It’s cold on New Year’s Eve.
Starting from six o'clock in the afternoon, scattered snowflakes fell in the dark night sky.
An old man in the bungalow walked to the door, looked up at the snow, and called out:
"Auspicious snow indicates a good harvest. Good news, good news!"
It means that next year, the crops will have a good harvest and the farmers will live a good life.
Xue Yuantong was wearing small cotton shoes and ran outside, holding a bunch of firecrackers in her hand.
She threw a firecracker and smashed it on the ground, making a crisp "bang" sound.
This is a firecracker. It doesn't need to be ignited. It will make a sound just by throwing it on the ground.
When Xue Yuantong was a child, she relied on her "great strength" and always used firecrackers to scare people, and she always succeeded.
Aunt Gu stood behind Xue Yuantong. She remembered clearly that many years ago, she bought a firecracker for Xue Yuantong, the kind of firecracker connected by a string.
Just pull it a little harder and it will explode.
Tongtong got a lot of firecrackers, so he ran to the house of a scoundrel in the village at night and tied a dozen firecrackers to the door knocker of the scoundrel's house.
The next day, when the scoundrel opened the door, he was greeted by a loud "bang" and blue smoke.
He was frightened to death by the scoundrel and almost collapsed on the ground. He was so angry that he shouted and cursed in the village for half the morning.
Thinking of the past, Aunt Gu couldn't help but laugh.
Xue Yuantong threw some firecrackers outside for a while, then took out a firecracker with wings that looked like a butterfly or a bee.
She put the little bee firecracker on the ground and steadied it to make sure it was not tilted.
"Mom, I'm going to start."
Xue Yuantong pressed the lighter and lit the fuse.
The little bee emitted sparks and its wings rotated faster and faster, the sparks became more and more brilliant, and it flew into the sky with a buzz!
Xue Yuantong chuckled.
After setting off the little bee, she tried other firecrackers and had a lot of fun.
"Okay, it's cold outside, let's go watch TV." Aunt Gu saw that her daughter had been playing for a while and was worried that she would catch a cold.
Xue Yuantong obediently ran to watch TV. The family gathered in the bedroom. His mother and grandparents chatted about the crops in their hometown, the chickens they raised, what happened in the village, and who was having a wedding after the New Year.
He would ask Xue Yuantong this question from time to time.
A teapot was burning on the stove. Xue Yuantong huddled in a large old wooden chair, wrapped in a furry blanket. There were candied fruits and dried fruits on the table next to her, ready for her to eat at any time. Steam was rising from the water cup.
The New Year's Eve party was playing on TV, and laughter could be heard in the room from time to time.
If the show is not funny, Xue Yuantong will put aside the blanket and go outside to set off firecrackers.
Coming back from outside again, she went to the main room, looked at the Kongming lantern on the table, and sighed. She planned to buy it and fly it together with Jiang Ning.
During the Chinese New Year in Yuzhou, it was popular to release Kongming lanterns. It was not until a few years later that the release of Kongming lanterns was completely banned because it could cause fires.
At twelve o'clock in the morning, with the countdown ending, the Lunar New Year arrives.
Suddenly, the sound of fireworks rang out from all directions.
The night sky of Yuzhou was illuminated by colorful fireworks, and even the white snowflakes in the sky were illuminated, appearing pale and weak.
A flying boat passed through the night sky. Jiang Ning stood on the boat, looking down at the fireworks blooming in Yuzhou.
Due to the fireworks ban, the fireworks in urban areas are far inferior to those in counties and towns.
Xue Yuantong admired the fireworks for a while, then she went out holding the Kongming lantern.
Below the dam is an endless expanse of green wheat fields, so it is very safe to release Kongming lanterns.
At this time, not only Xue Yuantong, but also the young man next door was holding and flying Kongming lanterns.
Xue Yuantong watched several young people helping each other to hold the Kongming lanterns. She pursed her lips and thought how nice it would be if Jiang Ning was there, she would have companions to fly lanterns with.
Now she can only ask her mother for help.
