Chapter 66: First Leaf·Year Beast·Elm
After the New Year's Eve dinner, it was Ye Yu who first suggested that Ye Hongjun and his wife sit down and rest while she directed, no, she led Ye Baoguo and Ye Weiguo to wash the pots, bowls and dishes.
Ye Yu sat in front of the stove, throwing firewood into the stove one by one, raising his eyelids from time to time, and giving instructions: "There is a little too much cooking oil tonight, boil it a little longer, don't be lazy, look at me, what are you doing, hurry up."
You dare to whisper and call her the big devil behind her back, isn't that just proving that she is the devil?
Ye Baoguo and Ye Weiguo: "..."
According to the traditional customs of the Spring Festival, people need to stay up all night on New Year's Eve, that is, oil lamps are lit in all the rooms, and the whole family gathers together to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.
When the three siblings came out of the kitchen, Wang Lai Di had already taken out snacks such as melon seeds, peanuts, biscuits, candies, dried fruits, etc. from the cupboard and placed them on the eight-immortals table in the main hall.
Televisions are a scarce commodity nowadays. Not many families own a recorder with three switches and a stereo. There is no background music for the Spring Festival Gala. Gambling games such as chess and cards are prohibited, and there is very little entertainment.
But people are still quite happy. Staying up all night eating and drinking is already a happy enough thing, and they can also chat.
Gossip is probably human nature.
And the atmosphere at this moment is there, and it is possible that all friends and relatives, whether known or not, will be brought up and discussed, as well as their fantasies and plans for the next year.
Ye Yu ate happily tonight, and was a little bit choked up, but not too picky about her food. She listened to her mother's chatter from time to time, and sometimes even listened to the people from the neighboring compound. Basically, they talked about happy things mostly.
The next thing is playing. Usually, it is the children who play, so the New Year celebrations in families with children will be more lively. Of course, it may also be frustrating.
Ye Weiguo is the youngest child in the Ye family, but it is boring to play alone, so he tries to call Ye Yu and Ye Baoguo to join him. Ye Yu also invites Ye Hongjun and Wang Laidi to join him.
Ye Hongjun waved his hands awkwardly: "We are all adults, how can we mess around with you guys?"
"Why not?" In a few decades, the old men and women might be more energetic than young people, and they would be able to do square dancing on the horizontal bar without any problem.
Ye Yu felt that when his father saw them playing games, there was light in his eyes. Sometimes, he couldn't help but secretly wave his fist, which showed his excitement.
Chicken fighting is also called "collision of crutches", which means standing on one foot and using the hand to bend the other foot into a triangle shape with the knees facing outwards, a bit like standing on one leg, and attacking each other with the knees. Whoever lands on both feet is eliminated. No props are needed.
Normally, playing the game of bumping crutches requires jumping around to keep balance, but Ye Yu just stood there, motionless, and didn't even use his hands to support his knees.
Ye Weiguo and Ye Baoguo together could not bring her to the ground. Instead, they were so exhausted that Ye Baoguo surrendered first. Ye Weiguo persisted until his face turned red, but in the end he could not hold on any longer and was so tired that he stuck out his tongue like a rhubarb.
Elm leaves:
"There is not a single one who can fight."
What a joke, this posture is too simple compared to martial arts training. She can maintain it for a year without any problems. The chassis of a Rolls-Royce magic carpet is nothing compared to her.
Maybe because he drank some wine, Ye Hongjun was more lively than usual, and finally he decided to do it if he could.
But theory is rich, reality is skinny, adults' center of gravity is originally high, not to mention Ye Weiguo, he couldn't even maintain the time of Ye Zhongguo's independence.
The two brothers laughed out loud.
This did arouse Ye Hongjun's desire to win. Although he was not good at chicken fighting, he was an expert at rolling iron rings and spinning tops.
Ye Weiguo had gyroscopes in his house, and he also had several iron rings. After all, Ye Hongjun was an employee of the steel factory, and their steel factory would not be short of anything.
It can be seen that Ye Hongjun is indeed very good at this. Even though he hasn't played for many years, he can master the skills again in just a few strokes. It's just that he was okay only in beating Ye Baoguo, but compared with Ye Yu and Ye Weiguo, he still has to admit that he is old.
Ye Baoguo:
“…”
Ye Hongjun and his children started playing. Wang Laidie was not being reserved and not joining in. She was really not that interested in it. She was already tired enough from work on weekdays, and why did she run around? She was actually very happy to see the excitement.
However, even if I don’t like the martial arts scenes such as kicking shuttlecock, throwing sandbags, and jumping rubber balls, there are still some scenes that don’t involve much movement, such as playing with flower ropes and throwing corn seeds.
Ye Yu can also bring over the shells of the future werewolves, soldiers and goblins. He doesn't need to go to the yard to play, he can just sit around the stove.
Moreover, playing this game, Ye Yu was finally no longer the game king. After several routines, no matter she was a soldier, a ghost or a villager, she was eliminated in the first round. Taking the role of an officer, she could only save herself for one night.
“…”
It is said that it would be more fun if there were more people, but no one else cared. It was just a simple little game, and they could play it for a long time, and the laughter point was low enough.
Before I knew it, it was almost 12 o'clock.
Ye Hongjun quickly took out a 100-round red cannon and placed it in the yard. Not only their family, but other households in the yard also took action.
