sinovels Chapter 1500 Happy New Year
Chapter 1500 Happy New Year
Chapter 1500 Happy New Year
February 1988, 2, the 16th day of the twelfth lunar month.
That day, Zhao Hong was awakened by the sound of firecrackers.
Today is Chinese New Year. Before breakfast, every household, no matter how well off they are, lights a string of firecrackers.
Thinking of the children who picked up firecrackers from their home that day, Zhao Hong sat up immediately.
"Mom! Mom!" Zhao Hong called Wang Meilan, and woke up Zhao Na who was next to her.
"Son!" Wang Meilan, who was serving dishes in the outer room, called out to Zhao Jun, who was taking bowls and chopsticks from the bowl rack, and said, "You serve the dishes. I'll go look after your two sisters."
After saying that, Wang Meilan put down the spoon and went to the west room.
It was five minutes to seven when Wang Meilan entered the room. It was dim and grey outside. The curtains were drawn and Zhao Hong had already turned on the lights.
Next to Zhao Hong and Zhao Na's pillows, there was a pile of clothes, with small vests and shorts on top and cotton jackets, cotton pants, and outer trousers on the bottom.
These were all new, and there was a pair of new socks tucked into his outer trouser pocket.
"Mom, put it on me first." When Zhao Hong picked up the small vest and handed it to Wang Meilan, she heard Zhao Jun in the outer room saying, "Dad, go and set off the firecrackers quickly. It will be dinner time soon!"
"Dad, wait for me!" Zhao Hong shouted. Wang Meilan was startled and raised her hand to pull Zhao Hong. She frowned and asked, "Where are you going now?"
Without waiting for Zhao Hong to respond, Wang Meilan pointed at Zhao Hong's nose and said, "I'm telling you, if you keep flirting with those kids, don't say I'll punish you on New Year's Day."
Being pointed at by Wang Meilan, Zhao Hong dodged and whispered, "I want to fire a cannon."
"What are you shooting at?" Wang Meilan put the vest on Zhao Hong from top to bottom in a bad mood and said, "I think you look like a cannon, let the cannon explode again."
"My dad said he wanted to take me to set off firecrackers." Zhao Hong was a little bit lazy when she spoke. Wang Meilan saw this and pushed her again, saying, "It's New Year's Day today. If you dare to make a noise, I'll give you a good beating."
After hearing what Wang Meilan said, Zhao Hong curled her lips and instantly became strong!
"My second daughter!" At this time, Zhao Youcai's voice came from the door, saying, "Hurry up and get dressed, Dad is waiting for you."
"You're just showing off!" Wang Meilan said, "She's just a girl, what are you doing with her?"
"Don't those kids do the same?" Zhao Youcai said as he picked up a half-meter-long elm stick as thick as a finger from the pile of firewood. He then bent down and stuck one end into the stove pit.
After the two little girls came out of the house dressed neatly, Zhao Youcai pulled out the elm stick, one end of which was already on fire.
Zhao Youcai put out the fire, and when he blew on it, it started to burn. He then handed the elm stick to Zhao Hong.
"Don't upset the child." Wang Meilan was a little worried, but Zhao Youcai didn't think so. He said, "No."
After saying that, Zhao Youcai did not rush to take his two daughters out, but took them to the west room.
"Second daughter, eldest daughter." Zhao Youcai opened his arms, gently embraced Zhao Hong and Zhao Na and walked forward, saying, "What did I teach you yesterday?"
Zhao Hong was older after all, so when she saw Xing San, she remembered him and immediately shouted to him, "Happy New Year, Uncle!"
"Happy New Year, Uncle!" Zhao Na followed suit.
"Hey, Happy New Year, Happy New Year!" Xing San said as he took money out of his pocket.
According to local customs, if you meet an elder today, you must say "Happy New Year". If you meet an equal, you should say it first. If you meet a younger person, you should wait for the other person to greet you.
"Come here, my second daughter!" Xing San held a thin stack of one-yuan bills in his hand, counted out five and gave them to Zhao Hong, saying, "Take it and buy whatever you want."
This is New Year's money.
