New Year's Eve is here.
In order to have a good New Year's Eve dinner, Awang assigned tasks to everyone in the family.
Liu Jidalang was responsible for writing couplets and hanging lanterns.
Erlang, Sanlang, and Si Niang followed Qin Yao to do a thorough cleaning, sweeping away last year's bad luck and welcoming good luck.
Awang took charge of the kitchen himself and warned in advance that no one was allowed to go in and get in the way without his call.
Qin Yao, who rarely picked up a broom, said, "I want to exchange with Liu Laosan."
Liu Jicai was not going to change. He had finally gotten an easy job and he almost gave Awang a big hug to express his gratitude.
The red paper bought in advance was moved to the front of the gate, the tables and chairs were placed on the table, the pen was picked up, and he looked proudly at Qin Yao who was carrying a broom in the yard and didn't know where to start. With a few strokes, the graceful first couplet appeared on the paper.
【New Year brings good fortune】
Qin Yao raised her eyebrows, leaned forward with a broom to take a look, and was surprised that the handwriting on the paper was 90% similar to Gong Liangliao's.
The only thing missing is the soul.
It has the appearance but not the true meaning of its character.
But even so, it was enough to make Qin Yao look at Liu Ji, the waste, with new respect.
"How did you do that?" Qin Yao turned over the red paper under the couplet in disbelief to see if it was a template he had prepared in advance and was not writing it right away.
This made Liu Ji very unhappy. He held down her hand that was turning the paper and said unhappily:
"Why can't I do it? Oh, am I useless in my wife's eyes?"
Qin Yao was silent.
Silence is better than words at this time.
Liu Ji took a deep breath and managed to avoid getting angry to death. He took her hand away, picked up the pen and started again, writing the second line.
【Auspicious Year, Peace and Prosperity】
Horizontal banner: Spring returns to the land!
After finishing writing, he gently put down the pen, put his hands on his hips and chest out, glanced at Qin Yao with his chin, and said, "Open your eyes wide and take a good look at me, is it true or false!"
As expected, I received a solid slap on the back of my head.
"Ouch!" Liu Ji jumped in pain and almost knocked over the table.
He quickly stepped back, holding the back of his head in grievance, and said resentfully: "My wife, it's New Year's Day, can you give me some face?"
Qin Yao couldn't help but chuckle, stuffed the broom into his arms, pointed to the yard, and said, "Go sweep the floor. I'll help you put up this couplet."
Liu Ji's lips moved, but under her indifferent gaze, he could not muster up the courage to resist. He held the broom, looked back every few steps, and warned worriedly:
"Remember to blow on it. The ink hasn't dried yet. It would be bad if it gets smudged. I worked so hard to write it."
She kept mumbling non-stop, even louder than the gossips in the village.
But looking at the couplet on the table in front of her, which could be called "beautiful", Qin Yao couldn't find a reason to yell at him for the first time.
Qin Yao waited for the ink to dry before she picked up the homemade rice paste and pasted this couplet with beautiful meaning on her door.
Last year's old couplets had been torn to pieces by the children and were thrown on the ground by Qin Yao. After pasting the new ones, she picked up the old ones and burned them in the stove in the yard.
On the faded red paper, Liu Ji's dog-paddling handwriting from last year was instantly devoured by the fire.
Instead, there are new couplets on the gate, with the writing in a free and elegant style, no longer as sloppy as before.
After the couplets are posted, the lanterns have to be hung up.
Qin Yao waved to Dalang to come over. The young boy guessed what she meant, his ears turned red with embarrassment, and he moved slowly.
Qin Yao found it funny. She handed him the lantern and lifted Dalang up with one hand. "Is it high enough?"
Dalang sat in her arms, not daring to move, and replied stiffly, "Auntie Yao, a little higher."
"Okay." Qin Yao lifted it lightly, and Dalang could easily touch the hook on the eaves, and carefully hung the lantern up.
After hanging up this first one, continue to hang up the second one.
After hanging the lanterns at the front gate, they went on to hang the ones at the entrance of the main hall, and also hung a red lantern in front of each door, decorating the yard with a festive look.
Liu Ji also brought Erlang and the twins with him to clean every corner of the house and polish the tables, chairs and window sills until they were shiny.
All of a sudden, the New Year atmosphere is in the air, and we can start eating as long as Awang’s delicious dishes are served on the table.
While it was still early, Qin Yao took out a pair of scissors and taught the children how to cut the word "Fu". They then pasted the cut characters on the windows, which made people feel good just by looking at them.
In the kitchen, Awang shouted, "Prepare for dinner!"
The family of six in the house immediately stood up and ran over to serve the dishes.
Si Niang raised her nose and said, "What a nice smell!"
Liu Ji leaned over to the stove and looked over. The milky white wolf bone and vegetable soup in the pot was bubbling, with the milky white and emerald green complementing each other.
It is a very simple soup without any extra seasoning, and the original aroma is enough to whet your appetite.
In addition, there is a pot of braised pork belly, a carp with chopped pepper, a plate of scrambled eggs with shredded winter bamboo shoots, a plate of appetizing pickled radish strips, and a leaf of millet and red date cake.
Including the soup in the pot, there are exactly six dishes, which fits the auspicious meaning of "six sixes and everything goes well".
Qin Yao and Liu Ji served the dishes, Dalang and Erlang served the rice, and the twins helped to arrange the chopsticks. They were just waiting for Awang to serve the soup. The door to the main room was closed to block out the cold wind, leaving only the warm and festive atmosphere in the room.
I have never eaten such delicious food before. The six members of our family, big and small, were all stuffed.
Only Awang was relatively restrained.
Rather than the deliciousness of the food, he preferred to see the people around him showing satisfaction because of his cooking skills.
This made him feel that he was an indispensable member and he had a sense of accomplishment.
Naturally, the job of cleaning up the dishes, tables and chairs fell on Awang, since he could still move.
After the New Year's Eve dinner, it was completely dark and the children couldn't wait to take down the lanterns with long bamboo poles and light them all.
The red candlelight filled the small courtyard, and inside was the cheerful laughter of children.
The stove in the yard was burning brightly, and specially selected long bamboos were burned inside, making crackling sounds.
But Dalang and his three siblings were not satisfied with the noise. They dragged their father to take out the firecrackers they had bought, each of them took a long strip, lit a stick of incense, and ran towards the village with them.
These are all the things children can show off.
Compare who has more money to ward off evil spirits, and see who has the tallest firecrackers.
Soon, the sound of firecrackers could be heard from the village, adding to the excitement.
Qin Yao and Liu Ji followed them out. They had finished their meal at the old house, and the two families gathered together to talk about this year and imagine the coming year.
The hunger and coldness of winter in my memory have long been replaced by today's warmth and satisfaction.
The old house was expanded with a new room following the large group of people in the village. The thatched roof was replaced with green tiles, the ground was paved with stone paths, and two red pomegranate trees were planted in the corners of the wall.
The scene now was very different from the first time Qin Yao stepped into the old house.
During the night watch, the snow began to fall.
Old man Liu sat in the corridor, looking up at the snow in the sky, and said with a smile: "Auspicious snow indicates a good harvest. Next year will definitely be a good year." (End of this chapter)
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