Chapter 11
Chapter 11: New Year’s Eve
February 19th, New Year’s Eve.
This was Gu Qing’s first time spending the New Year at home in several years.
In the past two years, he’d either spent New Year’s Eve pulling all-nighters at internet cafes or begging for food at restaurants. Begging for food during the Spring Festival—if he was lucky, he might get some red envelopes, perhaps because when a group of people are enjoying family happiness and see a poor, lonely kid, they feel more pity than usual.
Today he unusually didn’t stay in bed. Lu Qianqian had already put on an apron and begun preparing ingredients for lunch. Not until Gu Qing came up behind her and untied the apron from her body did she freeze. Then her body was turned around by Gu Qing’s hands on her shoulders, the apron taken off and put on himself.
“Go watch TV or play on your phone in the living room. I’ll handle this.”
This small rental wasn’t big, and the kitchen space couldn’t really accommodate two people. Lu Qianqian looked up with pitiful eyes. Her cheeks were snow-white, her pupils jet-black. Gu Qing felt like he was being watched by a resentful little cat, as if it would be hard to resolve without rubbing her head.
So he really did reach out and rub her head, casually taking two cloves of garlic from the fridge and handing them to her, instructing her to go to the living room and peel them.
Then he began showing off his skills in the kitchen.
Lunch was sumptuous. The two of them made six dishes total: cola chicken wings, stir-fried pork with peppers, tomato scrambled eggs, pickled cabbage stewed with beef brisket, sweet and sour cabbage, and blanched shrimp. Lu Qianqian expectantly took out the fruit wine they’d bought last time from the fridge and sat with Gu Qing at the small table.
Lu Qianqian held her wine glass with both hands, her pale fingers gripping the cup, eyes bright, looking into his eyes. “To you.”
“So polite.” Gu Qing commented, then raised his glass and drained it in one gulp. He was about to tell Lu Qianqian to drink slowly, but Lu Qianqian had already raised her glass and finished all the wine in it.
Her eyes squinted slightly, her cheeks tinged with a small blush.
After eating and drinking their fill, Lu Qianqian cleared the dishes and went to the kitchen. This time Gu Qing had no desire to compete for the task, sitting quietly by the balcony in the sun, watching the girl seriously washing dishes in the kitchen.
Only then did he remember something, taking out his phone to contact a friend about helping prepare some fireworks. Wanderers naturally have their own circles, so it was perfectly normal for Gu Qing to have friends.
At six in the evening, Gu Qing and Lu Qianqian finished dinner at home.
Lu Qianqian had been tipsy from those two glasses of fruit wine all afternoon, curled up on the sofa covered with that little blanket, watching TV with Gu Qing. Gu Qing leisurely cracked sunflower seeds beside her, and she’d snuggle closer to Gu Qing, resting her head on his shoulder. Gu Qing would occasionally share two shelled sunflower seeds with her, and she’d obediently open her lips slightly to eat the kernels he offered.
“Want to go out for a walk first? My friend will pass by Star River Lake later and can drive by to drop them off for me.”
“Mm-hmm.” Lu Qianqian nodded, then threw off the blanket and went to the bedroom. When she came out again, she’d changed clothes.
Lu Qianqian had changed into a white sweater that hugged her body, with loose black corduroy pants below. She walked out of the room with her hands lightly clasped behind her back, murmuring softly, “Does this look… fat?”
Gu Qing was genuinely taken aback for a moment.
He hadn’t noticed this before, but now he realized that her slightly form-fitting knit sweater was clinging to her upper body, outlining all the curves of her chest. She was clearly only eighteen, but wasn’t her chest perhaps a bit too full?
Seeing Gu Qing’s somewhat surprised expression, she panicked and put her hands on her hips, outlining the curve of her slender waist. Gu Qing tilted his head, thinking she was trying to prove to him that she wasn’t actually fat, just big-chested?
“Padded?” he asked.
Lu Qianqian’s previously shy eyes immediately became resentful, staring at him pitifully. “I’m not padded.”
“Oh…” Gu Qing nodded. “Looks good.”
So Lu Qianqian went to get a loose fleece hoodie to put on. The hoodie was very baggy, completely hiding her figure again. The girl tied her shoulder-length hair into a short little ponytail, looking clean and neat, exposing her slender, snow-white neck.
Gu Qing was always unkempt, but before going out, Lu Qianqian made him sit in a chair. Lu Qianqian picked up the razor she’d bought at the supermarket the day before yesterday and carefully began shaving Gu Qing’s somewhat scruffy beard.
After she’d shaved it all clean, she looked at Gu Qing in front of her and suddenly was stunned for a moment, then quietly began to smile.
“What are you smiling about?” Gu Qing blinked in confusion.
“This way you look about the same age as me.”
And indeed it was true—Gu Qing was only one year older than Lu Qianqian.
He smiled helplessly, stood up, and walked out the door with Lu Qianqian.
Gu Qing and Lu Qianqian first went to Huitian Plaza.
