"It’s a pity Yiyi can’t see it."
"There are beautiful sunsets where Yiyi is too. We are all watching the sa sky," said Xu Qingfan as the wind blew into his mouth.
"Right, hehe~" Lin Wanning lowered her raised hands and pressed her face against Xu Qingfan’s back again.
Shaking his head with amusent, Xu Qingfan breathed out a warm breath, "Another year has passed."
"Yeah, May 19, 2002, the day I t Brother Fan... so many days!" Lin Wanning extended her fingers to count the days but quickly gave up.
"Yeah... it’s almost two years now."
He had improved his family’s situation, made new friends, and published a hit comic book...
Many people’s lives had changed because of his arrival; his grandfather beca the village chief, Chuxi Belt Brother’s dream of wealth was shattered, and the prison ti that Xu Aiguo was supposed to serve was eliminated...
In two years, he had done many things and helped many people.
Gazing at the sky, Xu Qingfan thought to himself, "But the sunset is endlessly beautiful, year after year with you."
"It’s still four months until it’s two years!" Lin Wanning thought he was talking about the ti they had known each other and reminded him aloud.
"Mhm." Xu Qingfan nodded with a smile, "Hold tight!" After saying that, he pedaled the bicycle strenuously.
"Let’s go!"
...
New Year’s Eve.
Chuxi Village.
At seven o’clock in the evening, Xu Qingfan’s family of six, including his grandparents and uncle, gathered in the living room for the New Year’s Eve dinner.
"Chomp, chomp, chomp~" Xu Qingfan bit off the lean part of the char siu and threw the fatty part to the dog on the floor.
After eating, the little yellow dog wagged its tail and rubbed against his leg, asking for more.
Xu Qingfan found it amusing and threw the chicken bones from the table to the dog.
Yao Jinping slapped his right hand displeasedly: "Don’t throw it on the floor, you can’t sweep during New Year’s!"
"Oh, okay." Xu Qingfan gave the dog a helpless look and sat back properly to eat.
He was aware of this custom; the local belief was that the house was filled with fortune during New Year’s, and sweeping would sweep the fortune away.
Additionally, using a broom could attract the Broom Star, so even if there was a lot of garbage in the house, it had to wait until after the New Year to be cleaned up.
Xu Qingfan usually didn’t care about such superstitious beliefs, but if it concerned wealth, he sowhat respected it.
In Hong Kong, the New Year’s Eve dinner was always composed of the sa few dishes, and a feast was incomplete without chicken. White-cut chicken was a must-have.
Where there was chicken, there could not be a lack of fish, signifying abundance year after year.
Lucky prawns on top, braised pork feet with fa cai indicating wealth within reach, and stir-fried lilies and cashews symbolizing family harmony...
After the New Year’s Eve dinner, the grandmother took Xu Qingfan into the room.
Xu Qingfan took out the photo that Lai Man Yao gave him last ti and explained, "Grandma, college is on winter break, no teachers are on duty, so I couldn’t find out."
"Oh~" Lai Man Yao quickly covered her mouth, sighing was taboo during the New Year, "If you can’t find it, let it be. The heart that wants to return doesn’t need to search, the heart that doesn’t care finds searching useless."
Xu Qingfan thought to himself that his grandmother was quite cultured, that was a profound statent.
"Mm, Grandma, I asked soone to inquire at the university before I left. Maybe there will be news after the New Year," Xu Qingfan said reassuringly.
Lai Man Yao patted his head and carefully put the photo away.
Xu Qingfan acted as if this matter was concluded for now; after all, in his past life, he was twenty-six and never saw the other person return.
He actually wanted to ask what his Uncle Yao Jianjun really thought, but Xu Qingfan was worried about getting hit, although he could shave his head in the Lunar New Year, it wasn’t necessary.
"By the way, Grandma, weren’t that woman’s parents university professors? Why not go directly to the university where they work and ask?" Xu Qingfan suddenly had a thought.
"What all this and that," Lai Man Yao tapped lightly on Xu Qingfan’s head, "We only knew they ca from Yanjing. Back then, everyone was busy farming, who had ti to inquire about these things."
