After Marrying the Aloof Beauty, I Totally Fell for Her - Chapter 48

Chapter 48: You Look So Pretty

“Mom, where’s the filling I made earlier?”
After washing up, An Ning ran into the kitchen and closed the door behind her, asking her mother, who was busy wrapping dumplings.

“I already took it out and set it aside for you,” her mom replied, nodding toward the basin nearby while wrapping dumplings with practiced speed. She chuckled, “You’re quite clever this time.”

Ever since An Ning found out that Mu Yan would be spending the New Year at their house, she’d been pestering her mom about what kind of dumpling filling her teacher liked. Of course, she’d asked Mu Yan first, but the latter only replied that anything was fine.

Aside from having a small appetite, Mu Yan truly wasn’t picky with food.

But everyone has preferences. After An Ning’s persistent questioning, Mrs. Liu finally recalled something.

One winter, a relative had given her two mackerel. She’d heard that they made for great dumpling filling, so she tried it out.

That night, the girl who usually had to be coaxed into eating even a small bowl of rice actually finished her food quickly. Although she refused a second helping, that alone was already a rare reaction.

The moment An Ning got this intel, she kissed her mom on the cheek and then dashed out to buy mackerel, ignoring her mom’s grumbling swats.

The filling had been prepared the day before. An Ning rolled up her sleeves and joined in the dumpling-making effort.

Luckily, Mu Yan had been scared enough by her parents yesterday that she stayed far away from the kitchen today—otherwise, the surprise would’ve been spoiled.

Humming to herself, An Ning’s hands moved nearly as fast as her parents’. Soon, rows of plump, snow-white dumplings were neatly lined up on the bamboo tray, looking adorably round.

That should be enough, right?

With flour-covered hands, An Ning could only use her sleeve to wipe the light sweat from her forehead as she glanced at the coins on the side.

In Yun City, it was tradition to eat dumplings as the first meal of the New Year. There was also a custom of wrapping coins inside a few of them—whoever got the dumpling with the coin would be especially lucky in the coming year.

Normally, it was all up to fate. Everyone shared the same pot, and whoever found one was just lucky.

But these dumplings were specially made for Mu Yan, so she had to get one.

An Ning wrapped the last coin in the final dumpling, placed it in the most visible spot, patted it twice, and smiled in satisfaction.

“Teacher Mu, come quick, time for dumplings!”
An Ning hurried out of the kitchen, carrying the bowl, and called out to the woman sitting on the sofa.

“Uncle, Auntie…?” Mu Yan looked toward the kitchen in confusion. Why was there only one serving?

“Oh, ours are still in the pot. Mom said to cook yours first, or they’d all stick together!” An Ning set the bowl down in front of her and stuffed the chopsticks into her hands, urging, “Quick, eat before they get cold!”

Mu Yan looked at the girl’s wide, expectant eyes practically sparkling with anticipation and couldn’t help but chuckle. “Okay.”

She looked just like the little dog she’d drawn—if An Ning had a tail, it’d definitely be wagging right now.

With a smile on her lips, Mu Yan picked up the top dumpling and took a bite.

As soon as the fresh filling hit her tongue, her teeth met something hard.

She frowned slightly and paused mid-bite, peeking inside. Nestled among the white fish meat and bright green vegetables was a shiny round coin.

“Congratulations, Teacher Mu! You got the lucky coin on your first bite—this year is bound to go smoothly for you!” An Ning clapped her hands with an exaggerated cheer.

Mu Yan silently fished the coin out from the dumpling and placed it on the table, smiling as she looked at An Ning. “I think I should share this luck with you.”

The other dumplings lay flat, but this one was right on top. Combined with An Ning’s overly eager expression—it was obvious something was up.

“Ahem, no need, whoever eats it, keeps it,” An Ning replied with a guilty grin, realizing her plan had been exposed. But she didn’t mind. Still grinning, she asked, “How does it taste? It’s my first time preparing filling. Let me know if it’s not to your liking—I’ll take your feedback.”

Mu Yan placed the rest of the dumpling in her mouth and chewed carefully. Fish dumplings were different from the usual rich and greasy fillings—they had a subtle, delicate aroma.

She remembered eating this type of dumpling once as a child at An Ning’s house and liking it very much. But she’d never said anything—given her family situation back then, she’d already felt burdensome enough being fed at someone else’s house. Even though An Ning’s parents were kind, she was still painfully aware of her position.

And now, this bowl of dumplings tasted exactly like those from her childhood.

