The next day, before Xia Qingqing had even gotten out of bed, Song Ze arrived with his younger cousin, Huang Chenyi.

Xia Qingqing rubbed her sleepy eyes and smiled helplessly, "You guys got up really early. Don't you need to sleep?"

"It's this guy again, he came knocking on my door just as dawn was breaking," Song Ze complained, putting his arm around Huang Chenyi's neck.

"Big brother, let me go!" Huang Chenyi struggled to break free from Song Ze's clutches and said with a resentful look, "It's not that I wanted to get up so early, it's that my uncle and the others woke me up too early."

Shen Zhengqing and his son Shen Kaiji had gotten used to being in the army and would get up at 6 a.m. every day to exercise. They changed this habit at home as well.

Huang Chenyi happened to be sleeping in the room next to theirs. After being woken up by his uncle and cousin, he didn't want to sleep anymore, so he got up and went to knock on Song Ze's door.

Xia Qingqing patted Huang Chenyi's head: "Lele is still sleeping in his room. Go to his room and find him."

"Okay, I'll go wake Jiale up."

Huang Chenyi excitedly ran to knock on Gou Dan's door: "Jiale, Xia Jiale, I've come to play with you! Why aren't you up yet? Wake up!"

Dog Egg was curled up in the warm blankets, not wanting to move at all. Hearing the voice, he knew who it was. His sister had told him yesterday that Huang Chenyi would probably come to play with him in the next couple of days.

Gou Dan squinted and called out towards the door, "Brother Chen Yi, the door's unlocked, come in yourself."

The door was pushed open the next second, and Huang Chenyi went into the room and found that Gou Dan had closed his eyes and lay back on the bed.

He said somewhat embarrassedly, "Jiale, do you want to sleep a little longer? I'll go to the main room and wait for you."

"I'm not going to sleep anymore. I'll just take a two-minute nap and then get up right away," Gou Dan said in a muffled voice.

Huang Chenyi glanced at Gou Dan, who was lying motionless in the quilt, and did not disturb him further. Instead, he went to the desk and found a comic book to read.

On the other side, Song Ze was pulled by Xia Qingqing to the main room to warm himself by the fire.

Xia Qingqing turned her head to look at Song Ze and asked, "Aze, have you and Xiao Yi had breakfast yet?"

"You've eaten, but you probably haven't eaten yet, right?" Song Ze thought, noting that she didn't look like she had eaten breakfast since she had just gotten up.

Xia Qingqing nodded: "Not yet, I'll eat later, I don't have an appetite right now."

Song Ze glanced at Xia Qingqing and said helplessly, "Okay, I'll remind you later that skipping breakfast is bad for your stomach."

A moment later, Gou Dan and Huang Chenyi also arrived in the main room. Xia Qingqing said mysteriously to the two little ones, "I have prepared a surprise for you. Guess what it is?"

"It's firecrackers, isn't it?" Huang Chenyi said confidently. Xia Qingqing had said yesterday that she would buy them firecrackers.

Xia Qingqing let out a slightly disappointed "Ah," and said, "How did Xiao Yi guess it so quickly? That's so boring. Wait for me a moment, I'll go to my room and get it for you."

Xia Qingqing got up and went back to her room. A moment later, she brought out a box: "Here, it's all. You can take it and play with it. Gou Dan, you can also call Hong Jun to come and play with us. But be careful, don't point it at people, understand?"

Xia Qingqing's tone was very serious when she said the last sentence, and Gou Dan nodded repeatedly: "Okay, no problem."

After saying that, Gou Dan cautiously glanced in the direction of his father's kitchen. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found that his mother wasn't paying attention. If his mother had seen him, he would definitely have been scolded.

The two little ones huddled together looking at the firecrackers in the box. Gou Dan couldn't help but exclaim, "Ah, these are firecrackers, and there are also sky rockets, little firecrackers, double firecrackers... Sister, you're so great, I admire you so much!"

Huang Chenyi looked at Xia Qingqing with a happy expression: "Sister Qingqing, you are so kind. I will definitely be careful when Jiale and I play, and I will never hurt ourselves."

Xia Qingqing waved her hand and said, "Fine, as long as you don't hurt yourselves, you can do whatever you want."

There was such a big box of firecrackers that even Gou Dan and Huang Chenyi couldn't handle it all, so Gou Dan went to the Tian family and called Tian Hongjun over as well.

As for the others, Gou Dan didn't call out. All the firecrackers were bought with his sister's money, and he couldn't bear to give them all away. He only called out to Tian Hongjun because they were the closest to him.

Looking at the large box of firecrackers, Tian Hongjun felt a sour taste in his mouth, like he had eaten a lemon: "Jiale, your sister is too kind of you, she actually bought you so many firecrackers."

His mother wouldn't be willing to buy him firecrackers. The firecrackers he's set off these past two days were all bought with his own New Year's money. If God could give him such a good older sister, he would be willing to eat one less bowl of rice every day in exchange.

"Of course! My sister is the best sister in the world," Gou Dan said proudly.

After saying that, he realized that he was showing off, so he quickly changed the subject: "Okay, let's go out and set off firecrackers. There are enough for us to play with all day."

Tian Hongjun said in surprise, "Are we going to release all of this today? Aren't we going to save some for a few days?"

This box of firecrackers is huge; if we use them sparingly, it'll last us for half a month. We won't have to worry about firecrackers this Lunar New Year.

Gou Dan hugged Huang Chenyi's shoulder and said, "Let him have as much fun as he wants. Brother Chenyi has to go back today, so we have to make sure he has a good time."

Huang Chenyi looked at Gou Dan with emotion; he hadn't misjudged his younger brother.

Instead of carrying the box out directly, each of the three people carried a few boxes of firecrackers on their person and some in their hands, planning to come back for the rest after they had set off the firecrackers.

They didn't go far; they just played around the neighborhood. Xia Qingqing could still hear the sound of firecrackers from time to time while she was at home.

Zhang Hongyan had obviously heard the noise as well, and when she came out of the kitchen, she saw a cardboard box in the main room.

She pointed to the box and asked, "Qingqing, did you buy all these firecrackers for Gou Dan to play with?"

Xia Qingqing smiled ingratiatingly at her: "Hehe, I knew Xiao Yi was coming over to play, so I bought them some firecrackers. It's the New Year, so let the kids have some fun."

"I didn't say it was forbidden, so let them play. Just remember to tell them to be careful not to hurt themselves," Zhang Hongyan said with a playful smile.

"Don't worry, Mom, I've already told them what to do," Xia Qingqing said with a triumphant smile.

She knew that if she let Huang Chenyi out, her mother would be too embarrassed to nag her, since he was a guest. If she directly said that the firecrackers were for Gou Dan, her mother would definitely say that Gou Dan was spoiled.

Little puppy, your sister has endured so much for you.

After Zhang Hongyan left, Song Ze pinched Xia Qingqing's fair and smooth face and said, "Qingqing, it must be so nice to be your younger brother. I'm a little envious."

"Don't be envious, I'd love to be your older sister. Song Ze, hurry up and call me 'older sister'!" Xia Qingqing grabbed Song Ze's face and tugged at it, laughing heartily.