NOVPUBEarly one morning, the crackling noise of firecrackers jolted Xu Qingfan awake from his sleep.
He got out of bed, stretched lazily, his New Year’s clothing already laid out by his pillow the night before, a British style shirt and wool clothes.
Once he put on the matching trench coat and leather shoes, he had to admit, he looked pretty handsome.
After getting dressed and leaving his room, he saw the little yellow dog, who had somehow snuck under a stool, shivering.
"Mmm-mmm-mmm~" Xu Qingfan crouched down and clapped his hands to tease the dog, which was about to come out when it darted back under upon hearing more firecrackers.
"Xiao Fan, come here, Happy New Year!" His grandmother, plucking chicken feathers with hot water at the door, heard the noise and pulled out a red envelope from her pocket to give to him,
"Happy New Year, Grandma." Xu Qingfan reached out to take the red envelope.
After collecting another round of red envelopes in the kitchen, Xu Qingfan contentedly went to the bathroom to wash and brush his teeth.
Relatives from his grandparents’ side visited Chuxi Village on the first day of the Lunar New Year for a reunion meal; adults in the kitchen were busy preparing dishes, and after eating breakfast and with nothing else to do, Xu Qingfan strolled around the village aimlessly.
Truth be told, he didn’t really enjoy these family gatherings. So many people you see only once a year and don’t even know their names, just nod and give an awkward smile during the New Year.
And about the red envelopes, well, if you want to give, just give. No need for pretty words, making it like you’re a live streamer thanking everyone, especially when the money given isn’t much, just five or ten yuan.
Xu Qingfan didn’t mind dealing with strangers, but being with a bunch of relatives always made him uncomfortable.
For the New Year, Xu Qingfan preferred the reunion meal eaten with family on New Year’s Eve and the variety of small trinkets sold on the roadside.
On the first day of the New Year, Chuxi Village’s entrance hosted a small market, where people mainly gambled on fish, shrimp, and crab, or played big and small, and some outsiders sold toys, snacks, and the like.
These people either hadn’t made much money that year or hadn’t been able to buy tickets home, so they stayed on.
Back in the early 2000s, Li City was quite xenophobic, referring to people who didn’t speak Cantonese as "lo zai" and "lo por," and if there were such students in class, they’d get bullied and ostracized by classmates.
By the time Xu Qingfan got to the village entrance, the gambling stalls were already crowded with people.
Seeing the road to ruin, he wasn’t interested in gambling. Xu Qingfan was there to fulfill a childhood dream.
He remembered there was a toy stall selling a plastic revolver that made a loud bang and emitted white smoke when fired with its ammo.
In a past life, one of his relatives’ kids bought one; Xu Qingfan wanted one too, and though he had a red envelope, as a kid he’d ask his parents before buying anything, but Yao Jiping said no.
Already upset, the relative’s kid then fired the toy gun at him, showing off and saying some nasty things like "poor devil can’t afford it," which led to Xu Qingfan beating the kid up.
In the end, he didn’t get the revolver and got smacked around for his trouble.
Latter on, that boy visited his home and stealthily took the toy car Xia Xiaoxiao had given him. Xu Qingfan could say he was at loggerheads with him.
Yao Jiping’s many practices, seen in adulthood, were incomprehensible, like not letting him watch TV but also not buying him books, wanting him to read. Perhaps only holding a textbook and reading dully fit their idea of what was appropriate.
To be honest, if weren’t for Xia Xiaoxiao giving him a hand in his previous life, he could’ve ended up working in a factory right after middle school, given the way Yao Jiping educated him.
"Boss, how much for this?" Xu Qingfan crouched and pointed at the crudely made toy gun.
"Five yuan, little buddy."
Xu Qingfan’s mouth fell open slightly; he hadn’t expected it to be so cheap, to think he held a grudge over five yuan in his past life,
"Oh, I’ll take it, here’s the money." He opened one of the red envelopes, which happened to have five yuan in it.
After tearing open the clear packaging bag, Xu Qingfan balanced the gun on his index finger and spun it.
The toy gun came with two packs of ammo; he loaded the gun and fired a few shots into the air.
However, the fun didn’t last long when all he could do was listen to the noise, so he spent some more and bought a gun that shot live ammunition, pleased with his purchase as he went home.
Xu Qingfan hid the gun at his waist, sneaking around to make sure no one noticed him, then sprinted up to the rooftop.
It wasn’t long before the first wave of relatives arrived, and among them was just the kid he had fought with in his previous life.
Xu Qingfan aimed the loaded gun at the kid’s head and made a direct hit; he swiftly ducked back, stifling his laughter.
"Waah wah wah wah~"
"Heh heh heh~" When he heard the crying from below, Xu Qingfan covered his mouth and snickered.
The gun he’d bought was quite powerful; it could punch through two layers of a water-filled, disposable plastic cup at close range.
The rooftop was not a place to linger; Xu Qingfan quickly discarded the gun’s ammunition behind the house and returned to the living room as if nothing had happened.
"What’s the matter? What’s the matter? It’s the New Year; why cry? It’s so inauspicious!" He asked around like an innocent bystander.
"What did you get hit with on the head that made it swell up like that?" Seeing that no one paid attention to him, Xu Qingfan continued.
"Don’t know which naughty kid threw something down from the rooftop, Xu Qingfan did you see anything while you were up there?" Yao Jiping turned to question him.
"I saw, there were several kids over there having a stone-throwing contest, not sure whose they were." Xu Qingfan was clear-headed, knowing if he said he hadn’t seen anything, wouldn’t he be the prime suspect?
