Unfortunately, plans don't change quickly.

I resigned from the hotel in the winter of the same year.

It was December 29th, the day before New Year's Eve.

As usual, Boss Song gave each employee two days of family leave, allowing everyone to go home and reunite with their families.

On the New Year's Eve of my first year at the hotel, fireworks lit up the sky in Xijing City all night long.

Clusters of fireworks shot up into the sky with a "whoosh" and then bloomed with light in the dark night.

By the late night, I fell asleep peacefully listening to the fireworks bursting.

I thought, no one in the world would ever cherish the experience of being treated like a workhorse.

So, after repaying my debts of upbringing, I no longer had any attachment to that so-called "home."

No expectations, not even a ripple in my heart.

This year, with the idea of learning to read, I couldn't possibly spend time reminiscing about the painful memories of life in the mountains.

The bottom right corner of the Xinhua Dictionary is already curled up by me.

After Lily started school, it took me just half a year to annotate all the words in Dream of the Red Chamber.

I had planned to practice calligraphy well during these two days off, but unexpectedly, on this New Year's Eve, Boss Song actually came to the shop alone.

He personally cooked two dishes, opened a bottle of Niulanshan liquor, and happily said he wanted to spend New Year's Eve with me.

In the vast hotel, only one small light was on at the private dining table.

Boss Song took two disposable paper cups and filled each with a cup of liquor for him and me.

He was a very easygoing person, and everyone felt like friends with him.

Outside the window, fireworks were blooming in the sky over Xijing.

Inside the shop, Boss Song and I clinked our cups, wishing each other a happy New Year.

Boss Song took a sip of his drink and told me about the first time he saw me.

He said when he first saw me, he knew I had run away from home.

"If you hadn't run away, the only path waiting for you would have been marriage."

"You're quite something, daring to come to the big city alone, not easy at all."

He praised me, saying I was like a thistle, a tough girl.