Chapter 68: Fireworks

Chapter 68: Fireworks

The square is a project that benefits the villagers. It's not far, and it only takes about ten minutes to get there in a hurry.

It was cold outside, so Fang Yuenian put on a thick down jacket and wrapped a scarf around her neck. When she arrived at her destination, she was sweating profusely.

The place was bustling with people. Children were jumping and laughing, and all sorts of fireworks were dazzling. Nearby, a folk lion dance troupe was practicing at night, probably for the temple fair on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year. Fang Yuenian walked around a small part of the circle, bumping into several children who stumbled and ran along the way. Everyone was tolerant during the festival, and the incident passed by with smiles. So he continued looking up at the children.

"Fang Yuenian!"

It was Cheng Bing calling him. He recognized her voice, but it was a bit noisy around him, and he couldn't tell where she was for a moment. By the time he saw her, Cheng Bing was already standing in front of him in the light of the fireworks.

Cheng Bing had a smile on his face. He had also changed into thick clothes, a large, thick fleece jacket. The collar of his sweater was not as high as last night, revealing half of his neck. He looked handsome and upright, and the boyishness was almost gone, leaving only the appearance of a young man.

Fang Yuenian stared at his smiling face, momentarily stunned.

“Come here,” Cheng Bing said, clearly in a great mood. To keep his voice from being drowned out by the noise around him, he leaned closer and raised his voice, “We bought a lot of fireworks.”

Fang Yuenian shrugged and suddenly realized that he was several centimeters shorter than Cheng Bing.

Cheng Bing smiled again, grabbed his arm, and said, "Let's go!"

They were involuntarily pulled in front of Cheng Xiaoxiao and Cheng Junjun. The two girls were in the middle of a crowd. Cheng Xiaoxiao was holding back several children to prevent them from coming forward, while Cheng Junjun was lighting a cylindrical firework. These firework would crackle and release brilliant tree-shaped sparks after being lit, and they lasted a long time, making them very popular.

"Be careful of Junjun!" Cheng Xiaoxiao warned.

"Okay, everyone move aside a bit!" Cheng Junjun said with a smile.

The children around were chattering and clapping enthusiastically around the older children. Their smiling faces were full of joy. Fang Yuenian, being in the midst of it all, couldn't help but smile too.

Cheng Bing glanced to the side and was about to say something when Cheng Junjun had already successfully lit the fuse. She stepped back to Cheng Xiaoxiao's side, turned around, and saw Fang Yuenian. "You're here!" she said with a happy smile.

"Sister Jun, Sister Xiaoxiao, Happy New Year!" Fang Yuenian said hurriedly. "If I had known you were here, I would have come out earlier."

Cheng Xiaoxiao said, "I thought you were definitely at home doing your homework, but Junjun insisted that you would definitely have time."

Fang Yuenian hurriedly waved her hand: "Oh, I didn't..."

Wow! It's so beautiful!

"It's so beautiful!"

"Mom! Look, this is a pink firework!"

The children's cheers erupted, interrupting Fang Yuenian's words. A little girl jumped up and stepped on his toe, causing him to lean back half a step, which Cheng Bing blocked by supporting his back.

"Are you alright?" Cheng Bing asked.

"No, no, no," Fang Yuenian quickly steadied himself, the colorful light from the fireworks casting a mottled glow on half of his face. "Let's go buy some more fireworks. It's so lively, let's set off a lot more for fun."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Junjun said, "We bought a lot! We're going to play with the one that you hold up in your hand later. I brought a camera, so you two can take some pictures for us."

“Okay, I’ll take lots of pictures for you,” Cheng Bing agreed, then looked at Fang Yuenian, “Do you want to take some?”

Fang Yuenian immediately refused: "No, no, forget it."

Cheng Bing's eyes lit up, as if to say, "Really don't want to?"

Fang Yuenian felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze and whispered, "I'm not photogenic, you know that."

Cheng Bing pursed her lips, "What did you do all day?"

Fang Yue Nian thought for a moment and said, "When guests came to our house, we didn't do much, just built a snowman with the children."

"Have you eaten properly?"

"No, I didn't even sit at the table. My mom ate some while she was cooking. What about you?"

“I also ate a lot in the kitchen,” Cheng Bing said, her feet lightly brushing the snow as she pulled something from her coat pocket. “Here you go.”

It was a snack with pretty packaging. Fang Yuenian took it and whispered, "What is it?"

