The New Year atmosphere in the countryside was always richer than in the city.

From the afternoon on, smoke from kitchen chimneys rose ceaselessly from every household. Steaming buns, braising meat—the earthen stoves were kept constantly fired. Outside, children with pockets full of snap-pops and poppers would toss one every few steps. Some naughty kids would even deliberately throw them at people's courtyard gates, running away as soon as they heard the bang. In the courtyards, the aunts gathered with the family elders to prepare the meat and vegetables, chatting as they worked.

The smell of braised meat from the kitchen wafted through the entire courtyard and house. The greasy, savory aroma of meat made the children's mouths water, sending them running to the kitchen again and again until they could finally taste the meat from the pot and settle down.

Chen Chao lay in his small room at his grandma's house. The scent of meat drifting up didn't seem fragrant to him; instead, it was torturous. He had thrown up for half the night, and now, even in his sleep, his body instinctively felt nauseous.

In his dream, Chen Chao went out to sea with Grandpa Chen. On the small fishing boat, fishing nets and the caught fish were piled high, squeezing Chen Chao into a small corner. The little boat swayed unsteadily on the sea, making Chen Chao feel dizzy. Water from the fishing nets soaked his leg, and Chen Chao shifted away with a hint of disgust.

A slender arm reached out from the side, efficiently pushing the fishing net forward to clear some space. The person's eyes crinkled into a smile as they wordlessly offered Chen Chao a cheerful, reassuring look.

Chen Chao smelled the shampoo in his hair, a refreshing scent with a hint of orange. That faint, almost imperceptible scent was incredibly comforting on this suffocating fishing boat. Chen Chao subconsciously followed the scent, and long, soft hair, blown by the sea breeze, brushed against his face. Chen Chao reached out to push it away. Miao Jiayan looked at him and asked, "Did it brush against you?"

Chen Chao didn't say anything, so Miao Jiayan used the hair tie on his wrist to tie up his hair.

Over on the other side, Grandpa was laughing, saying he had caught a huge fish. After tying his hair, Miao Jiayan went over excitedly, "Let me see, let me see!"

"Wow, so many mussels," Miao Jiayan said with a smile as he helped Grandpa Chen pull the fishing net. "We can cook them and make dried mussels again."

Chen Chao felt as if he could already smell the fishy odor of cooked seafood, and he instantly felt even dizzier.

Chen Chao's sleep was not peaceful. The final image in his dream before waking was of Miao Jiayan and his grandpa filling the boat with a dense, dark mass of mussels, nearly burying him.

He was still disoriented just after opening his eyes. The smell of the braising broth from downstairs mixed indistinguishably with the smell of the fishing nets from his dream. With a grim expression, Chen Chao sat up. Miao Jiayan was resting his head on the desk beside him and asked, "Are you not feeling well, Brother Chao?"

Chen Chao looked at him. Miao Jiayan seemed to have been asleep too, his head pillowed on his arm, looking sleepy-eyed.

The him in the dream was younger than he was now, probably from when they were even younger. Chen Chao thought of the scrawny kid in his dream, who had a silly smile and dark, bright eyes. It seemed Miao Jiayan really had been like that back then, always so bright and lively.

"What's wrong?" Miao Jiayan sat up, two red marks indented on his face from the wrinkles on his sleeve.

Looking at Miao Jiayan, Chen Chao's heart suddenly and inexplicably softened at that moment.

Since they had met again this time, the two had rarely made eye contact, as if they were both intentionally avoiding it.

Now, both having just woken up, they groggily met each other's gaze. Miao Jiayan came to his senses and was about to look away, but he froze when Chen Chao suddenly smiled.

"I dreamed about you," Chen Chao said.

Miao Jiayan was a little surprised. "...Ah?"

"You and my grandpa filled a boat with mussels." Chen Chao felt suffocated just thinking about that dark mass in his dream.

Miao Jiayan played along, "What about you?"

"I was on the boat too."

Miao Jiayan then smiled, the two marks on his face making him look even more comical. "That dream doesn't make sense. You hate mussels so much."

Chen Chao didn't like to eat seafood, and among seafood, he particularly hated mussels and oysters. This was probably because every time Grandpa Chen came back from sea, the fishing nets would be tangled with strings of grimy mussels and oysters. He felt that these sea creatures, which grew in clusters attached to things, seemed very dirty and ugly.

"You guys were tossing them onto the boat net after net. They almost buried my legs," Chen Chao said as he threw off the covers, got out of bed, and walked towards the bathroom.

Miao Jiayan's gaze followed him. Once Chen Chao left the room, he couldn't see him anymore. Miao Jiayan said, "I wouldn't do that."

The two boys, who hadn't seen each other in a year and a half, were inevitably a bit distant. However, that distance was quickly dissipating with last night's and today's interactions and conversations.

Chen Chao came back after washing up, looking much more refreshed.

Miao Jiayan asked him, "Feeling better?"

"It's alright," Chen Chao said.

"Then you should eat something in a bit," Miao Jiayan said.

Chen Chao shook his head and said, "I can't eat."

His phone rang. It was Ding Wentao, saying he wanted to come over and hang out because it was boring at his house.

Chen Chao said, "Forget it. Your dad will just come and drag you back."

"No one at home is paying attention to me. They're playing mahjong, I can't stand it anymore!" Ding Wentao said, lying on his bed.

"Just stay there," Chen Chao still didn't let him come.

Miao Jiayan was still sitting on the chair, his feet on the edge and his chin resting on his knees.

"Why didn't you talk to him?" Chen Chao put his phone aside and asked Miao Jiayan.

