Gu Qiaoling's brother just smiled innocently, while her brother's attention was mainly focused on the eight gifts brought by Yang Qilang. He was not interested in the four bottles of wine. He mainly studied the four cans and predicted in his mind what they would taste like.
According to normal etiquette, the new son-in-law should have lunch here at noon when he comes to visit. The bride's family members, including relatives, may want to see how the new son-in-law behaves when eating and drinking, to see if he is honest, whether he has any brain problems, and whether he can drink.
But because it was almost the New Year, everyone had a lot of work to do at home and was in a hurry to go back. Following Chen Cang's suggestion, they did not stay here for lunch, but got up and returned after sitting for more than an hour.
Before leaving, Yang Qilang received a five-dollar visiting fee from the girl's family. The girl's giving this money was almost equivalent to announcing her recognition of his identity.
Then the following process is simple. The girl's parents or relatives go to the boy's house to look after the family and then get engaged. When they are about the same age, they get married.
Yang Qillang has seven brothers, and his sixth brother is still unmarried. He can only get married after his sixth brother gets married.
Gu Qiaoling is only seventeen this year, so she is not in a hurry.
When his sixth brother gets married and moves out, the four houses in his family will be his, and then he can consider getting married.
After returning home, Wan Feng sent the tractor to the brick factory. Its mission was completed the previous year, and it would not be used again until after the Chinese New Year.
When passing by Luan Feng's house on his way home, Wan Feng saw many people helping to paste the walls and roofs. These people were the women from the back of the village who did odd jobs for Luan Feng. Going to Luan Feng's house to help at this time would inevitably give people the suspicion of flattery.
Seeing so many people helping, Wan Feng didn't go in but went straight home.
The walls and sheds of grandma's house have been plastered, and my grandparents, uncle, aunt and others are making tofu in the steaming kitchen.
There was no one selling tofu at that time. During the Chinese New Year, every family would grind their own beans to make tofu, then freeze it outside and eat the frozen tofu during the Chinese New Year.
Frozen tofu is chewier than fresh tofu and has a special fragrance. It is Wan Feng’s favorite food.
While his aunt was making tofu outside, Wan Feng went to her room, opened his iron box and checked the contents.
The box was welded by Xiao Dexiang using one-millimeter-thick white steel. Anti-rust paint was applied inside and outside, and a layer of dark red paint was applied on the outside. At first glance, it is really no different from a wooden box.
There was a thick layer of paper at the bottom of the box, and all of Wan Feng’s property was in this box.
Apart from some tape recorder accessories, the rest of the box contained bundles of money, more than forty bundles of ten yuan each, as well as bundles of five yuan and two yuan bills, and a stack of deposit slips totaling about fifteen thousand yuan.
If it were 100-yuan bills, it would be fine. Three or five bundles would be enough. That wouldn't require such a big effort.
Having too much money is also a troublesome thing.
Of course, my grandmother’s family didn’t know what was in the box. If they knew that Wan Feng had so much money, they probably wouldn’t be able to sleep well at night.
After the tofu was made, Zhu Ping took a relatively straight pole about four meters long that was standing against the wall to a flat ground, and checked whether the pulley on the crossbeam tied with wire on the wooden pole was rusty, and whether the wooden pole was corroded by insects.
This is the whip rod that people here use to set off firecrackers during the New Year.
When setting off firecrackers at midnight on New Year's Eve, the firecrackers are hung on this pole and rise into the air, which the locals call "fa purple".
For many years Wan Feng didn't understand what "purple" meant, nor did he know which specific word it was, so he used "purple" instead.
Don't underestimate the purple firecracker, there is a lot to pay attention to. If the purple firecracker is successfully lit, it means that everything will go well for the person in the coming year. If the purple firecracker breaks halfway, the person will definitely have some very unlucky things in the coming year.
This is not some feudal superstition. Wan Feng has experienced all these things. If there is a problem with the purple firecrackers, no matter what, some troublesome things will definitely happen this year, and they will not be trivial matters.
Apart from this, there is no particular requirement for whether firecrackers should be set off at other times.
Therefore, every family attaches great importance to the firecrackers set off when the sky turns purple, and they all choose to buy those firecrackers that they feel are safe.
Of course, this is something that happened in the future.
In 1981, even if you wanted to choose, there was nothing to choose from. There was only Gangtou and Zhongbian, and there was no choice.
Setting off firecrackers is also Wan Feng’s hobby, so of course he wants to join in the fun.
So he ran over to help Zhu Ping fiddle with the whip.
The pulley on the crossbar was replaced with a new one, and two whip ropes were inserted into it.
Wan Feng went back to the house and took out a string of small flags that Luan Feng had made in advance with colorful cloth scraps. He wrapped them around the whip and made the whip colorful.
"Next year, we'll weld a whip frame out of iron pipes to save ourselves the trouble of using wood, which has to be replaced every three to five years."
Wan Feng's suggestion was agreed by Zhu Ping.
“Then we have to make it higher.”
"Then make it 8.88 meters, how about making it rich?"
In 1981, except for the people in Xianggang area, probably no one paid attention to the meaning of the numbers 888 and 666. Wan Feng's suggestion seemed novel to Zhu Ping.
Wan Feng, who had experience in later life, also made two small iron windmills with iron sheets and installed them on the crossbeam at the top of the whip rack.
After the whip pole was ready, the uncle and nephew worked together to place the whip pole in the pit that Zhu Ping had dug before the freezing weather.
It was not easy to stand up a whip pole that was four or five meters high. It took some effort for the two of them to insert the whip into the pit.
The pit was more than a foot deep. The big end of the whip pole was inserted into it. Zhu Ping straightened the pole, and Wan Feng scooped water from the water tank with a ladle and poured it into the pit. In a few minutes, the water froze into ice, and the whip pole stood there firmly.
After Wan Feng's move, the whip of Zhu Ping's family was different from others this year. Not only were there colorful flags on the whip, but the two iron windmills on the crossbar also made a rattling sound when they turned in the wind, which was very eye-catching.
The children playing in the street all ran over to watch the fun.
After the whip pole stood up, Wan Feng took out a 500-shot Hongtou and tied it to the whip rope and pulled it up. The whip was bought to be set off, so he might as well satisfy his desire first.
When the children saw the firecrackers being set off, they burst into cheers.
After the whip was raised, Zhu Ping lit it with a cigarette butt, and then the first burst of firecrackers in the valley was heard from the east end.
"Save it for the New Year!" Grandma popped her head out of the kitchen and yelled.
"Don't listen to her, keep on setting off fireworks!" Wan Feng bewitched Zhu Ping, so Zhu Ping continued to set off fireworks foolishly.
It's no disadvantage for him to hear the sound of his uncle setting off firecrackers.
He set off three small whips in a row before stopping.
After the firecrackers were set off, the children from the neighborhood rushed over and gathered under the whip to pick up the duds.
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