The New Year's Eve dinner on the thirtieth of the lunar month often lasts a long time.
Families gather around excitedly, chairs squeezed together, making the round table feel full. Warm light spills over everyone's faces, reflecting smiles of happiness.
The elders eat with relish, some squinting their eyes, savoring the joy brought by the food, some whispering and chatting about their family affairs, and others clinking glasses, engrossed in the atmosphere of exchanging toasts.
An hour later, the younger generation, including Li Jing, had long left the table after finishing dinner, while Li Fuguo and Li Weijun, among others, were still raising their glasses and drinking, their faces flushed with excitement, chatting about everything under the sun.
Liu Mei and other women had long gathered to the side, talking about each other's family matters.
Leaving the old house, Li Jing took out the fireworks he had specially bought from the trunk.
These fireworks were like fulfilling his childhood dream; the entire trunk was filled with them.
Li Xiaoxiao followed out and, seeing a car full of fireworks, widened her eyes in surprise: "Brother, did you empty out the fireworks shop?"
Following behind Li Xiaoxiao was a chubby-faced boy, a ninth-grader, who was the son of their aunt, named Wang Dongdong.
Due to the age difference, Li Jing didn't interact much with Wang Dongdong and only occasionally heard his parents' praise of him as an obedient and honest boy.
"Brother, can you give us some?"
Although Li Xiaoxiao was a girl, she was brave and couldn't take her eyes off the fireworks, eagerly awaiting the impending pyrotechnic display.
"Of course, these were meant for us to set off together."
Li Jing smiled, and after moving all the fireworks out, he led his siblings to an open space.
Li Jing first took out a sparkler, lit the fuse with a lighter, and in an instant, with a "chiz" sound, a bright spark shot from the tip of the sparkler.
The spark started as a small dot and quickly spread, blossoming into a golden flower, crackling and flashing, illuminating a small area around them.
"I want one, too, I want one!"
Li Xiaoxiao's little face was flushed red from the fireworks, looking like a ripe apple, and she eagerly lit one herself.
Seeing this, Wang Dongdong clapped his little hands excitedly, repeatedly exclaiming how beautiful it was. His crisp voice echoed far into the quiet night, full of joy.
He boldly leaned forward, wanting to reach out to touch the jumping sparks, but was scared by the slight heat, quickly retracting his hand, causing Li Xiaoxiao to burst into laughter, her laughter echoing in the yard.
In a corner of the yard, the old locust tree stood silently; its usual somewhat weathered branches were now covered in a dreamy glow from the fireworks, the dappled shadows swaying on the ground as if dancing along.
A moment later, all kinds of fireworks were lit one by one, filling the entire yard with colorful lights.
Golden, silver, red, and green lights intertwined, at times shooting across the night sky like meteors, and at times blooming in competition like flowers in the sky, lighting up the night as if it were day.
The brilliant colors reflected in the eyes of Li Jing and the others, making their eyes sparkle with dazzling light.
At this moment, fireworks from other families in the distance also rose one after another into the sky, "boom boom" sounds echoing in their ears, merging with the booms of the fireworks here.
In this instant, the festive spirit on the small town intensified.
People under the fireworks were all excited and exhilarated. This whole area immersed in a festive, lively, and warm atmosphere.
Li Jing and Li Xiaoxiao sat on a wooden stool beside the small courtyard, watching the fireworks in the sky, feeling both relaxed and thoughtful.
Compared to the bustling Tianhai, the liveliness here made Li Jing feel more fulfilled and warm inside.
"Cousin, are you close with Sister Qin?"
Under the fireworks, Wang Dongdong, sitting like a little follower beside Li Jing, suddenly asked.
"Sister Qin?" Li Jing raised an eyebrow, looking at his round face: "You mean Ge Qin?"
"Yes, my cousin introduced me to her before."
Wang Dongdong explained, then in a buzzing voice said, "Once when I was going home, she saw me on the road and gave me a ride back. She said she was very close to you."
Upon hearing this, Li Jing was a bit surprised, but considering that Wang Dongdong studied in the city and Ge Qin also worked there, it wasn't unusual for them to meet.
Li Jing lit a sparkler in his hand, casually chatting: "Did she tell you anything else?"
"Hmm, she said you're amazing, a very good person, and told me to study hard and be like you." Wang Dongdong chuckled a few times: "My mom also told me that, so I'm studying really hard now."
"Brother, Dongdong has really good grades."
At this time, after playing with the sparkler in her hand, Li Xiaoxiao chimed in: "Next year during the high school entrance exam, he should be able to get into the honors class of City No.1 Middle School, just like you did before."
Li Jing nodded, encouragingly smiling at Wang Dongdong: "Study hard."
Wang Dongdong nodded vigorously, then continued to watch the fireworks in the sky.
And thinking about what was just said, Li Jing felt a bit surprised.
He hadn't expected Ge Qin to have helped his cousin after coming back to their hometown.
Originally, Li Jing thought after that matter on the yacht had ended, they would have no further contact, as her purpose was simply to get the money to buy a car from him.
In Li Jing's view, she was a practical and somewhat vain girl, their story more like a pre-agreed transaction, with no further interactions after it ended; in fact, they indeed had no contact afterward.
Li Jing hadn't even considered meeting her upon this return, and if it weren't for her reaching out last night, he would have forgotten there was a woman in his hometown he had once been involved with.
Though Li Jing was indifferent, it seemed Ge Qin had not forgotten this relationship, and even after an unexpected encounter with Wang Dongdong after work, she took the initiative to give him a ride home.
Although this was a small thing, it allowed Li Jing to see another side of Ge Qin.
This woman... could she have developed feelings...
Li Jing shook his head slightly to himself, then couldn't be bothered to ponder this further, looking up at the flowers blooming in the sky, and raised his phone for a shot.
The brilliant fireworks were frozen on the phone screen, as if the warmth and joy of the New Year had also melted into it.
Li Jing savored the beauty of this reunion, rare in feeling, posted a moment on his social media.
Like most people who are not fond of posting on social media, Li Jing always felt it's too pretentious.
But this time, he indeed had the urge to joy; aside from the firework photo, he didn't even add any text.
This type of contentless post often gets easily overlooked.
Even Li Jing didn't expect anyone to reply, but within minutes of posting, checking his phone again, his moment had gained quite a few likes.
It would've been fine just to have likes, but Li Jing opened his page to find there were comments as well.
Zhang Xinxin: "So beautiful, I wish I could watch fireworks with Brother Jing!"
An Tong: "Really beautiful, hope you're having fun at home."
Wei Jia: "You're not in Tianhai? When will you be back?"
Zhou Li: "The fireworks are really nice."
Zhang Ling: "Brother Li, your photo is gorgeous."
At the same time, Ge Qin, sitting at home having dinner with family, looked at the firework picture on social media. After hesitating for a moment, she finally deleted the comment she had meticulously pondered for a long time.
After taking a deep breath, she ended with a silent like.