It was a little cold on the streets, and there was some light snow falling in the sky. The street lamps shine brightly, illuminating a city that looks like there is no night. On the sidewalk, there are sparse people, and there are always not many pedestrians on this street, let alone at this time.

It's the Chinese New Year, and everyone should be in a hurry to rush back to their homes and reunite with their loved ones.

A pedestrian put his hand on his neck, pressed the unfastened scarf, and exhaled, the heat condensed into a white mist in the air, slowly drifting away.

Pedestrians walked past a closed tavern with a sign for rest in front of the door, and a thin mist on the translucent windows and doors, as if covered with a layer of hoarfrost, made it difficult for outsiders to see the tables and chairs leaning against the windows in the tavern.

Looking at it like this, there should be no one in the store, and too, this Chinese New Year should have closed its doors and gone home.

Pedestrians just glanced casually at the tavern on the side of the road, and walked away without paying much attention.

In the light snow, at the door of the tavern, there was a shallow amount of snow piled up under the door frame, and the sign that was closed for business swayed gently in the wind.

Although it is true that the store is closed, there are still two people sitting in the store, and there are always some people who do not go home during the Chinese New Year. Or maybe they just don't know where home is.

"Gurgling ······"

There was a hot pot on a table in the tavern, and there were only two people sitting at the table.

One of them looked like a young girl, the kind that would make people forget.

As for why it seems to be, because there is no place where she looks like a girl except for her appearance. Whether it is her eyes or the temperament on her body, it doesn't look like what she should be at her age.

She was wearing a shirt and a pair of black pants with a black tank top over it, and she looked like a waitress in the tavern.

Opposite the waiter, there was an old woman with a wrinkled face, at least in her fifties. He has an old-fashioned haircut on his head, his hands on the table, and an old-fashioned cigarette between his fingers.

In the corner of the tavern, a gramophone, which might be called an antique, plays songs that can be called antiques little by little.

The whole tavern feels old, even the waitress who looks like a girl.

The waiter's eyes were a little strange, looking at the hot pot on the table.

Some time ago, the tavern owner suddenly asked her if she wanted to go home for the New Year, and she could take a vacation.

She said she didn't have a home.

At that time, the boss didn't say much, just said again.

Then you might as well 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, the old woman who was sitting in front of her and smoking.

At the table, the old woman was holding a cigarette and did not move her chopsticks, but looked out the window first. After a while, he lifted the cigarette and put it in his mouth to take a puff and turned his head.

Seeing that the waiter hadn't eaten yet, he asked while puffing out a cigarette.

"Didn't you say you wanted to eat hot pot, why don't you eat it?"

"Just the two of us?" White gas was steaming on the hot pot, and the waiter asked.

In fact, she wanted to ask the person in front of her, won't she go back to her home after the Chinese New Year?

The old woman's fingers holding the cigarette paused, reached to the side, and flicked the ash.

"What's the matter, I used to be the only one. But if you had come ten years earlier, there might have been one or two people who would have come. ”

The lights in the tavern weren't bright, or maybe they were a little dim, and the lobby with only two people seemed empty.

The old woman's eyes reflected the light in the tavern, as if she was caught in some memory.

The waiter didn't say anything more, picked up chopsticks, picked up a piece of stew in the hot pot and put it to his mouth, and ate it in a big gulp.

The old woman sitting on the other side raised her eyebrows: "Is it delicious?" ”

"Hmmm..." The waiter replied as if he was just looking down to eat, without raising his head.

The old woman hooked the corners of her mouth, and her seemingly mean face showed some gentleness.

His lips took a puff of the cigarette between his fingers.

"Then eat more, I can't eat so much for an old woman."

This doesn't seem to be a decent Chinese New Year's Eve meal, only one hot pot, two people. One person is immersed in eating, and one person is looking at the light snow outside the window and smoking.

There was not even a few simple words of exchange between the two of them, but they just waited.

Because this is a rare time, they can have someone to accompany them, and wait for the arrival of the new year with peace of mind.

In the clock hanging on the wall, the hands passed by minute by second, and when it was almost twelve o'clock, the snow outside was a little heavier, and the city in the snow was still a neon.

Probably full, the waiter put down his chopsticks.

The old woman had already smoked her third cigarette, and she smoked most of the time, only occasionally eating some.

Seeing that the waiter put down her chopsticks, her hand holding the cigarette leaned to her side, and she blew lightly from her mouth. The smoke cleared, and the neon outside shone on the tavern window, and the old woman asked aloud.

"What's your name?"

The waitress had been here for a long time, but this was the first time she had seriously asked her name.

"Gu Nan."

The waiter replied, very plainly, and his voice was not soft or loud.

"Whew!" A soft sound sounded, and both of them looked sideways outside, and a flash of fire rose into the sky in the night sky, and as it flew higher and higher, it gradually became invisible.

"Bang!" Until the last moment when it was about to fade, there was a sound in mid-air, and a field of fireworks burst into the night sky, on the illuminated streets.

This should be the first fireworks of the city's Chinese New Year's Eve, but it won't be the last.

As more sounds sounded, countless starry fires flew into the night sky, and then bloomed all together in an instant, bright and brilliant flames lit up the night sky, and also illuminated the faces of everyone who looked at the night sky at this time.

Gu Nan suddenly said to the old woman sitting on the side.

"Boss, I want to take a leave of absence after the year, about a month."

She's going to a place to worship a few people, and she's going to go every few years, and it's time to go back this year.

The old woman was watching the fireworks intently, she was fascinated, and her old face was full of rare memories and warmth. Maybe she was thinking about the person who would have 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 ahead, don't forget the way back."

It is impossible to stay in one place all the time, but there are too many people who embark on a journey and go far, only to find that one day they have forgotten their way back.

It's like a wanderer, who doesn't know where his home is. ()

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