"During the New Year, everyone is free, and this kind of atmosphere is very festive, so naturally, there are more people."
Xu Lin said, "Let’s just watch from here, otherwise we won’t be able to get in."
"Uh-huh!"
"Xu Lin, those lion dancers are amazing, like they can fly!"
"They spend years of hard work behind the scenes for just a minute on stage!"
"True."
"Xu Lin, I want to send the photos to Yaoyao."
"Go ahead!"
"I wonder what Yaoyao is doing."
"She should be celebrating the New Year."
"Did she celebrate with her dad or mom? I didn’t ask."
"I don’t know."
The two of them stayed here for over half an hour.
It was past two in the afternoon.
Xu Lin drove back into the city and had a al with Rong Xiyi at a restaurant before heading ho.
By the ti they got ho, it was already past four, and the sun had set.
"Was the city fun?"
When they got ho, dad was nowhere to be found, and Ms. Ren was outside in the yard cracking sunflower seeds.
Ms. Ren is a typical urban woman who finds it hard to fit in the village. Village won, usually in their thirties to fifties, were at the small shop playing mahjong or poker today, chatting about all sorts of village gossip, like who’s family fell apart due to gambling, whose son got caught in Northern Myanmar, or how much money soone’s husband made this year, and so forth. While Ms. Ren could casually exchange a few words with them, she couldn’t stand discussing those trivial matters.
City won ultimately cannot integrate into rural life.
So Ms. Ren was left cracking sunflower seeds out of boredom at ho.
Rong Xiyi said, "Not fun, the city feels pretty boring, and I couldn’t find anything I wanted to eat."
"Ours is a small city, so it can’t compare to the provincial capital, let alone Jiangdu."
Ms. Ren asked, "What did you two eat just now?"
Rong Xiyi replied, "Northeastern cuisine!"
"Was it delicious?"
Rong Xiyi shook her head, "But Xu Lin finished it."
Rong Xiyi continued, "However, today we went to the big temple and watched the lion dance. Mom, let tell you, it was really crowded back then..."
Rong Xiyi chattered non-stop, saying how many people were lined up at the big temple, how many people were watching the lion dance, and so on.
After Xu Lin parked the car, he joined in cracking sunflower seeds.
The sun set in the west, and the first day of the New Year was coming to an end.
Actually, Xu Lin felt that the New Year didn’t belong to adults, but to children. It was like when he was a child, he would look forward to the New Year for delicious food, as well as new clothes and new toys.
But now, Xu Lin was completely uninterested in these things.
Moreover, the first day of the New Year seed quiet to Xu Lin as well.
Xu Lin grew up in the city and spent very little ti in his rural hotown. He wasn’t very familiar with his cousins, only connected by familial ties, which, in the end, didn’t match up to the relationship of ordinary friends.
Additionally, his family was small, with just four people now.
Xu Lin couldn’t understand his dad’s loneliness about the quietness at ho.
But after dinner on the first night of the New Year, Xu Lin suddenly felt sothing.
He stood outside the yard and saw several ters away at a neighbor’s house, six children playing excitedly and energetically with firecrackers for kids.
Looking back at his own place, all he could hear was the sound of Ms. Ren and Rong Xiyi chatting away.
Xu Cheng didn’t talk much. As he reached middle age and gained more experiences, Xu Cheng had transford from a sunshiny, talkative young man into a composed person, which also ant he spoke less.
Xu Lin felt a sense of realization; he thought his ho was indeed too quiet. If it weren’t for having Rong Xiyi this year, it would have been even more desolate.
Thinking back to last year, it seed like he just ca here with his parents, but on the second day of the New Year, Xu Lin followed Ms. Ren back to the city, lacking any New Year’s spirit. The essence of the New Year has much to do with the number of people; with more people, there’s no shortage of New Year’s spirit, while with fewer people, it’s naturally hard to have any.
"I can’t let this go on; I have to make my family lively in the future!"
Xu Lin suddenly had a thought to marry multiple wives and have a dozen kids.
The thought flashed by, and he didn’t know if it could ever co true.
At that mont, Xu Lin was sitting on a long bench, opening his phone to chat with Ning Yuhuan and a few others.
Unfortunately, at this ti, Ning Yuhuan was busy taking care of her younger siblings.
Chi Linyue was also busy.
She sent Xu Lin a photo, showing that her family was shopping in the city center of Sanya. The streets were crowded, and the temperature there was evidently quite high at night. Most people were wearing two layers of clothing, and so n were just in a single short-sleeved shirt.
Chi Linyue said, "Let’s chat later; I’ll be going to a restaurant with my family soon."
"Ok."
Xu Lin then clicked on the chat with Yu Xinyan.
Yu Xinyan was also in the countryside now. Her hotown was not in this province but in the neighboring one. However, even though it was rural, from the photos Yu Xinyan sent over, Xu Lin felt this village seed quite wealthy.
After chatting with Yu Xinyan for over ten minutes, Xu Lin called Yu Jianhua.
"Uncle, Happy New Year. I forgot to send you a New Year blessing."
"I thought there was sothing up!"
Yu Jianhua also said, "Happy New Year, and I wish you further success in your career!"
"Uncle, please pass on my blessings to Auntie."
"Is it Xu Lin?"
On the other end of the line, Lin Yajing’s voice asked Yu Jianhua, along with the chatter in the background, which should be Yu Xinyan’s family. Her family was quite large, with her grandparents healthy and family thriving. Xu Lin recalled Yu Xinyan saying there were more than sixty people in total, and when they took a family photo, it was no less than a school’s graduation picture.
"Yes, it’s Xu Lin," Yu Jianhua said.
"Xu Lin, Happy New Year, and please pass on the holiday wishes to your parents too."
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