Chapter 137 (1/2)

Two days after they arrived in the village, Zheng Tan finally understood what Jiao Yuan meant by holiday spirit

To Jiao Yuan, holiday spirit meant firecrackers

Bang!

Zheng Tan heard children cheering

He was resting on the roof and watching Jiao Yuan light firecrackers with Youzi and some other kids

These things were banned in the city, but all was allowed here in the countryside Firecrackers were very cheap and could even be made at home

The kids had got tired of rabbit catching and were now focused on firecrackers Youzi alatched fros She had seen fireworks before, but this was different Watching and lighting one herself was also different Most people, including Zheng Tan, had watched fireworks during holidays before Back in his huirl he liked However, he had never played with firecrackers like these kids

This was an old new years tradition Unfortunately, it was a dangerous tradition that involved a lot of pollution Most kids who grew up in cities never got the chance to play with firecrackers Even if they did, they could only get their hands on what these village children call 'kids stuff' These children had much more experience with firecrackers

It was quite clear this wasn't Jiao Yuan's first tih he was in middle school already, he was still in his early teens and loved to play He and a few other kids his age were in charge of the younger ones

”Try this”

A kid of seven or eight took out an aluminum pot from a pile in the corner of the yard He put a firecracker in the pot then laid it upside down on the ground The kid raised the edge of the pot and lit the firecracker with incense, then ran away

Everyone covered their ears

Zheng Tan covered his ears with his paws These firecrackers

Bang!

The pot was sent flying in the air Sadly, the kids weren't satisfied They thought the impact was still too weak

Zheng Tan looked at the pot It's shaped had changed due to the explosion

These kids were too bold

”We don't have al, or else that's it for today,” a kid about Jiao Yuan's age said He had a box of firecrackers in his arms

The kids all had boxes of firecrackers, except his were the largest

”The small ones are no fun!” a child yelled

”No fun? Watch and learn!”

One kid looked around at the vegetable patch

This area was a bit far froetable patches

The kid went into a vegetable patch with cabbages The weather was still not too cold Winter wasn't that harsh here Soet any snow

The child found a large cabbage and stuffed a firecracker inside He lit the firecracker and ran off

The kids didn't cover their ears this time They had used a small firecracker

Zheng Tan heard a bang, and the cabbage was blown into pieces

daetable patch saw the mess, he would explode with fury

One of the older kids knew better and stopped the child froes

It was fun blowing up other people's vegetables If this were their own faht would have broken out already

”If we can't blow up vegetables what should we do? Should we blow up fish?”

”We can't We got a tongue lashi+ng yesterday You can only throw firecrackers into rivers and ponds without fish”

”What's the fun in that?!”

The kids were deep in discussion Zheng Tan wanted to laugh The kids had blown up a few fish yesterday and were caught by the owner of the fish pond He was extre couldn't keep these kids away from the fish pond

It was to be expected when you gave explosives to these little rascals

The kids had come up with an idea

Their new target was a water tank in the corner of a vegetable patch

The village now had running water, but most people still liked to use water from the well Every family had earthenware like this to store water This one had probably been here for a long time The water inside was dirty and stinky The owner used it to water the vegetables

”I remember a story we learned in Chinese class,” a kid said

”I know! I know!” Another kid raised his ar blew up the water tank!” [1]

Everyone was speechless

What a kid!