Happy New Year

Colorful fireworks were rushing towards the starry sky, generating vivid sparks on their way. The sky, although at dusk, was exceptionally bright because of constantly emerging light spots. Around where these startling firecrackers came from lay a small village. In the center region of the village, right at the front door of an ordinary house, a dog spread its body on the cement ground lazily, when suddenly startled by a man coming up. On his arriving at the house, the man walked around in small steps for a long time, completely ignoring angry barks of the alarmed dog. Finally, the man decided to stop in front of a window and bend over to see things inside. Light pouring out of the window illuminated this man’s face, which anyone would marvel at first sight, owing to a deep, long scar across the entire left cheek. The wildly stretching hair and spirited eyes also contributed to this special feeling. As he watched the scene inside the house, a smile extended across his face.

The house held several people. Two of them were elderly people, sitting at a dinner table, and eagerly talking to each other. A woman was standing at a table busily preparing various dishes. Right near the window, three children were playing card games. A boy around 6, who appeared to be the littlest one among the three, turned a card over excitedly and hopefully, but disappointment arose on his face when he realized it was a wrong choice. Another boy smiled secretly on seeing this, and exchanged a glance with his younger sister. The three were siblings, and it seemed they enjoyed the game very much. Suddenly, the chair which the little boy had been sitting on cracked and fell apart, and the man watching outside window let go of a cry. This noise attracted all people in the house. “Dad, you finally come back!’’, called the little boy, jubilant expressions on his face. This little boy, distantly followed by his two older siblings, dashed towards the front door, saw his grandparents opened it, and jumped into his father’s arms immediately. The clothes he and his father wore was a staggering contrast. While the little boy wore a red flashy down coat, his father only had a military green jacked to protect himself from coldness outside, which was far from enough, for he was trembling very frequently. After a brief hug, the man dragged goods on his shoulder to the floor and went into the house with his family.

Moving into the house, the man, the grandparents and three kids sat near the fireplace located at the south corner of the house. With excitement and fulfillment, the man took out from his pocket some honey-flavored sweets, handed them over to the little boy, closely watched him enjoying them, and patted his shoulder lovingly. Then, as if he suddenly remembered something, the father opened packets of goods on the floor, carefully examined it, made sure everything was well and unbroken, and spread on table all he had bought from the country fair that day, including s shoulder of mutton, several bunch of vegetables, tasty sweety snacks made from flour, wax light, firecrackers of brand-new style and vibrant clothes for everyone. Looking at all these special purchases for the Spring Festival, the kids laughed and danced, then hastily tried the clothes on. Looking at them, some distant emotion came to the man’s mind, as he stared at them in a strange manner and said nothing.

The man hadn’t been immersed in this emotion for a very long time, as the grandma broke the state by asking what he had saw on his little trip to the market. The man turned his minds back and shared a terse story, saying that nothing much had happened, except that he met some of his old school friends on the route and had a nice conversation with them. He added that they all went to the market with their whole family, his eye socket reding up meanwhile. The grandfather, once discovered this, quickly and smoothly led the subject conversation away by starting talking about the harvest of their family and other families this year. This had been an exceptionally good year for farmers like them, as temperature and rain were just as much as needed in summer and pests had been under control very well. As a result, crops piled like hills in most people’s store house in the village, so although the grandparents only planted crops on a small area of land, they were able to obtain enough to support themselves and the three kids, which had been impossible in the last three years, when they relied on money from father and mother of the kid. As time went by, atmosphere in the room became warmer and warmer, children laughing and seeking each other, sometimes even running into tables and walls, when they stood up, pat their clothes and continued playing. Looking at this harmonious atmosphere, the man, however, did not behave reassured. However, he said nothing more, and sat in silence with the grandparents. Outside the window, firecrackers were wildly showing off their vivid colors. Cool breeze blew through the window, bringing smell of grass and flavorful food inside. The kids had now turned the television on to watch their favorite shows. Sitting on the sofa, they widened their eyes and stared at the television screen. Imperceptibly, it was time to have the family reunion dinner, and also time for Spring Festival Gala.

