Seeing the fireworks blooming in the sky, Akina Nakamori suddenly didn't want to go back to the room so early.
She looked up at Zhou Yan, the fireworks in her eyes mixed with hope, "Teacher Zhou, can you accompany me for a walk?"
Zhou Yan raised his eyebrows, but he didn't mind. Walking with Akina Nakamori, but his coat is still in Akina Nakamori's hand. If he wanders around outside, he will freeze to death.
If Nakamori Akina was asked to return the clothes to him, he felt that Nakamori Akina would freeze to death.
“How about I drive you around.”
"Okay." Akina Nakamori nodded and agreed to the proposal.
Then the two returned to the car.
At this moment, the car was much warmer than before, and the seats were warm, but Akina Nakamori still held Zhou Yan's coat in her arms and did not return it to him.
Nakamori Akina didn’t say where she was going, so Zhou Yan drove the car towards the place where the fireworks were rising. The fireworks didn’t stop at this moment, and you could still see the fireworks from the car.
“It’s so beautiful.” Akina Nakamori looked at the fireworks through the car window with a smile on her face, “It will be next year soon.”
"Well, there are still a few hours, and the fireworks will be more beautiful then."
"Teacher Zhou, is there anything special about New Year's Eve here?"
Zhou Yan shook his head, "There's basically nothing special about New Year's Day here. It's mainly New Year's Eve and Spring Festival, followed by Little New Year."
"Little New Year?" Nakamori Akina asked.
“The Xiaonian here refers to the Lantern Festival, but in some places, the Xiaonian refers to the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month.”
"Oh, we have New Year's Eve, Spring Festival and Lantern Festival over there, but we have never heard of Xiaonian."
"Do you know how to celebrate New Year's Eve?"
"Some people should know how to celebrate it, but in our family No." Nakamori Akina shook her head, "Most people over there know you about the New Year. We take New Year’s Day as seriously as you do Spring Festival, and there are many traditional customs.”
Zhou Yan said with a smile, “You are too serious about your work when you come to China to celebrate the New Year.”
Hearing Zhou Yan's words, Nakamori Akina lowered her head and said nothing.
Only then did Zhou Yan realize that he seemed to have said the wrong thing. Akina Nakamori's mother passed away last year, and she seemed to have severed ties with her family since then.
This means that for Nakamori Akina, she no longer has a home in Neon.
It was because she no longer had a home that she could go to China to work during the Chinese New Year.
"Ahem, when will your work in Yanjing start?" Zhou Yan asked about work, trying to lighten the atmosphere.
"I will go to Yanjing TV station tomorrow afternoon to record a talk show. The day after tomorrow, I will go to Yanjing TV station to sing a song."
Zhou Yan nodded and asked, "Is the work this time all in Yanjing?"
"No, I will go to Shanghai in a while, and there are some activities to participate in there."
“Then we will stay in China for a long time this time.”
“Well, we will stay for more than twenty days in total.”
“It’s almost New Year’s Eve. ”
"I looked at the calendar. I have to go back to Neon before New Year's Eve."
"That's a pity, otherwise you can feel the atmosphere of New Year's Eve here. It will definitely be much more lively than New Year's Day."< br>
Nakamori Akina turned to look at Zhou Yan, " Do you really feel it’s a pity?”
Zhou Yan was stunned for a moment, and then realized that Akina Nakamori had misunderstood the word “pity”. Her Chinese was still not good enough, and she could only roughly understand some of the words. , but the specific meaning is different from what she understood.
In fact, it can be said that Akina Nakamori has a problem with her understanding of the word "pity". After all, pity can originally represent regret, but in the context just now, the emotion is not that strong.
But at this time, Zhou Yan couldn't seriously explain to Nakamori Akina. He could only follow Nakamori Akina's words and said, "Well, it's a pity. Although I have only celebrated the Chinese New Year once in Yanjing, I still remember the New Year customs here. I still know a lot, and I have passed There were many activities a year ago. For example, there was a dumpling-making competition in our studio. Can you make dumplings? "
"A little bit"
Zhou Yan smiled. It seems to him that he can do it a little bit but not really.
Actually, Zhou Yan and his family don’t eat dumplings at all during the Chinese New Year, but after all, he has stayed in Yanjing for so many years and eats a lot of dumplings every winter.
However, even though he has been in Yanjing for so many years, he still cannot regard dumplings as a staple food. If he is asked to eat dumplings with a meal, he always feels that something is missing.
Of course, he couldn't eat dumplings as a dish with rice like the Neon people did.
The first time Zhou Yan saw someone eating rice instead of dumplings in Neon, he felt extremely uncomfortable. It wasn’t over yet. In addition to rice dumplings, there were also noodles in Neon.
......
As the car passed the third ring road, the fireworks in the sky suddenly disappeared, and the city fell into calm again.
However, Zhou Yan did not stop and continued to drive forward.
