It was Spring Festival once again. Even the sparsely populated South Suburbs would become lively again during these few days. Men who worked away from home, children who had moved out after starting their own families, and other longtime residents who lived elsewhere for various reasons would all return to reunite on this day. The usually quiet streets were filled with many familiar faces that were rarely seen otherwise. Everyone greeted one another, exchanged words about the hardships of the past year and good omens for the coming one, and hung lanterns and decorations outside their homes to welcome this grand annual festival.
Hao Ren's big house, which had not felt festive for several years, finally became lively as well. That evening, Vivian prepared an incredibly sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner for everyone. The largest table in the house could not hold all the dishes, so Hao Ren had to set up a "second banquet" on the coffee table in the living room. Getting ten people in one house to sit down and eat together was quite a challenge—not counting the cat and the fish—but fortunately, nobody in the house was hung up on formal etiquette. Everyone was there to have fun. Besides, watching Lily run all over the house looking for food was pretty entertaining. The Four Great Vajras had originally planned to challenge the wilderness as usual behind the house, but Hao Ren forcibly dragged them inside. It was ridiculous—letting them roast rabbits in the wilderness while facing the northwest wind could be called respect for their beliefs, but not letting them into the house during the New Year? How could that count as celebrating the New Year?
Big Beard and the others could not resist, so they came inside one by one, grinning as they joined everyone