Chapter 955: Chapter 643: Twelve [15] Marcus Shaw: Thank You Very Much

Marcus Shaw and Andrew Hughes arrived after dinner, not feeling hungry. Marcus cooked two bowls of noodles, sharing one with Andrew. In addition, he stir-fried some peanuts and prepared a couple of cold dishes to go with Peter Hughes’ drinks.

Peter Hughes didn’t have much food at home, but he did have two full boxes of beer.

This old drunkard sat down and immediately lined up beers on the table.

Marcus Shaw: "..."

"Come on, let’s drink to our hearts’ content!" Peter Hughes waved to Marcus.

Marcus glanced at him and said, "I’ve got to head back later."

"Oh." Looking a bit stiff, Peter Hughes opened a beer and handed it to Marcus, "Then just drink a little, so your sister doesn’t get jealous of your drinking skills."

"..."

The word ’jealousy’ was used quite vividly here.

Marcus responded with a "hmm," and, without using a cup, raised the bottle to clink it with Peter Hughes’s.

Hearing the clink of bottles, Andrew Hughes looked up, glanced over, then decided to ignore it and continued slurping down noodles.

Meanwhile, he secretly took out his phone and complained to Crystal Hughes—

[Mom, Grandpa is drinking again.]

Within half an hour, this drinking session was called off due to a phone call from Crystal Hughes.

— It’s not that Crystal Hughes directly told Peter Hughes to drink less; rather, she chatted with him for half an hour. When he returned, he found that Marcus and Andrew had finished all the snacks that went with the drinks.

Peter Hughes came over, glanced at Marcus, then at Andrew, and the two kids wiped their mouths, got up to tidy the dishes, and acted as if they didn’t see Peter Hughes at all.

Peter Hughes was amused to the point of laughter.

In the afternoon, Peter Hughes prepared some fruits, and Andrew and Marcus chatted with him. It felt like no time had passed before the sky darkened.

"You spent this New Year at the Scott family’s, right? How was it?" Peter Hughes asked.

"Hmm."

Marcus gave a simple answer. It seemed casual, but to Peter Hughes, it already showed considerable approval.

Peter Hughes chuckled, "You’ll be eighteen next year, right?"

"Hmm."

"Being an adult means more responsibility." Peter Hughes nodded, then changed the subject, asking, "Do you want to be a policeman?"

Marcus immediately answered with his eyes lifted, "No."

Peter Hughes continued, "Then how about a tech job?"

"No."

"What do you want to do then?"

Marcus smirked slightly and said lightly, "Let’s talk about that later."

Seeing Marcus had an idea but hadn’t finalized it, Peter Hughes didn’t press further. With a smile, he took two red envelopes from his pocket and handed them one each.

Marcus looked at him, not planning to take it.

"These are red envelopes specially blessed before the New Year; accepting them will bring good luck throughout the year." Peter Hughes said, "I intended to keep them private, but considering your filial piety, I’ll give them to you."

"..."

With a blank expression, Marcus accepted the red envelope.

Such a fuss over a red envelope, wasn’t it exhausting?

"It’s getting dark; you two should head off." Peter Hughes waved his hand, "Did Andrew bring any gifts to see his mentor?"

"My mentor said bringing my wisdom is enough." Andrew stood up straight and said earnestly, "For us in the Martial World, it’s not the gift that matters, but the thought behind it."

Peter Hughes paused, then looked at Marcus, "Isn’t your sister a bit abnormal?"

Marcus answered seriously, "No."

"Oh..."

Then Marcus added, "She just thinks differently from normal people."

Peter Hughes: "..." Your description makes her sound like she has a problem.

As night fell, Peter Hughes didn’t keep the two; he escorted them out of the neighborhood, hailed a ride-share car, and sent them off.

In the car, Andrew still leaned out of the window, waving coolly to Peter Hughes.

Marcus pulled him back, made him sit properly, and fastened the seatbelt.

"Marcus!" Andrew tugged at Marcus’s sleeve, waving, "Should we buy something?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Bring your brains."

"...But isn’t it customary to bring gifts when visiting for the New Year?"

"Hmm."

"..."

Andrew was perplexed by Marcus’s words.

After a pause, Marcus said, "Although, given your mentor’s quicker-than-lightning temper, bringing something might be okay."

"...Oh."

So, when Marcus and Andrew returned to the Scott family, Andrew was carrying a bag of oranges—about five or six, it seemed.

"Mentor, Happy New Year."

As soon as he entered, Andrew immediately found Nora Scott and raised the oranges to wish her a Happy New Year.

"Hmm."

Nora Scott replied theatrically and accepted the oranges.

She gestured to Marcus with her eyes: Are these from the usual place?

