Lunar New Year's eve.
It was a night destined for reunion, and the light from every window was warm and hot.
When Tao Xiaodong got home and opened the door, he was greeted by the warm air in his face. Two children sat on the sofa, watching TV while eating fruit. When they heard him coming back, they all looked in the direction of the door, and one of them laughed and called out "brother".
Said to be a child, that is also seen from Tao Xiaodong's eyes, in fact, he is also a high school student at the age of sixteen or seventeen, half his age.
"Is it cold outside?" The boy who spoke was very pale, wearing fluffy pajamas and thick socks on his feet. He walked towards Tao Xiaodong, Tao Xiaodong handed him a hand, and he reached out and touched it.
I touched the palm of my hand first, then the back of my hand, and exclaimed, "Ho, it's so cold."
Tao Xiaodong withdrew his hand, rubbed the back of his hand on his arm, changed his slippers, and said, "It's okay, it's not too cold."
The boy grabbed Tao Xiaodong's hand and rubbed it, then turned around and said to the other boy on the sofa, "Let's cook the dumplings."
The black boy with one inch head beside the sofa responded with a "hmm", stood up and went to the kitchen.
This is Tao Xiaodong's home, both inside and out, just these three people.
Sitting next to him is his younger brother, Tao Huainan. This is a quiet boy, very white, very thin, and his eyes are always well-behaved and calm.
- is a beautiful blind man.
Tao Huainan picked up the dumplings in the kitchen when he was eight years old.
In the cold winter, the twelfth month of the moon swept away the hot milk from Tao Huainan's thermos cup, illuminating the lower half of his body that had been beaten blue and purple. The action on his hand was too great, and the milk splashed Tao Huainan all over.
It was the winter when Tao Xiaodong and Tao Huainan's parents died, and Tao Xiaodong sent the ashes back to their hometown. A poor but beautiful village, Tao Xiaodong grew up there when he was a child, but Tao Huainan went there for the first time.
Tao Huainan was taken aback by the milk and spilled it all over his body. He couldn't see it, only that the hand that touched his was rough and icy. An old uncle behind him scolded, but he couldn't bear it in his words. I don't know who found a pair of pants for the bare-ass boy, for fear that he would freeze the boy's roots.
Tao Huainan was listening to the noisy and shrill voices around him at that time, and the boy's teeth were rattling from freezing, and he was right next to him. Tao Huainan took off his shoes and kicked over there. The boy was a little shorter than him, Tao Huainan's eyes couldn't focus, he just stared at a certain point in front, his chin turned slightly, and said in a nasal voice after a cold, "You wear it."
After that, Tao Huainan was carried away by Tao Xiaodong, carried back to the room and put on a pair of shoes.
"What stuffing are you cooking?" Tao Huainan sat upright at the dining table, Tao Xiaodong was still chatting with others, and when Chi Cheng came out with dumplings, Tao Huainan asked bluntly.
Chi Cheng put the dumplings down and replied, "Lamb."
Tao Huainan stretched out his hand to touch it, but Chi Cheng slapped it away and hit the back of his hand with a "pop".
"I've washed my hands." Tao Huainan frowned and rubbed the backs of his hands.
Chi Cheng turned around and went to the kitchen to cook dumplings, saying as he walked, "I'll burn your fingers."
The dumplings that had just been boiled were steaming with steam, so Tao Huainan no longer insisted on touching them. He had already touched several pieces of the short ribs that were placed nearby.
Tao Xiaodong went to wash his hands after finishing talking, and when he came back, he saw Tao Huainan sneaking to touch the dumplings. He laughed, turned back to the kitchen and shouted "Brother Bitter".
Chi Cheng responded.
Tao Huainan "shush" in his brother's direction, telling him not to complain.
Tao Xiaodong then smiled and said to the kitchen, "Don't forget to get the vinegar later."
"It's already taken." Chi Cheng said.
"I see." Tao Xiaodong sat down.
Almost every New Year's Eve is like this, two children and one adult. The firecrackers should be set off, and the dumplings should be eaten. It's just that firecrackers are not allowed to be set off in recent years, and the two little ones have lost a lot of fun.
Last New Year's Eve, Tao Huainan sat down on the sofa after eating dumplings. He couldn't set off firecrackers and had no time to play. Chi Cheng wanted to take him downstairs and put two of them secretly, but Tao Xiaodong stopped him. There are always property staff patrolling the community, so don't cause trouble.
Later, Chi Cheng took Tao Huainan to the balcony, opened all the windows of the balcony, and the cold wind hit his face for a moment as if it was downstairs. Tao Huainan covered him tightly, wearing a scarf and hat. Tao Huainan grabbed his hand and took him to press the lighter together, making a firecracker movement.
The lighter made a "click" sound, and a few seconds later there was a loud "bang" next to it.
Tao Xiaodong was startled when he heard the sound in the living room, thinking that the two children had ordered something. As a result, when he went to the balcony to take a look, Chi Cheng raised his head and made a "shush" gesture at him.
Chi Cheng didn't know when to move the stereo to the balcony and connect it to his mobile phone. When Tao Huainan was on fire, he would let it out. Tao Huainan didn't know what he was doing, but he had a good time. Anyway, he could only listen to the sound, and the two of them happily tinkered on the balcony for more than an hour.
Tao Xiaodong just leaned on the edge of the balcony and watched for more than an hour.
This year Tao Xiaodong didn't plan to make the two children so shabby, so simple happiness is still very satisfying.
After the dumplings were eaten, Tao Xiaodong said to the two of them, "Leave it for now. I'll pack it up tomorrow and go get dressed."
