There was no natural light outside the window. I turned on all the lights in the room. I felt that the time was almost over, so I went to the kitchen with Mi Cai to prepare dinner to entertain Yan Zhuomei tonight. To put it, this was not a sumptuous dinner, but just a few simple home-cooked side dishes. Although I was good at it, I don’t know if it would be in line with Yan Zhuomei’s appetite. After all, she has lived in the United States for many years, and the habit of taste will change.

It took about an hour, and Mi Cai and I finally prepared dinner. We all had a strong premonition. At most half an hour, Yan Zhuomei would come to this room. We could only uneasy speculate... Intuition, she would not let us go back to Xuzhou so easily.

When we brought all the steaming food to the table, the door of the house was finally knocked. Mi Cai was placing the dishes and chopsticks, so she signaled me to open the door...

I took off my apron, then walked to the door and opened the door. Then Yan Zhuomei appeared in my sight. At this time, she had changed out of her serious professional outfit, but this casual outfit did not add some affinity to her. The aura that made her feel inaccessible seemed to be in the bones!

After I called "Auntie", I gave up my seat to her. She changed her shoes and stood in the openest place at the door. She looked at every object in the room with complicated expressions. She seemed to remember something that happened here. Her eyebrows were a little lowered. It took me a long time to walk into the room. I saw from her series of actions that she had never returned to the old house since she went to the United States. If it weren't for persuading Mi Cai to go to the United States with her, this place would probably be a place she would never want to be in the memory of, because she owed her husband and daughter who had been with her day and night in this room. This kind of debt must be the shackles she carried on. At this moment, she revisited the old place, and this shackles would definitely become a burden in her heart. Therefore, this is probably the biggest reason why Mi Cai asked her to come to the old house to meet us!

......

Outside the window, there were already thousands of lights. Through the balcony, we could see that the young and old families across the street were gathered on the dining table to enjoy the moment of family reunion. The continuous sound of firecrackers even created the festive atmosphere that was about to celebrate the New Year. I suddenly miss Xuzhou very much. I have not had the New Year's Eve dinner with my father and mother for two years.

Mi Cai put the dishes and chopsticks on her, and she asked me: "Zhaoyang, what day is today? Why are so many people setting off firecrackers?"

I replied: "Today is the Little New Year, and it will be around a week!"

"Oh, do you have firecrackers at that house?"

I shook my head and said, "We have never prepared firecrackers before... Basically, only the older generation still remembers to set off firecrackers in the Little New Year!"

"Go and buy some... This is our home, and there must be a festive atmosphere." After a moment of pause, she said with a little desolate expression: "We are going back to Xuzhou soon, and we have no chance to set off firecrackers here... If the house also has life, it must have hoped that there will be a sound of firecrackers for it. Unfortunately, it has never been treated like this for so many years..."

Mi Cai's loneliness made me feel sad and felt that I would not be at ease even if I left without setting off firecrackers. I immediately put on my jacket and picked up the car keys and walked out of the house. Mi Cai called me again: "Be careful on the road... Wait for you to come back for dinner!"

I stared at her for a long time and finally nodded... At this moment, I really felt the feeling of home in her, in this room. This feeling made me feel a little happy, because there was Yan Zhuomei, a woman who was unwilling to fulfill my life and Mi Cai... I was afraid that this kind of happiness would only be temporary and could not be continued!

......

I drove to the edge of the city, and my intuition told me that only here can I buy fireworks and firecrackers that are no longer popular in the city. Sure enough, I saw a store selling fireworks and firecrackers in this urban-rural combination. I bought firecrackers and fireworks, but it was the kind of fireworks that scattered on the spot. In the city, setting off fireworks has many concerns, and this is relatively safer. For me, fireworks are not the most important thing to be splendid in the sky or on the ground... I just want to see her smiling face against the fireworks!

On the way back, I didn't have to look for it, so I kept my car going very fast. I only took half of the time I came back to the community where we lived, and Mi Cai was already waiting downstairs with an umbrella.

I stopped the car, took out firecrackers and fireworks from it, looked up at the sky, the raindrops were not dense, and the constant sound of firecrackers from afar also told us that these rainwater that was about to stop cannot destroy the festive atmosphere of the Little New Year! Firecrackers can be lit...

I chose an open space, spread the firecrackers out of my pocket, took out a cigarette from my pocket and put it in my mouth to light it, and asked Mi Cai, "Do you dare to light the fire?"