Miao Jiayan looked up at him, then rested his chin on his knees again without a word.

"Find him annoying?" Chen Chao asked.

"No," Miao Jiayan replied in a low voice. "It's not that I don't talk to him."

Chen Chao raised an eyebrow.

"He's a pretty good guy," Miao Jiayan said.

Ding Wentao wasn't actually a bad person. Although he could be annoying at times, overall, he wasn't a dislikable person. He was like a common miniature of a small portion of the boys in this environment: naughty as a child, muddling through school, and only learning to work hard and care for his family after growing up.

After Chen Chao left, Ding Wentao had enthusiastically sought out Miao Jiayan. He deliberately came from the high school back to the middle school, stood conspicuously at Miao Jiayan's classroom door, and called him out, speaking to him like a big brother protecting his charge.

He had said, "From now on, go to and from school with me. If anything happens, just tell me."

Before Chen Chao left, Ding Wentao rarely spoke to Miao Jiayan, always acting awkwardly. It was unclear whether it was because Chen Chao had asked him to look after Miao Jiayan before leaving, or because the three of them had, after all, watched quite a few movies together over the years. In any case, as soon as Chen Chao left, Ding Wentao took it upon himself to look after Miao Jiayan.

But Miao Jiayan, unable to appreciate the kind gesture, had refused.

This had greatly damaged the school bully's pride. Being taken under the wing of the big brother was such a prestigious thing; others couldn't even ask for it, yet he didn't care for it.

After that, Ding Wentao never spoke to Miao Jiayan again. When they met, they would just glance at each other, not even greeting one another.

"He said that since Brother Chao left, he would take care of me." Half of Miao Jiayan's hair rested on his back, the other half hanging down. He rested his arms on his knees, his cheek pillowed on his arm.

Chen Chao chuckled and said, "Isn't that pretty decent of him?"

Miao Jiayan looked at him, then suddenly turned his head away, leaning his head on his arms to face the other side, a round hair whorl facing Chen Chao. After turning away, Chen Chao heard him say, "I don't need anyone else to take care of me."

"Ah, so capable," Chen Chao said jokingly.

Miao Jiayan didn't turn back. He slowly blinked and said in a low voice, "When you were here, you were you... Now that you're gone, I don't need anyone to replace you."

He said this with a hint of a stubborn little temper, which greatly surprised Chen Chao. Miao Jiayan was a kid with no temper, always soft and meek.

This was probably the most "out of line" thing Miao Jiayan had said since Chen Chao's return.

Chen Chao, however, didn't respond to his words. He just smiled and tapped the back of his chair, saying, "Don't overthink it."

Miao Jiayan only said that one sentence and never brought up anything related to it again.

Every family's New Year's Eve dinner was lively. Grandma Chen made dumplings with three different fillings. In the afternoon, Miao Jiayan went downstairs to help roll the wrappers. He didn't know how to wrap them, only how to roll the dough. Grandma Miao came over to call him back for dinner, but Grandma Chen didn't let him go.

While they were making dumplings, Grandma Chen sighed, "Even Miao'er is in high school now."

Miao Jiayan smiled and said, "I've grown up."

"Isn't that the truth," Grandma Chen looked at him and said a bit wistfully, "I still feel like you're just a little tyke, and now you're already in high school."

Grandma Miao often said the same thing. In the eyes of the elderly, a child's growth always seemed to happen in a flash.

"You've all made us old," Chen Guangda chimed in as he came in looking for food.

Fireworks weren't banned in the countryside during the Spring Festival, so every family would set off a string of firecrackers to join in the fun. Youngest Uncle brought back a lot of fireworks; he had loved firecrackers and such things since he was a child. After dinner, the three boys in the family all put on their jackets and went outside to watch Youngest Uncle set off the fireworks.

"Dad, why don't you just line them all up and light them? It looks better that way," the younger boy said.

"Wouldn't it be over in a flash then? Shouldn't we make it last?" Youngest Uncle said. "When we were kids, your Eldest Uncle and I couldn't bear to set off a whole string of firecrackers at once. We'd break them apart one by one, put them in our pockets, and set them off slowly. We'd even tear open the used firecrackers to save the gunpowder inside."

"Oh god, how heartbreaking. Stop with the tales of past hardships and just hurry up," the younger boy urged.

Miao Jiayan stood behind Chen Chao. Chen Chao was a head taller than him, completely shielding him.

In the neighboring courtyard, Miao Jian was also playing with sparklers with his two nephews. The two children were laughing and giggling, sounding very happy.

"Zixin, wear your hat properly, or you'll catch a cold again!" Eldest Aunt yelled.

"I'm hot!" Children never seem to like wearing hats. "I won't catch a cold!"

Over here, Youngest Uncle had already lit the fireworks. The "bang bang" sounds rang out intermittently, drowning out the voices from the next courtyard.

The fireworks scattered and exploded in the sky. A small piece of debris fell and hit Chen Chao's shoulder. Chen Chao pulled Miao Jiayan closer to the wall.

After one set of fireworks was finished, Youngest Uncle walked over to light another.

The younger boy looked back and said, "Not that great, still the same old style."

The two younger boys in the next courtyard also cheered, waiting for the new round of fireworks to be set off.

In the pause between lightings, they heard Eldest Aunt ask Miao Jian, "Can they tell if it's a boy or a girl yet?"

What Miao Jian said couldn't be heard.

Eldest Aunt said again, "By next New Year, you should be able to hold the baby."

Chen Chao looked down at Miao Jiayan. Sensing his gaze, Miao Jiayan looked up at him too.

It was unclear if he heard or not, but when his eyes met Chen Chao's, he gave him a carefree smile.