Not all elders will receive New Year's money when you pay New Year's greetings, but those who deserve it will definitely receive a lot. Those who don't deserve it will only get lucky money if you kowtow to them.
Yong'an has been established for twenty years, and most of the people living in the four family quarters are workers, so kowtow is not popular here.
"Thank you, Third Uncle." Zhao Hong happily took the money. Xing San saw that she was holding a fire starter, so he said to Zhao Hong, "Second girl, when you light the fire, don't touch your sister!"
After talking to Zhao Hong, Xing San went to give Zhao Na some New Year's money.
After hearing what Xing San said, Wang Meilan glared at Zhao Youcai.
"Got it, Uncle." Zhao Hong responded and put the money into his trouser pocket.
"My second daughter, keep the money safe." Wang Meilan confiscated Zhao Hong's New Year's money and instead reminded her, "I'll put it in your pocket."
Here, children receive New Year's money, which is called "pocket money". Today is the New Year, and tomorrow morning will be the new year. By then, the effect of the pocket money will have passed, and it will disappear in the children's sleep.
The two little girls received their New Year's money and happily followed Zhao Youcai out. The moment they left the house, firecrackers were heard outside the Li family's door.
The three of them walked out, and Li Dayong, who had just finished setting off firecrackers, walked in. Seeing Zhao Youcai, Li Dayong hurriedly shouted, "Happy New Year, big brother."
"Happy New Year, Dayong!" The two brothers smiled at each other. Zhao Hong and Zhao Na, who had just collected the money in the house, shouted in unison, "Happy New Year, uncle."
Li Dayong responded to the two little girls with "Happy New Year", but did not give them any New Year's money, which made Zhao Hong and Zhao Na a little disappointed.
The Zhao and Li families had a good relationship, and everyone in the village knew about it. When Zhao Chun was first born, Li Dayong, who was not married yet, had no money, but he still gave Zhao Chun a dollar during the Chinese New Year.
When Zhao Jun was born, Li Dayong and Jin Xiaomei had just gotten married. Thinking that Zhao Youcai had helped their family a lot, the couple gave both Zhao Chun and Zhao Jun lucky money during the Chinese New Year.
But Wang Meilan refused that time. She said that both families would have children in the future and it would be too much trouble for each other, so they simply didn't bother.
In fact, Wang Meilan said this not because she was afraid of trouble, but because her family already had two children, and if she continued to give the money, the Li family would suffer.
It was also from that year that the two families, although on good terms, stopped giving each other's children New Year's money.
While waiting for dinner in the house, Zhao Youcai quickly went to the warehouse, took out two whips and a wheel of wire, and then walked out of the yard.
Zhao Hong and Zhao Na followed behind, jumping and skipping. Before going to bed yesterday, Zhao Youcai promised them that he would take the two girls to set off firecrackers.
When he arrived at the gate of the courtyard, Zhao Youcai pulled out a one-meter-long larch pole from the pile of firewood on the east side, and then twisted the firecrackers onto the larch pole with wire.
Zhao Youcai lifted the pole and the firecracker dropped down. The fuse exposed by the red paper fell in front of Zhao Hong.
"Second girl, light it." Just as Zhao Youcai finished speaking, Zhao Hong raised her hand, pointed the fire stick at Daonan, and shouted, "Why are you here again?"
Zhao Youcai turned around and heard a boy say to him, "Happy New Year, Uncle Zhao."
"Hey, happy New Year, grandson." Zhao Youcai responded. He recognized the child from the old Sun family in the south of the village. Zhao Youcai couldn't remember the boy's full name, but he vaguely remembered that he was his second daughter's classmate and deskmate. It was he who scared his second daughter away when they slaughtered the pig for dinner that day.
"Happy New Year, Zhao Hong." Sun Ruihai greeted Zhao Hong cautiously, but Zhao Hong pointed at him with a fire starter and said, "Hurry up, do what you need to do, don't leave it at my doorstep!"
"What are you doing, second daughter?" Zhao Youcai frowned and said to Zhao Hong, "Just let it go, why do you care what others do?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Hong glared at Sun Ruihai fiercely, then picked up the fire stick and blew gently at the burning head.
As the red fire lit up, Zhao Hong raised the stick and carefully moved it towards the fuse.
