Chapter 668: Firework
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The iron gate of the retired police dog residence closed behind the car as it pulled out.
Fu Tao walked uphill with a few guys to look for a place to let the dogs pee. Zhang Zian drove downhill, looking for an open area without trees for firework.
Flashlights were dancing wildly in the rearview mirror, along with the merry barks of the police dogs. Even these police dogs were excited for the arrival of the students.
Zhang Zian was driving carefully because there were barely any street lights lining the road.
“Why did it take you so long to eat? I’m freezing!” Fina glared at Zhang Zian.
Zhang Zian remembered that the car had AC, so he turned on the heat and adjusted the vent to let the warm air blow towards Fina to appease its anger.
Fina was intrigued by the AC. It lifted a front paw and dangled it near the vent, but it wasn’t long until its face turned serious after it realized something. “Did you make me freeze in the car on purpose? Why didn’t you use this magical gadget before?”
Zhang Zian couldn’t take the blame. “Because it’s dangerous to use the AC while the car is parked.”
“How is it dangerous? Will it explode?” Fina was doubtful.
Snowy Lionet chose that moment to chime in, “Meow! Your Majesty, don’t listen to him! The stinky man says nice things, but none of it is true.”
“Quack! Actually, you just want to save money on gas.” Richard instigated from the headrest of the driver’s seat.
“Of course not. It’s hard to explain.” Zhang Zian stayed patient, and explained the dangers of using the AC while the car was parked. Since it involved complicated science, Fina clearly didn’t understand much, but it would never admit that to him. It just grunted and stopped asking questions.
Zhang Zian found a spot in the open wilderness and came to a stop. He got out the car to check his surroundings. There were no trees for at least 100 meters, and the dead grass was covered in leftover snow. More importantly, there were no houses nor people anywhere near this area. It should be a safe place to set off fireworks.
When he opened the trunk, cold air rushed in and overpowered the heat inside the car. Before Fina could complain, he quickly took out the fireworks, an iron bucket, and a bucket of cold water. He shut the trunk and poured the cold water into the iron bucket to use just in case of an emergency. Safety should always be the primary concern when it came to setting off fireworks. Especially since he had feisty elfins with him, who might kill him if he accidentally burned them.
“Who wants to watch the fireworks up close?” he asked. “If you do, get out of the car, or else, you’ll have to watch from a distance.”
“Why do you have to fire them so far away?” Fina asked in confusion.
“Because it’s dangerous to fire them next to the car,” Zhang Zian explained. “We often hear about kids who lit a car on fire while playing with fireworks.”
“I don’t believe that!” Snowy Lionet said in disdain. “You made that up.”
Zhang Zian rolled his eyes. “If there’s a fire, you’ll be the first one to burn since you have the longest hair. You’ll no longer be called Snowy Lionet, you’ll be called Burnt Lionet.”
“What?” Snowy Lionet looked terrified. “If you mess with my hair, I’m going to grill your testicles and eat them!”
“I shall watch from the car.” Fina decided.
“I’ll stay in the car with My Majesty!” Snowy Lionet changed its mind as well.
“Eek.” Pi made a gesture to show that it wanted to watch from up close, but it had to leave the book in the car. It would rather burn than put the book in danger.
Zhang Zian doubted that the book was flammable because it had an infinite number of pages. If it was flammable, what was the consequence of lighting the pages on fire? Would it turn the entire earth into a lava hell?
Despite his doubt, he didn’t want to push his luck. If it did burn, he couldn’t be the one responsible for destroying all of civilization.
Richard quacked and flew into his hoodie to make its decision clear.
Old Time Tea had been saving its energy for this moment. “I’ll go with you.”
“Meow! Galaxy wants to watch, too.” Apparently, chasing after sparrows didn’t make it tired at all.
Famous hesitated for a moment before it said, “I’ll go as well.” It was too lazy to move, and wasn’t that interested in fireworks, but it didn’t want to stay in the car and be Fina and Snowy Lionet’s third wheel.
