Chapter 519-520: Year

After hearing this, Zhou's mother nodded repeatedly and looked at Zhou Yumei and Luo Haili, "Chunyan is right. You cousins ​​should all look forward and live like human beings."

"Don't worry, we will!" they said in unison.

At this time, the potatoes in the steamer are cooked.

Zhou's mother poured the steamed potatoes into a porcelain bowl, sprinkled an appropriate amount of salt, and mashed the steamed potatoes into meat paste with a rolling pin. She also beat a few eggs, two handfuls of chopped shallots, and an appropriate amount of glutinous rice flour, kneaded them evenly, rolled them into pancakes, and fried them in a pan until both sides were golden brown.

Yang Chunyan picked up some crispy pork and potato cakes and put them on a plate and walked towards the steps, preparing to give them to the old man and Zhou's father who were smoking leaf cigarettes and listening to Sichuan opera on the steps.

The radio was playing Sichuan opera, singing the Sichuan opera folk play "Pi Jin Rolling Lantern", "People say my family is rich, I use chili noodles to make porridge, but when things are bad, Pi Jin doesn't care about anything... Pi Jin, I'm lucky today, I got a wife to take care of me... I'm afraid of a wife because it's hereditary, not because of shame..."

Yang Chunyan smiled and placed the plates on the tree stump tea table, "Grandpa, the old man will eat some crispy pork and potato cakes."

The old man took down his pipe, picked up a piece of potato cake, took two bites, and nodded, "Today's fried cake is delicious."

Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "Mom added eggs and fried the glutinous rice balls with flour."

Father Zhou also ate a piece of crispy meat. "These are all good things. No wonder they taste so good!"

Zhou Huaian and Zhou Jiaming carried a wooden stick and walked into the yard. Zhou Jialiang and his friends rushed in, "Grandma, we caught a lot of sandworms."

The old man waved to the children, "Come here, your grandma fried some crispy pork and potato cakes, they are delicious!"

Seeing several children reaching out to take it, Zhou Huaian hurriedly said, "Go wash your hands first, wash the fish scales off your hands before eating."

"Go wash your hands!" Zhou Jiakang turned around and ran towards the kitchen, followed by a bunch of people...

The old man leaned over to take a look. "How's it going? Did you catch any carp?"

Zhou Huaian and Zhou Jiaming put down the buckets. "We have the nets. We sent them to Big Brother and his family. We also sold one to Lin Wu's family and divided it among the kids."

Zhou Jiaming rubbed his wrist and said, "Dad, where are the firecrackers, rubbing firecrackers, and archery cannons you bought?"

"I'm still trying to fool you!" Zhou Huaian rubbed him, "Go wash your hands quickly, and I'll get you something to eat after you finish eating!"

"Oh oh!" Zhou Jiaming ran away.

A few children over there had already washed their hands and came back, holding a piece of crispy meat in one hand and a potato cake in the other.

"Dad, potato cakes dipped in the barbecue flour prepared by Auntie are guaranteed to be delicious!"

"You've come up with new ways to eat it!" Zhou Huaian suddenly remembered the stinky tofu that his mother had made. He turned and walked towards the kitchen. When he entered the room, he saw the stinky tofu on the table. "This is the good stuff."

Yang Chunyan clapped his hands and said, "The good stuff can be slowly roasted and eaten while on night watch to avoid being too full later and not being able to eat the New Year's Eve dinner."

Zhou Huaian smiled and nodded, "Okay! I'll go cut some leeks and some broccoli, cut some pork belly and marinate it, and marinate a few fish, and we'll eat slowly tomorrow night."

Zhou Yumei laughed after hearing this, "The youngest one's eating manners are so good, it makes my mouth water."

Zhou Huaian said proudly: "Sister, try the roasted pork belly tonight, the taste is really amazing!"

Zhou Yumei smiled and nodded, "Yes! I have to try it carefully this time. I'm afraid it will make me get irritated and Xiaoxi will get irritated too."