There is no danger in setting off firecrackers normally. The fuse is two centimeters long, so just take two steps away when it lights up.
But although he was usually so happy, when it came time to fight, Zhao Hong felt a little scared.
At this time, Zhao Na huddled behind Zhao Hong, her small hands nervously grabbing the corner of Zhao Hong's clothes.
Just as the flame was about to touch the fuse, the two were about two millimeters apart, Zhao Hong suddenly trembled all over and shook his arms backwards as if he had been electrocuted, and the flame and fuse were instantly pulled apart by twenty centimeters.
As soon as Zhao Hong moved, Zhao Na jumped back a step instantly, but a pair of hands still tightly grasped the corner of Zhao Hong's clothes.
"Huh?" Zhao Youcai was startled, and when he turned to look at Zhao Hong, he saw the little girl sticking out the fire again. But when it was three millimeters away from the fuse of the firecracker, Zhao Hong suddenly pulled her hand back as if something was biting her hand, and Zhao Na behind her jumped to the left, pulling Zhao Hong to the right.
At this time, Zhao Youcai realized that his second daughter didn't dare to click.
If it was Zhao Jun when he was little, Zhao Youcai would have scolded him. But girls are different from boys. Seeing Zhao Hong like this, Zhao Youcai smiled and thought it was interesting.
"Hahaha..." Zhao Youcai laughed, but the laughter was not from him. Sun Ruihai, who was not far away, pointed at Zhao Hong and laughed, saying, "Are you two sisters trying to catch a chick?"
Hearing this, Zhao Youcai looked at his two daughters. He saw Zhao Hong in front and Zhao Na behind. Zhao Na was holding the corner of Zhao Hong's clothes with both hands, just like an eagle catching a chick.
"I don't need your help!" Zhao Hong yelled at Sun Ruihai, but Sun Ruihai laughed and said, "Zhao Hong, you are a coward. You don't dare to fire a shot!"
Zhao Hong's face darkened, and then he became furious: "See if I dare to beat you up!"
As he spoke, Zhao Hong threw the fire stick in his hand to the ground and rushed straight towards Sun Ruihai.
Zhao Na, who was following behind Zhao Hong, also rushed out with her fists raised.
Sun Ruihai, who was still laughing at Zhao Hong in the last second, suddenly changed his expression and turned around and ran away!
"Come back! Come back!" Zhao Youcai saw this and hurriedly called his two daughters back.
……
"What are you doing? Why have you been out for so long?" Wang Meilan was sitting on the edge of the kang in the west room of the Zhao family, staring out the window.
The food was already served, but the three of them didn't come back.
As soon as Wang Meilan finished speaking, the sound of firecrackers was heard outside the house.
Zhao Youcai was a loyal man. He went back to his room without complaining and went to eat on the kang as if nothing had happened.
This morning, the Zhao family had Chinese cabbage and vermicelli meatballs. The meatballs were fried carrot meatballs that day. They fried too much food that day, and several families have been eating them for several days.
After breakfast, Wang Meilan made paste with flour. Then, Zhao Jun, Zhao Youcai and Xing San went out to paste couplets and blessing characters.
Although there were three people who went out, it was Zhao Jun himself who actually took action, and the other two were the commanders.
The Zhao army was measuring the troops in the front, while Zhao Youcai and Xing San were behind, commanding the Zhao army to move left or right, and constantly correcting whether the Zhao army was moving in the right direction.
After determining the position, apply paste first and then stick on the couplets and the word "Fu".
The couplets and the word "Fu" were written by Li Baoyu's father-in-law. Li Baoyu ran to Liu's house eight times with red paper to write the couplets for several families. Li Ruhai laughed at him for several days because of this.
There is a word "Fu" pasted on the door, couplets pasted on both sides, and a horizontal banner with three hanging coins on the door.
The hanging money was cut by Yang Xue, the owner of the convenience store. Three pieces cost one cent and the labor and paper involved were used to wrap them.
There are many places in the Zhao family that need to be pasted, including couplets, hanging money, and the word "Fu" on the doors of the rooms, warehouses, and yards. There is also a word "Fu" on each side of the curtains.