After driving a few kilometers along the main road, the fireworks in the sky lit up again. Akina Nakamori looked up at the fireworks in the sky and smiled, "It seems that we are not far away."
Zhou Yan also looked up and looked in the direction. The place where the fireworks were set off should be behind the Old Summer Palace.
Their current location is in front of the south gate of Tsinghua University.
This place is just a little past the Fourth Ring Road, but at this time, part of the road section after the Fourth Ring Road is open and is not completely connected yet.
As for the Fifth Ring Road behind the Old Summer Palace, repairs have not yet begun.
If outside the Third Ring Road, there is still a sense of urban-rural fringe, then outside the Fourth Ring Road and the Fifth Ring Road, it has a completely rural feel.
Driving through here at night, it feels very deserted, even the street lights are on and off.
If Yanda and Tsinghua University weren't here, I'm afraid there wouldn't be many people nearby.
Zhou Yan drove past the Old Summer Palace, just after crossing the Qinghe River, and arrived at a small town behind.
There were a few children putting flowers on the roadside. Zhou Yan stopped the car, rolled down the window, and asked, "Kids, where did you buy your flowers?"
< br>
One of the little fat guys ran over quickly and said enthusiastically, "Boss, do you want to buy fireworks? Sky monkeys cost one yuan each, magic bombs cost ten yuan each, and big baby's breath stars cost forty yuan a bucket."< br>
Although Zhou Yan hadn’t bought fireworks for a long time, he knew they were expensive when he heard the price.
The magic bullet that the little fat man talks about is the kind of hand-held flower. In many places, they sell for four or five yuan each, or even two or three yuan.
There is also Gypsophila. Forty yuan a barrel is too expensive. Ordinary workers can’t buy a few barrels with a month’s salary.
How many people can afford such expensive fireworks?
"The price is too expensive."
"Boss, the price is not expensive anymore. Fireworks are very difficult to buy this year... If you buy more, I can give you a discount."
"How to get a discount?"
"If you If you buy it for 20 yuan, I will give you a 10% discount. If you buy it for 50 yuan, I will give you a 15% discount. If you buy it for 100 yuan, I will give you a 20% discount. If you buy it for 200 yuan, I will give you a 10% discount. 30% off.”
Zhou Yan smiled, this little fat guy is quite good at doing business.
He thought for a while and asked, "What discount will you give me if I buy it for five hundred yuan?"
Little Fatty smiled and said, "If you buy it for five hundred yuan, I will give you a discount." If you give it a 50% discount, you can buy one It's worth a thousand yuan, and I'll also give you two hundred yuan worth of Sky Monkey and Magic Bullet. If you want Torpedo King or Big Red Eagle, you can do that too." Zhou Yan couldn't help but sigh, despite his young age. I have really seen the world.
Ordinary children cannot talk to others about a five hundred yuan business so calmly.
Five hundred yuan, many people don’t have that much as a monthly salary.
Zhou Yan nodded, "In that case, help me get the five hundred yuan worth of goods together, and I'll give you the money later."
His original intention was to tease the little fat man, but he didn't expect the little fat man to do it. Without any hesitation, he nodded immediately, "Okay, boss, I will distribute the goods for you right now."
After saying that, he ran away first, leaving a few of his friends standing there.
Zhou Yan looked at his friends and smiled, "That little fat guy's house sells fireworks?"
One of the children nodded and said, "Well, Brother Xiang's house has everything. They sell them. We all get these fireworks from his house.”
"Okay, let's play."
Zhou Yan rolled down the car window again, then drove the car to the open space next to it and stopped.
About five or six minutes later, Xiao Pangdun ran over with an adult, and the adult held a baby's breath in his hand.
Little Fatty walked straight to the car and knocked on the window, "Boss, open the window."
Zhou Yan opened the window and Little Fatty smiled and said, "Boss, this is my dad , we brought fireworks.”
Little Fatty was still holding a bundle of magic bullets in his hand. He raised his hand and wanted to stuff it into the car window.
Zhou Yan said quickly, "Don't stuff it inside, just put it on the ground."
After saying that, he got out of the car.
Little Fatty’s father is not fat at all, but looks thin.
Zhou Yan thought that if Xiao Pang Dun was so active, his father must also be very active, but he didn't expect that his father was very introverted and would always smile with bared teeth when he met him.
Then Zhou Yan was very straightforward and took out five hundred yuan and gave it to the little fat man's father, asking them to send the fireworks over quickly.
After getting the money, Xiaopangdun and his son were very happy and ran back to stock up.
When Zhou Yan hugged Bihua and was about to call Nakamori Akina, she had already taken the initiative to get out of the car.
She wore very little, but after getting off the bus, she consciously put on Zhou Yan's coat.
Zhou Yan handed a magic bullet to her hand and lit it.
While the fuse was burning, Zhou Yan said to her, "This is called a shooting star in China. When it sounds, you can make a wish."