Around 12 o'clock, light it.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The whole city was shrouded in the sound of firecrackers, with gongs and drums blaring and firecrackers blasting in unison.
Ye Yu: "..."
At this time, it was quite shocking for a person with keen hearing. Ye Yu even suspected that the Nian monster that was driven away by firecrackers during the Spring Festival seemed to be himself.
Indeed, no custom is completely without reason.
Although you need to plug your ears with cotton, it is really fun to spend the Spring Festival this way. It would be a shame if the Spring Festival is really cancelled next year, right?
Ten years later, many old customs have disappeared in the long river of history, and some have become protected as intangible cultural heritage.
Ye Yu cannot influence the policies of Ye State, mainly because it takes too much energy. He can still perform a small prank, but whether he can succeed depends on God's will, and God's will cannot be forced.
While Ye Hongjun, Wang Laidi and others were not paying attention, Ye Yu slipped back to the room, teleported three times in a row, and began to physically project the roar of beasts, a small sonic device invented by the doomsday base for the purpose of replenishing low- and medium-level alien beasts. What was being played now was the ugliest alien beast sound in the future.
One teleportation broadcast, so on this day, many neighborhoods in the city heard the faint roar of the "Nian Beast" at around 12 o'clock? Oh my god, there really is a Nian Beast? Some people even said it was the roar of a dragon?
Cough, cough, cough, no matter what——
"Happy New Year!"
When Ye Yu teleported back, Wang Lai Di had already reheated the dumplings.
There are delicious foods! It can also be regarded as a way to comfort Ye·Nian Beast·Yu’s injured ears.
Everyone has half a bowl, which means good luck and prosperity in the coming year. What makes children happier than dumplings is the New Year's money.
To ward off evil spirits and suppress old age, the red envelopes have to be placed under the pillow all night. Sometimes they are taken back, sometimes not. This year, Ye Hongjun and his wife promised not to take theirs back.
Ye Baoguo and Ye Weiguo cheered for this.
Ye Yu also had one. According to calculations, even if she was 18 years old after the Chinese New Year, Ye Hongjun and Wang Laidi would still prepare red envelopes for her. And because she would soon become an adult, this was her last year to receive the red envelope, so they prepared the biggest one.
Ye Baoguo and Ye Weiguo cost 50 cents, and Ye Yu has 10 yuan, that's the price difference.
Ye Yu had shown off enough and also gave Ye Baoguo and Ye Weiguo a small red envelope of fifty cents.
Everyone is happy.
After finishing the dumplings, Ye Weiguo rushed to pull Ye Weiguo to pick up the unburned firecrackers in the yard. The friends in the yard thought so too. They picked them up and piled them together. They would not throw them away tonight as there was still a long time before the Spring Festival.
There are too many people picking up cannons and too little porridge. If you go too late, they will be gone. You have to be anxious.
Sometimes, children would get into disputes because of picking up firecrackers. Unless they really got into a fight, adults generally would not intervene in such disputes. Even if they really fought, each child would be given a slap on the butt.
Ye Weiguo was not short of dumb cannons, as he still had a lot of the other 100-round rifles that Ye Yu had bought. But he didn't want to lose. It seemed that the children's entertainment still had one last item, and the fierce battle for territory had just begun.
Anyway, I don’t know when I fell asleep in the end.
The moon is very bright tonight, and together with the twinkling stars, it illuminates the joy of the city clearly.
The next day, just after dawn, Ye Hongjun and Wang Laidi were already outside the room calling people.
Today is New Year's Day, the first day of the year. No matter what time you went to bed last night, you are not allowed to sleep in. Getting up early is a good start.
First sentence when meeting:
"Happy New Year."
Today's breakfast is also dumplings, with a variety of fillings, each of which has an auspicious meaning. Cabbage is homophonic to "wealth", celery is homophonic to "diligence", green onion is homophonic to "smart", and carrots mean "prosperity".
The most special dumpling is the one with money in it, which used to be copper coins but now are hard coins.
Wang Lai Di kept staring at Ye Yu, asking him to eat slowly and not swallow the coin. She kept nagging him, and finally Ye Yu actually got to eat the coin dumpling.
"Yeah, you're the luckiest this year. I remember it was Arya who ate it last year, right?"
Yeweiguo:
"Mom, you are being superstitious."
"Go away, and don't talk nonsense during the New Year." Wang Lai Di stuffed a dumpling into her little son's bowl and recited a few innocent words.
The Spring Festival is originally a kind of hope and expectation. No matter whether it is scientific or metaphysical, people live with more or less faith, which is also a spiritual pillar.
After breakfast, I won’t clean up the trash or do anything else today. I just want to have some free time.
Ye Weiguo and his brother did run out, but Ye Baoguo, who was not young anymore, was dragged out by Ye Weiguo. They and their friends went from house to house in the alley to wish each family a happy new year, exchanging a few auspicious words for a variety of snacks.
The richer ones have candy and biscuits, the more ordinary ones have melon seeds and peanuts, and the poorest often have homemade dried sweet potatoes and popcorn.
Except for the three years of famine, people would not be stingy with such little things. Moreover, it was also for the sake of a smoother year ahead. Many Chinese people believe in this.
The pockets of each of the children were stuffed full, with pure happy smiles on their faces, and the ones who were quick to speak were spouting auspicious words over and over again.