Upon opening it, he discovered it was a small pastry he had never seen before. He couldn't see the appearance clearly at that moment, but it smelled delicious.

“Grandpa bought this,” Cheng Bing said. “Try it. If you like it, I’ll get you more. All the kids who came to our house today love it. I managed to save a few.”

As she spoke, Fang Yuenian had already stuffed a pastry into her mouth, and upon hearing this, she almost choked, "Cough..."

"What's wrong?" Cheng Bing patted his back.

Fang Yuenian coughed a few times, "It's nothing, it's nothing."

"Is it delicious?"

"It's delicious," Fang Yuenian said honestly, then added, "But don't bring any more for me. Keep them for guests, or you'll end up fighting with the kids for snacks."

Cheng Bing said, "This is the only one."

Fang Yuenian smiled and said, "Okay."

That day, Fang Yuenian, who had refused to take any photos, finally left behind one. It was taken by Cheng Junjun, showing him and Cheng Bing lighting fireworks. The two of them, one standing and one squatting, had warm yellow halos on their faces. The children were gathered around from a distance, as if they were looking forward to something mysterious and beautiful, their faces full of joy.

That's the romance of midnight during the winter Spring Festival.

After the second day of the Lunar New Year, the two high school students, who hadn't done their homework for three days, were finally going to begin their intensive study session.

There were always guests at home, so Cheng Bing arranged to go to the carpenter's shop early on. Cheng Junjun and Cheng Xiaoxiao brought him snacks and fruit twice, and also left a blanket. Cheng Bing repeatedly told them not to worry about him, and only then did the two say they wouldn't come again.

Then she texted Fang Yuenian, saying that she had started studying and that he could come anytime he wanted.

However, Fang Yuenian was forced to stay at home by Old Lady Fang to entertain a distant relative—for no other reason than that this relative lived in the town year-round and always said things like, "I don't know the roads in the countryside," and "Life in the countryside is so hard." Even though her family only had a dark house on a remote old street in the town, she exuded an arrogant air from the bottom of her heart and considered herself superior to all her relatives in the countryside.

Now that Fang Yuenian is consistently among the top students in the city's best high school, his achievements far surpass all of his city relative's children and grandchildren. So, Old Mrs. Fang keeps her grandson at home and talks at length about topics such as the hard work of high school students and the beautiful campus of the No. 1 High School. She won't back down until she makes her relative so angry that he turns green with rage.

It wasn't until Wang Jing called her son repeatedly that Fang Yuenian finally broke free from the competitive exchange and returned to her room with a gloomy face.

Afraid that he would get angry, Wang Jing went over and asked, "Niannian, are you going out to do your homework? Your Aunt Cuilan is staying for lunch."

Aunt Cuilan is this relative. Fang Yuenian said while drinking water, "Oh, then I'll go out. Cheng Bing is doing his homework, I'll go find him."

"Okay, then." Wang Jing smiled and added, "I'll save some food for you at noon, and I'll call your family to come over later. Why don't you take some snacks out for Cheng Bing?"

Fang Yue began picking out homework, and said, "Okay."

He rarely attracted attention when he went to the carpenter's shop, but during the Lunar New Year, there were many people, including some unfamiliar faces. He greeted all sorts of uncles and aunts with New Year's greetings and heard them saying behind his back, "This child is quite good, quite good, he's sensible now." He felt quite good and thought to himself, "If Cheng Bing heard this, she would definitely be proud of me."

Cheng Bing didn't know he was coming; he hadn't told her beforehand, so when Fang Yuenian came in, he was a little surprised, then smiled, "You're here?"

Fang Yuenian's hands were full, and she said, "Take this, come on."

He was carrying a lot of snacks, a plate of cherry tomatoes, and two winter break homework books. Cheng Bing took them from him and said, "Why did you bring so much stuff?"

“My mom asked me to bring this, she said it was for you to eat,” Fang Yuenian said. “What subject are you studying?”

"I don't want to write about science today."

“Me too,” Fang Yuenian spread out her homework, one Chinese and one history, “I’ll copy it and then memorize it.”

Both of them were incredibly focused on their studies, writing furiously. The amount of homework during winter break was enormous; it felt like they would need to complete one book a day to finish it all. However, Cheng Bing was more prone to daydreaming today. He would occasionally glance up at Fang Yuenian and find him completely absorbed, copying the answers with exceptional care.

