(1)
The grass on the riverbank was pressed down by the breeze, which also allowed a not-so-fluffy doll rabbit to lean gently into the meadow.
The sky was a deep azure, like a giant blue gemstone embedded there.
There was no sun, nor were there any clouds — even though it was already evening.
“It’s clearly a sunny day, yet there’s no sunset.”
“The sun has already dropped below the horizon. This is just the last of the remaining light.”
“Speaking of which, it’s getting dark later and later lately. It’s past 6:00 PM, but it’s still light out.”
“That’s true.” Zhu Ying bent down and took things out of the bag one by one. There were sparklers, firecrackers, and long tube-style fireworks…
An Jing held the Black Rabbit Doll Pouch, which looked like a plushie but was actually a small bag, in her arms. She gently squeezed its two paws and made a punching motion in the air. “What day is it today? Why are we coming to the riverbank to set off fireworks?”
“It doesn’t have to be a special day for us to come out and play, does it?”
“But don’t people usually set off fireworks during festivals?”
“It was just a whim — these were left over from the Lunar New Year. I thought they were useless anyway, so I brought them out to play.”
“What a casual reason.”
“You don’t need a special reason to look for happiness in life.” Zhu Ying winked playfully at An Jing. “Besides, don’t you think this is romantic?”
“Setting off fireworks at night?”
“No, not that.” She shook her head slightly and pulled out the last Twenty-Four Shot Firework that had been at the bottom. “It’s — ‘setting off fireworks together on a day that isn’t special.’ That’s what’s romantic.”
“Uh… is it?”
“You’re so dense when it comes to this stuff, Jing. Or are you just playing dumb?”
“Why would I play dumb at a time like this…?”
“Hmm —” She tilted her head with a smile, looking at the expression on An Jing’s face. “The silly Jing at a time like this also feels very romantic.”
“Exactly how many meanings does your ‘romance’ have…? Don’t tell me having dinner at night is also a type of romance.”
“Of course! Eating while watching fireworks… that’s the romance among romances! Unfortunately, we have too few fireworks to enjoy them while we eat.”
“Ah —” An Jing lay back entirely on the lawn. The fine green grass lightly tickled her cheeks, like the hand of the Spring Maiden, playful yet tender.
“Should we wait until it’s completely dark, or set them off now?”
“It’s still a bit bright… however, if we set them off when it’s almost dark but not quite, will it feel different?”
“Okay, it’s decided then!”
“I was just speaking off the top of my head.”
“Gummy or hard candy? Pick one.”
“Hard… uh… gummy?”
“Cola flavor?”
“Sure.”
Lying on the lawn and looking up at the sky, An Jing soon felt a slender, soft little hand reach toward her mouth. A cool gummy was tucked inside. The sweet, soda-like flavor quickly began to spread through her mouth, and the pale blue sky also began to turn a deeper blue, bit by bit…
—
The sky finally grew dark.
But that last bit of light hadn’t quite faded away.
The faint, glowing deep blue made one feel as if they had returned to the embrace of the ocean, creating a strange sense of inversion.
*Click, click…*
The scent of something burning drifted through the air.
Immediately after, there was a loud *bang*.
The sudden sound made An Jing’s face twitch, but then a streak of fire shooting into the sky captured her entire attention.
*Whoosh—!*
*Pop—!!*
The fireworks bloomed in the air, then fell with a *rustling* sound.
They weren’t set off in a hurry. Only when a blooming firework had almost completely cooled in the air would the next one arrive late, rushing toward the high heavens.
— On this day that wasn’t special, special fireworks were lit.
An Jing didn’t know if there was any specific meaning to it; she just felt satisfied and relaxed.
“Jing, look!” Zhu Ying, who had been staring blankly, finally snapped out of it and pointed excitedly at the sky — she was smiling at An Jing, her bright eyes shimmering with a faint light.
“Ah… I’m looking.”
“This one is blue!”
“It’s about the same color as the sky…”
“This one is purple!”
“Mixed with a bit of blue.”
“Wow, this one is pink and purple!”
“Whoa — this one is super pretty.” An Jing’s eyes widened. “It looks like…”
“Candy!” Zhu Ying answered before she could.
“No, I think it looks like a starry river.”
“It does?”
“Yeah… wait, the ones after this are repeats.”
“Yeah, but they’re still beautiful.”
The fireworks went *bang*, *bang*, *bang*, flying into the sky at a leisurely pace.
Zhu Ying kept her neck craned upward, while An Jing remained lying on the grass.
The ground seemed to vibrate along with them, but when all the fireworks were finished, it felt like an illusion.
“They’re gone.” Zhu Ying sat down beside An Jing with a hint of regret and rested her head on the other girl’s chest. Her fluffy hair tickled An Jing’s nose, making her sneeze. “Did you catch a cold?”
“No, your hair tickled me.”
“Pfft… how about this?” She gently pulled her hair back.
“Much better…”
“They’re all gone.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“I didn’t think they were this pretty when we set them off during the New Year.”
