Chapter 254: New Year
Looking at Mrs. Qiao again, she bought even more things. Before coming, everyone seemed to have everything they needed.
But when I got there I found that it wasn't the case. I wanted to buy everything I saw.
When all these bits and pieces are added together, it adds up to a lot.
There were piglets for sale at the market today. They were the finest kind that had been raised for about two months, and each weighed about 25 kilograms.
After Mrs. Qiao and Mr. Qiao discussed it, they decided to buy one and raise it.
They are old and have limited energy, so it’s not a good idea to raise too many, but one is still fine.
If you buy this kind of fish and raise it for ten days or half a month, you can feed it with bran and pig grass. It is very easy to raise.
When the time comes, half of it will be sold to the food station, and the remaining half will be kept to be made into bacon, and then made into sausages to be distributed to each family of children.
After asking about the price, it seemed reasonable, about 1.2 yuan per pound. Just as Mrs. Qiao was taking out the money, Lin Siqiao took the lead and paid.
Old Mrs. Qiao was so angry that she wanted to hit her.
Lin Siqiao doesn't care. Over the past six months, her grandparents and uncles have been sending her many gifts.
They always say that these mountain products are not worth much, but the postage is so expensive now!
If Lin Siqiao wasn't afraid that they would be too tired from raising too many, he would have planned to buy a few more for them.
Everyone bought so many things that they were afraid they couldn't carry them all back by themselves, so they had to find a handcart next to the market to transport the things back.
There was nothing to do in the afternoon, and every household was busy washing and cleaning the house.
Time flies quickly in the busy life.
On New Year's Eve, February 22, Lin Siqiao was awakened in the morning by a burst of crackling firecrackers.
After asking, I found out that the custom here is to worship ancestors on New Year's Eve.
The ancestral hall in the village was destroyed a few years ago. Now, if people want to worship their ancestors, they can only go to the mountains.
As for what was mentioned above, the idea of not allowing this or that, this is totally unfeasible in the countryside.
The remaining cousins of the Qiao family arrived one after another in the afternoon. Except for the eldest cousin who married in the commune and stayed at her in-laws' house for the New Year, everyone else came back.
For a moment, the courtyard was very lively. There were six or seven little radish heads alone. Fortunately, Lin Siqiao had made preparations in advance and bought a lot of candies when he came back this time.
What she bought was not White Rabbit candy but a kind of red shrimp crispy candy unique to Beijing.
Red Shrimp Crispy Candy is produced by the Beijing No. 1 Food Factory. It is currently only available in limited quantities in a few major cities and is difficult to buy in other places.
The filling of the red shrimp crispy candy is made of Erba sauce. The skin is crispy and not sticky to the teeth. It is so crispy that it falls apart when you take a bite.
The little ones were eating while catching the food with their hands, for fear that it would fall on the ground and be wasted.
After a short rest, everyone quickly went to the mountain with firecrackers and paper money. Lin Siqiao also kowtowed and burned incense to the ancestors of the Qiao family and Qiao's mother.
When they were going down the mountain, they heard the intermittent sound of firecrackers coming from the village, and the Qiao family couldn't help but quicken their pace.
People in Tongcheng prepare the New Year's Eve dinner early. As long as you hear someone in the village setting off firecrackers, it means that they have already started eating.
Although the Qiao family started the ancestor worship ceremony a little late, they were busy all morning.
All the vegetables have been washed and cut, and then they will be fried in two large pots together, which is very quick.
There are many people today, and an octagonal table cannot accommodate them all. Old Mrs. Qiao asked the old family to bring all the tables, chairs, benches, bowls and dishes from their home in advance.
Putting two tables together will make dining more lively.
"Mom, do you think this paste is okay?"
"Okay, almost."
After Mrs. Qiao quickly scooped out the paste, she slapped her forehead and remembered something.
"Oh! Qiao Qiao Qiao Qiao, our Spring Festival couplets haven't been written yet."