"I haven't ordered it, but I really want to give it a try!"

I handed her the cigarette in my hand and said, "Go, when you see the twists of firecrackers start to get fire, run away quickly. You have about three to five seconds, I believe you are fine!"

Mi Cai took the burning smoke from my hand and squatted down next to the firecrackers with caution. She looked a little nervous because people were born to be afraid of things that would explode, and she had never tried it. The uneasiness about the unknown made her perform abnormally. She was unable to ignite the twister twice in a row, so she became more focused...

My boredom began to cause trouble again, and suddenly shouted "bang" behind her! She screamed in fear, threw away the cigarette butts like a rabbit running away, and rushed into my arms in a few steps. After hearing that I was scaring her, I was extremely angry and pushed me hard. I sat on the ground because of the slippery ground. At that time, I felt that my whole body was in a bad state. My pants were soaked in the rain!

Mi Cai looked at me angrily: "You deserve... not to be bored for a day, but you feel that this life is not what you live by yourself!"

I patted my butt and stood up from the ground, and replied, "Don't you just like me like this?...I want to be serious with you all day, and I really can't live this life. Besides, you took revenge on me at the first time. I'm afraid you're secretly happy at this moment?"

"I'm not as bored as you!...I don't want to argue with you anymore, come and light the fire with me!"

I was very confused: "How do you want to order together? The first time I heard that firecrackers still require team combat!"

"You grab my hand and let's go together."

"This situation is too big!! Is it necessary?"

Mi Cai looked at me with an unhappy expression and asked, "Who knows whether you, who can't control yourself, will scare me again!...You just say whether you are here, right?"

I sighed, "Come on, come on, come on, my wife has spoken, why dare not come!" As I said that, I lit another cigarette, handed it to Mi Cai, stood behind her and squatted on the ground with her, reaching out to test the stubborn firecracker...

Finally, the twister emitted a dazzling light. I calmly prepared to get up and retreat, but Mi Cai seemed to leave a psychological shadow. She stood up like a spring and stepped on my feet, causing the two of them to stagger and fall to the ground at the same time...

Danger suddenly came, and I hugged her, buried her face in my chest, covered her ears with both hands, and then arched my back, wasolating her from outside the danger...

The deafening burst sounded in my ears with a surging temperature. My brain was buzzing, but I hugged Mi Cai in my arms even tighter. I was afraid that the broken debris would hurt my eyes, so I kept it tightly closed until everything around me calmed down. I carefully opened my eyes. The first action afterwards was to check whether Mi Cai in my arms was injured...

I asked nervously, "Are you okay?"

Mi Cai shook her head, but hugged me tighter with pain... I let out a heavy breath, and a stone in my heart fell to the ground. I smiled and said, "We can easily handle things that five-year-olds can do, but we are so thrilling..."

"I blame you for being slow to react... Otherwise, why would you be stepped on by me...!"

"The donor calm down... They all told you that there is five seconds to run away, why are you running like a spring? Just the speed you just now, you can even rub your Guinness!"

"Why are you more than enough to rub it?"

"The most slightest person in the world!...I'll tell you this. Usually I lit firecrackers, and I usually suck a cigarette before running back. There are people around me, and I have to chat. Don't doubt it. I'm just talking and laughing calmly and not changing my face!"

Mi Cai looked at me angrily and amused... I pulled her up from the wet ground, but when I looked up, I saw Yan Zhuomei standing on the balcony looking up at us. She seemed to have seen the thrilling scene that happened to Mi Cai and I just happened...

Mi Cai did not notice Yan Zhuomei and urged me to let go of the remaining firecrackers, so I lit the third cigarette in just ten minutes... I was a little helpless and a little funny, because of our clumsy, even the cigarette became so inaction on this rainy night. I actually sacked two cigarettes and only lit one firecracker!

The firecrackers exploded in the sky, and the bursting sound of the New Year and reunion came from the breath of the explosion... At that time, the fireworks scattered on the ground reflected the faces of Mi Cai and me. I hugged her shoulders and saw the intertwined days and future times in the bright light. They were writing about pain and happiness... So the world became more and more peaceful, as if there was no boundary between pain and happiness. Only the fireworks were flashing, blending, and breaking free from the shackles of darkness!

................
Chapter completed!