He recalled that at this time in the past years, the capital was the liveliest. There was the night market, the Lunar Maiden performing her song on the Moon-Gazing River, and with the evening curfew on the city lifted for New Year’s--it was most bustling. But even the high-grade wine in that cup, aged for decades, seemed to have been stained with the scent of rouge; while he tasted it on his tongue, he always had other things on his mind, and the wine would lose its taste. That wine had never been as fragrant as this.

Out of the blue, a pair of chopsticks reached into his bowl, and dropped some food into it. Taken aback, Zhou Zishu raised his head, and saw Wen Kexing--who usually took pleasure in snatching things from people--looking at him with a gentle and warm smile on his face, saying, “Eat something, drunkard.”

At this, he felt like someone had lightly plucked at a heartstring of his.

Suddenly, Wen Kexing sighed, and mused, “This is the most proper New Year’s I’ve celebrated in my life.”

Zhang Chengling did not know about the origins of this mysterious figure, and listened in confusion, only to hear Wen Kexing continue, “In previous years, on this day, I did no more than deal with a bunch of people who either wanted to get on my good side or who had nefarious intentions, then drink a few cups of wine with Gu Xiang as an observance, the two of us. We don’t have anything to talk about either, and we muddle through another New Year's just like that.”

He shook his head. “If you don’t have a family, what are you celebrating New Year’s for? You’re only looking to make yourself upset.”

In Zhang Chengling’s eyes, this Senior Wen instantly turned into a pitiful person with a tragic background, and he started to sympathise with him. However, Zhou Zishu looked at him with a slight trace of a smirk and said, “What about your femal...male intimates?”

Wen Kexing said, "One pays money to get drunk, the other sells his smiles and body--how can that be any kind of celebration? A-Xu, we’re celebrating the new year nicely, don’t get jealous.”

Zhou Zishu very much wanted to splash him with the wine, but ultimately could not bear to do so. After much hesitation, he still splashed it into his own mouth.

After a feisty reunion dinner, Zhang Chengling found a string of firecrackers from somewhere and lit it in the courtyard. Red and blazing, the firecrackers marked the passing of a year; he started to laugh aloud like an untroubled youth.