Nakamori Akina held the magic bullet very familiarly and pointed it at the sky , smiled and said, "I've heard it all. It's called a magic bullet here, not a meteor at all." . And we also have them, called hand-held fireworks."
Zhou Yan smiled, "It seems I can't fool you."
"Of course..."
She. As soon as he opened his mouth, a light bullet was shot out of the tube, flew about ten meters, and exploded in the air.
This kind of hand-held flower bud has a small amount of gunpowder, so it is difficult to make it look good. Basically, it can only be seen and heard.
But because it is handheld, it feels very interesting.
Nakamori Akina was bolder than Zhou Yan imagined. She held the fireworks tube in her hand like a gun, constantly moving the direction to let the fireworks explode in different positions.
Zhou Yan originally thought that this magic bomb would be used up soon, and there should be a lot of duds, but he did not expect that this magic bomb not only had few duds, but also thought that the total number was very large, and ignored it Counting, there are about thirty-two.
This magic bullet is so good, no wonder Xiaopangdun dared to ask for ten yuan each at first.
Zhou Yan accompanied Nakamori Akina to set off two or three magic bombs. Xiaopangdun and his son came again. This time they got a two-wheeled cart filled with all kinds of fireworks.
“Boss, the goods are ready for you, you order.”
Zhou Yan looked at the fireworks on the cart and was a little surprised, because these fireworks, according to Xiaopangdun’s initial quotation, Already more than a thousand.
There are five bundles of magic bullets here alone, and each bundle contains ten, which is worth five hundred yuan. There is also the bundle brought before, which is six hundred yuan.
There are ten barrels of that big fireworks starry sky, plus the previous barrel, it’s four hundred and forty yuan.
The two combined together are already more than before.
In addition to these two, there are also various kinds of fireworks, such as those small fountains, there must be twenty or thirty, and there are several bundles of Sky Monkeys...
Zhou Yan He smiled and said, "Isn't this too much? I only have five hundred." "
Little Fatty's father said sheepishly, "The price of Yufeng was wrong just now. The fireworks we brought here cost about five hundred yuan."
Zhou Yan didn't. Come to think of it, this boss is quite honest.
He smiled and said, "There are so many fireworks that we can't all set off, so let's let's play together."
Little Fatty responded quickly and said immediately, "I'm happy to help."
< br>Then other children gathered around him at his call, and everyone started setting off fireworks together.
Nakamori Akina had a lot of fun. She liked playing with hand-held magic bullets and flying monkeys. She had no interest in the most expensive and most beautiful Gypsophila.
Although the sky full of stars is beautiful, you need to see it from a distance. If you are too close, not only can you not see the gorgeous fireworks clearly, but you also have to prevent being hit by the fireworks.
Later, Akina Nakamori couldn't let go anymore, so she and Zhou Yan sat down on the stone pier by the river.
Looking at the children playing with fireworks enthusiastically, Nakamori Akina held her chin in her hand, "I really envy them."
"There is nothing to envy, you didn't just Have you played?”
“But I don’t have what they have. I'm in a good mood." Nakamori Akina tightened her clothes, and then smiled: "But at least for a moment, I was as happy as them. Thank you, Teacher Zhou."
Zhou Yan waved his hand. , "You're welcome, just some fireworks."
"It's not just the fireworks, but also because you are willing to accompany me out. I haven't been this relaxed for a long time." Akina Nakamori looked at the sky and sighed slightly, "At this time, the neon lights should be approaching the New Year's Eve."< br>
Zhou Yan looked at his watch. It was already past ten o'clock now. The time difference between Tokyo and Yanjing was one hour, so it should be past eleven o'clock in Tokyo. It was indeed almost New Year's Eve.
"Well, there is still more than half an hour, and it will be 1997 in Tokyo. Here, it will take another hour and a half."
Nakamori Akina stared at the sky for a long time Yes, he suddenly asked, "Teacher Zhou, do you miss home?"
"Do you miss home?" Zhou Yan smiled, "Actually, it's not bad."
The main reason is that he often talks to his family on the phone. Calculated, he calls his family at least three times a week. At this frequency, it is actually difficult to miss home.
Sometimes, Qing'er and the others called a lot, two or three times a day. Not to mention missing home, Zhou Yan even felt a little annoyed.
"There are many children in my family. I have two brothers, two sisters, and one sister. We are not much different. During that time, my mother had to give birth to a child almost every year..."
Nakamori Akina suddenly talked about the situation in her family. She was born in a family with many brothers and sisters, so she was destined not to receive much attention.
This was the first time Zhou Yan heard about the situation in Nakamori Akina's family. Zhou Yan was also very surprised to learn that Nakamori Akina's family had six brothers and sisters.
Although neon developed rapidly in the 1960s and the fertility rate reached its peak, it is still very rare for a family to have six children. (End of this chapter)