87 Puppet Jade
Cong Xia took out cured meat, lamb, meatballs, tofu, and several types of vegetables from the car and started making hot pot. They even indulge themselves by opening a small bottle of orange juice.
As the sun set, the weather grew colder, and they huddled closely around the campfire, wishing they could crawl inside it.
As expected, snowflakes began to fall from the sky. Everyone looked up in unison, and the vast, ink-blue night sky was adorned with countless stars. Silver-white snowflakes gently floated down, emitting a crystalline glow under the moonlight. The scene was so breathtaking that it took their breath away.
The cold snowflakes landed on Cong Xia’s face, and he reached out to touch them. They melted in his hand, and he sighed softly, “It’s snowing… such heavy snow.”
Abu curiously watched the snowflakes falling from the sky, occasionally reaching out its paw to catch them. Its fluffy paw waved in the air, but it failed to catch anything. The snowflakes landed on its wide purple eyes, sending a cold sensation that startled it. It toppled over and covered its eyes with its paw, rolling around on the ground.
Everyone burst into laughter because of Abu’s antics.
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Usdt Dky bydele swv pvlyxkdt aknl vs vbl svblap yde pyke, “Usxl sd, lyv obkzl kv’p bsv. Oyvkdt bsv rsv kd pwnb nsze olyvbla kp vbl clpv oyu vs jllr oyax.”
Gp twpvp sq nsze okde czlo vbaswtb vbl ossep, vblu pyv yaswde vbl nyxrqkal, qynkdt vbl rlakzp sq vbl elpszyvl okzeladlpp. Mblu cayhle vbl nsze okde yde pwcglas vlxrlayvwalp, kdewztkdt kd vbl zwmwau sq bsv rsv.
“Dkys Dky, bso xwnb nbkzk eke usw rwv kd blal?” Nkw Wldtuw lmnzykxle, bkp xswvb cwadkdt qasx vbl prknkdlpp.
Usdt Dky zywtble yde alrzkle, “R rwv iwkvl y zsv. Rv’p vbl prknkdlpp vbyv jllrp wp oyax.”
“R qllz zkjl xu xswvb kp sd qkal,” Nkw Wldtuw pyke yp bl tayccle vbl yzxspv qasgld saydtl fwknl yde vssj y ckt pkr.
Hbwydt Zys oyp qwakswp. “Ebu eke usw eakdj ps xwnb? Mblal yal pvkzz qswa sq wp blal!”
Nkw Wldtuw zlv swv y pyvkpqkle calyvb yde alvsavle, “Fbswze R prkv kv swv qsa usw kq usw’al dsv byrru?”
“Frkv kv swv?!”
Tang Yanqiu silently ate a few mouthfuls and suddenly said, “Do you guys know what day it is today?”
Liu Fengyu casually replied, “What day? It’s not your birthday, is it? Don’t be so cliché.”
Tang Yanqiu looked up at the starry sky and whispered, “Today is New Year’s Eve.”
Everyone fell silent.
Cong Xia murmured, “Really? Today is New Year’s Eve?”
Zhuang Yao took out his notebook, the first page of which was a calendar. He glanced at it and said, “Today is indeed New Year’s Eve, the Lunar New Year’s Eve.”
Tang Yanqiu smiled with a touch of melancholy, “I didn’t plan to mention it, but since we’re alive and it’s New Year’s Eve, it’s a double joy worth celebrating together.”
The hearts of everyone felt as if they were being squeezed, suffocating in discomfort.
The New Year, the traditional Chinese New Year, should have been a joyful day for family reunion. But now, there are so many displaced and grieving people, perhaps as many as the stars in the sky. It’s likely that very few people will be celebrating the New Year with smiles today. Most have lost their homes, lost their loved ones, and some are even struggling on the brink of death just to get a morsel of food that they can swallow. In the face of the world’s collective grief, individual sorrows seem infinitesimal.
