Chapter 122: Spring Festival Trifles

"Amid the sound of firecrackers, the old year departs. The spring breeze brings warmth to the mulled wine; as a thousand households welcome the bright sun, they always replace the old peach wood charms with new ones." With the intermittent crackle of firecrackers echoing outside the window, the 2014 Spring Festival finally unveiled its mysterious veil.

Before dawn had even broken, the entire city of Donghai was already buzzing with excitement. Brilliant fireworks and firecrackers soared into the sky, blooming in celebration of the first day of the New Year. No one would choose to sleep in on this day, as doing so would invite the scorn of all.

Xiao Lin opened his hazy eyes, groggily put on a new set of clothes, and shuffled, half-asleep, toward the bathroom. Only upon arriving did he sadly realize that he could not wash up on his own; his hands could not get wet. He had no choice but to wander back to his bedroom in a daze. Half an hour later, Xu Qiaoling and Father Xiao were up. Xu Qiaoling entered Xiao Lin’s room, woke him from his brief slumber, and helped him wash his face and brush his teeth. Afterward, she went to boil dumplings and eggs.

According to rural custom, one should set off a string of firecrackers when the dumplings hit the pot to signify good fortune. However, in the city, firecrackers could only be set off in designated areas of the apartment complex, so this particular tradition had faded away. Xiao Lin sat at the dining table, waiting for the dumplings to be ready, while Father Xiao chatted on the phone with friends, making plans to play cards.

Soon, steaming dumplings were served. Xu Qiaoling first placed seven or eight of them into a small bowl on the stove—an offering for the Kitchen God, commonly known as "sending off the Kitchen deity." Only then did she serve three bowls and fish out the boiled eggs. Aside from dumplings and eggs, the breakfast consisted only of vegetarian dishes, such as tofu and shepherd's purse; most families avoided meat on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Xiao Lin awkwardly picked up a fork and speared a dumpling. He couldn't hold chopsticks yet. As he ate the delicious dumpling, he couldn't help but recall his childhood, when Grandma would hide coins or brown sugar inside the dumplings. Whoever found one was considered blessed. Xiao Lin had always managed to find these special ones and would happily boast to his family about his good luck. He later realized that Grandma had intentionally placed them in his bowl so he would always find them. But now, he would never eat those dumplings again; Xu Qiaoling said putting coins in food was unhygienic, and even if he were to find one now, he knew the feeling of childhood would be gone forever.

After breakfast, Father Xiao planned to head to the card room, and Xu Qiaoling had arranged to go shopping with some friends. As for Xiao Lin, he couldn't stay home either; he had already planned a series of activities with Zhang Zhenghao, Ye Hao, and the others. In the countryside, one would spend the morning after breakfast visiting elders to pay respects, but here in the city, a simple "Happy New Year" to neighbors sufficed. Visiting relatives was reserved for the second and third days. In the city, everyone headed out to enjoy the various festivities offered on the holiday.

"Son, don't play too wildly when you go out; your hand hasn't fully healed yet," Xu Qiaoling cautioned.

"Son, why don't you come with me to play cards?" Father Xiao asked.

"No way. Your card room is a den of smoke; I’d be choked to death," Xiao Lin refused flatly.

"Alright then," Father Xiao muttered sheepishly.

Shortly after, his parents left. Xiao Lin had to wait a little while longer for Zhang Zhenghao to arrive. Suddenly, his phone vibrated. He picked it up to find a text message from Wang Yuqing.

"Xiao Lin, wishing you a happy New Year. Be careful with your injury while you're out." These simple words warmed Xiao Lin’s heart.

Since yesterday, he had received many congratulatory messages, all filled with flowery, elaborate prose. It was obvious they were mass-sent or copied from the internet, and Xiao Lin had ignored them all. But Wang Yuqing’s was different. With difficulty, he tapped out a reply with his fingers.

He then logged into his social media account. Seeing his feed flooded with generic holiday updates, he was about to log off when he spotted a post Wang Yuqing had made the previous night. He clicked on it and saw two photos of fireworks—one capturing the moment of explosion, the other showing the dimming glow as they fell. The caption read: "Is our love like fireworks, passing from brilliance to sorrow?"

Seeing these words, Xiao Lin felt a sharp pang of heartache. *I'm sorry.* Aside from apologizing, he didn't know what else he could do.

