Yipin Farmer

Ting Shuang was a little troubled, and then saw that the monkey boy was yellow and thin, with chilblains on his hands, and he was holding a cold yellow cornbread to chew.The body looks like a child of eleven or twelve years old, but the expression on his face is like that of a boy of fifteen or sixteen years old, a bit mature.

He suddenly remembered that the little protagonist in "The Wandering Child" played monkeys with a down-and-out old artist. Later, the monkey froze to death and the dog was dragged away by wolves. In the snowstorm, the two fell at the door of a family. Frozen and starved to death, the little protagonist was found by that family and saved his life.

Thinking of the old and the young wandering around in such a cold day, maybe one day they will become starving on the side of the road, and then thinking of the little match seller freezing to death on New Year's Eve, I feel pity in my heart.

Ting Shuang had an idea and said, "Well, you don't want to part with the monkey, why don't you and the monkey stay at my house."

"What?" The old and the young were surprised.

"It's almost Chinese New Year, and you have nowhere to go. Besides, it's not a problem for you and your children to wander around and play monkeys. You may not be able to earn money every day. In this weather, you stay in the doorway of someone's house. If something gets cold, it's not a bad idea." good."

But the monkey-player said: "What am I afraid of at my age? I don't want to be handed over by others."

"That's not what I meant." Ting Shuang persuaded again, "What about your child? It won't grow up in such a cold day."

The folks next to him also advised: "You old man has not seized this good opportunity. This brother is the best. He often takes in people who have no home. A few months ago, he took in a poor and sick old man and did it for him. What about the funeral. I also took in a poor widow and her child. Now the widow is cured of illness, the child is also strong, and he can read a lot. Such kind-hearted people are rare. Your child must follow him Have a good time."

The child's eyes lit up: "Following you, can you read?"

Ting Shuang felt uncomfortable for a while, and smiled at him and nodded.Seeing his anticipation, the monkey man sighed and said, "Since you want to, stay."

So Ting Shuang took in another pair of poor and helpless homeless father and son, including the monkey.At the beginning of spring, he planned to raise more sheep and catch some deer, and then assign them some work.

Xiaolan got the monkey, and happily took the cornbread and broke it into pieces to feed it. The monkey was very human, and even ate with a plate like a human being.Ting Shuang thought it was funny, so he named it Sikong Zhaixing. After everyone's objection, he changed the name to "Kongkong".

The monkey player's surname is Jiang, and his child's name is Jiang Liu, who is the same age as Ting Qiu, and may look younger than his actual age due to malnutrition.Ting Shuang arranged them in the West Wing, living with Xiaoye Pingan and Tingqiu.The kang was a bit crowded, so Tingke was asked to live in Tingzhi's room, and Chen Guang moved out of the wing room to live with himself in the east room of the main room, and finally arranged for the family.

That Jiangliu was in the period of growing up, hungry and full all the year round, and now he has a home, holding a rice bowl and eating non-stop.Ting Hui tutted his head and shook his head: "Fortunately, our family has rice, otherwise we really wouldn't be able to support this half-baby."

As the end of the new year is approaching, every family is busy, and Ting Shuang is even more busy. Apart from housework, she is also busy eating meat.When slaughtering pigs in rural areas, you have to invite relatives and friends from neighbors and neighbors to cook a large pot of pork stewed with cabbage noodles.Of course, it is impossible to invite the whole village, that is, invite relatives, friends and prominent figures.

Ting Shuang has become a popular figure, and almost every household kills pigs without leaving him behind.When he was away to work, someone killed a pig and gave him a piece of meat.It can be seen that he is very popular in the village.

Soon it will be the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, and the countdown to the new year will begin. There is a folk saying: "23, sacrifice to the stove official, 24, clean the house, 25, make tofu; 26, cut the meat, 27, cut window grilles; 28, steam steamed buns; 29, hang Spring Festival couplets; Stay up all night at thirty."

Although these things are not strictly limited to these days, they are generally not bad.

23. Commonly known as Xiaonian, when people sacrifice to the stove, the tablet of the Stove Lord is behind the pot, and he takes a bite of every meal cooked by others.On the 23rd, the Stove Lord will go to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor the work of each household, so he must send them off in advance. The offerings include stove candy, red dates, chestnuts, longan, sugar cakes, etc. Other offerings can be substituted, but stove candy cannot be replaced. This is to let the Stove King God say good deeds and stick his teeth in advance.

Ting Shuang looked at the fat Stove Lord, and saw that Stove King's grandmother was beside him, and was very envious.Eating well and being able to find a wife is really an ideal life for a farmer.

After teasing the monkey, Xiaolan watched the men sacrifice the stove, thought it was fun, twirled two black beans, and asked: "The Stove Lord has gone to heaven to report good things to the Jade Emperor, so if he does something bad, will he report it?"

After listening to Zhile, Ting Shuang thought that children's words often hit the sore feet of adults. No matter how many bad things they did, if they bribed the Stove King with sugar and officials with money, everything would be fine.