Marcus shook his head.

Nora Scott pouted.

Marcus Shaw: "..."

While Nora was starting to dislike the orange in her hand, Andrew Hughes was still fully immersed in his role as a good disciple. He took out another red envelope and said, "Master, this is a red envelope from your apprentice."

"Oh."

Nora accepted it and examined it closely.

She asked, "Your own red envelope?"

"Yes."

Andrew nodded earnestly.

Pedro Langley couldn’t help but chuckle. As he passed by, he patted Nora on the shoulder and whispered, "Good master, receiving a student’s red envelope in the first year."

Nora rolled her eyes at him.

However, Nora did not refuse. She calmly accepted it but conveyed with her eyes to Pedro that he should stuff a bit more into Andrew’s red envelope.

Pedro chuckled lightly and went off to fulfill the request.

After asking the aunt to take Andrew to the living room, Nora glanced at Marcus, called him, and then turned towards the study.

Marcus, feeling curious, followed her.

Nora stopped at the study’s door, turned around without entering. Marcus, following closely, stopped and looked at her with confusion.

"Here."

Nora pulled out a red envelope and casually handed it to Marcus.

Marcus paused.

"Everyone gets one. But," Nora hesitated for a moment, lowering her voice slightly, "don’t tell Oliver about the amount inside."

Marcus: "..." So why can’t you just be fair with the red envelopes?

Even with red envelopes, there’s favoritism.

After some thought, Marcus took the red envelope and murmured, "Oh."

Just then—

The study door gently opened, and Oliver Scott peeked his head out, staring at Nora incredulously, "Sis?"

"..."

Nora’s eyelids twitched.

Oliver was extremely aggrieved, "Sis, that’s not fair..."

"He’s your brother."

Nora, being someone who had seen the world, remained completely composed even when caught in the act.

Oliver: ??

Marcus voiced Oliver’s doubt, "What’s the logic here?"

After a pause, Nora said, "Respect the seniors and care for the juniors."

Marcus: "..." Thank you very much.

After a long moment, Oliver sighed softly, "Then I won’t hide anymore either."

With that, Oliver looked around sneakily, took out two red envelopes, handed the thicker one to Nora, and the thinner one to Marcus, seriously saying, "Sis, in my heart, you’ll always be more important than brother."

"..."

Marcus took the red envelope and gave Oliver a flick on the forehead.

Nora: "..." Receiving this red envelope made her feel somewhat guilty.

*

This New Year was incredibly lively.

On the first day of the new year, it was boisterous at the Scott family’s house, and afterward, Nora went with Pedro to pay New Year’s visits.

With a face that was welcome everywhere, Nora didn’t receive any trouble from relatives. She collected one red envelope after another. These wealthy folks were extremely generous, and after counting it all, Nora found that the money was enough to fund Marcus and Oliver’s four years of studying abroad.

However, being somewhat biased, Nora used Marcus’s ID to open an account and put all the money in there.

After spring break, Marcus and Oliver returned to school, and Nora and Pedro, after visiting relatives, returned to Cloudwater Haven.

At the same time—

The show "City Secret" was aired.

Nora’s appearances on variety shows were consistently a hit, and this time was no exception. Many interesting antics occurred during the recording. Especially the "stereotypical" process of making wooden New Year paintings, which was similar to wood carving. Nora played like an expert, even her master watched with wide eyes, stunned.

Originally, the netizens who criticized Nora once again quietly covered their sore faces.

However, the next day was the weekend, and the third episode of "Twelve" aired, which featured Annabelle Pinto’s story as the second female lead.

The focus shifted, and they had more to say—

[With such a knack for variety, why not be a variety queen instead of insisting on joining the film crew? I think Nora alone could ruin "Twelve."]

[Annabelle is an actress after all, a slight lack of variety sense is normal. Unlike someone who isn’t an actress but insists on pretending to be one, hogging a spot without doing anything useful.]

[Looking forward to Annabelle’s wonderful performance.]

[Haha, if Nora had even a tenth of Annabelle’s acting skills, she probably wouldn’t be ridiculed so much.]

[Did "Twelve" do this on purpose? Annabelle airs on Saturday, Nora on Sunday. Last week’s two leads were at each other’s throats, and this week, do they want Annabelle and Nora to clash? Well played, I love it.]

[What’s the comparison? Annabelle outshines Nora, hands down.]

...

Public opinion online was overwhelmingly one-sided.

Nora, who had just booked her flight to Anchel, scrolled through Weibo, munching on her own scandals, and angrily crushed a walnut.

Katherine Collins, who had come to visit: "..."

Heavenly Immortal, it’s really unnecessary to be so lacking in confidence.