Yang Chunyan: "The teapot on the tea table is filled with golden thread lotus. If you pour some, you won't have to worry about getting a sore throat."

Zhou Huaian held a piece of crispy meat in his mouth and said, "Sister, I tell you that golden thread lotus is a good thing. In the old society, it was a royal product!"

Yang Chunyan: "Good things should not be eaten randomly. For example, people with weak spleen and stomach and prone to diarrhea should not drink it."

Zhou's mother nodded, "Yes, medicine is poisonous to some extent, so you must not take it carelessly."

All the food that needed to be fried was fried. The family had a simple lunch and then started preparing the New Year’s Eve dinner.

After Zhou Huaian finished his meal, he was called away by Zhou Yiding and Xu Erchun.

Before leaving, Zhou's mother told him to go home before three o'clock and wait for them to prepare the meat and dishes for offering sacrifices to the heaven, earth and ancestors, and then the head of the family would take the lead in offering sacrifices to the heaven, earth and ancestors.

Several stoves were started at the same time, and soon the sausages, bacon, cured chicken and cured duck were cooked. The pork elbows were also stewed, and the whole rooster and the buttocks were brought to the main hall and placed on the eight-immortal table. Zhou Huaian also came back.

He lit the incense and candles, filled the wine glass with sorghum wine, and after offering sacrifices to the heaven, earth and ancestors, Zhou's mother and Yang Chunyan brought the dishes back to the kitchen. They chopped the big rooster into small pieces and mixed it with pepper and sesame chicken, steamed the pork elbow, and poured the fried seasonings on it.

The cured chicken and duck are chopped into small pieces, the whole carp is placed on a plate, and then firecrackers are set off to start the meal. There must be fish in the New Year's Eve dinner, and you have to cook a lot, and it's best to have some leftovers, which is called "surplus and surplus".

At this time, the sound of firecrackers marking the start of dinner was heard from the homes of Zhou Huaishan, Zhou Huaijun and Zhou Huairong next door, and the sound of firecrackers marking the start of dinner was heard from the village one after another.

The New Year's Eve dinner had to be eaten slowly. The old man, Zhou's father and Zhou Huaian drank jujube wine, and Zhou's mother also drank two glasses. The meal started at around three in the afternoon, and halfway through, Zhou Huairong's three brothers joined in, and they ate until dark.

Zhou's mother took Yang Chunyan to clean the kitchen, burn incense to the Kitchen God, and light a large oil lamp filled with oil on the stove. The oil lamp was lit all night, praying for the family's happiness and longevity.

After Yang Chunyan came out of the shower, Zhou's mother cut some red paper to wrap red envelopes for the children as New Year's money.

Zhou Jiaming and a few others rushed in, followed by Zhou Xiaolin, who was struggling with her short legs.

"Happy New Year, ancestor! May you be happy, healthy and live a long and happy new year..."

"Be good, be good!" The old man happily took out the red envelopes he had prepared long ago from his pocket and gave them to several people one by one, one dollar and twenty cents for each person, a red envelope every month!

Then came Zhou's father and mother, and finally Zhou Huaian and his wife.

Zhou Jiaming took the lead and said, "Dad, Aunt, congratulations on a safe and prosperous New Year, and the birth of a chubby little brother!"

"Okay!" Zhou Huaian and the other man handed the red envelopes to the others, "Study hard next year, and you'll get a prize if you do well in the exams. Did you hear me?"

"I heard it!" After several children finished speaking, they came forward to pull Zhou Huaian, "Dad, set off the fireworks sticks and the archery cannons..."

Zhou Huaian waved his hand, "I still need to take a shower, you guys go back and take a shower first!"

"Oh oh!" They all ran away again, leaving Zhou Xiaolin behind shouting, "Sister, wait for me..."

This caused Zhou's mother to call the children back to pick up her sister.

