Chapter 291: Peeing and Getting Blown Up

On New Year's Eve, the sun hid behind thick layers of clouds, seemingly shy to be seen, and while the cold wind raged across the earth, it still could not suppress the indescribable joy in people's hearts.

Aside from those busy at home with the New Year's Eve dinner, neighbors stepped out of their homes one after another, gathering in twos and threes to speak their minds; friends and relatives who hadn't seen each other for a long time had endless topics to discuss; children were happily setting off firecrackers and chasing each other with their little friends.

Various noisy sounds drifted into the room through the bay window, and Shen Yan's thoughts gradually drifted away.

He recalled the scenes of past New Year's celebrations.

He would stay home all alone watching TV or keeping company with books, and when Yu Youwei came to find him to go out and watch fireworks, he would pretend to be reserved and say, "What's so good about fireworks? It's boring," and then be "reluctantly" dragged out of the house.

This year, he could finally make up for the fun lost in his childhood.

Sitting in the computer chair, Shen Yan didn't even lift his eyelids; his fingers seemed to have a built-in positioning function, accurately and unerringly finding the power button on the laptop.

He asked Yu Youwei, "Is your dad on duty this New Year's?"

Yu Youwei was lying lazily on the bed next to him, her knees resting on the windowsill, her little feet swinging in the air; she complained, "It just so happens to be my dad's turn to be on duty this year, leaving just me and my mom, and we're planning to go to Grandpa's for the New Year's Eve dinner later."

"I've prepared quite a few fireworks and firecrackers in the car; you can come back and play together after you finish eating."

"Really?" Yu Youwei's eyes were filled with surprise.

Most girls have a sense of fear toward firecrackers; the crackling sounds and the potential injuries they might cause make people shy away.

However, it is a different story when it comes to beautiful and brilliant fireworks; the colorful light when fireworks bloom is as poetic and picturesque as can be, simply an ultimate visual enjoyment.

"Why don't we go play now? We're just sitting around anyway."

Shen Yan didn't agree, as he believed that setting off fireworks during the day was just a waste of money and playing for nothing; Yu Youwei then said that playing with firecrackers would also work, as it was better than doing nothing at home.

Hearing this, Shen Yan couldn't help but feel an itch to play; he hadn't really played with firecrackers much since he was a child, so he got up, went outside, and said to Shen Jiaxin and Shen Jiakang, "Let's go, Brother will take you to play with firecrackers."

The two children, both around ten years old, immediately beamed with joy and followed along happily, with Shen Jiaqing following right behind.

Staying here to be nagged by the elders versus playing with firecrackers without restraint—any fool would know how to choose.

Arriving at the open space opposite the unit entrance, Shen Yan opened the trunk, only to see it packed full of all kinds of fireworks and firecrackers.

Capa, double-kickers, big western firecrackers, Gatling, "Bullish," Happiness Sunflower, and so on.

There were even many types they were seeing for the first time; it was like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden, finding everything novel.

The group stared wide-eyed in unison.

"Little brother, why did you buy so many fireworks?" Shen Jiaqing asked.

Shen Yan explained that he was going to spend the New Year with a few friends tonight and had prepared some fun to pass the time.

Yu Youwei didn't feel surprised at all about Shen Yan making new friends; these days Shen Yan was always like this, seeing the head but not the tail, and whenever asked, he would say he was hanging out with friends.

"Brother, take me with you; I've never spent the New Year with friends before." Yu Youwei's eyes were full of longing.

Shen Yan said that it was a gathering of a bunch of grown men, so what would it look like to bring a girl along, and firmly refused; Yu Youwei pouted, while Shen Jiaqing was lost in thought.

He guessed that his little brother was going to accompany that long-legged girl again, and then... spend the night together.

It made others envious!

In fact, Shen Jiaqing really wanted to know about his little brother's dating history, especially regarding that long-legged girl, who wouldn't even go home for the Spring Festival holiday, just to stay outside and have fun with his little brother.

What for?

But Shen Yan kept his mouth shut, leaving him with no way to find out.

Afterward, Shen Yan brought out some firecrackers, both big and small, and the group looked eager to try them out.

The children playing in the open space couldn't help but gather around; even if they couldn't play themselves, watching others play was still a kind of fun.

Yu Youwei and Shen Jiaxin were girls and were afraid of firecrackers, so they just watched from the side.

"Snap!"

"Bang! Pop!"

At first, the three of them were playing with small Capa, lighting them and throwing them on the ground, but later they found it boring, so they simply arranged a dozen small Capa in a circle on the ground and lit them from the middle with a long stick of ceremonial incense.

It instantly triggered a chain reaction, with over a dozen Capa igniting at the same time.

"Pop! Pop! Pop!" Sparks and lightning flew everywhere, and the sound of firecrackers rose one after another.

The children's eyes sparkled with excitement, and occasionally a Capa would fly toward Yu Youwei, scaring her into screaming "Mommy, Mommy!"

Shen Yan watched with great amusement and simply started throwing firecrackers specifically toward her, which made Yu Youwei grit her teeth in anger and rush over to fight Shen Yan to the death.

"Stinky Shen Yan, if you have the guts, don't run."

"Don't come over here, I have firecrackers in my hand."

"You, you, you... you're making me so mad."

Yu Youwei hesitated there, wanting to teach Shen Yan a lesson but also fearing the sound of the explosions.

Others on the side were gloating, shouting, "Blow her up, blow her up!"

After playing with small firecrackers, they moved on to big ones; Shen Yan had originally planned to go to the riverside, but a hapless kid didn't say a word, brought a plastic bucket from home, and said it would be more fun to cover them while playing.

A very constructive suggestion, worth adopting.

So Shen Yan carried the bucket to the center of the open space, placed a big western firecracker on the ground, lit it with the ceremonial incense, and then covered it with the bucket and ran away quickly.

The others also stayed far away.

With a crisp "Bang!" sound, the bucket shot into the sky, reaching a height of one meter.

The children were all cheering and applauding, their eyes sparkling with excitement.

Yu Youwei asked Shen Yan to set off another one with great interest, as she wanted to record a video to post on her social media, so Shen Yan did the same thing again.

However, an accident suddenly occurred.

Just as he covered it with the bucket and ran away, a yellow stray dog from the neighborhood suddenly appeared, sniffing the edge of the bucket with its nose, and everyone was shouting, "Dahuang, run! Dahuang, run!"

But Dahuang didn't notice the danger coming at all.

Following that, it did something astonishing; it braced itself with its right hind leg and front paws, lifted its left leg high, and struck a graceful pose.

Then it opened the floodgates, and it poured out like a waterfall.

This was asserting its territory.

The next moment, with another crisp "Bang!" sound, the bucket flew high into the air, and Dahuang fled in a panic, letting out sharp "Woo-woo, woof-woof" cries.

Everyone was dumbfounded, standing there in a daze.

Immediately after, the whole place burst into uproarious laughter.

"Hahaha! That cracked me up!"

"I've never seen such a silly dog."

"It's a good thing the bucket was covering it, otherwise Dahuang would definitely be a goner."

Yu Youwei leaned against Shen Yan, laughing until tears came out, and Shen Yan took the opportunity to take the phone from her hand.

Good grief! From the lighting of the firecracker to the dog's panicked escape, the entire process was captured clearly.

Others crowded around to watch the video repeatedly, laughing as they watched, while sharing a common doubt: would the dog be so scared that it would suffer from frequent, urgent, and uncontrollable urination?