MTL - Wildfire-Chapter 1

Lunar New Year's eve.

This is a night destined for reunion, and the light from every window is warm and hot.

When Tao Xiaodong returned home and opened the door, he was greeted by the warmth of the house. Two children were sitting on the sofa, watching TV while eating fruit. When they heard him coming back, they all looked towards the door, and one of them smiled and called "Brother".

It is said that they are children, and that is seen through Tao Xiaodong's eyes. In fact, they are all sixteen or seventeen-year-old high school students, half a year old or not young.

"Is it cold outside?" The boy who spoke had fair skin, wearing fleece pajamas and thick socks on his feet. He walked towards Tao Xiaodong, Tao Xiaodong handed him a hand, and he reached out to touch it.

First touched the palm of the hand and then the back of the hand, and exclaimed: "Hey, it's so cold."

Tao Xiaodong withdrew his hand, rubbed the back of his hand on his arm, changed his slippers, and said indifferently, "It's okay, it's not too cold."

The boy grabbed Tao Xiaodong's hand and rubbed it together, then turned around and said to another boy on the other side of the sofa, "Let's cook the dumplings."

The black guy with the inch-length hair beside the sofa answered "Yes", stood up and went to the kitchen.

This is Tao Xiaodong's home, inside and out, just these three people.

Sitting next to him is his younger brother, Tao Huainan. This is a quiet boy, very fair and thin, with always obedient and calm eyes.

— is a beautiful blind man.

The one cooking dumplings in the kitchen was picked up by Tao Huainan when he was eight years old.

In the twelfth lunar month of winter, with his lower body bruised and purple from the beating, he snatched the hot milk from Tao Huainan's thermos. The movement of his hands was too big, and the milk splashed all over Tao Huainan.

That was the winter when Tao Xiaodong and Tao Huainan's parents died, and Tao Xiaodong sent the ashes back to his hometown. It is a poor but beautiful village. Tao Xiaodong grew up there when he was a child, but Tao Huainan was the first time he visited.

Tao Huainan was shocked when he was robbed of milk and spilled all over his body. He couldn't see it, all he knew was that the hand that touched his was rough and icy. An uncle from the old family behind him scolded, but he couldn't bear it in his words. I don't know who found a pair of pants for the naked boy, lest he freeze the boy's roots.

At that time, Tao Huainan was listening to the noisy voices around him, and the boy was beside him with his teeth chattering from the cold. Tao Huainan took off his shoes and kicked them over there. The boy was a little shorter than him, Tao Huainan's eyes couldn't focus, he just stared at a certain point in front of him, his chin was slightly tilted, and he said in a nasal voice after a cold: "You can wear it."

After that, Tao Huainan was taken away by Tao Xiaodong, who took him back to his room and put on a pair of shoes again.

"What kind of stuffing did you cook?" Tao Huainan sat upright at the dining table, Tao Xiaodong was still talking to others, and Chi Cheng came out with dumplings, Tao Huainan asked bluntly.

Chi Cheng put down the dumplings and replied, "Mutton."

Tao Huainan reached out to touch it, but was slapped away by Chi Cheng, who slapped him on the back of his hand.

"I've washed my hands." Tao Huainan frowned and rubbed the back of his hands.

Chi Cheng turned around and went to the kitchen to cook dumplings, saying as he walked, "I'll burn your fingers off."

The freshly cooked dumplings were steaming with moisture, so Tao Huainan no longer insisted on touching them, and he had already removed several pieces from the plate of short ribs that was placed nearby.

After Tao Xiaodong finished speaking, he went to wash his hands, and when he came back, he saw Tao Huainan secretly touching the dumplings. He laughed, turned around and called "Bitter Brother" to the kitchen.

Chi Cheng responded.

Tao Huainan "hush" in his brother's direction, telling him not to complain.

Tao Xiaodong smiled and rushed to the kitchen and said, "Don't forget to take the vinegar later."

"It's already been taken." Chi Cheng said.

"I see." Tao Xiaodong sat down.

Almost every New Year's Eve is like this, two children and one adult. The firecrackers that should be set off must be set off, and the dumplings that should be eaten must be eaten. It's just that firecrackers are not allowed to be set off in recent years, and the two little ones have lost a lot of fun.

Last year's New Year's Eve, Tao Huainan sat obediently on the sofa after eating dumplings. He couldn't set off firecrackers and had nothing to play. Chi Cheng wanted to take him downstairs to release two secretly, but was stopped by Tao Xiaodong. The community has always been patrolled by property staff, so don't cause trouble.

Later, Chi Cheng took Tao Huainan to the balcony and opened all the windows of the balcony, and the cold wind hit his face for a moment, as if he was downstairs. Tao Huainan covered himself tightly, wearing a scarf and hat. Tao Huainan held his hand and led him to press the lighter together, making a gesture of lighting firecrackers.

There was a "click" of the lighter, and a few seconds later there was a loud "bang" next to it.

Tao Xiaodong was startled when he heard the voice in the living room, thinking that the two children ordered something. Finally, when he went to the balcony to have a look, Chi Cheng raised his head and made a "shh" gesture at him.

Chi Cheng didn't know when he moved the stereo to the balcony and connected it to his mobile phone. When Tao Huainan lit the fire, he would play the sound. Tao Huainan didn't know what he was doing, but he had a good time, anyway, he could only listen to the noise, and the two happily played on the balcony for more than an hour.

Tao Xiaodong leaned against the balcony and watched for over an hour.

This year Tao Xiaodong did not intend to make the two children so shabby, such a simple happiness is still very satisfying.

After eating the dumplings, Tao Xiaodong said to the two of them, "Leave it alone, I'll clean it up tomorrow and go get dressed."

