Mysterious Assistant of the Washed-Up Queen-Chapter 479 - 316: Ancestor Worship, Spring Festival Gala

It stood to reason that, although they had only just confirmed their relationship, both Chu Tian and Xu Qingqiu had already committed to each other in their hearts.

Moreover, since his parents had passed away, Chu Tian had been alone. Now that he had a girlfriend, he felt it was time to take her to pay respects to his parents.

At the same time, Sister Hua asked this question because she was somewhat worried, fearing that there might be issues in their relationship, and she wanted to probe a bit further.

Chu Tian didn’t realize she had thought so much, but he had indeed considered this question.

"I didn’t tell her precisely because I was afraid she would find out. She doesn’t have the time anyway. She’s resting today, and tomorrow she has to start practicing. Soon she’ll be recording prerecorded material for the broadcast, followed by the Spring Festival Gala live broadcast. She really doesn’t have the time, and going back and forth would just be time-consuming and exhausting. Why bother?"

"Besides, you know what Qingqiu is like, don’t you? With her stubborn temperament, she would definitely go if she knew. Then, tell me, should I agree or disagree? If I agree, she’d be exhausted from traveling such a long distance back and forth, and she’d still have to muster up the energy for the Spring Festival Gala. Isn’t that a joke?"

"So, I never planned to tell her from the start. It won’t be too late for us to go back after we get married."

After listening to Chu Tian’s explanation, Li Chunhua opened her mouth, at a loss for words for a moment.

"Ah, I understand. You should go quickly; go home and see. Your parents would probably be very pleased and happy to see how well you’re doing now. As for Qingqiu, leave her to me."

"Okay, thank you, Sister Hua."

Chu Tian smiled, gave a few more instructions, and then hurried off with his luggage that had been packed long ago.

The reason he hadn’t told Xu Qingqiu was precisely this: she was at a crucial stage and didn’t even have a single day to rest. If he told her, wouldn’t it just put her in a difficult position?

As for finding another time? That wasn’t an option. The custom in Chu Tian’s family was to pay respects to their ancestors before the New Year, typically from the twenty-sixth to the thirtieth of the twelfth lunar month.

Some traditions had to be observed. As for Xu Qingqiu? He could always take her there another time; there was no need to put her in a difficult situation now.

Chu Tian’s hometown was in a small county in the Central Plains. It wasn’t very famous, and its economy was better than some but not as good as others. In all aspects, it was quite ordinary but not too poor either.

One advantage was that the high-speed train ran directly to the county, which was quite convenient. Driving from the Capital would take about five to six hours.

Overall, taking the high-speed train home would have been the most convenient option. However, at this particular time of year, neither the train nor driving seemed very convenient.

But Chu Tian had no choice. He hadn’t been able to get a train ticket, so he had to drive back himself.

On the road, between traffic jams and the hurried journey, it took nearly seven to eight hours, from daylight into the night, to finally reach his destination.

Entering the county town, Chu Tian felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, yet amidst this familiarity, there was also a touch of strangeness.

The residential area near Fuqian Street looked the same, but the shopping mall on Renmin Road had long since changed its appearance.

The old Longma Mall had become Xinglong Square at some point, and the once-bustling Computer Street was now Clothing Street.

The mobile phone stores that used to be everywhere had vanished, replaced by scattered, authorized stores with large signs hanging above them.

Sitting in the car, he looked at this place that was both unfamiliar and familiar. He hadn’t returned for many years and felt like a stranger. Somewhat apprehensive and bewildered, he stopped by the roadside, unsure of where to go.

Eventually, he drove to his family’s old neighborhood and parked at the entrance. He watched the residents coming and going: the somewhat familiar old men and women moving about, and an unfamiliar family of three passing in front of him.

Waves of memories inadvertently surfaced in his mind.

It wasn’t until the streetlights began to glow that he suddenly remembered: the house he had grown up in had been sold long ago. At that moment, standing before the neighborhood where he had lived for over a decade, he was an outsider.

A desolate, wistful expression settled on his face. After a long moment, he frantically fumbled for his phone and awkwardly found a hotel on a map app to book a room.

His family had moved to the city a long time ago; Chu Tian couldn’t recall exactly when. In his memory, it seemed his paternal and maternal grandparents were already factory workers by then.

His maternal grandparents, it seemed, were even state employees—not high-ranking officials, just ordinary city dwellers.

Later, in his parents’ generation, they too had been workers: his mother at a food processing plant and his father at an electronics factory.

Then came the wave of layoffs. His father contracted to run a small supermarket, later opened an audio-visual store, and even sold VCD players and small home appliances for a time. Their life was relatively comfortable.

It was also due to the influence of that period that Chu Tian had his initial awakening to music, gradually setting him on this path.

As for his mother, she continued to work as a cashier at her factory, living a simple and unremarkable life.

Their lives remained uneventful, like most people’s, until their passing.

After they passed away, Chu Tian didn’t even know the location of his ancestral home, as they hadn’t left any final instructions. So, they were buried in the public cemetery in the county.

As for his paternal and maternal grandparents, they had all passed away one after another while he was still in school. At that time, he didn’t even understand what death meant.

His paternal grandparents had died of illness. His maternal grandfather had passed away in an accident, and his maternal grandmother, it seemed, from melancholy. These were the only fragments of information in his memory, as his parents rarely spoke to him about such things.