This busy work took an extra half an hour. It was quite cold in the morning, and Zhao Jun's hands were red from the cold.
While Zhao Jun was putting up the couplets, Wang Meilan was not idle either. She took a large basin and went outside. She picked out a lot of frozen pears and persimmons from the large vat and soaked them in water.
Then, Wang Meilan set up a table in the east room and the west room and filled the table with melon seeds, peanuts, candies, oranges and apples.
"Son!" Seeing Zhao Jun coming back, Wang Meilan asked him again, "Go to the store and see if the taro cake is ready."
"You said nine o'clock." Zhao Jun looked at the time. It was just past half past eight, so he said, "Okay, Mom, I'll go over and take a look."
After breakfast in the morning, it’s around four or five in the afternoon before we have the next meal, and then there’s the New Year’s Eve dinner in the evening.
There is no lunch, and it is too long from now until four or five in the afternoon. Wang Meilan was afraid that the children could not stand it, so she asked Zhao Jun to buy some caozi cakes.
She had already found out that the store would be closed at noon today, but Wang Fu and his wife would get up early to make some tiaozi cakes.
The freshly made tiaozi cake is delicious, with a fragrant and sticky outer layer, and a bit of crispy texture when bitten. But it will not be like this after being stored for a long time.
Before Zhao Jun left, Zhao Youcai chased him to the door and warned him: "Don't wrap the tiaozi cake. If you wrap it or cover it while it's still hot, it won't taste good. Just wrap it in paper and come back."
"Yeah, OK." Zhao Jun agreed, but he complained in his heart: "You know so much, why don't you go?"
Although Zhao Jun thought so in his heart, he couldn't say it out loud, otherwise he would get scolded during the New Year.
After leaving home, Zhao Jun did not go directly to the convenience store, but walked towards Ma's house.
I have to wish my father-in-law and mother-in-law a happy new year.
As Zhao Jun walked along the way, the whole village was filled with the sound of firecrackers and red confetti were hanging at the doors of every house.
Little girls and boys whose families were well-off would wear new clothes, while those whose families were not well-off would have their cotton-padded jackets taken apart, washed and re-quilted. Although they were not new, they were clean.
These children, in groups of four or five, all with red faces, ran around the village. Although their laughter was drowned out by the sound of firecrackers, the children's happiness could not be concealed by anything.
"Uncle Dachun, Aunt Dachun, Happy New Year!" Whenever Zhao Jun sees someone older than him, he greets them and wishes them a happy new year.
"Aunt, let me help you paste it." When they arrived at Han Dachun's house, Zhao Jun saw Han Dachun and his wife pasting couplets. He wished them a happy new year and offered to help.
"Kid, don't get involved." Han Dachun's wife refused Zhao Jun and said, "I will do this little job with your uncle in a moment."
"Jun, we don't need you." Han Dachun also said that Zhao Jun was not needed, and then he asked: "What is your father doing at home? He didn't even come to wish me a happy new year?"
This is a joke. Unless people of the same generation are visiting neighbors or relatives, they will not go to someone's house specifically to wish a happy new year.
Zhao Jun knew Han Dachun was joking, so he said with a smile, "Okay, uncle, I'll tell him when I get back!"
"Tell him, he will scold me after that." Han Dachun laughed and said, "If I sneeze later, he will scold me."
Zhao Jun laughed, said goodbye to Han Dachun and his wife, and walked quickly towards the Ma family.
When they were almost at Ma's house, Zhao Jun saw Ma Yang and two boys setting off double-fired fireworks at the doorstep.
Seeing Zhao Jun coming over, a boy pulled Ma Yang and said, "Your brother-in-law is here!"
“Ah!” Ma Yang turned around and saw Zhao Jun. She quickly ran towards him and said, “Sister… No, Happy New Year, Jun!”
Zhao Jun agreed with a smile. At this moment, he was infected by the atmosphere of the New Year. He immediately said to Ma Yang: "Xiaoyang, you have nothing to do this afternoon. Let's go out and play?"
I will celebrate the Chinese New Year for three days, New Year's Eve, the first day and the second day of the New Year. I will not update during these days. I will start updating tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)