All sorts of cheerful scents filled the air around the Fourth Team.
Firecrackers had been going off since morning. Li Qiang had already gotten his own box of Little Firecrackers the night before, the two-hundred-shot kind. They weren't as loud as Electric Firecrackers, but they weren't very powerful either, and the bolder children could even hold them by the bottom while setting them off.
Li Qingxia had given him the Little Firecrackers-Li Qiang hadn't dared ask his dad directly. Li Jianguo had taken the firecrackers out and put them on top of the kang wall to dry. The West Room had two kang walls. The one along the passage was hotter, while the one in the inner room was only moderately warm, so things could be dried on it without worrying about them catching fire.
It wasn't just good for drying firecrackers, but Five-Spice Sunflower Seeds too. Liang Yuemei had boiled some Five-Spice Sunflower Seeds this year, then spread a Cage Cloth over the kang wall to dry them on. They were already in dishes on the table now.
Li Qiang took his Little Firecrackers, pulled them apart, and stuffed them into his pockets, then went outside with a stick of incense to light them.
His little friends were there too. Some were playing with unexploded firecrackers they had picked up after other people set them off, while others simply tagged along for the fun. Few had whole handfuls of Little Firecrackers to set off this early, like Li Qiang did.
So Li Qiang was still the coolest kid in the Fourth Team's new Settlement.
Li Long drove the Jeep to the southern courtyard and parked. He had seen Li Qiang on the way and said hello, but Li Qiang was eager to set off his firecrackers, so Li Long