It was New Year’s Eve tonight, but the streets were more desolate and lonely than Gu Qing had imagined. But thinking about it, that made sense—the usual mobile vendors and shops had all gone home for the New Year, so this emptiness was normal now. He and Lu Qianqian walked along the roadside for quite a while, with cool wind quietly slipping past them.
The mall was still fairly lively, even with a specially built New Year countdown stage. Gu Qing and Lu Qianqian watched house dance performances below the stage, and there was even a lottery, though they didn’t win anything. After joining the excitement, it was already past seven. Gu Qing and Lu Qianqian walked out, scanned shared bikes, and rode together toward Star River Lake.
Star River Lake was close to City A’s largest lake. Fireworks could be set off along the scenic belt by the lake. The warm light from street lamps fell down, with tree shadows swaying. When they arrived, the lakeside was especially lively, with large crowds already gathered by the railings, and people specially set up stalls selling fireworks and snacks. Gu Qing saw candied hawthorn by the roadside and couldn’t walk away.
He liked sweets.
Lu Qianqian bought two skewers, one for each of them.
Soon after, Gu Qing’s phone rang. It was his friend passing by. A van stopped by the roadside with a skinny young man in his twenties with messy hair sitting inside. Gu Qing led Lu Qianqian over, and after greetings, the trunk opened. Gu Qing moved out a big box of fireworks.
“There are also some small fireworks. Take them to play—don’t be polite, they’re not worth much anyway, Brother Gu.”
“Great.” Gu Qing selected some things like sparklers and bottle rockets for Lu Qianqian to hold. After thanking him, they wished each other Happy New Year, and the young man drove away in that beat-up van. Lu Qianqian looked at Gu Qing curiously: “Why does he call you Brother Gu?”
Because that young man looked to be in his twenties, while Gu Qing was nineteen this year.
“In the little circle I used to hang with, it was all about who could fight better. I could take more hits than him, so he calls me Brother Gu.”
“Eh? Did you fight with people a lot before?”
“Not really. That little circle was called a fight club—just a bunch of bored people who didn’t know what they were living for, getting together every day to have a fight. We all got along pretty well.”
Lu Qianqian tilted her head, murmuring softly, “Men’s strange friendships.”
Gu Qing just smiled, carrying that box of fireworks to the lakeside plaza. He found an empty spot and set it down. It was still early—no rush to set them off. He took two sparklers from the small box Lu Qianqian was holding, put one in Lu Qianqian’s hand, and lit it for her.
Lu Qianqian waved the sparkler in her hand, clusters of sparks flashing bright in the dark night, illuminating both their faces.
This winter was actually quite cold. Lu Qianqian’s little hands had turned red from the cold all along the way, but at this moment, looking at the sparkler crackling and sparkling in her hand, her eyes were as bright as winter flames. In past years, she’d always eaten New Year’s Eve dinner with her mother. These past two years, her mother spent most of her time in the hospital, so she’d stay by her mother’s side, listening to the fireworks outside the hospital room together.
Hospitals were sometimes very quiet, sometimes very noisy, with the hysterical crying of patients’ families.
Lu Qianqian was clearly having a great time, while Gu Qing leaned against the railing, looking toward the lake surface shimmering under the lights. But suddenly, he froze for a moment.
He looked toward the lake surface—the slightly gleaming lake surface was stirred by the breeze, but beneath the surface, undercurrents were surging.
There were many people by the lake right now: cuddling couples, parents with children, vendors selling fireworks, and wandering musicians playing guitar—noisy and bustling.
He first glanced at Lu Qianqian beside him, hesitated for a moment, then said nothing. Instead, he took out his phone, looked at the friend he’d added recently in his contacts—the woman noted as Ji Yueling—and typed: “Happy New Year’s Eve, Sister.”
After about ten seconds, Gu Qing received a two-hundred-yuan red envelope.
He suddenly smiled, then asked, “What are you doing, Sister?”
“Eating New Year’s Eve dinner.”
“Want to come set off fireworks by Star River Lake after dinner?”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Obviously, in Ji Yueling’s view, Gu Qing’s invitation was indeed ridiculous.
Why would she leave her family on New Year’s Eve to come set off fireworks with this stranger?
“It’s really lively here. After setting off fireworks, we could blow in the breeze by the lake and have some drinks.”
“I’m not coming.”
“Okay, then I’ll save a few for you, Sister. If you’re sure you won’t come before midnight, I’ll just set them all off.”
Ji Yueling didn’t respond to him.
Gu Qing didn’t make more trouble for himself, putting his phone back in his pocket. But he also lit a sparkler and held it, waving it around, watching the crystal sparks flash in his hand. There was a small stall selling mixed drinks by the plaza. Gu Qing took Lu Qianqian over there, ordered two drinks in disposable cups, and leaned against the railing, looking at the endless lake in the distance, gradually hearing clusters of fireworks sounds around them.
They looked up—people nearby had already started lighting fireworks, exploding in the night sky with a bang, as if lighting up the entire world in an instant.