Peach blossom outside bamboo

The period of Chinese New Year is the busiest time in Dayuan Village.Most of the families in this village are not poor, and every family has some spare money, and there are not many families who are afraid of celebrating the New Year.

Years ago, I could always see people smiling and driving ox carts home with goods, and when I saw people along the way, they were chatting about doing New Year’s goods at home.After a year of busy work, it's time to have a good time at the end.

The happiest thing is the children, who start to show off to their friends before they put on the new clothes.The impatient little buddies are looking forward to wearing new clothes every day for the New Year.As for candies and pastries, almost every child has a few pieces in their pockets, and when they meet with their friends, they will take them out and exchange them with each other.

The Xia family's population is not large, but every year during the Chinese New Year, it is always lively.

The gate of the courtyard has been pasted with two gate gods, Shentu Yulei, and colorful paper amulets are hung on the side to ward off evil spirits and ghosts, and protect the house.The leaves of the fruit trees and flowers in the yard are almost gone. Fortunately, there are still a few clumps of thin bamboos that are still green, and they don't look very bleak.And since a few days ago, the inside and outside of the house have been scrubbed by Liansheng, and it looks quite clean.

Xiaosan reluctantly left the room under Liansheng's urging.Because it is already the reason why people want to go out in the coming year, some things must be learned, such as housekeeping, such as various customs and habits that need to be handled on various festivals and auspicious days.

Liansheng set up a desk facing east in the courtyard, offering plain meat and water and wine, and a tripod censer was burning with smoke.At home, Xia Silang led the stone and the others were worshiping the gods of heaven and earth.

"Little San also came to pay my respects." Lian Sheng lit three sticks of incense and waved at the chubby Xiao San.

Xiaosan moved slowly. A while ago, Cai Jingyun sent a few fur coats that were quite effective in keeping warm, but they still couldn't change his image of a ball.Now it's just changed from cotton balls to hair balls.

Xiao San respectfully knelt down to burn incense, muttering words.Of course, only God knows what he reads and he himself knows.

In fact, this kind of behavior of worshiping the gods of heaven and earth was done by Xia Silang and Shitou in previous years, but this year Xiaosan is about to go out, so he was specially asked to follow behind to worship, so as to ensure safety and success.

The following ancestral offerings continued to be completed by Xia Silang and the others, and Xiaosan followed Liansheng to the kitchen.All kinds of pickled fish and bacon have already been prepared for backup. A few days ago, I also made two boxes of tofu with other people. Most of them were made into bean puffs and dried tofu by Xiaosan. There are also fried meatballs and so on. There are several pots.The New Year's Eve dinner needs to be freshly prepared on the same day, so even if everything is almost prepared, there are still many things to do in the kitchen today.

Xin He's big belly can't help much at the moment, and Wen Qing doesn't expect him to help at all.So in the steaming kitchen, Liansheng and Xiaosan were seen busy walking around.

Cai Jingyun also came here today. Although he is engaged, he is definitely not married, so all kinds of ancestor worship are nothing to him.He was alone in the room reading a book by the brazier.In fact, in his yard, the servants also prepared all kinds of decorative utensils for the New Year, which are even better than those of the Xia family, but the atmosphere is not right at all. The empty stage.Cai Jingyun was still unhappy when he saw it, he might as well sit by the brazier in Xia's house and be smoked.

The whole family worked hard all day in several groups, and at dusk they finally got together and lit firecrackers in the yard.This is a real firecracker. The cut bamboo joints more than one meter long burn blazingly in the fire, making a crackling sound.In fact, I heard from Wen Qing that there are already fireworks in the city, and they are very popular.But in Dayuan Village, people still continue to burn grass and bamboo, because it has been a tradition for many years.

Burning firecrackers is such an activity, as long as one family starts, as if every family picks up the letter, the village will be crackling endlessly.At this time, the half-children were the most excited. They were unwilling to stay away from the fire, jumping up and down like monkeys.Most of the young and timid buddies hide in their father's arms and are coaxed.

After burning the bamboo, it's time to light the lanterns, and the whole family has to go inside to eat the New Year's Eve dinner.In the long main room, there are two tables, upper and lower, and candles that are difficult to use in normal times are lit on the table.The table is for the ancestors, with white meat and wine.The next table is for my family to eat, and the table is full.A brazier was set up in the room, and the heat rose, making people feel so warm that they wanted to sweat as soon as they entered the room.

Xiaosan made a hot pot and prepared all kinds of fish balls, meatballs and soy products. For vegetables, there are also radishes and Chinese cabbage.Liansheng prepared traditional New Year dishes, sausages, aspic, whole fish, stewed chicken, etc.The whole family gathered around the table, lively, warm and inviting.Wen Qing continued to be heartless and happy, grabbing meatballs with Xiao Si.Even Cai Jingyun's cold face seemed much warmer.

