddenly bring this up in front of so many people.
Thinking about it carefully, perhaps it was because of his words "the man behind Rongrong" that touched Lao Lin, making him unable to resist taking the opportunity to show off his son-in-law's abilities to his family...
"Uncle, don't praise me like that. I'm hardly a great talent. I just write whatever comes to mind, purely as a personal hobby." Yu Huan scooped up a glutinous rice ball, put it in his mouth, and as his teeth chewed, the rich and mellow black sesame aroma instantly filled his mouth.
As he chewed, he continued, "And for a song to become a hit, Rongrong's performance is the key."
At this moment, Wei Feiyu, who had just finished cleaning up the card table, plopped down on the sofa, leaned forward, and reached out to pick up the last bowl of sweet rice wine soup with glutinous rice balls.
He said with a grin, "Yu Huan, don't be so modest! As the saying goes, excessive modesty is just arrogance! Now I finally understand why You Rong rushed to get a marriage certificate with you. It wasn't just because you're handsome, but also because you can write songs for her!"
Grandpa placed the white porcelain bowl he was holding on the coffee table, a kind smile on his face, and said:
"I had no idea that Xiao Yu had already registered his marriage with You Rong. But from the first time we met, I liked him immediately. He's tall and strong, and looks very energetic. And Xiao Fang told me that his parents are both high school teachers, and his family background is good, so his upbringing must be excellent. I'm more than satisfied that Xiao Yu is my granddaughter's husband."
Although Grandpa's voice wasn't loud, it clearly reached the ears of everyone present.
The uncle jokingly chimed in, "If we had known you liked Xiao Yu so much, Dad, we shouldn't have kept their marriage a secret from you. We could have just introduced Xiao Yu to you openly and honestly, and avoided all that trouble."
Ah Yan interjected in surprise, "Yu Huan is amazing! He's already famous, but I never expected he could also play the guitar and write so many great songs! He's so talented! You Rong, you've really struck gold!"
Lin Yourong, who usually eats slowly and carefully, finished a bowl of sweet rice wine dumplings unusually quickly today.
Hearing his sister-in-law, Ayan, mention his name, he felt a little confused and immediately turned to look at her.
She pursed her lips slightly, forced a smile, and replied, "Please stop praising him. If you keep praising him like this, he'll get all cocky."
Standing in the middle of the crowd, Yu Huan felt genuinely embarrassed by the sudden burst of praise after the card game ended.
He scratched the back of his head and said, "You flatter me, everyone. I'm really just an ordinary person—"
"I told you not to be so modest!" Duan Yue took a step forward, patted Yu Huan's arm, and said earnestly, "I've heard all the songs you wrote for You Rong, and every single one of them is a classic. Look how well You Rong's career is developing now; you've made a great contribution to that."
Wei Feiyu took a big sip of sweet wine, grinned, and asked with a grin, "Yu Huan, where do you get your inspiration when you're writing songs?"
Yu Huan pondered for a moment and said, "Inspiration is a very abstract concept, and it's really hard to say. It might just be that the melody and lyrics come out in a certain moment... For me, songwriting is just an ordinary little hobby, just like some people like to paint in their spare time or some people like to go fishing."
Sitting on the stool, his uncle leaned forward slightly, a look of approval on his face, and said, "You manage to balance work and hobbies so well, and you do them all so well. Not everyone can do that. Xiao Yu, you've set a great example in this regard."
Yu Huan nodded slightly and replied earnestly, "Uncle, you flatter me. In my work, I just do my best to do what I'm supposed to do."
(End of this chapter)