In children’s watchful eyes, the adults brought spicy food prepared in advance onto the dinner table. The family kicked off eating, and each one told an exotic story he had experienced that year. Meanwhile, the Spring Festival Gala had begun with a mixed chorus to create a happy-reunion like feeling. Everyone on the television display sang to their best, bringing small delight to everyone. The family had been watching the show together happily, until a special program caught everyone’s sight.

The man’s heart generated a strong pulse when he heard name of the program: “Tomorrow Will Be Better”. If I choose to live with the kids, their tomorrow will surely be better, he thought. As if echoing his speculation, a group of Stay-at-home children went onto stage, and totally conquered his heart by their dulcet singing. It was evident everyone else was intensely bathed in the program too: Yongzhi and Yonghui watched the singing group with staring eyes, and sometimes glimpsed at the man with a mixed look, grandfather and grandmother nodded while watching it. What was most interesting was the reaction of Yongshu, the little boy, who grabbed his father’s arms and blubbered, and received gentle pats on his shoulder. When the singing group walked off the stage, the man gave all three kids a hug, and kept this posture for a long time, without speaking. Outside, the sky was now completely black, allowing stars to show their light. Wind blows through trees and created a massive sound, which could be heard easily. The house stood there lonely, like a firefly in the dark. The man’s mind had been venturing in a boundless sea, searching for a lighthouse. At this time, he finally found it. Back from his thought and looking down at the sofa, he noticed the kids had all gone to sleep, carefully postured them well and tucked them in. Then he beckoned the grandparents to keep quite and go out.

Standing under a tree outside, the grandparents showed a worrying but reassuring look. The man tried to talk, but failed several times because of choking with sobs. He calmed himself for a while, took a long breath, and said as follows: “You know, since I came home three days ago, I have been thinking about the kids. They are so young and have so brilliant life ahead of them, something I would feel proud of. But childhood without parent’s care is something not so appropriate, I think about it and often condemn myself because of it these days. When Yaoying and I decided to have these kids, we didn’t consider the situation well. Say, we just want to have children, but we completely overlook our conditions and”, a choke came from his throat, and he continued speaking after allaying his emotion slightly, “didn’t realized we could not take care of them when they grow up. As a result, when each kid was born, you came to our work shed to bring him up, then took him back here, living with you. New Year is the only time these kids can see Yaoying and me, but this year is even worse, as Yaoying was forced to stay at the leather factory to fulfill an urgent deal ordered by a local enterprise, even at this time of the year. When I came home, I noticed that Yongshu, who is the littlest boy, still remembers us well, and is happy we come. However, Yongzhi and Yonghui seems ignorant and even not interested in our visit, because we have accompany them so little, I think. It is no doubt that Yongshu will loath us like them too, if we continue to leave him here. He will feel lonely when classmates can take their parent’s vehicle to school, enjoy their parent’s appetizing dishes and tell what has happened back at school to their parents in order to share happiness or seek apathy and aid. While it is late when we realize it, we want to change this situation, but how? How can we take care of our kids while still supporting our family? We’ve been thinking about this, but still without an answer.” The man sighed deeply before taking a long pause. “Can you provide some ideas?”

Somewhere nearby, a corn factory was hiring workers, suggested the grandmother eagerly. The man gasped when he heard this. However, this was quickly refuted by the grandfather, who said the salary was too low to support them, but he then proposed a second choice. Time quickly passed by as they discussed future arrangements. Gradually, from his parent’s words, the man learned about possible jobs there, and started to decide future preparations. He nodded frequently, seemed emboldened by his choice. The chilly gust now became a soft breeze, lightly touching everyone. When they were sure that everything would be prepared well enough, they went to bed and drifted off into dreamland.

Several happy days with family had passed, before the father set off to where he had been working. This time, his purpose was different though. Before he left, he had put a small letter in each of the children’s pencil boxes. It wrote, “I will bring you a special gift next month, a gift you have been hoping for so long. See you then!” He grinned when imaging children’s feelings when he and Yaoying came back and announce they will live together. With this, he set forth to a whole new life.