"Alright," Xu Qingfan nodded, and returned to the living room with his grandma.
"Selling crutches and cars just fools the legs. It’s all about talking a lot, and after much thought, I regret it, hence, I decided to deliver water instead~" On the TV, a Spring Festival cody sketch was playing, and Zhao Benshan’s appearance imdiately elicited laughter from the audience.
Watching the Spring Festival Gala was a program for the adults, and Xu Qingfan still preferred to go outside with a bunch of kids to set off firecrackers in the fishponds.
"I’m going out to play for a while," Xu Qingfan said as he put on his coat.
"It’s dark at night, don’t go to the fishpond!" Yao Jiping warned.
"Got it, got it," he said as he shoved his hands in his pockets and jogged out the door.
Children in rural areas are raised free-range, and even if they are just four or five years old, adults are confident in letting them roam outside.
After buying a few packs of firecrackers at the small shop, Xu Qingfan quickly made his way to the village’s ancestral hall.
"Who is that!" The kids who were playing ball inside imdiately recognized him.
"Xu Xian!"
"Can I join you guys?" Xu Qingfan chatted up with them very casually.
"Last ti you said you’d join us for sweet potatoes, but you stood us up!" one of the kids pointed at him and said.
Xu Qingfan was stunned and, after a mont of reflection, couldn’t rember such an incident. "Really, my bad, my bad. Can I play with you guys? I see you’re short one person."
"You’re new, so you have to throw the ball first!" said one of the kids who was throwing the ball.
"Alright, you hide, I’ll throw," Xu Qingfan nodded and agreed, nostalgically recalling this ga that he had only played during his childhood.
They took the waste paper from their howork books and squeezed it into balls the size of a baseball, wrapping it with clear tape inside and out to make the ball used in the ga.
Two ball throwers stood seven or eight ters apart responsible for throwing the ball, and four or five people stood in the middle dodging the incoming balls.
If soone in the middle was hit by a ball, they had to switch places with the thrower. If the person in the middle caught the thrown ball, they would gain an extra life for themselves.
Xu Qingfan’s arm strength was quite good; after getting the ball, he threw it hard and imdiately hit soone.
"Damn, unlucky!" the person who was hit cursed as they ca over to switch places with Xu Qingfan.
The ga area was about the size of a badminton court, and the people in the middle had to run back and forth to the area where the person without the ball stood—sotis they were running when the ball hit them, so the ga involved a lot of movent.
Xu Qingfan had only played for a little more than ten minutes, but he was already sweating profusely. He removed his coat, placed it on top of others’ clothes, and ca back to continue playing.
"I catch!" Xu Qingfan proudly said catching the incoming ball, "I have five lives now."
"Damn, why are you throwing so gently!"
The ga continued, and Xu Qingfan was having a blast.
In his previous life, even though he was already in his twenties, whenever he saw a branch on the road, he couldn’t help but pick it up, swing it a few tis, and then use the branch to push himself along as he walked.
"Son! Co back for so roast chicken," called a vigorous voice from a few hundred ters away in the midst of the ga.
"I’m not playing anymore; my mom is calling back," said one of the kids throwing the ball after hearing the voice.
"Then I’m not playing anymore either."
"I’m going ho to drink bubble tea!"
As one of them left, the group of friends suddenly scattered.
Xu Qingfan chuckled, took out the firecrackers from his clothes, connected them all together, and quickly lit one before tossing it. The continuous sound of firecrackers soon echoed around the ancestral hall.
"New year, new atmosphere," Xu Qingfan said to himself as he patted the firecracker ash off his clothes.
He suddenly wanted to know what Xia Xiaoxiao and Lin Wanning were doing now, but unfortunately, there were no mobile phones to make a group video call at that ti.
Xu Qingfan looked up at the moon in the sky.
anwhile.
Lin Wanning, Zhang Yiyi, Wu Lingyu, and Xiao Ruawen also, coincidentally, looked up at the moon.
"Last year was a wonderful year, and I hope this year will be just as good. Xu Qingfan is a big stinky pig, and also, everyone Happy New Year!" Xia Xiaoxiao wrote the last sentence in her diary, closed the book, and looked out the window at the moonlight.
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