Yesterday was the twenty-second day of the seventh lunar month, birthday of God of Wealth. I did not realize it until the explosions of firecrackers were heard here and there late in the afternoon. Mother mistook the first explosion for the signal that someone had just died, which was a custom in my birthplace. When the discharge of fireworks became a fierce contest among more and more people who were shooting off them, it occurred to me that they were celebrating the birthday of God of Wealth. It seemed as if the longer and the louder one could set off, the richer he would be promised to become by God of Wealth. The competition came to a close after dark.