It was cold on the street, and there was some light snow in the sky. Street lamps radiate light, illuminating a city that seems to have no night. There are few people on the sidewalk, and there are always not many pedestrians on this street, let alone this time.
It's the Chinese New Year, and everyone should rush back to their home and reunite with their loved ones.
A pedestrian put his hand on his neck, pressed the scarf that was not tight, and exhaled, the hot air was condensed into a cloud of white mist in the air, and slowly drifted away.
Pedestrians walked past a closed tavern, with a rest sign hanging in front of the tavern door, and a thin mist covering the translucent windows and door, as if covered with a layer of hoarfrost, so that people outside could barely I can clearly see the tables and chairs leaning against the window in the tavern.
Looking at it like this, there should be no one in the store, and that's right, it's time to close the shop for the Chinese New Year and go home.
Pedestrians just casually glanced at the tavern on the side of the road, and walked away without paying any attention.
In Xiaoxue, at the entrance of the tavern, there is a shallow snow piled up under the door frame, and the closed sign shakes gently with the wind.
Although the store is closed, there are still two people sitting in the store, and there are always some people who don't go home during the Chinese New Year. Or maybe it's just that they don't know where home is.
"Grrrrrrrrrrrr......"
There was a hot pot on a table in the tavern, and there were two people sitting at the table, and there were only two people.
One of them seemed to be a young girl, the kind that people would never forget.
As for why she seems to be, because apart from her appearance, there is nothing about her that looks like a girl. Neither the look in her eyes nor the temperament on her body was what she should have at her age.
She was wearing a shirt and a pair of black trousers, with a black vest over the shirt, she looked like a waiter in the tavern.
Opposite the waiter, sat an old woman with a wrinkled face, at least in her fifties. There is an old-fashioned hairstyle on the head, and the hands are on the table, and there is an old-fashioned cigarette between the two fingers.
In the corner of the tavern, a phonograph that might be called an antique played little by little what could be called an antique song.
The whole tavern feels old, even the waiter who looks like a girl is the same.
The waiter looked at the hot pot on the table with a slightly strange look in his eyes.
Some time ago, the tavern owner suddenly asked her if she wanted to go home during the Chinese New Year, so that she could take a vacation.
She said she has no home.
At that time the boss didn't say much, just said again.
It's better to stay and eat together.
She thought it was just a casual remark, but when the door closed today, the boss really stopped her.
The owner of the hotel is the old woman sitting in front of her smoking a cigarette.
Beside the table, the old woman was holding a cigarette, without moving her chopsticks, but looked out the window first. After a while, he lifted the cigarette and took a puff in his mouth, then turned around.
Seeing that the waiter hadn't eaten yet, he asked while puffing out a cigarette.
"Didn't you say you want to eat hot pot? Why don't you eat it?"
"Just the two of us?" the waiter asked as white gas was steaming on the hot pot.
In fact, she wanted to ask the person in front of her, would she not go back to her home after the Chinese New Year
The old woman stopped holding the cigarette with her finger, stretched it aside, and flicked the cigarette ash.
"What's the matter, I used to be the only one. But if you come ten years earlier, there may be one or two people who will come too."
The lights in the tavern were not bright, or it could be said to be a little dim, and the lobby where only two people were sitting seemed empty.
The old woman's eyes reflected the lights of the tavern, as if she was caught in some memory.
The waiter didn't say anything else, picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece of stew from the hot pot, put it in his mouth, and ate it with big mouthfuls.
The old woman sitting on the other side frowned: "Is it delicious?"
"Hmm..." The waiter replied without looking up, as if he was just eating with his head down.
The old woman raised the corners of her lips, and a rare gentleness appeared on her mean-looking face.
He pressed his lips against the cigarette between his fingers and took a sip.
"Then eat more, even an old lady like me can't eat so much."
This doesn't seem like a decent New Year's Eve dinner, only one hot pot for two people. One person buried his head in eating, and the other looked at Xiaoxue smoking a cigarette outside the window.
There were even a few simple exchanges between the two people, but they just waited like this.
Because this is a rare occasion, they can be accompanied by someone and wait for the arrival of the new year with peace of mind.
In the clock hanging on the wall, the hands passed by every minute and every second. When it was almost twelve o'clock, the snow outside was a little heavier, but the city in the snow was still full of neon lights.
Probably full, the waiter put down his chopsticks.
The old woman was on her third cigarette, and she smoked most of the time, only occasionally eating some.
Seeing the waiter put down her chopsticks, she leaned her hand holding the cigarette to her side, and let out a light breath. The smoke dispersed, and the neon lights outside illuminated the windows of the tavern, and the old woman asked aloud.
"What's your name?"
The waiter has been here for a long time, but this is the first time she asked her name seriously.
"Gu Nan."
The waiter replied, very flatly, with a gentle voice.
"Hoo!" There was a soft sound, and both of them turned their eyes to look outside. A fire light rose into the sky in the night sky. As it flew higher and higher, it gradually became unclear.
"Bang!" Until the last moment when it was about to fade, there was a sound in midair, and a piece of fireworks bloomed in the night sky, on the street connected by lights.
This should be the first piece of fireworks in the city, but it won't be the last.
As more voices sounded, countless dots of flames flew into the night sky, and then bloomed together in an instant. The bright and gorgeous flames illuminated the night sky and everyone who looked at the night sky at this time face.
Gu Nan suddenly said to the old lady sitting on the side.
"Boss, I want to take a leave after the next year, about a month."
She is going to pay homage to a few people in a place. She will go there every few years, and it is time to go back this year.
The old woman was watching the fireworks intently, she was fascinated by it, and the old face was full of rare reminiscence and warmth. Maybe she was thinking about the person who would come to this tavern to accompany her in the past.
I don't know if she heard what Gu Nan was saying, but after a while, she said with a smile.
"Go, just don't forget the way back."
It is impossible for people to stay in one place all the time, but there are too many people who embark on a journey and go a long way, but one day they find that they have forgotten their way back.
It's like a wanderer who suddenly doesn't know where home is.
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