Mrs. Li's face changed in fright, she covered Xiaolan's mouth and dragged her to the back room, threateningly said: "If you talk nonsense, you won't grow up in the future." She also told her that the livestock in the farmer's house died because the Stove King was there. It is caused by bad things said in the sky, so we cannot let him say bad things.

Then, in the sound of firecrackers, the statue of the Stove King and the paper horse fodder were incinerated, and the name of the Stove King went to heaven.After the firecrackers were burned out, the sacrifice to the stove was over, and the offerings naturally fell into people's stomachs. Huanhuan the bear and Kongkong the monkey also got a share of the stove candies, and ate happily.

The next step is to clean the house, because the gods hate dust and mess, so on the day of house cleaning, we must send the Stove Queen away.There are no such fine carvings in the farmhouse yard, and it is easier to clean. The Meng family now has a population of thirteen, with sufficient labor, and it will soon be completely new in a day.Ting Shuang hired someone to oil the kang again. The last time the kang was built, only the fire path was built, the roof was covered and the seams were wiped, but there was no oil.During the Chinese New Year, I asked someone to oil it with tung oil and put it on the edge of the kang. The three surrounding walls were painted with dark green oil, and then the edges were covered with gold powder. The short wall under the edge of the kang was oiled black.

Rich people still want to decorate the kang surrounds with patterns such as cloud heads and wishful patterns. The Meng family has no money, so they simply oiled them, with black and shiny kang roots, vermilion edges, and dark green kang surrounds with golden edges, even if there is no gorgeous mattress And the furnishings on the kang, the overall look is also very beautiful.

The window paper has also been changed again, and various window grilles cut out of red paper are pasted on. Most women can cut window grilles, and a kind of competition is formed invisibly. They all tried their best.

In the Meng family, only Mrs. Li knows how to cut. She showed off her skills. In addition to cutting magpies and plums, auspicious gourds, etc., she also cut a lot of chickens, ducks, cattle and sheep, which means more than enough.Although it is not as delicate and vivid as Smith, it also has a special flavor.

The snow-white window paper, the freshly pasted ceiling, and the bright red window grilles are like a flame burning, beating with vitality.

New Year pictures are also posted. The village pays special attention to posting New Year pictures. No matter how difficult the life is, families must also post New Year pictures, otherwise they will be regarded as funerals.Different doors had to be posted with different New Year pictures. The gates of the courtyard were usually posted with Military Officer New Year pictures, and the doors of the houses were usually posted with New Year pictures of civil servants. Tingzhi’s room was pasted with a picture of five sons enrolling in an imperial examination, expressing the good hope of enrolling in the imperial examination as soon as possible.

All Zhuxian Town New Year pictures are used in this place, with rough lines, strong color contrast, and exaggerated shapes. The characters have big heads and small bodies, but they feel well-proportioned.

After the kang was oiled, window grilles and New Year pictures were pasted up, and the atmosphere of the New Year was already very strong.

Ting Shuang often celebrates the tasteless New Year in modern times, and is very interested in these customs, climbing up and down tirelessly.

After setting up the house, it is time to make food, make wine, make tofu and deep-fry the lining for steaming cakes, and the whole family will go to battle and have fun.Ting Shuang likes to make jujube buns the most. He can only make one kind of noodles, which is to roll the noodles into strips and put them in the middle with chopsticks, and then insert the red dates into the bends, and it becomes a flower bun, which is very simple.Aunt Li's cooking is much more complicated. She uses fingers, scissors, combs, and bamboo needles to make a variety of beautiful patterns, and then stacks the steamed jujube buns from big to small, like a mountain.This is the most important thing for New Year's Eve sacrifices.

Xiaoye and the monkey-player are also skillful with their hands, and they can also make lotus-shaped jujube buns.Baoqi doesn't know anything, and works with Xiaolan to deliver tools, and Kongkong also wags his tail and flicks his tail to help.Steamed jujube buns are held on the two days of 2829 in the twelfth lunar month. At this time, the atmosphere is very grand and mysterious. Everyone does not gossip, and neighbors and relatives do not visit the house, let alone saying things like "it's leaking, it's rotten".

There are also rice cakes, fried scorpions and fried twists, so be prepared to eat more.

On the 29th, every household will post Spring Festival couplets.

Here we pay attention to pasting three pairs of pairs, one for the gate, one for the house door, and one for the warehouse, and also paste the word "Fu".If there are many houses in the family, more stickers will be posted.

This year, the task of writing Spring Festival couplets in the village fell on Meng's family. Tingzhi's calligraphy and knowledge are good, and she has become the main force in writing Spring Festival couplets. It is a compulsory course, so the calligraphy of Tinghui, Tingke, and Baoqi can also win prizes in modern times, so they also participated in the battle to write couplets. Tingshuang's calligraphy is at the same level as Ping'an. Afraid of making a fool of herself, she went to the kitchen to help Mrs. Li busy.