Cong Xia thought, at this moment, if all the sadness could materialize into a force, it would be powerful enough to shake the entire planet.
Tang Yanqiu suggested, “Why don’t we open a can of wine? When we left home, we brought two cans, originally intended to celebrate in Beijing. Let’s open one now and celebrate the New Year. How about it?”
Cong Xia smiled and agreed, “Sure.”
Tang Yanqiu took the wine from the car, opened the bottle cap, and a unique fragrance wafted out.
He carefully poured the wine into cups, afraid to spill a drop. Then, he raised his cup first and said, “Cheers, let’s celebrate our survival.”
“Cheers, let’s celebrate our survival.”
“Happy New Year!”
“Happy New Year!”
The five of them lifted their heads and downed the wine in one gulp. The spicy liquid flowed down their throats into their stomachs, instantly igniting their entire abdominal cavity. The fiery heat dispelled the chill of winter.
Cong Xia’s eyes welled up with tears from the spiciness of the wine. He didn’t understand alcohol, but he enjoyed this wine. Its taste made him feel as if he were in a dream of the civilized era. He couldn’t help but exclaim, “Good wine!”
Cheng Tianbi watched Cong Xia’s reddened eyes, feeling his own heart tighten.
Tang Yanqiu choked up slightly and said, “My family is probably enjoying a sumptuous feast right now. How wonderful.”
Liu Fengyu couldn’t find the words to express the pain in his heart, thinking of his parents whose fate was unknown. Zhuang Yao lowered his head, silently watching the boiling hotpot.
They drank the wine bottoms up and finished every last bit of the hotpot. Nobody was willing to waste a single grain of food in this era.
Zhuang Yao wiped his mouth. “Now that everyone has finished eating…?”
Cheng Tianbi raised his hand. “I don’t want to talk about the Puppet Jade tonight.”
Cong Xia said, “I don’t want to bring up the Ancient Jade either. Can we just celebrate the New Year simply tonight?”
Zhuang Yao shrugged. “Fine, it’s up to you. What do we do for New Year’s then?”
Cong Xia curiously asked, “Haven’t you celebrated New Year’s before?”
Zhuang Yao shook his head. “What’s the point?”
Cong Xia said, “The meaning of celebrating New Year’s is…” He wanted to say “reunion,” but didn’t want to trigger everyone’s emotions again, so he changed his words. “Celebrating New Year’s means… eating delicious food, playing poker, playing mahjong.”
“We don’t have anything.”
Cong Xia thought for a moment. “We can do something else, like playing some puzzle games…”
Zhuang Yao sneered. “You want to play with me?”
Cong Xia glanced at him helplessly.
Liu Fengyu slapped his thigh. “Let’s do a drinking game, a finger-guessing game. The loser… ” Liu Fengyu looked at the nearly empty wine jug and shouted, “The loser drinks the hotpot soup! We can’t waste the soup, so we’ll end the game when the pot is empty.”
Cong Xia glanced at the red chili oil floating in the hotpot soup, his expression changing slightly.
“What’s the matter? I’m willing to endure the spiciness, but you guys are afraid? Are we playing or not?”
Cong Xia said, “Let’s play!”
“Let’s go! Let me teach you…”
The empty forest echoed with lively shouts as they gathered around the campfire, entertaining themselves. When someone lost, they took a big gulp of the hotpot soup. It was spicy and salty, flowing into their stomachs with a fiery sensation, just as invigorating as the wine.
They spent the rest of the night cheerfully celebrating, marking the first New Year since the apocalypse began.
In the latter part of the night, everyone grew tired and crawled into their sleeping bags, falling asleep. Cheng Tianbi had the most energy, so naturally, he was the first to take the night shift.
After slipping into his sleeping bag, Cong Xia secretly watched Cheng Tianbi’s broad back and thought about what had happened during the day. His heart thumped heavily in his chest.
