The first thing they did after getting up on the first morning of the Lunar New Year was light incense for the Kitchen God and Kitchen Goddess, and at the entrance too. Once that was done, they set off firecrackers.
The children covered their ears. As soon as the crackling stopped, they all crowded around him, excitedly calling him Third Uncle. He could have guessed what they wanted with his backside.
"The moment you stick your backsides out, I know what you're after. As it happens, I really did win some money last night. Come on, line up. Twenty cents each."
"Wahahaha! Third Uncle's the best!"
"Hurry up... hurry up..."
Once they each received their twenty cents, they were over the moon. They could buy so many firecrackers.
Then they began searching the ground for small firecrackers left over from the string that had not gone off.
"What are you looking for? Haven't you got enough to buy more?"
"We can't waste them. The ones that didn't go off can be picked up and set off again!"
Before long, each child had several little firecrackers in hand. They all excitedly said they wanted to set them off by the sea and blast up splashes of water.
Perhaps the wind had picked up during the night. The waves already seemed rather big that morning, the sky was somewhat overcast, and the wind along the shore was strong.
There had only been occasional rainy days over the past month, with clear sunshine most of the time. Yet on New Year's Day, the sky had clouded over. The weather was not cooperating.
Since he had not eaten breakfast yet and could hardly go off to play cards so early, Ye Yaodong walked down to the shore with them. He watched them toss firecrackers