CHAPTER 268: CHAPTER 79: THE WANING YEARS IN A FOREIGN LAND (PART 2)

On the sunny side of the airport, the snow had mostly melted, trickling down with water. On the side against the light, Chen Xue reflected a bright snow glow, where everything seemed to have frozen in place.

She couldn’t remember how many times she had been to Bianjing City. In her memory, Su Ziceng had come to Bianjing City several times, once to attend someone else’s wedding, and another time it seemed to attend a gathering. In any case, there were no profound impressions. Su Ziceng found the past dull thirty-five years were taking up less and less space in her memory, just like Hang Yishao, blanketed in the light of the snow, adding to the confusion in her mind.

The hotel she booked was in the city center, and conveniently Luli Street was also at the center, so after settling her luggage, Su Ziceng rested for a night, and rushed to Luli Street the next day.

After a day’s experience, Su Ziceng was utterly disappointed. Pello was right after all, Luli Street had become a government-planned commercial street, dressed in ancient clothing, but packed with the novelties of modern commerce.

Even near the end of the year on Luli Street, there was no shortage of antique shops and passing crowds. Many people were looking to stock up on goods before the New Year, hoping to make a fortune when spring arrived next year.

Su Ziceng’s plan was similar, intending Chang Chi to hold an auction before the old year ended, so she would hold another at the start of the new year. The immediate headache was the scarcity of auction items. Furthermore, the snow kept falling continuously over the next few days.

Every morning when she woke up, Su Ziceng would find the snow piled on the hotel windowsill getting thicker, and by the fifth day, she found she couldn’t push the window open when she tried to.

Her original plan was to make a quick decision. Whether she could find good items on Luli Street or not, she had booked a flight back to Mo City on the twenty-eighth day of the lunar calendar. Yet on the afternoon of the twenty-seventh, she received a notification from the airport, "Hello, Miss Su, we regret to inform you that your Flight A51244 has been canceled due to the blizzard, and the specific departure time is yet to be determined. The airline is truly sorry for the inconvenience, should you experience any difficulty in Bianjing City, please contact..."

"Damn weather," Su Ziceng knew better than to complain about flight cancellations due to such objective reasons, and all she could do was call home, inevitably earning a scolding.

On the other end of the phone, the heavy sound of Su Qingzhang’s walking stick seemed like direct blows to Su Ziceng’s eardrums. Although the Su Family did not have relatives to visit or reunite with, the New Year was still a major event.

The scolding still echoed in her ears, "Tsk tsk," ringing out as Su Ziceng idly decided to pretend to be a local of Bianjing City. On the morning of New Year’s Eve, she ate a bowl of dumplings provided by the hotel and then wrapped herself up like a winter bear to head to Jiefang Square.

Every year, Bianjing City would broadcast the New Year’s Fireworks Gala on television. When Su Ziceng was young, she had watched it several times in front of the TV, but this was the first time she’s been at the actual event.

Perhaps due to the canceled flights, many businesspeople in Bianjing City chose to spend the New Year in the same manner as Su Ziceng.

Not even six in the evening, Jiefang Square was already crowded with people. The dense throngs and the swear words that followed when someone accidentally got stepped on painted a unique New Year’s scene characteristic of Z country.

Under the glow of bright red lanterns, the crowd surged like rough tides. Su Ziceng was pushed into the crowd and then shoved back again. After a few rounds, her whole body’s chill had been swept away.

"Can’t a person live in peace," Su Ziceng, pushed out once again, looked at her shoes distorted and greyed from being trampled, blending mud with snow, which was indescribably disgusting.

"Young lady, come here," behind her was a friendly call from an elderly voice. Su Ziceng turned around to see an old man standing calmly in a corner of the square.

Leaning against the vermilion gate of the square, the corner bustled with overlapping voices and successive waves of people, with the old gentleman simply standing there, gesturing as if the excitement before him had nothing to do with him.

Su Ziceng looked around, seeing younger girls held by others and older ones rushing to the fireworks point of the square one after another. She was the only one left for the old man to call upon.

"This spot has the clearest view," the old man hissed as if sharing a shameful secret.

From the angle where he stood, Su Ziceng really could see the entire sky over Jiefang Square.

"Strange, why would those people still desperately push forward," Su Ziceng saw the old man as if by magic pull out a thick cushion and spread it on the ground, so she sat down beside him.

It was truly a good spot. Not only did it offer a view of the sky ahead, but it also provided shelter from the wind – indeed, a feng shui treasure spot.

"I’ve been watching for many years, and I’ve stayed in almost every corner of the square, but this spot is the most suitable," the old man sitting next to Su Ziceng looked to be over ninety years of age, his chin bare of a beard, while his head wore a bear skin hat commonly seen in the north. His frame was small and seemed even more petite than Su Ziceng.

"You’ve stayed in every corner?" Su Ziceng incredulously marveled, considering People’s Square to be the largest in the country, where walking alone would take an hour. Even for a local, stationing oneself in every corner would be no small feat.

"Of course," the old man’s voice rose, as if it didn’t come from an elderly person, "No one knows this square better than I do, be silent, the fireworks are beginning."

A splendid coral red streak crossed the sky, and as the fireworks burst, there was a vague small black dot in the sky, moving forward.

With fixed eyes, the old man softly spoke amidst the clamor, "Reckless people indeed, flying a helicopter in such weather, braving the blizzard."

(I treated myself to a bag of sunflower seeds for a good performance this week, to nourish my brain. Crunching away, I realize there’s no drama to watch, no shows to enjoy – crunching on seeds without that taste. Nowadays, one could die of sheer boredom, so to avoid such a fate, I must write and share stories, %_%, such is my fate on weekend nights.) (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation tickets, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)