“Probably because there are so many fireworks during the New Year?” An Jing raised the Black Rabbit Doll Pouch she had been holding and pressed it against Zhu Ying’s face. “In the middle of all those brilliant displays, these ones seem very plain.”
“When 10,000 flowers are in bloom, you don’t notice the beauty of a common blossom.”
“Probably something like that.”
“Aw — I want to set off another one.”
“But there aren’t any left.” An Jing squeezed the rabbit doll’s paws and gently patted Zhu Ying’s cheek. “It’s hard to buy them at a time like this since it’s not a holiday or the Lunar New Year.”
“There are only two tube fireworks left.”
“Aren’t there still sparklers? There are plenty of those.”
“But when it comes to fireworks, they really need to go *whoosh* and then *boom* to feel right!”
“I feel the same way, but we’re out. Why don’t we use firecrackers instead?”
“Firecrackers are boring. There’s no light.”
“There is.”
“Only for a split second. And then they just go *pop*. It’s a boring way to explode.”
“You can throw them in the water. That way you can splash a lot of water. It’s not as pretty as fireworks, but it looks cool.”
“Then let’s do firecrackers first!” An Jing felt the weight on her chest lift as Zhu Ying sat up. “Before it gets completely dark!”
“Sure. Do you know how to throw firecrackers into the water? I’m an expert at this!”
“Don’t you just light them and throw them in?”
“That won’t work. You have to hold them in your hand for a moment, or they’ll go out when they hit the water.”
“Eh — that’s too dangerous.”
“That’s why you have to time it right. I’ll teach you!”
—
The sun had long since disappeared.
The moon hung high in the sky, with no stars surrounding it.
But it was still slightly light out.
Whether it was moonlight or residual sunlight, no one knew.
Or perhaps it was light shining from afar.
Who knows?
— In the summer and the spring nights approaching summer, the world always seems a little less dark.
An Jing opened a box of Big Black Eagle Firecrackers, took out one small firecracker, and began to demonstrate. “You know how to light a firecracker, right? You just strike it like this, and then it lights.”
“Use a lighter. Those are hard to use.”
“No, no, no. If you use a lighter, it burns too fast.” An Jing shook her head vigorously. “It has to be struck to work properly.”
“There’s actually a trick to it?”
“Of course.” An Jing nodded, adopting the posture of a teacher instructing a student. “Watch closely now. Watch. You have to strike it hard like this first, and then —”
The firecracker made a *hissing* sound, the flame flickering violently.
“Once it starts smoking, throw it immediately!” As An Jing spoke, she suddenly hurled the firecracker toward the water. The river water *gurgled* with bubbles. After a few seconds of waiting…
No sound came out.
“Maybe it needs to burn a little longer…”
“Mm.”
“…It probably went out.”
“Did you fail?”
“Yeah, it happens occasionally. But the way I did it just now was correct. You can’t hold the next one longer just because the last one failed. It’s dangerous.” An Jing cleared her throat and struck another firecracker to demonstrate. This time, before it had even been in the water for 1 second, it suddenly exploded.
*Bang!* The river water splashed high, the cool droplets looking as if they wanted to reach the moon.
Though in the end, it only slightly dampened the legs of their pants.
“Just like that!”
“Let me try?”
“Go ahead.”
“Strike it like this… It didn’t light.”
“Use a little more force.”
*Scratch—*
“It tore…”
“Try the other side. Be faster. Then use force, but not that much force.”
*Fizz—!*
The struck firecracker made a *hissing* sound.
“Throw it, quick!”
“Waah!”
Before the firecracker could even touch the surface of the water, it exploded in mid-air.
“Phew…” An Jing let out a long breath. “That was close. Don’t hold it so long.”
“I didn’t see any smoke.”
“You can throw it as soon as there’s even a little bit.”
“Again?”
“Earlier this time.”
“Just you watch!”
The firecracker was lit again. This time, with almost no pause, Zhu Ying threw it.
No water splashed. There was only the dead silence of the flowing river.
“Too early…”
“This is hard.”
“Try again.”
“Okay.” Zhu Ying nodded slightly. This time, after taking out the firecracker, she didn’t strike it immediately. Instead, she took a deep breath and then exhaled a puff of warm air onto the firecracker.
“What are you doing? It’s not like you’re throwing a paper airplane…” An Jing’s lips curled.
“This is a Blessing Ritual!”
“What kind of blessing ritual is that…?”
Before An Jing could say more, Zhu Ying quickly struck the firecracker. After a brief pause, she threw it with all her might.
The sound of the explosion this time was more intense than before. They could even feel water droplets splashing onto their faces — cool and exceptionally refreshing.
“Success! Too bad… it’s completely dark now. I can’t see anything.”
“Yeah…” An Jing turned her head with some regret, only to see Zhu Ying with the corners of her mouth slightly curled up. Her eyes seemed to emit a faint, ethereal glow in the night, as brilliant as the stars in the sky.
“What’s wrong?”
“So beautiful…”
“Huh?”
“I said…” An Jing swallowed the words “it’s nothing” back down and suddenly raised her voice. “In that moment just now, Ying — you were so beautiful!”
“What? I’ve always been beautiful!”
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