No doubt An Ning had asked her mom for the recipe. She must’ve gone to great lengths.

Mu Yan looked at the girl’s warm smile and, for a moment, saw a much younger face—one that used to sit beside her while she ate, scolding her for eating too little and warning her she’d never grow tall.

So many years had passed. Everything had changed—and yet, somehow, nothing had.

Being cared for by someone felt like sunlight warming you all over. You could claim you didn’t need it, but you could never truly say you didn’t like it.

Mu Yan’s eyes stung slightly—probably from the rising steam of the hot dumplings.

“It’s delicious. I really like it,” she said softly, without looking up.

“Good.” An Ning let out a long breath and smiled with relief.

After the meal, no one went visiting—doing so on the first day of the New Year was considered improper. An Ning’s parents didn’t have a reason to create more one-on-one time for the two girls either, so they pulled out a deck of cards and started playing Dou Dizhu. The loser had to stick a lucky character on their face.

At first, it was An Ning playing with her parents while Mu Yan watched. But An Ning, distracted by the woman’s scent beside her, played terribly—carding randomly and losing match after match. After a dozen straight losses, Liu-jie couldn’t take it anymore and waved her off.
“Enough, enough! If we keep going, you’ll have to stick the next one on your neck.”

With her face plastered with blessing stickers, An Ning pitifully glanced at the amused Mu Yan beside her, then dove into her arms, whining, “Mu-laoshi, my parents are bullying me!”

Both An Ning’s parents inhaled sharply. Though they’d long known their daughter acted like this around Mu Yan, they still weren’t used to seeing her, now physically bigger than Mu Yan, being this shamelessly clingy.

They didn’t understand what went on between girls, but instinctively assumed their daughter must be the “active” one in the relationship.

But now, that no longer seemed so clear.

Caught off guard by the sudden embrace, Mu Yan panicked. She was about to push her away but hesitated, worried it’d seem too distant, so she glanced nervously at the parents.

They didn’t seem bothered at all—just gave their daughter a “why can’t you be more useful” kind of look.

Mu Yan was confused, but with An Ning stuck to her like malt candy and refusing to let go, she softened her tone. “Get up. I’ll play with them.”

Finally satisfied, An Ning lifted herself from Mu Yan’s lap but continued leaning against her, unwilling to part completely.

Mu Yan took her place and started playing. Her card-reading skills were much sharper than An Ning’s, and she was more observant. Despite the distraction next to her, she ended up winning most of the rounds, leaving An Ning’s parents covered in stickers.

The three members of the An family looked at each other’s sticker-covered faces, then turned to Mu Yan—who only had a few. An Ning’s mom laughed, tossing the cards aside.
“No more! No more! Yan Yan is too good—our family’s clearly blessed this year!”

After lunch, they’d just sat down to rest when there was a knock at the door. A child’s voice called out, “Ning Ning-jiejie! Ning Ning-jiejie!”

An Ning opened the door to find the little grandson of their neighbor, Grandpa Li. His cheeks were red from the cold, but he was beaming.
“Ning Ning-jiejie, everyone’s playing downstairs! Come join us!”

She found him so cute that she pinched his chilly cheeks and smiled. “Okay, you go first. I’ll be right there.”

She grabbed her coat and turned to the sofa.
“Teacher Mu, let’s go! The snow’s thick—we can build snowmen.”

Mu Yan shook her head. “You go ahead. Those kids don’t know me. I’ll just ruin your fun.”

She wasn’t wrong. Growing up here, An Ning had always been the beloved leader of the courtyard kids. Mu Yan, on the other hand, was often ignored. As the kids used to say: “She’s always got that stone face—what’s she acting so high and mighty for?”

She’d never cared for fitting in. As long as An Ning didn’t dislike her, that was enough.

“Oh, come on! Who cares about fun or not fun?”
Without giving her a chance to resist, An Ning pulled her off the sofa and started dressing her, wrapping her in a scarf. “Don’t worry—anyone who doesn’t like you, I’ll hit them with snowballs.”

Mu Yan looked at the girl’s warm smile and, in the end, said nothing more, letting An Ning drag her downstairs.

The courtyard was mostly inhabited by the elderly or children whose parents couldn’t look after them full-time. When they arrived, over a dozen kids were already chasing each other through the snow, ranging in age from toddlers to preteens.

The adults, unable to handle the cold, stood in the building entrance chatting and keeping watch. In this place, child-rearing was simple—no injuries meant no problem. No one cared if a kid ate a little snow.

