Chapter 118: A Joyful New Year

In 1993, Beilin was still relatively underdeveloped. Despite being in the city, the New Year's atmosphere here was not much different from that of the countryside.

Leaving the paper factory behind, Li Xian, who hadn't been home for almost two months, went to the local market.

With less than ten days to the New Year, the market was already bustling.

In the frigid cold of below thirty degrees, the market entrance was filled with the sounds of gongs and drums. Folk dance troupes, formed spontaneously, danced energetically through the crowded market aisles, asking for red envelopes from various stalls.

Vendors set up simple stalls on the ground, selling an array of goods: from dried fruits, frozen persimmons, frozen pears, and frozen tofu to dried fish that could be used as weapons, calendars with illustrations of chubby babies, and handwritten couplets. These were items that had become less common over time.

In the aisles, vendors dressed in thick layers and holding images of the God of Wealth, adorned with dollar signs and gold ingots, wished everyone prosperity.

As Li Xian was now a trader himself, he accepted a smiling image of the God of Wealth from a vendor who was eagerly peddling.

Although the market was full of repetitive and mundane goods, each stall was surrounded by people celebrating the New Year. The thick and rich New Year atmosphere was something that had long disappeared twenty years later.

Returning from an era with abundant products, besides beautiful women, there was hardly anything in the market that caught Li Xian's eye.

This could be considered a side effect of time travel.

But this was how Chinese New Year was; New Year goods didn't necessarily need to be liked by oneself, but rather to bring joy to others.

With this in mind, Li Xian chose some handcrafted fruit cakes and sweets, along with a nostalgic treat from his childhood, but now overly sweet, the cat-eye sugar balls.

Leaving the market amidst the noisy gongs and drums of the dance troupes seeking New Year's money, Li Xian exchanged cash for some shopping mall electronics vouchers with people wandering the streets and occasionally whispering to passersby.

He bought a video recorder, a favorite of the old men at the retirement home, and a tape recorder that Li Jie had previously asked him for. He also got a set of "The Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain" and several tapes of Aaron Kwok. Only then did he feel satisfied.

But at the store entrance, he noticed a red, cheerful-looking down jacket on a shelf and stopped in his tracks.

"Boss, how much is this down jacket?"

Seeing the video recorder and tape recorder in Li Xian's hands, the vendor's eyes lit up. After a moment's thought, he extended a finger and said, "Oh, you have a keen eye. This down jacket is very popular. One hundred yuan each. Who are you buying it for? What size do they wear?"

Li Xian tilted his head, placed the items on the ground, and gestured with his hand about his chin's height: "About this tall and quite thin. Also, don't try to fool me. If this jacket is fifty yuan, I'd consider it, but a hundred, and I'm out of here!"

...

After buying a set of clothes for Li You, Zou Ni, and Li Daoyun, and ensuring he couldn't carry more, Li Xian took a ride back to the Forestry Bureau.

Two months away had thickened the roadside snow even more.

The tricycle stopped at the entrance of the Sina Paper Factory.

As the New Year approached, large red lanterns hung at the entrance of the Sina Paper Factory. Though the lanterns were old, they looked even more vibrant against the factory's new atmosphere.

As Li Xian, carrying large and small packages, entered the factory yard, sharp-eyed workers immediately came over to greet him and took the items from him.

Due to production capacity constraints, even with the rapid business progress, there hadn't been many changes here.

However, Li Xian did not want to give up this base of operations. Given the current situation, while Sina Paper Industry in the forest area had a small paper production capacity, it had a distinct advantage in location and raw material supply.

He planned to use the New Year period to divest the current business. He would stop paper production at the Forestry Bureau and convert it entirely into New North Paper Company's pulp factory.

In the tissue paper industry, brand and pulp were crucial. Although Beilin had become Li Xian's main production base, he had kept the Sina brand in his hands. Now, he naturally couldn't ignore the pulp aspect.

While the factory continued production, it was also undergoing a major clean-up for the New Year.

Li Xian went to the workshop, called Zhang Dagong and Xu Dequan over, and explained his plan to transform the workshop. Naturally, they had no objections to converting Sina Paper Industry into a pulp factory.

Both in terms of location and business importance, transforming into a pulp factory was suitable and clearly more beneficial for the factory's future development.

He instructed them to start as soon as possible and to aim for a minimum daily production capacity of twenty tons of pulp before February 2nd. Li Xian then went to his office.

As he reached the second-floor corridor, he saw a petite figure with sleeves rolled up, struggling to clean the heating radiator. The person was so short that she couldn't reach the top of the window and had to stretch herself into a slim line, sweeping the corridor ceiling with a broom.

The cleaning was meticulous and orderly. First, the spider webs and dust were swept away with a broom, followed by wiping the window frames with a half-dry cloth.

Perhaps too focused, she didn't notice the exposed white waist under her short coat or Li Xian approaching.

"Just leave the stuff here. I'll take it in myself later." Li Xian's words finally made Su Ya stop her work. She turned to look at Li Xian, blinking and smiling.

After the workers finished their New Year greetings and left, Li Xian looked up at her and grinned, "Hey, long time no see. Did you miss me?"