Tao Huainan blinked: "Where to go?"
Tao Xiaodong had already worn half of his coat, and said while wearing it, "Don't ask, put it on quickly."
Chi Cheng quickly put himself on, and then went to play with Tao Huainan. After wrapping the down jacket, putting on the hat and gloves, he was so skilled that he could do it in two minutes.
Tao Xiaodong drove the car this night, pulled his two brothers, and a firecracker in the trunk, and drove out of the outer ring. Many people in the outer ring are setting off fireworks, and the sky will be lively outside the city.
Tao Xiaodong also liked to play these things when he was a child, but when he grew up, he was worried about more things, and he was not in that mood. When I get older, I don't seem to be interested in many things I once liked.
Tao Xiaodong, thirty-four, is an artist.
He does not recognize the word artist. When others give him this title, Tao Xiaodong always laughs at himself, shaking his head and smiling, saying that he is just a businessman.
He was the first group of people who entered the tattoo industry in China. He was the first person to win awards on behalf of Chinese tattoo artists at foreign tattoo exhibitions. At that time, he was still so young. In this line of work, he has become a fish in water, a master-level figure, and he can easily make tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or more.
Tao Xiaodong is too busy, he seems to be open all year round, and this time during the Chinese New Year is considered a holiday for himself. This time of year is freed up to spend the year with Tao Huainan.
Tao Xiaodong has said in many interviews with his magazines. Don't call me a master, I'm not an artist, I'm not even a craftsman. I just went for the money, and my pictures were stained with the smell of copper. So don't put a high hat on me, I'm not doing anything for tattoos, I'm doing it for myself.
Some people say that he lives by himself, Tao Xiaodong never denies this. However, his "self" is still too narrow compared to other true self tattoo artists in this field. He is just a "self" that lives in reality and is rooted in the mundane world.
"Are we setting off firecrackers or fireworks now?" Tao Huainan asked while being led by Chi Cheng to set it on fire.
Chi Cheng said, "Flower."
Tao Huainan said "Hey": "Good fireworks."
Chi Cheng: "It costs money, and you can't see it."
"You can help me see." Tao Huainan smiled indifferently.
"It's purple now," Chi Cheng said.
"I don't believe that fireworks are purple, they are all red and green." The sound of fireworks flying up to the sky rang out in front of him, Tao Huainan said while listening.
Chi Cheng looked up and said to him, "It's really purple."
Tao Xiaodong listened to the two of them chatting, smiled, went to the car and moved some for them. When they came back, they were still talking about red, green and purple. Chi Cheng said, "It's blue now."
Tao Huainan still smiled and said, "I don't believe it."
He said he didn't believe it, and Chi Cheng didn't explain it anymore. Tao Xiaodong then said something for him: "It's blue, he didn't lie to you."
"Ha, you lie to me together." Tao Huainan laughed twice and looked up with them. The fireworks above his head exploded and exploded again, and clusters of blue light were dazzling. Tao Xiaodong touched Tao Huainan's head, wearing a hat on his head, so he grabbed his hat.
"I like to smell this." Tao Huainan took a breath and pointed in Chi Cheng's direction.
Chi Cheng glanced at him without saying a word. He lowered his head and tore a piece from the fireworks box that he had let go. The cardboard was still stained with dust, and turned twice in front of his face.
Tao Huainan took two puffs, then smiled: "People think we are sick."
The firecrackers and fireworks in the trunk made Tao Huainan have a good time.
It was already early morning after arriving home, Tao Xiaodong sent a thick red envelope to each of them, said "Happy New Year" to each other, and went back to the room to shower and sleep.
The two also took a shower and then went to sleep.
Just a few hours after eating dumplings and setting off firecrackers, Tao Xiaodong had hundreds of unread messages on his mobile phone, and there were dozens of real messages excluding the New Year's greetings.
He picked the one he wanted to reply, and ignored the rest. He was really tired, and he was basically in a state where he could fall asleep with a pillow.
It may be because of the smell of fireworks all night, or because the atmosphere of the Chinese New Year is too full. Tao Xiaodong had a dream that night.
I dreamed that when he was a child, he ran wild with a group of silly boys in the village. After the New Year's Day, he carried a trousers pocket and threw the unexploded small cannons on the ground, and threw them on the glass of other people's houses, into the wells, and into the frozen cow dung.
Later, the sparks collapsed on the pants, and a pocket of small cannons almost exploded, just a little bit.
After returning home, he was beaten hard by his dad's cotton pants that had holes in it, and his entire butt was flushed with red and blue. Tears and snot covering his face, Tao Xiaodong cried like earth-shattering, like killing a pig.
His dad scolded him while beating him, and asked him if he thought it was a burden to have two legs.
Tao Xiaodong was beaten with a rebellious axis, pulling his neck and shouting hoarsely: "If it blows up, you don't have to worry about me! You know that you are not my dad when you hit me! I don't have a dad like you!"
His dad made him laugh angrily, and he didn't know if it was because he was angry or if he really didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Anyway, the slap never fell again.
His mother hurriedly coaxed his father, afraid that he would be beaten again.
His dad kicked his ass one last time and said, "Get out of here, little calf!"
Tao Xiaodong slipped his trousers and got on the kang, snot on the top of the bed, and was pulled over by his mother and slapped a few times.
Some children are born with scouring, and when the roof is demolished, they wish they could not make a hole in the sky. Tao Xiaodong was beaten every now and then, and he had already been beaten.
New Year's Eve and Spring Festival alternate, saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new.
It's an old dream when you sleep, and it's a new year when you wake up.