Linjiang City was far livelier than usual on New Year's Eve.
Most of the shops along the streets had already closed, but the red lanterns outside their doors were all lit.
Families with children could be seen everywhere, while many young men and women carried fireworks as they headed in the same direction.
Before they even reached the riverbank, the unbroken crackle of firecrackers was already drifting over from ahead.
Quite a crowd had gathered outside the eastern fireworks zone.
Some people set whole boxes of fireworks on the open ground, while others stood by the roadside taking pictures with slender sparklers in hand.
Several children ran after a colorful spinning top whirling across the ground, only retreating beyond the safety line reluctantly after their parents called them back several times.
Father Su and Mother Su ran into several neighbors they knew by the riverbank and soon began chatting with them.
Qing Xuan carried the cardboard boxes they had brought into the fireworks zone, while Qing Yi crouched beside him and watched as he took the fireworks out one by one.
Their packaging varied, and their names were more grandiose than the last.
Qing Yi picked up a square cardboard box and turned it over to read the firing instructions on the back.
"What will this look like after it is lit?"
Qing Xuan was arranging several heavy aerial shells nearby. Hearing her, he tilted his head and glanced over. "It should be rings of golden sparks spiraling upward, burning out before they reach the ground."
After setting out several more fireworks, Qing Xuan smiled. "There are several different colors too. We'll try them all later."
The young woman smiled sweetly and handed him the box in her hand before picking up the long-handled igniter resting nearby.
The fuse was