"Dad, a little farther to the left? Is it straight?" Li Sui extended several tentacles, tilting her head as she followed the instructions behind her and pasted up the Spring Couplets on the wall.
The scent of meat in the air and the crackling firecrackers in the distance brought a delighted smile to Li Sui's face. She loved liveliness. New Year was the liveliest time of the year, and she loved New Year most of all.
"Sui Sui, can you recognize every character on these Spring Couplets?"
Feeling her mother gently stroke her head, Li Sui nodded proudly again and again. "I can! I know them all!"
"Really? That's impressive. Then tell Mother, Sui Sui, what do the couplets say?"
"The upper line is: Dwelling in a treasured land, wealth flourishes. The lower line is: Fortune shines upon the household, riches gleam!"
"Wonderful. And Sui Sui, what about the horizontal scroll?"
"The horizontal scroll says: May all wishes come true!"
"Sui Sui is so wonderful." Feeling her mother embrace her from behind, Li Sui smiled until her eyes narrowed into crescents.
"However, Sui Sui, isn't that horizontal scroll pasted a little crooked?"
"Crooked?" Li Sui took two steps back and carefully examined the horizontal scroll beneath the plaque.
Yet after observing it earnestly for quite some time, Li Sui still could not see where the red scroll was crooked.
"Mother, it isn't crooked. Dad, do you think the horizontal scroll is crooked?"
Yet this time, her question received no answer from behind her.
"Dad? Mother?" Li Sui turned around in confusion, only to find empty space behind her. There was no one there. The scent of meat in the air and the sound of firecrackers had vanished without a trace at some unknown moment.
Suddenly, she saw a white and