As soon as the fifteenth of the first lunar month was over, the six friends found their winter break allowance running low, and in the last few days, Xiao Ruawen returned from the military area, bringing each person an empty bullet shell as a gift.
After finishing all their winter vacation homework the day before school started, the new term quietly began.
...
With the sound quality completely lost, the radio played a tune for the long break as Xu Qingfan tightened his shoelaces and followed his class out the back door to line up.
Over the past two months, he had grown noticeably taller, having moved from needing to stand at the front of the line at the start of the school term to now standing at the back.