"Xue Yuantong, why don't you let go?" Jiang Ning walked over in the snowy night.
Upon hearing the familiar voice, the Kongming lantern in Xue Yuantong's hand fell to the ground with a "da". She couldn't believe it at first, and then she turned her head.
The moment Xue Yuantong recognized Jiang Ning, his eyes widened, as if he had seen a ghost, his face full of shock:
"How did you get back?"
Jiang Ning said: "Of course I flew back."
"You're kidding me!" Xue Yuantong shouted, but because of this, she was sure that the person who came was Jiang Ning, the Jiang Ning who liked to lie to her.
She carefully looked at Jiang Ning's body and found that he was intact, so Xue Yuantong picked up the Kongming lantern and urged:
"Why are you still standing there? Come and help me release the Kongming lantern. I'm telling you, I can do it by myself, but I just saw that you're back and wanted to let you enjoy the joy of releasing the Kongming lantern."
Jiang Ning walked over and Xue Yuantong handed her the lighter.
Jiang Ning waved his hand and refused: "I don't need it."
Xue Yuantong reacted quickly. She thought of the New Year's Eve party and said with anticipation:
"You're going to perform that?"
"Yeah." Jiang Ning nodded.
“Yeah!”
Xue Yuantong spread his arms and stretched the Kongming lantern into shape.
Jiang Ning pinched his fingers and a flame appeared, instantly igniting the square wax block in the Kongming lantern. Heat rose in the Kongming lantern, causing it to swell.
Xue Yuantong felt the power coming from the Kongming lantern. As soon as she let go, the Kongming lantern flew into the sky and blended into the snowflakes.
“Wow.”
"Jiang Ning, let's put two more in quickly," she suggested.
Xue Yuantong made two more Kongming lanterns, and Jiang Ning lit them and flew into the sky.
Three flying sky lanterns formed a straight line in the night sky.
Xue Yuantong took out the small iron wire magnetic flower she had bought. This thing looked more like a welding rod and was difficult to ignite, but it instantly burned under Jiang Ning's spiritual fire, emitting beautiful little sparks of light.
Xue Yuantong held a small lantern in one hand and swung her arms. She jumped in the snow, and the lantern in her hand danced with her movements. The orange-red sky lantern rose higher and higher in the night sky.
Finally, Xue Yuantong put one foot on the ground, leaned his body slightly, and gave his blessing:
"Jiang Ning, Happy New Year!"
…
The fifth day of the Lunar New Year.
Jiang Ning bid farewell to his parents from Wencheng and rushed back to Yuzhou.
Last New Year's Eve, he came back to accompany Xue Yuantong to release the Kongming lanterns, and then flew back. This time he really came back.
As soon as Jiang Ning arrived at the dam, he discovered with his spiritual sense that there was a girl at the door of Xue Yuantong's house.
Xue Chuchu leaned against the wall, lazily basking in the sun. She was holding a mobile phone with an English word displayed on the screen.
When Jiang Ning arrived home, Xue Yuantong came to greet him.
"Specialties." Jiang Ning was carrying a big bag.
"Jiang Ning, you're so nice." Xue Yuantong didn't take the big bag, but supported Jiang Ning, then helped carry the backpack, and sent him back to the room.
Xue Yuantong pointed to the clean house and took credit for it:
"During the few days you were away, I cleaned your room and provided you with quilts. I also dried them for you every day when the sun was shining!"
"What a hard worker!" said Jiang Ning.
Xue Yuantong was proud: "Don't you want to see who I am?"
"And your crappy formula took me two days to finish. I'll send it to you via QQ."
Jiang Ning rubbed her head and said, "Thank you for your hard work."
"So the lack of snacks in your room was taken by me to supplement your nutrition." Xue Yuantong said confidently.
"All right."
Jiang Ning tidied up the room for a while, then turned on the computer and began to look at the formula given by Xue Yuantong.
Regarding the previous hypothesis of "looking for people on the Internet", Jiang Ning first determined a formula involving spiritual power, consciousness and divination based on the results given by the research institute.
