Chapter 82: Dong Xu's Exploding Hand

Shazhu lay inside the house like a corpse.

He was ultimately defeated by boredom.

He sat up from the bed, looked around, trying to find something to do; he couldn't keep lying there like a corpse.

If he kept lying down.

He'd become useless.

In his ears.

Faintly came the sound of firecrackers exploding.

Like finding a guiding light in the darkness, Shazhu suddenly had an idea; he thought of something he could do.

Set off firecrackers!

The thirtieth of the twelfth month of 1952.

The capital had not yet imposed a large-scale firecracker ban.

Firecrackers' sounds bid farewell to the old year.

Without setting off some firecrackers for New Year, there's basically no festive feeling.

A few days earlier, Shazhu deliberately bought over a hundred double-kick firecrackers and two strings of small firecrackers, so Yushui wouldn't have to rummage through others' unexploded firecracker piles looking for firecrackers.

It's easy to have an accident.

Shazhu found two bricks, arranged them in an L‑shape to serve as a stand for the double‑kick firecracker, placed the double‑kick firecracker between the bricks, pulled out the fuse, blew on the incense tip, used the incense tip to light the firecracker; at the moment the fuse lit, Shazhu covered his ears and ran to the eaves, then heard a series of pops; the double‑kick firecracker traced a bright trace in the night sky and exploded in midair.

The whole siheyuan.

Shazhu was the first to set off firecrackers.

The crackling firecracker sounds drove all the adults and kids holed up at home out.

The kids were immersed in the festive joy of wearing new clothes and eating delicious food for the New Year.

The adults were a bit bored.

Watching opera is watching opera.

Don't look at people with tinted glasses.

Jia Dongxu of the Jia family and Shazhu stared at each other, big eyes meeting small eyes, Jia Dongxu looking at him with a face full of hatred; Shazhu didn't know what to say.

Just the Jia family's attitude.

They even wanted Shazhu to help as head cook.

Nonsense.

Love who you want.

Anyway, Shazhu won't go.

Just because the Jia family's sewing machine became Shazhu's sewing machine, Jia Zhangshi and Jia Dongxu glared at Shazhu with raised brows.

You lost my bicycle, so you must compensate me; if you have no money, using the sewing machine to offset the debt is perfectly normal; no matter where this lawsuit goes, Shazhu is in the right.

And you still dare to hate me!

Could it be that you, Jia Dongxu, lost my bicycle, and I just accept my bad luck, and my bicycle just got lost for no reason?

Where in the world is there such reasoning?

Shazhu pretended not to see Jia Dongxu, casually took out a few new double-kick firecrackers, and set them off one by one using the same method.

Jia Dongxu seemed provoked, seeing Shazhu place the double-kick firecracker on the ground, he deliberately let out a cold snort.

Shazhu faintly heard a very quiet insult of a coward through his ear curtain.

Living two lifetimes as a person.

Shazhu couldn't be bothered to argue with someone like a soon-to-die ghost; from the moment Jia Dongxu married Qin Huairu, Jia Dongxu had already embarked on this path to death.

I estimate that during the time Qin Huairu was pregnant with Huaihua, Jia Dongxu was already close to death!

He's capable.

It's not about whose voice is higher or lower.

But about how long you live.

Shazhu ignored Jia Dongxu, continued setting off firecrackers, until someone cheered for Jia Dongxu, then Shazhu shifted his gaze from the firecrackers to Jia Dongxu.

No wonder he got cheered.

This bastard.

He's got a few tricks.

Shazhu set off firecrackers using bricks as a stand on the ground; Jia Dongxu, wanting to show his uniqueness, also had the idea of stepping on Shazhu, and this bastard used his own hand as a firecracker stand.

With his left thumb and index finger pinching the upper half of the double-kick firecracker, his right hand's cigarette lit the lower half; using the explosive force from the lower half's blast, he pushed the upper half upward, where it exploded in midair.

Bare-handed.

Not even wearing gloves.

If it exploded, Jia Dongxu's hand would likely be injured.

Such a foolish thing.

Shazhu wouldn't do that; he set off his double-kick firecrackers, while Jia Dongxu set off his own flash firecrackers.

As the saying goes, extreme joy brings sorrow.

The siheyuan neighbors' continuous shouts and praise made Jia Dongxu a bit carried away; he forgot that what he held in his hand was a double-kick firecracker with some lethal power, not a fishing rod.

He actually shot a provocative glance at Shazhu.

If it were the Shazhu of his previous life, he might have started a firecracker‑setting contest with Jia Dongxu.

He had lived a second life.

He had let go of many things.

Seeing Jia Dongxu's conduct, Shazhu truly had no thought of competing with a fool.

At worst, Shazhu will later vent his anger on Jia Dongxu's son.

That's a person nicknamed Dao Sheng.

Jia Zhangshi perhaps saw the signs, came out from the house and gave several instructions to Jia Dongxu, telling Jia Dongxu not to hold this jumping firecracker in his hand.

Jia Dongxu obviously didn't take Jia Zhangshi's reminder to heart.

At this moment, Jia Dongxu only felt the pleasure of stepping on Shazhu underfoot.

In Jia Dongxu's mind, he considered himself stronger than Shazhu; he has always looked down on Shazhu in every way—Shazhu isn't even an apprentice in the Yagangchang cafeteria, while Jia Dongxu has taken Yi Zhonghai as his teacher and works as an apprentice in the Yagangchang workshop; Jia Dongxu is more handsome than Shazhu, and moreover Shazhu's father He Daqing even ran off with a widow, yet Jia Zhangshi still remains by Jia Dongxu's side.

Under various illusions.

Jia Dongxu feels he is a head above Shazhu.

In the Siheyuan, Jia Dongxu can be inferior to anyone, but he must be stronger than Shazhu.

The cruelty of reality was like a loud slap that fiercely struck Jia Dongxu's cheek, slapping him into a pig's head.

The day after Shazhu's father He Daqing ran off with a widow, Shazhu jumped from the Yagangchang cafeteria to the Red Star Scrap Station, becoming a middle-grade scrap purchaser with a salary of 400,000—twice that of Jia Dongxu, who is an apprentice worker. Furthermore, throughout the Yagangchang, the reputation of Shazhu the Cooking God spreads; upon seeing Jia Dongxu, people often say, "Are you Shazhu's neighbor? What does Shazhu look like? Is his cooking really that good?" and similar remarks.

This made Jia Dongxu feel a bit unbalanced; Shazhu also took a bicycle, seized the Jia Family's sewing machine to offset debt, and bought a camera.

On the contrary, they stepped on Jia Dongxu, putting him underfoot.

Now, compared to Shazhu, Jia Dongxu's advantage of being a head above is that he married a beautiful rural wife named Qin Huairu.

I finally managed to marry a beautiful wife before you, Shazhu!

Jia Dongxu unexpectedly got into the spotlight.

Also precisely because of this highlight, he became absent-minded, actually forgetting this firecracker and reversing the order of the jumping firecracker.

Then a miserable scream was heard.

Jia Dongxu covered his hand and fell flat on the ground.

"Dong Xu!"

Jia Zhangshi rushed out from inside the house.

Seeing Jia Dongxu injured, tears kept flowing from heartache.