After the meal, Xia Silang distributed lucky money to everyone, except for the married Shitou and Xinhe, everyone else got a share.Even Cai Jingyun took a small purse.I don't know if it is because I have never received such a small amount of New Year's money, and I am a little helpless right now.

Xiaosi was the happiest, and after receiving it, he ran wildly around the room with his purse in his hand, even though he didn't even know how many copper coins were in his purse, but that didn't hinder his excitement at all. The copper plates rattled.During the Chinese New Year, what everyone loves is this excitement, so they follow Xiao Si to play wildly in the house.

Xia Silang and the others set up a table, came out to play with small cards, and added Cai Jingyun, and the four big men just made a table.This card was only introduced to Dayuan Village in the past few years, and the rules are so simple that you can learn it once you learn it.Sometimes when the rainy days are free, everyone likes to get together to have fun, even husbands are no exception.

The family doesn't need to bet any money to play cards, just bet on the table.Xia Silang and Cai Jingyun were in a group, and with Cai Jingyun's support, they had a great time.Xia Hu looked very unlucky, and from time to time he was seen strutting around under the table, causing the whole family to laugh in unison.

Liansheng and Xiaosan had already cleared the table, took the reconciled dough and meat stuffing and prepared to make dumplings. Xinhe could also help, so they surrounded them.

Wen Qing lay on Xia Hu's side and looked at the cards. Maybe he felt that Xia Hu was too embarrassed, so he ran to Xiaosan and the others to help make dumplings.When Xiao San saw him coming, she gave him dough and asked him to play with Xiao Si to knead the dough.Liansheng also hurriedly coaxed him a few words.

The people in the room made a fuss until midnight, and they ate dumplings again.

Xiaosi nodded while eating, it seemed that he had completely fallen asleep, Liansheng saw him and put down the bowls and chopsticks to coax him to sleep.

"Is it fun?" Xiaosan leaned over to Cai Jingyun and asked, not forgetting the dumplings in his mouth.The homemade thin-skinned meat dumplings are so delicious that you can't get enough of them.It's a pity that Liansheng is not allowed to make this kind of food that needs to be made with fine flour and large meat.If you think about it, if you can eat dumplings every day, you might think that dumplings are not good.

Cai Jingyun nodded. He only read some books today, and played cards after dinner. As for playing, it wasn't much fun.But he likes the atmosphere here in Xia's family, the family enjoys it and forgets their worries.This made him have a different understanding of the word home.

Xiaosan originally planned to follow the vigil, but after eating dumplings and guarding by the brazier, he started nodding and fishing after a while.Liansheng pushed him back to his room to sleep, and fell asleep in a daze without knowing when.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Xiao Si was called away by a group of boys just after eating. Those children formed a team to sweep up the village, running around from house to house.Xiao San has played like this before, knowing that the children are the most proud of this day, no matter who they meet, they will happily present candy and pastries to them.If you are lucky, you can also get a relatively novel small toy.

Two brothers, Shitou and Xiahu, also went out to pay New Year's greetings after dinner, and every household had to go there, which was not an easy task.Others are guarding at home, waiting for the guests who come to pay New Year's greetings.People came and went, pulled out and came again, it was very lively.

The children are the noisiest when they come to the door. A bunch of people come into the house. Those who want candied melons and pastries. Occasionally, when they see a little one with a snotty nose, they have to help him wipe his face and blow his nose.The little three were all in a hurry to entertain these little guests.Fortunately, the children are not very safe, they can't stay in one place for a long time, and after eating something in their mouths, they all ran away with a whimper.

Xiao San slept relatively well last night, and was actually a little drowsy during the day, but during the Chinese New Year, he couldn't sleep during the day, and even Xin He had to stay there, so he naturally didn't dare to sleep.The noise in the morning was manageable, and in the afternoon, he played poker with Cai Jingyun, and when he kept losing, he raised his fighting spirit and stopped dozing off.The two played until dinner time, Xiao San won one hand and lost the rest.Cai Jingyun got countless unfulfilled kisses and miraculously smiled all night.

Cai Jingyun didn't stay at Xia's house every day, and sometimes went back to the bamboo courtyard.After the fifth day of the lunar new year, Xia Hu, who was in business, left Xia's house.Cai Jingyun also came to the branch specifically, saying that he was going to be busy with business matters.

Although there are a few fewer people, the New Year is still a lively one. Liansheng will teach Xiao San the customs and habits and some taboos to pay attention to every day during the New Year.Some things have been said before, but this time they are specially taught, so they are extra careful.Xiao San listened to it and let it go, and continued to laugh and laugh every day.

It wasn't until the first month passed that everyone's interest began to subside, because it was spring and it was time to start working again.