Su Ya was momentarily stunned, then wrinkled her nose, stuck out her tongue, and used the hand holding the cloth to swipe her face.

Shameless.

Li Xian rubbed his nose and smiled.

Su Ya nimbly jumped down from the radiator and stood in front of Li Xian, pointing at him, touching her own head, and then giving him a questioning look.

Li Xian chuckled inwardly and exaggeratedly mimicked a twitching action, feigning weakness for a while before explaining weakly to Su Ya, "Since you hit me, I occasionally act like this."

Smack! Su Ya dropped the cloth on the ground, covering her mouth with both hands, her eyes immediately filling with tears.

"Pfft," Seeing her reaction, Li Xian couldn't hold back his laughter.

Su Ya quickly reacted, stamping her foot, picking up the cloth, and throwing it forcefully at Li Xian's chest.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Seeing her trying to run away, Li Xian grabbed her, "I brought you something. See if it suits you."

Saying this, he opened a package on the ground and took out the red down jacket.

To be honest, Li Xian wasn't very fond of the style of this down jacket. But among the limited options available, this one was the most to his taste.

Unlike the bulky and puffy down jackets commonly found on the market, this one was a slim-fit design with a waist cinch.

Su Ya's eyes widened with delight as she looked at the down jacket. However, when she saw Li Xian, she instinctively took a step back and waved her hands.

Seeing her refusal, Li Xian smiled and said, "If you don't want it, I'll just give it to my big yellow dog."

Seeing the displeasure on Su Ya's face, Li Xian couldn't help but grin and forcefully pushed the down jacket into her hands, "Take it. It's for you. With your small size, I wouldn't find anyone else to wear it if you don't."

After saying that, he stopped insisting and opened the office door to grab some items.

When he came out again, he saw Su Ya secretly measuring the down jacket against herself. Hearing the door open behind her, she quickly jumped and wrapped the jacket tightly around herself, pretending nothing had happened.

"Has Su Hui come back?" Li Xian asked as Su Ya awkwardly fidgeted.

The young girl immediately held up three fingers.

"Still three days away?"

Seeing Su Ya nod, he asked again, "Have you prepared the New Year goods at home?"

Su Ya hesitated but nodded.

Li Xian had a clear idea.

Wishing her a Happy New Year, he picked up the large and small packages and went downstairs.

Behind him, Su Ya stretched her neck to check, and once she confirmed there were no other people in the corridor, she draped the down jacket over herself and looked at herself from different angles.

Looking at her tiny figure reflected in the polished glass, she smiled contentedly.

...

Li Xian's return made the retirement home, which had seemed empty, lively again.

As the New Year approached, the old men in the retirement home had all disappeared. If it weren't for the coffins in the backyard not decreasing, Li Xian would have thought something terrible had happened.

In the activity room, only Zheng Weishi, Old Qi, and Old Liu remained. Li Xian couldn't help but wonder, "Where is everyone else?"

"They went to celebrate the New Year with their children," Zheng Weishi said, holding the large enamel mug and fiddling with the video recorder Li Xian brought back. "Don't worry about

 that. Just plug it in."

The New Year goods were unique and were to their liking. The three of them in the activity room were very pleased with them.

Li Xian connected all the jumbled wires, set up the TV, and inserted the tape of "The Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain" with Meng Fei's version.

"Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun!"

"Snow in my heart, snow in my heart~ Snow, I walk alone…"

As the screen flashed, the snowflakes disappeared, and the TV picture appeared. The old men were excited!

After listening to the theme song, which sounded like heavenly music, Old Qi turned his eyes and asked, "Hey? I heard that… cough cough, can this video recorder play that kind of tape? Do you have any in this tape?"

Seeing the old man's evasive gaze, Li Xian saw through him immediately!

"Qi爷, you're sixty-two this year," Li Xian said with a sarcastic tone, stretching out the words.

"Moreover, now those tapes are all from Europe and America, not interesting. You should hold on a bit longer. Wait ten more years, and then the tapes from Japan will be exciting. I'll prepare more tissues for you then…" He then continued with enthusiasm.

"Pah! Dirty-minded!" Although Old Qi didn't understand what Li Xian was saying, his excited tone made it clear that it wasn't good. Embarrassed, he spat and walked away.

Seeing only two people left in the activity room, Li Xian scratched his head, "But wait, if everyone was taken away by their children for the New Year, what about Wu爷 and Wang爷? Where did they go? And Zheng爷, why didn't you leave?"

Old Zheng pointed to a travel bag by the door of the activity room, "My son will come to pick me up this afternoon. Old Wang went to Xu Chaoyang's place. As for Old Wu…"

He pondered for a moment, then looked down and said, "He's finished. Can't get up from the kang. He kept saying before the New Year that he felt like he was done for, and now it seems… sigh, it really looks bad."

Hearing this, Li Xian's hair stood on end, and he immediately ran to the dormitory.

Zheng Weishi sighed.

After thinking for a while, he put down the tea mug, walked to the door of the activity room, and yelled towards the dormitory, "Old Wu! Li Xian is a good kid. He knows you're not doing well and came back to see you for the last time before you kick the bucket!"