"Yuqing, perhaps time will fade your sorrow. Maybe somewhere far away, there is a boy even better than me waiting for you," Xiao Lin murmured, looking toward the direction of her home.

*Knock, knock.* A sound at the door interrupted his thoughts. Shaking his head, he opened the door.

"Xiao Lin, let’s go! The guys are all assembled. We’re heading to the mountains first, then to the coast, and tonight we're hitting the clubs..." Zhang Zhenghao rushed in and shouted.

"Let’s go! Let’s move!" Xiao Lin roared back.

This group consisted entirely of men. It was Spring Festival—the boys had their activities, and the girls had theirs.

"Yuqing, are you ready yet? The temple fair is about to start, hurry up! Xue'er is waiting for us downstairs," Xu Qing rushed into Wang Yuqing's bedroom, startling her. Upon seeing it was Xu Qing, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Xu Qing, don't you know how to knock? You scared me to death!" Wang Yuqing complained.

"Psh, what’s there to be afraid of? It’s not like I haven’t seen you before. We used to bathe together, I’ve even touched you there!" Xu Qing jumped to her side and pinched her bottom.

Wang Yuqing, angry, punched her. "You shameless girl, what boy would ever dare to marry you?"

"Haha, don't you worry about that. Are you ready? Come on, hurry!"

"Fine, let's go." Wang Yuqing said goodbye to her parents and followed Xu Qing downstairs.

Once outside, they saw a girl in a white down jacket leaning against a cool red Porsche, smiling at them.

"Yuqing, Xu Qing, you’re finally down. Let’s go, we’re off to the temple fair," Shangguan Xue'er said, gesturing toward the car.

The three climbed in, and Shangguan Xue'er sped off. She had driven over that morning to pick them up, saying she was bored of the usual spots in Mingzhu City and wanted a change of scenery. Their destination was Longshan Temple, where a lively temple fair was being held.

"I’ve noticed you two are like sisters—even your names both have 'Qing' in them," Shangguan Xue'er remarked.

"What do you mean 'like' sisters? We *are* sisters. We’re so close we could share a pair of pants," Xu Qing said, pouting.

"Oh, really? Then who’s the older sister and who’s the younger?" Shangguan Xue'er asked with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"That goes without saying, I’m the older sister, of course," Xu Qing declared immediately.

"You brat, you're a month younger than me and you dare call yourself the older sister? See how I handle you!" Wang Yuqing reached out to tickle her.

The car filled with the sound of the girls' delightful laughter.

...

Meanwhile, Xiao Lin and his group had reached the seaside. The hike had left them drenched in sweat, so they came up with the idea of a winter swim.

"Hey, if any of you dares to jump into the sea and swim a lap, I'll give you a thousand bucks right now," Zhang Zhenghao said, waving a stack of cash.

The group looked at the money, then at the vast, freezing ocean. Aside from Xiao Lin, everyone hesitated.

"I'll do it! Damn it, for the money, I'm going for it!" Ye Hao shouted. He turned to dive into the sea, but Xiao Lin stopped him.

"Ye Hao, if you jump in with your clothes on, you might not come back up. That thick, heavy jacket of yours will weigh more than you once it’s soaked with seawater," Xiao Lin warned.

"Right, right." Ye Hao realized his mistake. He looked around; there was no one else in sight. He began stripping down, but the moment he was down to his underwear, he started shivering uncontrollably. "Forget it, it's too cold." He quickly put his clothes back on.

"Weakling, watch me." A guy named Rat gave Ye Hao the middle finger. He stripped down to his underwear in seconds and jumped into the sea without a moment's hesitation.

Watching Rat, Xiao Lin looked at Ye Hao and said with a pitying expression, "Fatty, you already took your clothes off, why didn't you just jump? Don't you know the seawater is warm in winter? It's not cold at all, that's why so many people love winter swimming. Look at Rat."

"What? The seawater is warm?" Not just Ye Hao, but everyone else looked shocked.

"Don't believe me? Try it with your hand," Xiao Lin said, shrugging.

Ye Hao stepped forward and touched the water. His expression turned grim instantly. He looked at Rat, who was swimming happily in the distance, and cursed, "You damn Rat, you really got a lucky break."

Rat rolled over in the water, triumphant. "Haha, this thousand bucks was way too easy to earn!"