"I was saying we’d go watch a movie for New Year’s with my bunch of idiots back ho—*Detective Chinatown 3*, it’s sure to be good. Not sure about *Embarrassed Mom*, though." Brother Nan, sitting on horseback and taking photos with his phone, said to Zhou Li, "I heard all the screenings got canceled."
"Is that so," Zhou Li replied.
"Looks like we’ll have to wait to watch them in Chunming once school starts. Those terrible theaters around the school have such bad effects."
"Hmm."
"Turn your head."
"Huh?"
"CLICK!"
Brother Nan captured the person leading his horse. "I’m going to save this one and look at it many years from now. By that ti, you might have kids, and I can tell them your dad used to be a stableboy."
Zhou Li didn’t respond. Playing that card... he wasn’t afraid of Brother Nan!
After putting away his phone, Brother Nan looked back. "At ho, we also go up the mountain every year to barbecue. There’s a mountain near us called Huangjiao Mountain with a flat top. There’s a spot with no grass, only rocks, perfect for a barbecue." He paused. "Or sotis we barbecue on the riverbank."
Zhou Li walked ahead, hands clasped behind his back, holding the horse’s reins. "Starting fires on the mountain is illegal," he said.
"That only applies to big mountains, like this one. The small hills where we are are all dirt. They can’t really catch fire. When I was little and naughty, I used to set fires on the mountains; at most, all that happened was I’d burn a bald patch on the hillside."
"Still not allowed."
"You’re right..." Brother Nan nodded as if facing a high school teacher.
"Miss Zheng has been through a lot all these years," Brother Nan sighed again. "Spending New Year’s alone—oh, and with a demon."
"True." Thinking of this, Zhou Li also felt a tinge of heartache.
Gradually, the scenic area’s road ca into view. Brother Nan called out to Zhou Li, dismounted, and said, "Let’s stop here. I’ll walk the rest. Otherwise, it’ll take you two or three hours to go back and forth."
"When are you heading back to Yan City?"
"After New Year’s at the earliest. I can’t be certain. So years I’ve returned by the seventh or eighth day of the new year, and other years I’ve stayed ho until school was about to start." Brother Nan said, then couldn’t help but break into a smile. He stood with his hands on his hips, tilting his head to look at him. "Why? You’ll miss Brother Nan?"
"A little," Zhou Li nodded.
"Heh heh! Don’t miss too much!" Brother Nan’s smile grew even brighter.
"Oh."
"Will you miss ?"
"I will."
"That’s good then. Take your ti missing ! HA HA..." Brother Nan laughed heartily, hopping a few steps away. Then he turned to look back at him, walking backward on the path as he said, "I’ll also try to miss you once or twice. Hmm, don’t think it’s too little. Be content! Contentnt brings happiness!"
"Sure."
"I’m off!"
Brother Nan turned back, waved his hand high, and strode off, even his tiptoes exuding excitent.
Zhou Li silently turned the horse around. He glanced back at Brother Nan but suddenly heard a voice from the nearby trees—
"What? You’ll miss Brother Nan?"
"?"
Zhou Li turned his head, as if automatically blurring out the top of the tree.
Huai Xu, however, wasn’t bothered. Winking, he continued to mimic Brother Nan’s words, "Don’t you miss too much..."
Zhou Li ignored him and mounted the horse.
Cow shook itself and steadied its stance.
"Will you miss ?"
"Giddy up."
"I will. HA HA HA... HIC!"
"Forward, Cow."
"Then take your ti missing ."
"Cow, let’s go. We shouldn’t stay here."
"I’ll make an effort to miss you once or twice. PFFT-HAHAHAHA! HONK HONK HONK..." Huai Xu bent over, laughing, perched on the tree branch.
"..."
Why isn’t this horse moving?
Zhou Li turned his head to ask Huai Xu, "Why won’t it go?"
Huai Xu patiently comforted him, "It’s already quite good that it’s letting you ride. You should be content; contentnt brings happiness... KU KU KU..."
Zhou Li said expressionlessly, "Co help lead the horse."
"Why? Why should I help you lead the horse? I don’t even get to ride, and yet I have to lead?" Huai Xu’s smile vanished as he outwardly complained, "You won’t even take to Spicy Food Town for their maocai."
"I’ll treat you."
"POOF!"
Huai Xu grabbed the reins, imitating Zhou Li’s earlier posture, hands clasped behind his back holding the reins, strolling leisurely forward as he said, "I, Zhou Li, will crush every ant on this road today!"
Zhou Li: ...
After walking a bit, Huai Xu suddenly stopped.
Zhou Li watched him silently, waiting to see what mischief he was up to, but then saw him slap his forehead—
"AH!"
