Prelude
Quite literally,
Xīn niÑn kuà i lè
(pronounced Shin Nian Kwai L) would mean 'Happy New Year' in Chinese. I wanted to keep that as the title for my story, but for the sake of wider audience chose the title -- Happy New Year.
Typically a Chinese New Year greeting would be
GΕng XΗ FΔ CΓ‘i,
(pronounced Gong She Fa Tsai) which means 'Best wishes, wishing you prosperity and wealth.'
A Chinese New Year (also popularly called the
Spring Festival
) unlike an English Calendar Year does not fall on the first of January. Usually, it falls between end-January and mid-February and is calculated based on Lunar cycles. For example, in 2020 it fell on the Twenty-Fifth of January. In 2021 it fell on the Twelfth of February.
The celebrations of a Chinese New Year are fifteen days long and end on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, with a
Lantern Festival
. The most traditional of all Chinese festivals, it has a long history of thousands of years.
The Chinese give Red Envelopes -- often containing money and gifts -- to the children and family members, friends and employees
I am not an expert on Chinese traditions and have gathered some of it from my friends and my travels. But the one thing I am certain of, the Chinese New Year is all about family. I have taken liberties with the subject for my story.
All characters in the story are above 18 and readers must be too. The story has an incest and lesbian underlying theme.
I do hope you like the story, it has a lot of heart.
-- enjoy
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SPRING FESTIVAL
January 24, 2020
I was not upset but was not really looking forward to Taio's family reunion. But, I loved Taio, I knew his mother Newa but the long vacation idea was not exciting to me somehow. But it was the least I could do for Taio, the man I loved immensely.
"Yenay, I know you don't want to go. We really don't have to, if you don't want." Taio asked me.
I knew he loved his mother and was really looking forward to meeting her. Going home after four years was something already too much for him. But his company that he launched a couple of years had really taken off. We married just over two years ago. Newa had joined us at our wedding here in Singapore.
"Not unless
you
don't want me to go. I am more than happy to visit Newa and your new stepdad" I teased.
Taio was home when his father passed away under mysterious circumstances. His father was a scientist and was involved in pharmaceutical research. One day, out of the blue, the news came from his office that he was dead, a lab accident of some sort. The reason for his death seemed odd since he was head of the research and development department but not really engaged in day-to-day research. He had grown senior into the organization over the years and was next only to Wong, the promoter-director of the company.
After Taio's dad passed away over four and half years ago, Wong helped the family in every possible manner that he could. From whatever little I know, I guess Wong grew close to Newa over the next year or so, and asked her to marry about six months after we married.
Their marriage at Newa's request was a small affair with just the couple and a few family members. For some reason, Newa had insisted Taio to not come for her wedding. It also coincided with Taio's ramp-up of his new venture in Singapore. Taio had met Wong after his father's death and respected the man for his success and his accomplishments.
"I most certainly want you to come." Taio insisted. "New year celebrations won't be the same with you not by my side."
Taio chose New Year as a reason to go back home, to Beijing. Having grown up there he was fond of Beijing. His family and mine had lived in the same Hutong in suburban Beijing. Taio and I have been childhood sweethearts. Even back then, we both knew we would be marrying each other.
My family stayed back when I shifted to Hong Kong to study for my bachelor's degree. Even while I was studying, I took up modeling on a whim. Initially, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, then after a few good assignments, I chose modeling as a career instead of becoming a nutritionist.
I kept going back and forth between Beijing and Hong Kong while Taio finished his Masters and started working in the IT field. After his father's death, he stayed back in Beijing for a year before shifting to Singapore to start his IT venture. His business partner was his college buddy and they got along very well. For a year, they both worked hard before they could get the project going.
Two and a half years back, on the launch day of his tech company - Swivel - Taio proposed to me, asking, "Yenay, I want to get on this phase of my life and I want it to be with by my side. Will you Marry me?"
That I said "yes" was a given, but his words still got me giddy with joy.
We married within three months, in Singapore. That was just over two years now. Things have been looking up since then. Swivel has bagged two rounds of investments since launch and is continuing to grow.
As soon as we landed at the airport, I could see that Taio was happy, his smile had widened, and he felt happy to be home.
"Welcome to Beijing, Taio," I exclaimed.
"Haha. As if you aren't glad to be home." Taio responded defensively.
"Yeah, I am," I said.
Newa met us at the terminal. From even a couple of hundred yards away, you could recognize her. She looked magnificent. She seemed to be glowing. Her face, a smiling charming oval, topped with straight hair on her back and her shoulders. She was clearly the most lovely person in the group of people waiting for their guests or their loved ones.
Taio rushed upon seeing her and they hugged each other for a long while, clearly having missed meeting each other.
By the time I caught up with them, Newa's eyes were misty. When she saw me, She opened her arms, "Yenay....." She then hugged me and then kissed me on my cheek. Our long, warm hug probably lasted half as long as theirs did, but I felt welcome.
I had met Newa hundreds of times while growing up. At the time my interest was in Taio. Then there was a gap when I had left for Hong Kong and could not meet Newa often. My last meeting with Newa was during our wedding. The whole atmosphere was festive and celebratory that I couldn't spend enough time with her. She came to Singapore a day before the wedding and left a day after, as we were leaving for a week-long honeymoon to Bali. Still, I was impressed with her and glad to have caught up with her. We had both changed from our old days, or maybe she was the same and I had changed.
My immediate impression upon meeting her, and her welcome today, was that of warmth, love, and care. She had this charisma that instantly attracted me towards her.
Once outside the terminal building, we entered a blue-colored van that was about half the size of a bus.