It was extremely cold. Zhang Zian pulled his jacket tighter around him, while he carried the fireworks in one hand and the bucket in the other. He walked about 40 meters and stopped. The wind blew in this direction, so the car was safe. The distance was perfect, even the elfins in the car would be able to see the fireworks.
“Quack! It’s so cold, is this the North Pole?” Richard yelled, and shifted to wrap its entire body in the hood, only its head was visible.
Zhang Zian took out a sparkler. “Pi, would you like one?”
“Eek?” Pi was a little timid.
“This firework is safe to hold,” Zhang Zian encouraged. “Let me show you.”
He lit the sparkler. Immediately, the dazzling light spewed out, as bright and intense as a welding torch. Famous was startled and jumped back a few steps. Old Time Tea and Galaxy were intrigued.
“Look, it won’t burn you. It’s fun.” He twirled the sparkler every which way, and made all kinds of pattern in the air. It was so bright and colorful, the elfins were dazzled.
“Eek!” Pi ran over in excitement, and grabbed a sparkler. Zhang Zian lit it.
At first, Pi held its arm out, afraid of getting burned. After it realized that it wasn’t in danger, it started playing with it merrily.
“Eek!” It was dancing happily.
“Everyone, come play!” Zhang Zian smiled.
“Quack! Give me one!” Richard had always been bold. It forgot about the cold and joined the party.
Zhang Zian stuck a sparkler in its beak and lit it for Richard.
Richard flapped its wings and flew in the air, and wrote a “S” and then a “B.”
It was a shame that the sparklers didn’t last a long time. Richard and Pi soon came over and asked him to light new ones. It was too much work, so Zhang Zian lit an incense stick and put it under a small rock. That way the elfins didn’t have to go to him to light more fireworks.
Beep beep!
A car horn broke the silence of the wilderness. Zhang Zian looked back, and saw Fina and Snowy Lionet squirming in the car. They were intrigued by the sparklers, and honked the horn to ask if they could join.
Zhang Zian went back and opened the door for them. He played dumb. “What’s the matter? Do you need to go to the bathroom?”
“Meow! You exaggerated the danger of the fireworks! How dare you hide this fun toy from me. I want to play with it!” Snowy Lionet grumbled and grabbed a sparkler with its mouth without asking for permission.
“Ignite it for me, now!” it demanded.
Zhang Zian lit the sparkler.
“Look, Your Majesty! A gift from your servant.” Snowy Lionet wiggled its body, and tried to make a heart with the sparkler. Too bad it didn’t look like a heart.
Fina grew interested in the sparkler, but didn’t grab one with its mouth. Instead, it took one with its front paws, and quietly watched it burn. The light of the sparkler made its eyes look more clear and green.
Zhang Zian heard meows and turned around. Galaxy also took a burning sparkler, and ran around happily. In the dark, Galaxy’s quick figure was fuzzy. The sparkler turned off and on, disappearing in the east, then reappearing in the west. If someone else had seen this, they might have mistaken it as will-o’-the-wisp.
Even Old Time Tea and Famous couldn’t resist joining the party. After seeing everyone have fun, they also took sparklers in their mouths and played with the firework.
Zhang Zian wanted to surprise them even more. He walked a distance, then laid the firework cannon flat on the ground and put a stone on top of it. He lit it with his lighter, and quickly ran away.
Bang!
The glorious firework cannon blasted into the air. The colorful light brightened the whole clearing for a moment.
“Quack! What’s that?” Richard screamed and the half-burnt sparkler fell out its beak. At the same time Richard was startled, something fell and landed on the car windshield.
Another firework flew up into the air, then another and another.
“Wow!”
It was the first time that the elfins had seen such gorgeous fireworks. They all stared in astonishment, and the sparklers fell out of their mouths.
Zhang Zian shouted, “Happy New Year!”