Tingzhi wrote Spring Festival couplets for a few days, and I don't know how many, but there is no repetition in each couplet. People in the village praise him for his quick thinking and quick thinking, and he will definitely be the number one scholar in the future.

They wrote countless Spring Festival couplets to the villagers, but their own family did not have them. Because the family lost their elders this year, the Spring Festival couplets were written on blank paper: "I am sad and afraid to read the Chen Qing form, and my poems are difficult to read with tears."

The New Year's Eve finally arrived in people's anticipation. Except for a few very poor families in Sanhua Village, every family hung up red lanterns and posted Spring Festival couplets.All kinds of firecrackers are on the scene, the lively New Year's Eve officially opens, the Meng family is the most lively, the little bear Huanhuan and the little deer Huahua are frightened by the sound of firecrackers and run around, Xixicheng also shrinks by the kang and does not dare to look up, the little monkey travels all over the world to see the world , jumping and shouting very excited.Only two little white rabbits get the treatment of being huddled in the arms of the little mistress.

The whole family makes dumplings together and enjoys themselves happily.

Mrs. Li prepared the sacrificial supplies. The only Eight Immortals table in the house was repainted with red lacquer. Plum red paper-cut, and a plate of golden needles and fungus symbolizing mountain delicacy, two pagoda-like rice cakes on each side symbolizes climbing every year, the most important thing is jujube mountain buns stacked high, one stack on each side, and another plate For fried offerings, the red ones are in the east and the white ones are in the west.

Ting Shuang put the vermilion lacquered wooden plate with food on the table, picked up a piece of fried cake and threw it into her mouth, Aunt Li looked at him with wide eyes.Only then did he realize that today is different than usual, and he can't eat casually.

After the shadow was suspended, Ting Shuang led the whole family to worship the ancestors, and the family began to eat the New Year's Eve dinner, which was the most sumptuous meal of the year. Two tables were merged on the kang, and eight plates were placed, implying wealth from all directions.In addition to roast chicken, roast duck, boiled whole fish, there are also fried pork belly, braised fatty intestines, potted tofu, vegetarian dishes are grilled cabbage, mixed with golden needles and fungus, which are full of dishes.

After dinner, Tingshuang gave New Year's money, not newly minted copper coins, but golden gold coins, one for each of Xiaolan and Xiaoqiu Tingzhi, and Tingke, who will be eighteen after the new year, also gave him one.The few people who got the gold coins couldn't keep their mouths shut.

Then everyone sits around the kang to watch the New Year. There are melon seeds, peanuts and pears on the table. The whole family sits in a lively circle, knocking melon seeds and chattering all over the world. They are fascinated by the monkey man talking about what he encountered in performing arts in the rivers and lakes.

Baoqi didn't speak, just listened, and then noticed that Ting Shuang didn't come back after going out, she went out to search quietly, and found him sitting on the roof alone.The courtyard of his house is the highest in the village. Sitting on the roof, you can see the whole village. You can see countless red lanterns dotting the night sky. You can hear the sound of firecrackers one after another. It is very lively. The air is full of firecrackers and delicious food scent.The Meng family was in the filial piety period, so no red lanterns were lit, and no firecrackers were set off, so it was a bit deserted.

"Why are you here alone?" Bao Qi sat down beside him.

"Think about something." Ting Shuang looked at the night sky and let out a long breath.

Ting Hui also found that Ting Shuang was not there, and wanted to find him, but was stopped by Chen Guang.

In the cold night wind, the person who had just eaten wine and meat felt very refreshed, exhaled white air from his mouth and nose, and Ting Shuang remembered many things from the past.

"I think of this time last year, when I celebrated the New Year with my parents. At that time, my family was rich and happy, but the world was unpredictable, and the family was defeated in a blink of an eye. Thinking of the past, I regretted it. My father wanted to accept the child. I have quarreled with him, but actually, what right do I have to quarrel with him? It’s a pity that my parents are gone before they have enjoyed the filial piety of their children.”

"Yes, it's really a pity that the son wants to support but the relative is not there." Baoqi felt the same way.

"After so many things, I have lost a lot, but I have gained more. I used to only know how to enjoy life, but now I know that in addition to enjoying life, it is more important to fulfill my due responsibilities. In any case, I want to get back together and put This family cheers up, I take good care of my younger brothers and sisters, and revitalize the family business, which is the best repayment for them." Ting Shuang clenched her fists.

Baoqi looked at him silently for a long time before saying: "The future will be long, don't be too tired. I believe you will succeed."

Unknowingly, Bao Qi stretched out her arms and held him in her arms.

Looking at the dark night, Ting Shuang took a long breath, as if inhaling infinite power to cope with all difficulties. Last year's Lantern Festival, the whole family was in joy. Who would have thought that extreme joy would lead to sorrow, and a fire would turn his family from rich to poor. At this point, I can't help feeling that life is impermanent.He didn't even expect that this year's Lantern Festival, another fire would give his family an opportunity to revitalize.

The world is unpredictable, and people's hearts are unpredictable.