Tao Huainan blinked: "Where are you going?"

Tao Xiaodong had already worn half of his jacket, and said while putting it on, "Don't ask, put it on quickly."

Chi Cheng quickly put himself on, and then went to play with Tao Huainan. He wrapped up his down jacket, put on his hat and gloves, he was so proficient, it could be done in two minutes.

Tao Xiaodong drove the car that night, took his two younger brothers, and a firecracker in the trunk, and drove out of the outer ring. Many people in the outer ring are setting off fireworks, and the sky is lively when they leave the urban area.

Tao Xiaodong also liked to play these things when he was a child, but when he grew up, he worried about things a lot, and he was not in the mood. After getting older, it seems that I am not interested in many things that I used to like.

Tao Xiaodong is thirty-four and an artist.

He doesn't recognize the three words "artist". When others give him this title, Tao Xiaodong always laughs at himself and shakes his head, saying that he is just a businessman.

He was the first group of people who entered the tattoo industry in China, and he was the first person to win awards on behalf of Chinese tattoo artists at foreign tattoo exhibitions. He was still so young at that time. In this line of work, he has already mixed like a fish in water, a master-level figure, and a picture can easily cost tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or even more.

Tao Xiaodong is too busy, he seems to be 24/7, and the time of Chinese New Year can be regarded as a holiday for himself. Free up this time every year to spend a new year with Tao Huainan.

Tao Xiaodong said it in many magazine interviews with him. Don't call me a master, I'm not an artist, I'm not even a craftsman. I just went there for money, my pictures were all stained with the smell of copper, and I was doing my best to make money. So don't give me a high hat, I'm not doing anything for the tattoo industry, I'm doing it for myself.

Some people say that he lives by himself, Tao Xiaodong never denies this. However, his "self" is still too narrow compared with other true self tattoo artists in this industry. He just lives a realistic "self" rooted in the secular world.

"Are we setting off firecrackers or fireworks?" Tao Huainan asked while being led by Chi Cheng to light the fire.

Chi Cheng said, "Flowers."

Tao Huainan said "Hey", "Fireworks are good."

Chi Cheng: "Fei Qian, you can't see it."

"You can read it for me." Tao Huainan smiled nonchalantly.

"It's purple now." Chi Cheng said.

"I don't believe that fireworks are purple, they are all red and green." Tao Huainan said while listening to the sound of fireworks flying into the sky.

Chi Cheng looked up and said to him, "It's indeed purple."

Tao Xiaodong laughed as he listened to the two of them chatting, and moved some to the car for them. When they came back, they were still talking about red, green, and purple, and Chi Cheng said, "Now it's blue."

Tao Huainan still smiled and said, "I don't believe it."

He said he didn't believe it, Chi Cheng didn't explain anymore. Tao Xiaodong then said something for him: "It's Lan, he didn't lie to you."

"Ha, you lied to me together." Tao Huainan laughed twice, and looked up with them. The fireworks above his head exploded and exploded again, clusters of blue light were dazzling, Tao Xiaodong touched Tao Huainan's head, which was wearing a hat, and then grabbed his hat.

"I like the smell." Tao Huainan sniffed and pointed in Chi Cheng's direction.

Chi Cheng glanced at him, didn't make a sound, lowered his head and tore a piece from the discarded fireworks box, the paper shell was still stained with dust, and turned it around in front of his face twice.

Tao Huainan took two puffs, then smiled: "People think we are sick."

Tao Huainan had a great time with the firecrackers and fireworks in the trunk.

It was already past midnight when they got home, Tao Xiaodong sent a thick red envelope to each of them, said "Happy New Year" to each other, and went back to the room to take a shower and go to bed.

The two also went to take a shower, and then went to sleep.

Just during the few hours of eating dumplings and setting off firecrackers, Tao Xiaodong had hundreds of unread messages on his mobile phone, except for the group posting of New Year greetings, there were also dozens of real messages.

He picks out what he wants to reply, and doesn't care about the rest. He is really tired, and he can basically fall asleep by touching the pillow.

It may be because of the smell of fireworks all night, or it may be that the atmosphere of the Chinese New Year is too full. Tao Xiaodong had a dream that night.

Dreamed that when he was a child, he ran wild with a group of idiots in the village. After the New Year's Eve, I carried a bag of scattered small cannons that collapsed on the ground and threw them on the glass of other people's houses, into wells, and into frozen cow dung.

Later, the sparks collapsed to the pants, and a pocket of small cannons almost exploded, just a little bit.

After returning home, he was beaten so hard by the cotton trousers that his dad had ripped off holes, and his whole buttocks were red and blue. With tears and snot all over his face, Tao Xiaodong cried earth-shatteringly, like killing a pig.

His father scolded him while beating him, and asked him if he thought it was cumbersome to have two long legs, and if a bag of guns exploded, his legs would be gone.

Tao Xiaodong was beaten with a rebellious axis, and he pulled his neck and shouted hoarsely: "If the bomb is gone, don't worry about me! You will know that you are not my father when you hit me! I don't have a father like you!"

His father made him laugh angrily, and he didn't know whether he was angry or really dumbfounded, anyway, the slap never came down again.

His mother hurriedly coaxed his father from the side, fearing that he would be beaten again.

His dad kicked his **** one last time and said, "Get out of here, little boy!"

Tao Xiaodong climbed onto the kang with his trousers in his hands, his nose went to the upper layer of the quilt, and his mother pulled him over and slapped him a few times.

Some children are born to scouring, and they wish they could not poke a hole in the sky when the roof is demolished. Tao Xiaodong was beaten from time to time, and he was already beaten.

New Year's Eve and Spring Festival alternate, saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new.

Sleeping with an old dream, waking up to a new year.