I was so busy that day that I almost forgot about this matter.
"It's okay, grandma. I write fast."
Lin Siqiao smiled and rolled up his sleeves. It was just a matter of minutes to write a couplet.
When the little kids in the house saw Lin Siqiao holding a brush to write, they all climbed onto the bench and watched.
Lin Siqiao thought about the content of the Spring Festival couplets last night.
Although the authorities allow ordinary people to post these things these days, you can't write whatever you want.
In the past few years, everyone had a hard time living. Not to mention having no income for a year, even having enough to eat was a difficult task.
At that time, someone wrote this couplet on impulse.
The first line is: two, three, four, five, and the second line is: six, seven, eight, nine.
Horizontal banner: North and South.
At first glance, there seems to be nothing wrong, but if you think about it carefully, doesn't the meaning of this couplet imply that the lives of ordinary people are lacking in clothes and food, and have nothing?
Because of this incident, that person's whole family suffered misfortune.
Lin Siqiao didn't dare to be clever about this matter. To be on the safe side, she decided to follow the crowd and just write some quotations or poems.
After moistening the brush, Lin Siqiao took the brush and started writing on the red paper.
While Mrs. Qiao was going to the kitchen to get something, Lin Siqiao had already finished writing three pairs of Spring Festival couplets.
What she wrote in the front yard was: The east wind is blowing, the revolutionary situation is extremely good, the red flags are waving, the production front is new!
In the backyard, there are thousands of willows swaying in the spring breeze, and the six hundred million people in China are all like Shun and Yao.
These are all going to be posted outside for others to see, so this is the most suitable option.
Lin Siqiao wrote the following couplets on the main door of the living room: As the years go by, people get older, the world is filled with spring and blessings. This is probably her expectation.
"Qiao Qiao, did you write all this?"
After asking this question, Mrs. Qiao immediately felt that her question was very stupid. Who else could it be if not Qiao Qiao?
After a pause, Old Mrs. Qiao hurriedly shouted to the people in the yard.
"Come and take a look at the Spring Festival couplets written by Qiao Qiao!"
"Oh my god, Qiao Qiao's handwriting is even better than the ones sold here!"
The Qiao family thought the old lady was exaggerating, but after seeing it, they couldn't help but be surprised. The handwriting was indeed good.
Lin Siqiao was so flattered by their praise that she couldn't resist the "sugar-coated bullets" from her family, so she quickly handed the Spring Festival couplets to her cousin and asked him to put them up quickly.
"Yes, yes, yes, hurry up and stick it on."
After saying this, Mrs. Qiao happily handed a small bowl of stewed eggs to Lin Siqiao.
Stewed eggs are actually tea eggs, which are a must-have dish for every household in Tongcheng during the Chinese New Year.
If friends and relatives come to visit during the first month of the lunar year, a bowl of fragrant stewed eggs must be served before dinner.
The locals call this "getting ingots", which means money rolling in.
In the past, when conditions were not so good, the first thing the elders in the family would do before going out to pay New Year’s greetings was to give instructions to their own pets.
When you go to someone's house, you must not touch the stewed eggs and fish on the table. They must be saved for making cards.
On the night of New Year's Eve, brothers from the same clan would send some to each other's homes, usually six, just as a token of their appreciation.
You come and go, and no one gives more or less, it's just a matter of courtesy.
Of course, when sending the stewed eggs, the other party will also give a symbolic red envelope. This has been agreed upon by several families long ago, and they will just give six cents for good luck.
In previous years, the job of delivering stewed eggs to the family was always done by the eldest grandson.
This year, Lin Siqiao came back. Old Mrs. Qiao thought it would be a good idea to let her meet her relatives, so she assigned this task to Lin Siqiao.
I don’t know if grandma had greeted them in advance, but when Lin Siqiao went there, she received many heartwarming blessings.
This was her first New Year in this era, poor but full of memories...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
