The countryside was filled with the flavor of the New Year, as every household set off firecrackers before als.
Without realizing it, snow began to drift down from the sky, swirling and fluttering,
Fu Yan watched as they drew closer to the small town, his heart beating ever more intensely.
It’s been a long ti since he last saw her, a few years now, three or four years perhaps.
Even little Ball from his sister’s ho turned four already.
Suppressing the impulse to imdiately look for her, Fu Yan parked the car at the entrance of his grandmother’s old house instead.
After Grandma passed away, nobody else visited the countryside house. Before coming, he went back ho once to fetch the keys.
A layer of dust had coated everything inside. Fu Yan first affixed the spring couplets, which made the house seem more lively before he began cleaning.
That evening, the long-uninhabited old house was lit up, and several kids, thinking it was haunted, peered inside through the door.
The house slt musty. Fu Yan opened the windows to air it out and saw several children downstairs.
The kids, hearing movent upstairs, also looked up and upon seeing Fu Yan, scattered in fright.
Fu Yan smiled, feeling like he was back in his childhood.
During his middle school years, before Nanny Wu ca to the house, Fu Mingchuan had to look after him as well as Fu Ying, who was then in the first grade of elentary school.
Back then, he was truly mischievous, too much for Fu Mingchuan to handle, so every sumr vacation, he was sent to the countryside to be under Grandma’s supervision.
But Grandma could hardly keep him in check. All she would do was ensure he ate and drank well, and he’d still run wild with boys of his age from the town.
Back then, Uncle Wang next door had two children.
A girl about his age, and another, a younger boy, who back in those days seed nothing more than a bratty kid, never included in their gas.
That girl, so thin and small, everyone called her "Skinny Monkey."
Now, Uncle Wang had moved, right next to the only little shop in town.
Fu Yan turned and went downstairs, took a bottle of alcohol from the car, found a cup in the cupboard, washed it clean, and poured himself a drink.
Feeling restless inside, he wanted to find her.
Fu Yan patted his clothes’ pockets, discovered he had no cigarettes, which gave him an excuse.
He stepped out and made his way to the little shop.
By then, it was eight o’clock at night, and every household was bustling with activity as friends and families gathered for dinner.
Passing by Uncle Wang’s house, Fu Yan glanced over, the door was tightly closed, with only voices heard from inside the courtyard.
A sense of loss was hard to conceal in Fu Yan’s eyes as he casually picked up a pack of cigarettes, paid, and strolled around.
At that mont, Jin Can erged, coated thickly, carrying a bunch of fireworks, leading several little brats out.
The group of noisy little brats clamored to set off the fireworks.
The kids, barely in their teens, were young and childish in their speech.
One of them said, "Sister Cancan, soon we’ll see the fireworks burst into the sky with a bang, and then bloom, so beautiful."
Jin Can smiled and nodded: "Yes, be careful when the ti cos."
Fu Yan initially didn’t notice the woman among the kids was Jin Can, but upon hearing her voice, he focused his attention on her.
Surrounded by a group of children, she really didn’t resemble the girl next door, instead more like the king of the kids.
Fu Yan took a deep drag of his cigarette, ashes falling on the snow. He stomped out the cigarette butt and walked towards Jin Can.
Jin Can was talking to the kids and felt soone block her path, only then did she look up.
As Fu Yan’s gaze t Jin Can’s, his heart experienced a severe flutter, a sense of heaviness, a pang of pain.
It was an indescribable feeling, akin to being pricked by a needle, a slight throbbing pain.
Jin Can’s eyes retained unusual calmness, unruffled, as she turned to Wang Xinyu beside her and said, "Xiao Yu, you take them to play first."
Jin Can handed the fireworks she was holding to Wang Xinyu, who glanced at Fu Yan, feeling a sense of familiarity.
Wang Xinyu, not daring to pry into Jin Can’s affairs, led the children to an open area to set off the fireworks.
Not long after, colorful fireworks burst open in the sky and then fell, a fleeting splendor.
She hadn’t changed much over the years, with her long black hair, curly waves, casually draping over her coat as she stared at the fireworks without speaking.
Fu Yan didn’t know what to say either. He wanted to say sorry, but it seed insincere.
In the end, it was Jin Can who broke the silence: "If you have sothing to say, just say it."
Fu Yan licked his dry lips and said cautiously, "I’m sorry, I..."
"Don’t ntion it." Jin Can smiled faintly, her face indifferent, "It’s in the past."
Fu Yan opened his mouth, but her simple "it’s in the past" blocked all the words he wanted to say.
"Jin Can, I..."
Jin Can cut him off: "Let’s watch the fireworks. Let’s not talk about the past."
Fu Yan watched her start to leave and reached out to pull her back: "Okay, let’s not talk about the past, then I’ll talk about the present. Jin Can, I like you, I’m pursuing you."
Jin Can was stunned for a mont, not expecting him to still like her now.
Initially, she was getting back at him and even proved him right.
She deliberately kept it ambiguous to make Fu Yan develop feelings for her, then disappeared once he liked her.
Thinking about it, it’s been three or four years; he probably doesn’t care about this matter anymore.
"Don’t bother." Jin Can shook off his hand and walked towards the group of children setting off fireworks.
Fu Yan stood still, watching her for a long ti.
He hardly ever saw her smile; it turned out that she looked the best when she did.
At night, Fu Yan lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Grandma’s bed was by the window because he liked to watch the night sky outside as a child.
He reached out to push the window open, and snowflakes drifted in, landing on his face and lting before he could feel the cold.
Fu Yan closed his eyes, as if fragnts of the past erged.
That night, he indeed went back to his room alone, then stepped out after receiving a phone call.
He was drunk at the ti, spinning, and when he turned around, he forgot the room number and had to rely on mory to find the door.
He was drunk, dizzy and nauseous, leaning on a room door intending to call the hotel front desk, when suddenly soone opened the door from behind.
It was Jin Can, who heard the noise at the door and opened it.
That girl was really quite naive at the ti, recognized him, kindly sent him back to his room, but he suddenly grabbed her wrist and wouldn’t let go.
He pressed her onto the bed and kissed her.
And what followed, he forced himself on her.
But when he woke up the next day, he was alone in the room.
During the day when they t, Jin Can also acted as if nothing had happened, maybe not as if nothing had happened, maybe she hated him to death inside, but she just never said it.
At that ti, it was also because Jin Can was not his type at all, he didn’t pay any attention to her as a person.
Fu Yan sighed deeply, without a trace of sleepiness, he grabbed his coat and left the house.
At night in the small town, dogs were barking, and Fu Yan wandered aimlessly, finding himself at Jin Can’s uncle’s house.
He frowned, ready to walk away quickly when the door suddenly opened, and Uncle Wang recognized Fu Yan at a glance.
"Is that you, Fu Yan? No one’s at the old ho, why did you co here during the festival?"
"Ah, I, I ca to check on grandma’s house, it’s the New Year, so I ca to put up Spring Festival couplets."
Uncle Wang sighed, "Your grandma’s passing was quite unexpected."
Fu Yan nodded: "Hmm, but she was lucid before she died."
"Don’t stand outside, co in, let’s talk inside."
Fu Yan smiled and waved his hand: "No, Uncle Wang, I’ve been driving all day, I’m a bit tired."
"If you’re not going back to the city tomorrow, co to our house for a al, don’t be formal with Uncle Wang, I watched you grow up as a kid."
Fu Yan smiled and nodded: "Sure."
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