If Fang Yuenian hadn't stopped writing and casually glanced up while flicking his wrist, he wouldn't have known that this top student was so unfocused.

"What are you looking at?" He didn't mean to laugh, but he couldn't help it. Although his expression remained relatively calm, his voice carried a hint of amusement. "Aren't you going to study?"

Cheng Bing simply put down her pen and said, "Let's chat for a while."

Fang Yue Nian raised an eyebrow, "Chatting?"

“Hmm,” Cheng Bing said, “When did you get back from your in-laws’ house yesterday?”

Yesterday, they were texting each other casually, but then Fang Yuenian said she had to go to her mother-in-law's house, and the chat ended.

“It’s late, and my mother-in-law isn’t feeling well,” Fang Yuenian frowned. “We stayed to talk for a while.”

Are you alright?

"I should be fine, just a little dizzy."

Cheng Bing nodded, and Fang Yuenian then asked, "What about you? You don't need to go to your maternal grandparents' house, so what are you doing at home?"

"I usually just cook at home, but yesterday a relative came over and said they wanted to introduce my sister to a boyfriend."

Fang Yuenian: "What?!"

He sat up straight immediately. "What are you going to introduce?"

“Boyfriend,” Cheng Bing repeated cooperatively, “My mom is very unhappy because that person seems to be, well, not a very good person.”

"What's wrong with him?" Fang Yuenian was furious. "What kind of person is he, and what kind of nonsense is he spouting?"

"I don't know, it seems there was a child or something. Grandpa and Dad weren't there at the time, and my second sister gave them a hard time and chased them away."

Fang Yuenian was about to explode when she heard this brief description, but she felt both relieved and astonished when she heard the rest. After all, it is a tradition during the New Year that one should not hit a guest who comes to one's door. Even someone as temperamental as Old Madam Fang had to tolerate someone pointing fingers at her. Yet Cheng Junjun was able to directly kick her out.

Holy crap...who is it? Why is Sister Jun giving me such a hard time?

“You don’t know her, and I don’t know her either,” Cheng Bing said. “My second sister just said with a straight face that she didn’t need it and then let her go.”

"Well done," Fang Yuenian exclaimed sincerely. "So, we won't bring this up again, right?"

"Probably not."

Fang Yuenian curled her lips and said, "These people are so boring. I had a guest at home today, and she talked for a long time about how difficult the roads in the countryside are. She was so arrogant and insisted on visiting my bathroom. After she finished looking at it, she said that the shower head was not good enough and the tiles were not good enough either."

Cheng Bing chuckled softly; this wasn't the first time he'd heard him mention this famous relative.

“Oh, right, there’s something else I want to tell you,” Fang Yuenian said, her thoughts drifting from talking about relatives in the city. “Meng Xiaoyang told me he’s spending the New Year in the village this year, at his grandma’s house. He even sent me two MMS messages with pictures. There are a lot of traditional New Year activities in their village, and he seemed quite happy.”

Cheng Bing wasn't particularly curious about outsiders, but Meng Xiaoyang was no ordinary person, so he followed up by asking, "Didn't they say his family lived in the city?"

“I don’t know either. It seems that his father was from the village and his mother was from the city. After they got married, their relatives didn’t keep in touch. After his parents passed away, he lived at his uncle’s house. You know, he only went home two or three times during the whole semester. He didn’t even stay overnight. He just grabbed some clothes and came back. Li Peixiang and I were worried that he would have nowhere to go for the New Year. Li Peixiang even said that he should just take him home.”

Cheng Bing, seemingly lost in thought, suddenly asked out of the blue, "Don't you think Li Peixiang is too good to Meng Xiaoyang?"

"Huh?" Fang Yuenian was confused. "Too what?"

Cheng Bing often saw Li Peixiang. Even without paying special attention, she had long noticed that Li Peixiang, a day student, would always squeeze next to the boarding students to eat together. He would also find various reasons to share his family's lavish lunch with Meng Xiaoyang. Meng Xiaoyang probably didn't want to spend more of his uncle's money and had always lived frugally, eating and dressing simply.

"Yes, that's right, very good."

Fang Yuenian's reaction time was too slow; it took her a while to realize, "No way? Could it be... tsk, maybe."

But is it really that much of a coincidence?

Meng Xiaoyang's sexual orientation is probably a minority group, but... one more wouldn't make a difference.

"I'll try to explore that next semester," Fang Yuenian decided.