"I got so caught up in laughing at you, I forgot sothing important!" He turned his head to look at Zhou Li, then led the horse back and turned it around. "Miss Zheng asked to go down the mountain to buy so fireworks for us to set off. Let’s go together."
"Buy fireworks?"
"Yes. I don’t know how to choose fireworks."
"Setting off fireworks... Can she see them?"
"I asked her the sa question, and she said she could." Huai Xu nodded vigorously in agreent. "She can probably only see the lights flashing, right?"
"Oh."
"Do you know how to choose fireworks?"
"I’ve never bought them before."
"Then I might as well go by myself. I’ll pick a big store, grab whatever, and you can find an empty spot to wait for ."
"Let’s go together."
"That works."
Huai Xu walked a bit ahead, then suddenly turned back. "Miss Zheng is probably treating today like New Year’s Eve!"
Zhou Li said nothing.
When it ca to choosing fireworks, he really had no experience. He rembered that fireworks had been banned in the city when he was very young. Yan City used to have designated launching areas. For a few years, the governnt even funded large, high-end fireworks displays that drew massive crowds; his family had gone to watch them. Now, that wasn’t allowed anymore. Now, even small firecrackers were hard to find in the city.
Fireworks couldn’t be banned in the countryside, or at least Yan City hadn’t managed to ban them in the past two years; enforcent wasn’t strict.
To watch fireworks, one had to go to the countryside.
Zhou Li only had scant experience buying snap-pops and poppers as a child. While he had set off stick fireworks when he was very young, he didn’t actually enjoy them much. Maybe it was because playing alone was too dull.
Soon, they arrived on the main street of a naless village. Several small supermarkets were open. There were even barbecue stalls, and people were actually buying food there, crowded together.
Zhou Li walked from one end of the street to the other but didn’t see any big tubs of fireworks, only small ones. He and Huai Xu, with him leading the horse, attracted a lot of attention, which made him a bit embarrassed. It wasn’t until he boldly asked a supermarket owner that he learned this year’s fireworks regulations were stricter than before. Small fireworks could still be sold at stalls, but the big ones were hidden in the back rooms.
Zhou Li compared prices at a few places and finally bought a large tub of fireworks. It cost 288.
He also bought many small fireworks. These included cylindrical tubes the owner called Sparkling Silver Flower Fireworks, mini fireworks made of skyrockets, and various inexpensive decorative trinkets. In total, he spent over four hundred yuan.
The owner delivered the goods to them on a tricycle to a path outside the village. Then, Huai Xu found a mont when no one was around and quickly transported them.
「...」
Dinner was noodles with a few leftover hot pot ingredients from lunch, topped with a rich fish soup. Zhou Li rembered that in Yan City, there was a tradition of eating noodles on New Year’s Eve, rather than a lavish New Year’s Eve dinner.
After eating and resting for a while, once the sky had completely darkened, the two humans and two demons walked out into the yard.
The fireworks were all laid out on the ground.
Zhou Li moved the large firework tub to one side, smiled at Zheng Zhilan, found the fuse, and then said, "You light it!"
"I can’t see clearly." Zheng Zhilan shook her head.
"It’s just like starting a regular fire; I’ll help you. You just need to flick the lighter," Zhou Li said.
"Okay."
"Co."
Zhou Li pulled Zheng Zhilan next to the fireworks, stuffed the lighter into her hand, and they both squatted down together.
CLICK.
A bean-sized fla flickered to life. Its light reflected off the big red firework tub, illuminating both their faces.
Zhou Li guided Zheng Zhilan’s left hand to the fuse, then took her right hand, which held the lighter, and moved it closer. He whispered, "When you hear the fuse ignite, let go, and we’ll run back."
Zheng Zhilan nodded and humd in agreent.
In an instant, the fla touched the fuse—
"SSS..."
Zheng Zhilan quickly let go with her left hand and released the lighter’s button. Zhou Li pulled her up, and they ran back under the eaves for shelter.
"WOOSH..."
A faint red dot shot into the sky.
"BANG!"
The red dot exploded into a huge, colorful burst, then split into many smaller fireworks that scattered, crackling through the air.
"WOOSH... BANG!"
The colorful lights illuminated the night sky and the ground below. They lit up the deserted village, outlined the hills, and faintly revealed the massive form of the Evil God on the mountain peak behind them.
Zhou Li turned his head.
Zheng Zhilan’s eyes were a hazy white, reflecting indistinct blurs of light, but she still tilted her head up toward the sky. The fireworks illuminated her face as well.
As if sensing Zhou Li’s gaze, she turned to glance at him, then looked back at the sky, a smile spreading across her face. "I haven’t set off fireworks for many, many years..."
" neither."
Could Zheng Zhilan see clearly? Perhaps not, but he guessed that maybe it wasn’t necessary to see that clearly.
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