The New Year had arrived.
As the outside erupted with the lively crackle of firecrackers, Dong Xuebin caught the mood as well. Letting go of Xie Huilan's hand, he quickly went to his bag and took out some sparklers he had brought from home—the kind that glowed but did not explode. He split the bundle in half and handed some to Sister Xie. Smiling, Xie Huilan took one out and waved it, asking him to light it. Dong Xuebin flicked open his lighter with a click, lit hers, then lit the one in his own hand. Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle. The living room immediately brightened as glittering sparks sprayed from the fireworks into the air.
Xie Huilan smiled and waved the sparkler. "The last time I played with fireworks seems to have been ten years ago. Time really flies."
"Why so long?" Dong Xuebin lit another after finishing one. "You don't set off firecrackers during the New Year?"
Dong Xuebin set off at least a few every year.
"After I entered the system, I worked at the Ministry of Finance. Back then, I was so busy that I barely had time for the New Year. After building up some seniority, I transferred to the News Bureau of the Central Propaganda Department and became deputy director of the Research Department. I was at least a leader by then, so running around the streets setting off firecrackers wouldn't have looked very proper. Our family also never had a tradition of setting them off." Xie Huilan chuckled, tossed aside the one that had burned out, then picked up another for him to light. "The last time I played with these was when Xiao Hao was little. He clung to my clothes and insisted I take him to play by the roadside. So many years