Afterwards, he felt one was not enough and continued to think, and finally decided on three in total.
He sent the three formulas to Xue Yuantong and asked her to use the public table to deduce their correctness.
Looking at the results given by Xue Yuantong, there were two successful ones.
Jiang Ning used his magic power to refer to the two formulas and determined that they were the 'Yuan San Formula.'
He practiced the spell according to the steps of the 'Yuan San Formula'.
Colorful magic flashes in the room.
After a long time, Jiang Ning stopped.
Yuan San's spell was completed.
He was finally able to use divination, a little bit of spiritual awareness and magic power, to determine the address of the person on the other end of the network through electromagnetic signals.
However, due to his own cultivation level, it is currently only effective within a range of fifty kilometers, which is similar to the current range of "Spiritual Consciousness Tracking".
After all, his talent is not that high. Some powerful people in the world of immortal cultivation can even create space magic at will. Compared with them, his achievements are not worth mentioning.
Even in the real world, Jiang Ning can only look up to the theories created by some of the top scholars in history.
The road ahead is long.
After the spell was successful, Jiang Ning walked out calmly.
At the door, Xue Yuantong held a slingshot in her hand. She pulled the rubber band with all her strength and aimed into the distance, gesturing the distance, direction, wind direction, and landing point.
"Jiang Ning, I'm a sharpshooter and I can also fire explosive bombs." Xue Yuantong said.
“Is this true or false?”
"Oh, I'll show you right away."
Xue Yuantong took out a round plastic firecracker the size of a glass ball, with red and green stripes, from his pocket. The ball also had a fuse.
"This is a 'small mine'. It makes a very loud noise when it explodes. I put the small mine on the bullet bag and then launch it. It will explode in the air. It will hit wherever I point it. It's a long-range attack, do you understand?" Xue Yuantong demonstrated her theoretical level.
"The small mine is extremely powerful. If you place it on the ground and light it, and then put a metal bowl on top of it, it will explode three meters high!"
She deliberately emphasized power to highlight her boldness.
As she spoke, Xue Yuantong held the slingshot handle with her left hand and placed the small mine in the slingshot's pocket with her right hand. She pinched the pocket with her white index finger and thumb and gently pulled the rubber band.
To show it to Jiang Ning, she shouted, "Chu Chu, help me light the fire."
Xue Chuchu put down her phone, with hesitation on her face and worry in her eyes:
"It's too dangerous. How about we not try it?"
"Chu Chu, we have been together for so many years, don't you believe in my ability?"
"Okay, all right."
Xue Chuchu held the lighter and reminded him, "Be steady."
"Don't worry, I'm always reliable." If Xue Yuantong hadn't been busy with both hands, she would definitely pat her chest to show her magnanimity.
Xue Chuchu reluctantly believed Xue Yuantong once, she pressed the lighter, and "pop" lit the fuse of the small landmine.
Xue Yuantong looked at the rapidly shortening fuse of the mine. She aimed her slingshot at a 45-degree angle at the wheat field in the distance, and suddenly loosened the taut rubber band. She shouted:
"Take off!"
The rubber band flicked, and the burning small mine was sent forward, hitting her finger squarely. The small mine was blocked, bounced twice, and landed at Xue Yuantong's feet.
It rolled twice.
Xue Chuchu, who was standing next to him, witnessed this scene and her expression changed drastically:
"Oops!"
She knew very well how loud a small mine would explode. The power of an explosion at such a close distance was absolutely terrifying!
Xue Yuantong's face also turned pale. At that moment, her mind was full of confusion. She could never have imagined that she had made a mistake!
The rubber band hit my hand!
At this moment, Xue Yuantong and Xue Chuchu were so stimulated that their bodies had no time to react and they could only be forced to accept the fate of the small landmine exploding under their feet.
When the two were in despair, Jiang Ning suddenly stepped forward and used his magic power to extinguish the small landmine.
He looked at Xue Yuantong: "Are you performing a face-changing show for me?"