The first day of the Lunar New Year.
The brigade was bustling with activity early in the morning.
The children, who usually sleep in late, didn't sleep in today. They got up early and made plans with their brothers, sisters, and friends to visit relatives and friends for the New Year.
When people visit others to offer New Year's greetings at this time, they don't expect lucky money, but rather the food the host provides.
Even the stingiest families would leave their doors wide open on this day. On the table in the main room, they would place some melon seeds, peanuts, or homemade rice candy. When children from the village came to pay their respects, they would be politely invited inside, each given a little treat, and then sent on their way.
A fast-paced and sweet-talking child can collect enough snacks for a month by visiting relatives and friends on this one day.
The men would get up early and go around visiting relatives and friends to offer New Year's greetings.
The so-called "New Year's greetings" is simply visiting people's homes on foot! You only need to enter each house, say a few words of congratulations for the New Year, and then turn around and leave to move on to the next house.
To get there before lunch, you have to visit almost every household in the brigade with whom you have a good relationship, which is quite tiring.
The women were also busy, staying at home to boil water and make tea.
Not only do we have to entertain the men who come to pay their respects for the New Year, but we also have to entertain the children who come to pay their respects. So we don't even have time to put our feet down all morning.
Following local customs, Gu Zhiyuan got up early and went to pay New Year's visits to the brigade leader and the party secretary.
Xu Ningyan stayed at home, opened her bedroom door, and put some important items that she shouldn't show to outsiders into a box.
The heater was burning brightly, with a kettle of hot water on top, and a stack of bowls and a bag of brown sugar next to it. When someone came, they would be given a bowl of brown sugar tea to sweeten their mouth.
The children came, and since it was the first day of the Lunar New Year, although their clothes still had patches, they were all washed clean. Their usually dirty little faces were also washed clean, making them look more pleasing to the eye.
Tie Zhu and Xu Ningyan built an unbreakable bond through fruit candies and gossip.
As soon as she entered the courtyard with her friends, she began to wish Xu Ningyan a Happy New Year: "Happy New Year to Aunt Siya! Wishing you prosperity and good fortune in the Spring Festival!"
Xu Ningyan smiled and made them line up, giving each of them a fruit candy, a small handful of melon seeds and peanuts, and a small piece of rice candy.
The children were overjoyed. Some immediately stuffed the food into their mouths, while others were reluctant to eat it and kept it in their pockets to eat later.
Children would come to offer New Year's greetings in droves, and then run away in a swarm.
Before Tie Zhu left, Xu Ningyan called him back and secretly slipped him a handful of White Rabbit milk candies.
Then he made a "shh" gesture.
Tie Zhu understood immediately, knowing that this was a gift from Xu Ningyan specifically for him. He nodded with a wink, stuffed the White Rabbit milk candy into the purse inside his smock, and then happily went off to chase after his friends.
People came to pay their respects in an endless stream, no less than those at the homes of the brigade leader and the party secretary.
Firstly, thanks to Xu Ningyan, everyone's income has increased this year.
Secondly, knowing that Xu Ningyan and Gu Zhiyuan are now the most promising people in the Unity Brigade, who wouldn't want to curry favor with them?
Not to mention the children, who heard that if they wished Xu Ningyan a Happy New Year, they would get a piece of candy, as well as peanuts, melon seeds, and rice candy. So they stopped visiting other people's homes and came in groups to visit Xu Ningyan.
By the end of the morning, apart from the snacks that Xu Ningyan had specially saved to entertain guests in a couple of days, the rest had all been eaten up by the children who came to wish them a Happy New Year.
Some children who arrived late refused to leave, staring at the empty plates on the table and the bags beside them.
Xu Ningyan had no choice but to make them brown sugar tea, one bowl for each of them. Only after they finished drinking did she reluctantly leave with a pout.
pounding his back, Xu Ningyan looked at the mess on the table and smiled bitterly.
Two kettles of water on the heater were gone, and a whole bag of brown sugar was used up. With lunchtime approaching, fewer and fewer people came to pay their respects.
Gu Zhiyuan originally only planned to visit the brigade leader, the party secretary, Aunt Xie, and a few other families who had treated them well before paying his respects for the New Year and then go home.
But when they went to the homes of the brigade leader and the party secretary, they were stopped and dragged along to pay New Year's respects to a highly respected elder in the brigade before being released.
After returning home, they waited for a while longer, but no one else came to pay their respects for the New Year. Only then did the two of them breathe a sigh of relief and close the courtyard gate.
They looked at each other and realized this was even more tiring than going to work.
Fortunately, everyone would rest at home in the afternoon. Once the two of them closed the gate to their yard and put down their lackey, they managed to keep out quite a few children who were still unwilling to give up and wanted to come back for candy in the afternoon.
Finally, I have some peace and quiet.
The next day was the second day of the Lunar New Year.
The day my daughter returns to her parents' home.
There are fewer children in the brigade now, as they have all gone back to their parents' homes. There are also many unfamiliar children, who are all women from the brigade who have married out and returned with their husbands and children.
Xu Ningyan had no family home to return to, and the two of them thought they could finally have a peaceful day.
Unexpectedly, after breakfast, Aunt Xie came to our door, wanting Xu Ningyan and Gu Zhiyuan to come to her house today to keep her son-in-law and daughter company as they returned home.
Aunt Xie was also a person with a tragic fate.
She wasn't a local; she was sold by human traffickers to a family in the next village to be raised as a child bride.
Everyone knows what kind of life a child bride lived. She finally endured until the son of that family grew up, and the two consummated their marriage and had a son.
She later became pregnant again, and it was a girl.
The daughter was not even a year old when the man fell ill and died.
The husband's family was dissatisfied, believing that Aunt Xie and her newborn daughter had caused the death of their son, and they disliked Aunt Xie and the little girl very much.
He kept only his eldest grandson, whom he had given birth to earlier, by his side, while driving Aunt Xie and her youngest daughter out to live in a shack, ignoring their fate.
Aunt Xie had a very difficult life, raising her youngest daughter while also earning money to support herself.
Fortunately, Aunt Xie had learned about some herbs from the men before, and had also learned how to deliver babies.
With his skills in delivering babies and his knowledge of herbs, he was able to make a living.
Although Aunt Xie was not a talkative person when she was young, she was very helpful and had a good reputation in several nearby villages.
She caught the eye of one of Xu's uncles, who also had a wife, but the two had no children for many years after their marriage.
Uncle Xu loved children very much, so he took a liking to Aunt Xie, thinking that since she had already given birth to two children, she would definitely be able to give him several more if she married him.
He's going to divorce his wife when he gets home.
The original wife couldn't have children, and if she were divorced, she would have nowhere to stay when she returned to her parents' home, so naturally she wouldn't agree.
After a long and complicated dispute, seeing that Uncle Xu wouldn't budge and was determined to divorce her, she simply squandered almost all of Uncle Xu's hard-earned fortune before returning to her parents' home in resentment.
Uncle Xu would do anything as long as he could divorce his original wife.
Once his former wife returned to her parents' home, he asked someone to propose marriage to Aunt Xie, offering to treat Aunt Xie's daughter as his own.
Aunt Xie was initially skeptical, but after seeing that Uncle Xu was indeed very sincere, she agreed.
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