“Ning Ning-jiejie!” The kids swarmed An Ning immediately, all puffed up in their colorful winter clothes like tiny penguins. One little girl noticed Mu Yan and asked curiously, “Ning Ning-jiejie, who’s that?”

Mu Yan instinctively tensed, wanting to put on her usual aloof face—but afraid of scaring the kids, she forced a stiff smile.

An Ning was far more natural. She hooked her arm through Mu Yan’s and smiled, waving at the kids.
“This is my big sister. You can call her… Da-jiejie.”

She had originally meant for them to call her “Mu-jiejie,” but once the words reached her lips, they felt awkward. For some reason, she didn’t want anyone else calling Mu Yan that.

“Wow!” the kids gasped in admiration. Their curious gazes turned to awe.

Ning Ning-jiejie’s big sister must be even cooler than Ning Ning-jiejie.

The little girl who had asked first tugged on Mu Yan’s coat and greeted her with a big smile.
“Hi, Big Sister! You’re so pretty!”

The rest of the kids joined in, showering Mu Yan with praise.

Mu Yan felt completely overwhelmed. If this had been anywhere else, she would’ve walked away. But if she did that now, it would put An Ning in an awkward spot, so she endured it.

As she struggled to respond to all the compliments, she turned to see An Ning laughing so hard she could barely stand.

What’s so funny?

Feeling a little flustered, Mu Yan pointed at her and told the kids,
“Let’s split into two teams for a snowball fight. Who wants to be on Ning Ning-jiejie’s team?”

“Me!” the kids cheered.

“Wait, what?” An Ning said in alarm.

When did this meet-and-greet turn into a battlefield?

Mu Yan, riding high in popularity, easily took most of the kids. An Ning was left with only a few loyal followers.

“Hold on—this isn’t fair—” Before she could finish, a snowball hit her.

She looked up to see Mu Yan holding another snowball, smirking.

Those peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly in triumph, still breathtakingly beautiful.

An Ning froze—and in that moment, more snowballs hit her from all directions.

“Hey! You’re all going for real now?!”
She turned and ran, the kids shrieking with laughter as they chased her.
“Hahaha! Ning Ning-jiejie is running away!”

Even her own team abandoned her. The smarter ones defected immediately; the more loyal ones tried to fight back but soon joined her in retreat.

“I give up! I give up!”
Eventually, the former courtyard boss—now the most targeted—collapsed on a snow-covered flower bed, raising her hands. “Let’s play something peaceful like building snowmen!”

The kids laughed and cleared a path. Mu Yan sauntered over and pulled her to her feet.

An Ning rubbed her snowy face on Mu Yan’s and whined, “Teacher Mu, you were way too ruthless.”

“Hmph,” Mu Yan huffed, gently brushing snow from her face. “Who told you to laugh at me?”

“Okay, okay, I won’t dare anymore,” An Ning said with a grin, thinking to herself: But your flustered face is really cute.

Of course, she couldn’t say that aloud—or she’d be buried alive in snow.

Under the girls’ leadership, the kids started building snowmen. This time, An Ning carefully balanced the team numbers—but still lost miserably.

The two snowmen were the same size, but hers looked like something from a horror film, while Mu Yan’s was artfully shaped and adorably expressive.

How did she manage to get the kids to listen like that?

Then again, An Ning thought, She even got me to behave. What chance do a bunch of kids have?

“Ning Ning-jiejie’s snowman is so ugly!” one of the kids said bluntly.

Her teammates looked embarrassed, heads hanging low.

But their leader was just staring at the other snowman in a daze.

Mu Yan, with her slender frame and flushed cheeks, stood behind her snowman, wiggling its twig arms while grinning triumphantly.
“Ning Ning-jiejie’s snowman is so ugly~” she mimicked the kids.

An Ning couldn’t help but laugh.
You look so pretty.

As night fell, the kids brought out their small fireworks—something of a courtyard tradition. On the first night of the new year, they lit fireworks and made wishes.

They weren’t as grand as those in the Ice City, just small bursts of color in the night sky. But the kids’ laughter and the smell of homemade food from every apartment made up for it.

An Ning clasped her hands together tightly but couldn’t help glancing toward Mu Yan.

The woman’s fair face glowed in the firelight, her dark eyes peacefully watching the sky.

As the firework burst over the snow-laden tree branches, the tall girl slowly bent down and rested her head on the slender woman’s shoulder.

Last year’s wish had already come true.

She hoped this year’s would too.

She hoped that every year from now on… she could spend it with Mu Yan.