"Whoosh, pop!"
On the street late at night.
Red lanterns hung all along the street, filling it with festive cheer.
The adults had all gone back inside.
The children gathered together, sticking their bottoms out as they set off firecrackers.
Children without money for firecrackers followed wistfully behind those who had them.
Among them, a boy wearing a dogskin hat, with two trails of snot hanging from his nose, was clearly the leader.
More than a dozen children his age followed him.
The boy in the dogskin hat occasionally shared some firecrackers with his companions.
Children's worlds were that simple. Even a single firecracker could keep them happy for ages.
"Brother Xiao San, give me one."
"Brother San, I want one too."
"I want one too."
The boy surrounded by the other children turned no one away.
Whenever another child held out a hand, he took a string from his cloth bag and shared it out.
"Let me show you a big one."
Under the other children's envious gazes, the boy in the dogskin hat pulled out a firecracker thicker than an adult's thumb.
"Cover your ears."
"Wow, Brother San is amazing."
"Be careful, Brother San."
The children all moved away.
Dogskin Hat sniffed back his snot and grinned smugly. "Hand L is even louder than this, and I'm not scared of that."
"Watch this."
The boy lit the firecracker and gave it a light toss into the alley beside them.
The next instant.
A dark figure rushed out of the alley.
Bang!
At the same time.
The firecracker exploded.
The man stumbled and fell to the ground.
"Whoa, it hit someone!"
"Did it kill him?"
The children hid behind Dogskin Hat, at a loss for what to do.
Dogskin Hat, however, looked serious as he stepped forward to examine