After a while, Zhou Huairong and his brothers also came along. Zhou Huaian took out some firework sticks and archery cannons, and several of them went outside the yard to set them off.

"So beautiful, so pretty..." Several girls exclaimed as they looked at the fireworks sticks.

The boys shouted with excitement. Zhou Jialiang pulled Zhou Huairong and said, "Old man, look at what Dad has. This is great. You should buy some next year!"

"..." Zhou Huairong glared at him, but then he endured it because it was New Year's Day.

After a while, Zhou Yiding, Xu Erchun and Li Wu also came. Zhou Huaian brought the eight-immortals table to the door of the main room and took out the newly bought poker cards for several people to play upgrades, at ten cents per game.

Zhou Huaian brought out the barbecue pot and placed it in the yard. Everyone sat on straw benches and started barbecuing.

Yang Chunyan couldn't hold on any longer and went to bed before ten o'clock.

Zhou's mother took Zhou Yumei to clean the yard inside and out, because they were not allowed to sweep the floor or take out the garbage on New Year's Day. It was believed that the broom would sweep away wealth and luck, leading to financial loss, and attract "bad luck", bringing bad luck and taking away the blessings of the family.

Zhou Huaian chatted and laughed with everyone until after eleven o'clock. The old man, Zhou's father and Zhou Yiding also left and went back to prepare for the New Year.

Before leaving, he told Zhou Huaian to get up early in the morning to open the door and cook breakfast. This is the custom here. On the first day of the new year, the male host must open the door and cook the first meal.

Zhou Huairong and his two brothers also went home before 12 o'clock to set off firecrackers to welcome the New Year.

Zhou Huaian took out the firecrackers with a capacity of ten thousand bangs, unpacked them and placed them at the gate of the yard. He looked at his watch, and lit the fuse when the time came. The firecrackers of the four families exploded almost at the same time, and the sound of firecrackers in the village also rang out one after another.

Zhou Huaian took out all the fireworks in the bag and said to Yang Chunyan who was dozing in the room: "Yan'er, come to the gate of the yard, I will set off the fireworks for you to see!"

"Okay!" Yang Chunyan followed him out and looked up, only to see the night sky dotted with stars. The sky seemed very close to the ground, giving people the feeling that they could touch the stars with their hands.

Zhou Huaian held a flashlight in one hand and inserted all the firework sticks into the soil at the edge of the ditch with the other hand. He carefully tore off the paper covering the fuses one by one and pulled the fuses out little by little.

He handed the flashlight to Yang Chunyan, lit the incense sticks, turned his head and looked at her with a smile, "Yan'er, look at this! Ding Ding Cat said that fireworks look especially good when set off like this."

Yang Chunyan thought the effect would be like setting off fireworks, and nodded with a smile, "It's nice to think about it."

Zhou Huaian looked at her with a smile in his eyes, and quickly lit the fuses of all the firework sticks with incense sticks. He stepped back and hugged Yang Chunyan, and they looked at the firework sticks together.

After a loud "bang", there were continuous explosions. A gorgeous firework rose into the sky and colorful sparks rose and fell, as if the stars in the sky had fallen to the earth.

Yang Chunyan leaned against him, feeling as sweet as if she had eaten honey, "It's so beautiful!"

Zhou Huaian lowered his head and kissed her temple, "I think it looks good too!"

After all the fireworks were set off, the closing cannon was set off. Then the two of them closed the gate and went to take a look in the backyard before returning to the house and lying down.

On the first day of the first lunar month, the couple slept until dawn before getting up.

Zhou Huaian opened the door of the main room and went to open the courtyard gate. When he opened it, he saw a bundle of firewood at the gate. He ran out to fire the door-opening cannon and entered the yard carrying the firewood.

"Yan'er, who put a bundle of firewood at our door so early in the morning?"

Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "It must have been put there by Grandpa and the old man. Just bring the treasure in."

Zhou Huaian understood immediately, "I understand, bring in wealth!"

“Right!”

(End of this chapter)