The white rose I picked up cried and said she liked me.

After buying the firecrackers, it was already quite dark at night.

The two arrived at an open square in the residential area, where the occasional sound of firecrackers could be heard in the distance.

Xu Xi sat on a bench to the side, propping her head up with her small hand, gazing at the man in the center of the square.

"Come on, let's play! What are you doing sitting there?"

Xu Nian put down the heavy bag, took out the firecrackers inside, and sorted them on the ground.

"I didn't want to play. You were the one who wanted to play. I just came out for some fresh air." Xu Xi raised his eyes and said in a flat tone, with a hint of barely perceptible arrogance.

Xu Nian looked at her aloof figure and smiled mischievously.

"Then I'll play by myself." He drew out his voice.

"Tch, who cares?" Xu Xi yawned and leaned her little head to the side.

Suddenly, she seemed to smell a faint scent of smoke in her little nose.

Looking down, her expression changed instantly—a small, smoking firecracker had rolled to her feet, threatening to explode.

She instinctively reached out to cover her ears, but it was too late.

"Bang!"

The girl was startled and stood up abruptly, her beautiful eyes glaring angrily at the man who was laughing heartily.

"Hahahahaha..." Xu Nian was so amused by Xu Xi's comical appearance that she burst into laughter and couldn't straighten up.

"You've got some nerve!" Xu Xi clenched her small fists, took three steps at a time to the pile of firecrackers, picked up a handful of firecrackers, and angrily threw them in the direction of the man.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Xu Nian reacted very quickly, jumping back slightly to avoid most of the firecrackers, but a few still exploded on him, like being bitten by mosquitoes.

"Wow, that was pretty accurate." Xu Nian licked his lips, took out a firecracker from his pocket, lit it with a lighter, held it in his hand for a while, and then threw it in the direction of the girl.

"Bang!"

The firecracker exploded like a timed grenade right next to the girl's ear. She had no time to dodge.

"Are you challenging me?" Xu Xi's face was cold, but a hint of excitement appeared in his eyes.

"A challenge?" Xu Nian was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Then don't cry!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a string of angry firecrackers came flying at him.

The atmosphere at the scene immediately became tense, and a fireworks battle was about to begin.

Xu Nian quickly dodged and found a trash can to use as cover.

Xu Xi blended into a thicket of bushes, using his height advantage to move freely without being detected.

A major battle was about to break out, and only the quiet wind could be heard on the scene—the calm before the storm.

Xu Nian cautiously peeked out, searching for Xu Xi's location, but after looking around, she found nothing; there wasn't even a ghost in the square.

Just as he was wondering what was going on, a beam of fire shot straight toward his face.

"Whoosh—Bang!"

A firework exploded next to his ear, almost hitting his eyebrow.

"Holy crap, that's brutal!"

Following the direction from which the firelight came, Xu Nian located a low thicket of bushes.

He only knew that Xu Xi was in the bushes, but he didn't know her exact location.

So he took out two firecrackers and threw them towards the bushes.

"Crackling, crackling..."

The firecrackers exploded near the bushes, seemingly a fierce attack, but in reality, they caused zero damage.

The bushes kept all the firecrackers out, ensuring that Xu Xi, who was hiding among them, was not harmed at all.

Instead, taking advantage of the moment, Xu Xi shot out several rockets, which hit the man's thighs and blasted two holes in his trouser legs.

This can't go on.

While dodging, Xu Nian pondered a plan to counterattack.

Suddenly, his gaze fell on the double-bang firecrackers beside him—the snap pops were weak, but the double-bang firecrackers were powerful and had a wider coverage area. If he could throw them into the bushes, he might be able to blast the little rabbit out.

Without further ado, Xu Nian hid behind a tree, took out a lighter, and lit the fuse of the double-bang firecracker.

Bright sparks hissed as the man held the double-barreled cannon in his hand, the tail pointing forward, keeping it as far away from him as possible.

"Bang!"

After the first sound, which symbolized the advance, Xu Nian quickly aimed at the bushes and threw the double-bang cannon in.

"Bang!"

A sharp popping sound erupted from the bushes.

"Success!" Xu Nian excitedly pumped his fist, lit a few more double-bang firecrackers, and threw them into the bushes in the same way.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Xu Xi was suppressed by the fierce firepower and could not lift her head. She covered her ears and could only curl up and passively defend herself.

"This won't do. How can we let that man get the upper hand?"

The girl clenched her teeth, and a wicked idea popped into her little head.

She wiped away her tears and began to sob.

"Waaaaah..."

Upon hearing the girl's cries, Xu Nian panicked.

"Little Flame, are you alright?"

He quickly stopped what he was doing and ran towards the bushes.

