Firecrackers were already going off in the village, some houses were already past 11 p.m.
"Mo Xue, dinner's ready!" Wu Sicheng called from inside the house.
An Moxue led the two somewhat excited little ones into the house.
"It's done so quickly? It looks great!" She took a string of firecrackers out of the box and said, "After we set off these, we can eat."
"I'll do it, you wait on the kang (heated brick bed)." After saying that, Wu Sicheng carried the firecrackers out of the house, and soon the sound of firecrackers crackling filled the courtyard.
Wu Sicheng came in, sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), picked up his wine cup, and said, "With the sound of firecrackers bidding farewell to the old year, Mo Xue, I wish you a better year than the last."
An Moxue also raised her glass and said, "Thank you, and I wish you a happy new year and all the best!"
Wu Sicheng took a sip of wine and said, "Mo Xue, I'm so happy to spend New Year's Eve with you and welcome the New Year."
An Moxue picked up a piece of chicken for him and said, "Thank you for spending the New Year with me. I'm very happy too. Eat a piece of chicken to eat away all the old debts of the past year, and may everything go smoothly in the new year."
"Thank you. Have a piece of fish too. I wish you plenty of money every year." He said, picking up a piece of fish belly and putting it into An Moxue's bowl.
And so, the two of them began their New Year's Eve dinner in 1970, with heartfelt wishes for each other.
"I never imagined that I would have been here for more than half a year in the blink of an eye. Time is truly an incredible thing."
“We’ve known each other for over half a year now. We met briefly on the train, and I never expected so many things to happen afterward.” Wu Sicheng took a sip of his drink and said, “Mo Xue, thank you for saving me so many times.”
"It was just a coincidence; perhaps you weren't meant to die. Did they catch that person that time?"
"We caught them. But one of our comrades was injured during the arrest and had to retire," Wu Sicheng said, sounding a little down, but he didn't show it.
"Our peaceful life now is the result of the sacrifices made by people like you. Some people don't know how to cherish it." An Moxue said with some emotion, thinking of her parents who had sacrificed their lives.
Seeing that she seemed a little down, Wu Sicheng changed the subject and said, "Mo Xue, how did you make this wine? It's really delicious."
"Drink more if you like it." An Moxue said with a light smile, thinking to herself that this was fruit wine brewed with water from the space well, which had the effect of prolonging life. She wouldn't give it to just anyone.
After saying that, she picked up a piece of venison rib, took a bite, and found it crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a sweet honey aroma. "This venison rib is so delicious, you should try a piece."
He watched An Moxue eat the dishes he had made and how happy she was. He felt extremely satisfied and just wanted to cook every dish he could for her.
He tried hard to suppress his excitement so that An Moxue wouldn't notice anything unusual about him.
He picked up a piece of venison rib, took a bite, and found it to be quite delicious. He exclaimed, "This is the most sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner I've had since I left home in all these years. Thank you, Mo Xue."
"Let's try to finish all the dishes on this table. How are the dumplings? Do they taste like the Kyoto you remember?"
Wu Sicheng picked up a dumpling with three kinds of seafood filling, took a bite, and said, "It tastes better than I remember."
Outside, firecrackers were going off, while inside, the two chatted and laughed, eating and talking about everything under the sun. The two little ones would occasionally call out for some food. The two people and two wolves ate their New Year's Eve dinner like this.
Wu Sicheng checked his watch several times. On the last occasion, he looked at An Moxue with shimmering eyes and said, "Moxue, Happy New Year!"
An Moxue glanced at her watch, smiled brightly at Wu Sicheng, and said, "Happy New Year!"
And so, this New Year's Eve dinner, which was only for the two of them, lasted until 1 a.m.
Looking at the empty wine jar, Wu Sicheng realized that he had underestimated An Moxue's alcohol tolerance. This must have been ten jin of wine. Even if the alcohol content was low, the quantity was still considerable.
But even after Mo Xue drank most of it, she could still wash her face and feet and hang up the curtains as usual.
An Moxue drank a bit too much tonight and fell asleep quickly after lying down.
Wu Sicheng extinguished the kerosene lamp, but tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. He felt so good being with Mo Xue that he was reluctant to leave.
However, he knew he had to leave, not only because of his duty, but also because he wanted to become stronger, to find out the mastermind behind the harm to her, to eliminate them, and to restore her peace and well-being.
He needs to work hard at all of these things; they can't be achieved just by wishful thinking.
He told himself that he must become stronger in the shortest amount of time so that he would never want to hear any bad news about her from anyone else again.
And so, An Moxue slept soundly behind the curtain, while Wu Sicheng outside the curtain was lost in thought and didn't sleep all night. But he still felt that wherever An Moxue was, the air was sweet.
It wasn't until he heard the first firecracker that Wu Sicheng lit a kerosene lamp and saw that it was already four o'clock in the morning.
He got up quietly, dressed, folded his blankets, went to the kitchen to cook breakfast, took out a portion for himself, and left the rest warm in the pot. He ate breakfast by the stove.
He released the two little ones, prepared food for them, and said to them, "Your brother will be leaving soon. Protect your sister and don't let bad people harm her." After saying that, he patted the two little ones on the head.
The two little ones ate with gusto, completely ignoring him.
Wu Sicheng went into the room and wrote a note, which he placed on the kang (a heated brick bed).
He took out a red paper packet from his bag, then a wooden comb. After hesitating for a moment, he gently placed the comb and the red packet under An Moxue's pillow.
Wu Sicheng took one last deep look at the direction of the curtain, put on his military overcoat, picked up his bag, left the house, and disappeared into the night.
When An Moxue woke up, it was already broad daylight. The two little ones were playing wildly in the yard. They had drunk too much last night and urgently needed to go to the toilet.
When she returned from the restroom, she realized that Wu Sicheng was not there.
Once inside the house, she discovered the note on the kang (a heated brick bed) and learned that Wu Sicheng had already left.
An Moxue got into bed, pulled back the curtain, and folded the quilt. When she picked up the pillow, she found a red envelope and a comb underneath.
An Moxue was very happy to receive red envelopes and gifts on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year.
Opening the red envelope, there was a hundred yuan inside, along with a message: "May Mo Xue have money to spend every year, and may she be as beautiful as a flower every year."
She picked up the comb and examined it closely. It wasn't an ordinary wooden comb, but a small-leaf sandalwood comb, shaped like a fairy playing the zither. But the more she looked at it, the more she felt that the fairy looked like herself.
The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. What was he doing?
Such a big red envelope.
They gave me a wooden comb that looked very expensive.
Did he even know that wooden combs can be given away casually?
Do you know the meaning of a wooden comb?
But An Moxue was afraid that she was overthinking things. Forget it, she decided to stop worrying and just treat it as an ordinary gift for now. Worrying about it was useless. The person had already left, so she would deal with whatever came her way.
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