After eating the dumplings, Gu'er didn't go back. Instead, she squeezed onto the kang with Grandma Sun, Li Hua, and Aunt Zhao. 'It was too cold to bother going back now, and she wouldn't get more than a few hours of sleep anyway.'
It had been almost a year since Gu'er had shared a large kang with anyone. She found it quite warm, mostly because she was sleeping next to people she loved.
With these thoughts, Gu'er drifted off to sleep.
Gu'er was woken up in the morning by the CRACKLE POP of firecrackers. She looked outside; the sky wasn't fully light yet. She wanted to go back to sleep, but the firecrackers were relentless, and she could hear voices from the living room. Gu'er stretched and got out of bed.
At 5:30, Aunt Zhao had the dumplings boiled. Meanwhile, Sun Jiaming had taken a few of the younger men outside to set off more firecrackers. It was tradition to set them off after the first meal of the New Year was ready.