Parting the dense branches, one could see Xu Xi holding a handheld meteor cannon, pointing the dark opening at his face.

"Damn it, we've fallen for their trap!"

Xu Nian realized something was wrong and immediately took off running.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

One fiery meteor after another hurtled in, exploding behind the man.

"Don't run, stop right there!" Xu Xi followed closely behind. The meteor cannon in her hand was like a single-barreled rifle, and every bullet she fired hit her enemy with precision.

Xu Nian was shot and had no power to resist. He could only cover his head with his hands and run away.

"Damn, only an idiot wouldn't run."

He ran as fast as he could, searching for an opportunity to counterattack.

They bought a total of 3 meteor cannons. If we exclude the one Xu Xi is holding, there should be 2 left.

If we find those two, there might still be a chance to turn things around.

But where did Xu Xi hide the remaining two?

Xu Nian looked around and finally found a double-bang firecracker that had rolled out next to a tree hole.

He sprinted to the tree hole and saw it filled with countless fireworks and firecrackers.

Wow, so that's where you hid your armory.

Just then, Xu Xi began to slowly reduce the fire of his meteor cannon, having fired all its bullets.

She saw the man standing in front of the tree hole, and her face turned deathly pale.

"Hehe, did you enjoy shooting that?"

Xu Nian smiled wickedly and lit the remaining two handheld meteor guns, their dark muzzles pointing directly at the girl.

"You've shot enough, now it's my turn~"

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—"

......

......

"You just wait!"

"Ouch, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please stop hitting me!"

......

......

"Hey, I'm right here, where are you shooting? You blind fool!"

......

......

The fireworks battle lasted for a full two hours, until all the fireworks were used up, at which point the two reached a truce and sat down on a bench to rest, panting.

Xu Xi's brown coat had turned gray, making him look like a tabby cat emerging from a chimney.

Xu Nian was in even worse shape; his clothes and pants were covered with holes of all sizes, making him look like a battle-damaged version.

The outcome of this battle is already quite obvious.

"Go home."

Xu Nian wiped the dust off Xu Xi's face.

"Wait a moment."

Xu Xi pulled out a thick stack of white paper firecrackers from under the bench, his face showing anticipation.

"There's one more. We'll leave after we finish this one."

"Okay."

Xu Nian responded, bent down, carried the white paper firecracker on his shoulder, and spread it out in the center of the square.

Just as he reached out to light the fuse, a soft little hand pressed down on his arm.

"Let me order."

Xu Xi took the lighter from the man's hand, bent down, and carefully reached her small hand to the fuse.

"bass--"

A burst of light appeared, and the girl stood up and ran to the man's side, tightly covering her ears.

Xu Nian quickly raised her hands to cover her ears.

The moment the fuse burned out, a deafening roar echoed through the sky.

"Crackling, crackling, crackling, crackling—"

A brilliant red light flashed on their faces, and thick smoke billowed into the sky.

After getting used to the initial noise, Xu Nian and Xu Xi slowly lowered their hands from their ears and watched the crackling white paper firecrackers.

This sound took away the pain.

This sound takes away the disease.

This sound carried away all misfortune and sorrow.

Xu Xi clasped her small hands together in front of her chest, as if she were praying for something, and her pink lips pursed slightly.

Xu Nian turned her head and glanced at the sincere-looking girl out of the corner of her eye. Her eyes were no longer a lifeless void, but were sparkling with the light of happiness.

When I got home, the hotel's food delivery truck had been waiting for me for a long time.

"You can bring the dishes over, I'm going upstairs to change my clothes."

Xu Xi said to the man.

"Okay."

Xu Nian nodded and took out plate after plate of exquisite dishes from the carriage, carrying them to the dining table on the second floor.

"Thank you for your hard work, Master."

After collecting all the groceries, Xu Nian handed the delivery driver a red envelope.

"Thank you, thank you, it's no trouble at all."

The driver smiled and tucked the red envelope into his pocket: "Boss, Happy New Year! May your business flourish!"

"The same to you."

After seeing the driver off, Xu Nian went to the restaurant and peeled off the hot plastic wrap covering the dishes.

He was stunned when he saw what was inside.

Mapo tofu, chopped chili fish head, spicy chicken blood curd, sour soup beef, spicy boiled fish... a vibrant red hue graces the dining table.

Why is everything spicy? There isn't even a single dessert.

Xu Nian rushed downstairs, intending to ask the driver if he had delivered the wrong vegetables.

Just then, a pair of slender, soft arms wrapped around his waist.

He turned around and saw a girl dressed in a pure white swan dress and white stockings, looking at him with a smile and a gentle gaze.

Happy New Year, brother.