He had kissed this man. Oh my goodness, how did he gather the courage to actually… He had confessed with the determination that he might not come back, thinking that if he really didn’t return, he wouldn’t be at peace if he didn’t express his feelings to the person he liked. So, he gritted his teeth and made up his mind…
But now that the crisis had passed, he still had to face Cheng Tianbi, and just thinking about it made him feel incredibly ashamed.
But Tianbi had kissed him back. Did that mean Tianbi also had some feelings for him? Otherwise, given his personality, he would have definitely slapped him.
Since he didn’t slap him and even kissed him, then that means…
Cong Xia’s face burned like a pancake. He tossed and turned in his sleeping bag, unable to fall asleep no matter what.
Suddenly, Cheng Tianbi turned over and in the darkness, his eyes seemed particularly bright.
Cong Xia was startled and it was too late to pretend to be asleep, so he could only dumbly look at Cheng Tianbi.
Cheng Tianbi whispered, “Go to sleep.”
Cong Xia also whispered, “I can’t sleep, I drank too much.” After saying that, he wanted to take it back.
Cheng Tianbi whispered, “Don’t come out, it’s cold. We finally warmed up.”
Cong Xia thought for a moment, then he poked half of his body out of the sleeping bag and, like a fuzzy caterpillar, crawled toward Cheng Tianbi.
Cheng Tianbi frowned. “What are you doing?”
Cong Xia put on a brave face and said, “I want to chat with you.” He crawled next to Cheng Tianbi and lay down, adding, “I’m afraid you’ll get sleepy.”
“I’m not sleepy.”
“Do you really not want to chat?”
“No, go to sleep.”
“Then kiss me again.” After saying this, Cong Xia’s lips trembled, as he looked at Cheng Tianbi with a mix of fear and anticipation. He just wanted to know what Cheng Tianbi was thinking. If he couldn’t figure out this question, he wouldn’t be able to sleep all night.
Cheng Tianbu’s expression stiffened, and he turned his face away, whispering, “Don’t be silly.”
Cong Xia stammered, “I just… I wanted to know if, during the day, you lost too much blood and felt dizzy…”
Cheng Tianbi said firmly, “No.”
“Then, how… how did you feel?”
Cheng Tianbi kept his back rigid, not turning his head for a long time.
Cong Xia waited anxiously, feeling a mix of sourness and sweetness in his heart that he couldn’t quite describe. He didn’t know how long he waited until Cheng Tianbi finally turned around. Suddenly, Cheng Tianbi leaned forward, pressing his cold lips lightly against Cong Xia’s mouth.
Cong Xia’s body was tucked inside the sleeping bag, only his head sticking out, making this kind of kiss look somewhat comical. But the sweet and wonderful sensation wasn’t diminished at all.
He wanted to reach out and touch Cheng Tianbi, but he didn’t dare to make any big movements, fearing it would disturb this serene moment. So he gently lifted his chin and brushed his lips against Cheng Tianbi’s.
That gentle kiss, carrying the winter cold and Cheng Tianbi’s warmth, filled him with indescribable satisfaction.
Cheng Tianbi slowly lifted his head and looked into Cong Xia’s eyes. In a hoarse voice, he asked, “Can we sleep now?”
Cong Xia nodded eagerly, his heart pounding. “Yes.”
The large hand that had been on his forehead moved to cover his eyes, and instantly, he couldn’t see anything. But he could clearly smell the scent of gunpowder on Cheng Tianbi’s hand, so familiar and comforting.
Cheng Tianbi whispered, “Then go to sleep quickly.”
A smile crept up on the corners of Cong Xia’s mouth. The happiness and contentment he felt at this moment couldn’t be described with any adjective he had learned throughout his life.
Cheng Tianbi covered Cong Xia’s eyes, and his other hand lightly brushed his own lips. They still carried the refreshing scent of toothpaste Cong Xia had just used. His face seemed to be burning up.
Author’s Note: Everyone, go to sleep quickly~
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