When Zhou Qinglan went to stay in Songjianghe, she helped the Zhou family buy wedding supplies, and also bought a lot of fireworks and firecrackers for her own family, just to entertain the children.
Sheng Xiping carried a small basket filled with all sorts of fireworks and the like. The four brothers took some at random, lit an incense stick, and set them off in the courtyard.
Firecrackers, sky rockets, flashbangs, colorful pearls, and some other strange things.
Some were lit and spun around on the ground, spraying out colorful fireworks as they spun.
Some have a rope attached, which is hung on the clothesline. When lit, they just squeak and spin.
Sheng Xinhua and Sheng Xinyu loved this kind of thing the most, and the two kids clapped their hands and cheered.
When it comes to burning money quickly, firecrackers are definitely one of the top choices. Before long, the four brothers had set off half a basket of fireworks.
Just then, Zhang Shuzhen called out that it was time to eat dumplings. Sheng Xiping looked at the nearly empty basket of fireworks and firecrackers and quickly said that's enough for today, we'll set them off another day.
Sheng Xinhua and his companions were still enjoying themselves, but Zhang Shuzhen and Zhou Qinglan kept urging them on, so they had no choice but to follow their father and uncles back into the house.
Because of the dumplings being cooked, the kitchen was filled with heat, so the door had to be left open to let the steam out.
The air conditioning is strong, while the heat is weak, so you'll see that the upper half of the kitchen is filled with a dim yellow mist, while the lower half is clear and empty.
Everyone entered the house feeling chilly, and the two children quickly took off their hats and gloves and climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed) to warm their feet.
Sheng Xiping and the others helped bring the dumplings to the table, and then the family sat down and ate the dumplings, chatting and laughing.
Every now and then, someone would shout that they had found money in their food, or that they had found dates, peanuts, candy, or other items.
The two kids, seeing others pay for their meals, were incredibly envious and begged them for money too.
So Zhang Shuzhen secretly slipped money into the dumplings and gave them to her two grandsons. Sure enough, the children found the money in their dumplings and jumped for joy.
After eating dumplings on New Year's Eve, when the clock struck twelve, Sheng Xiping led his younger siblings, wife, and children to wish his parents a Happy New Year.
The new year has begun.
On the first and second days of the Lunar New Year, people visited relatives and friends to exchange New Year's greetings. On the afternoon of the second day, Sheng Xiping invited Wang Jianshe and others to his home for a meal, and they had a lively gathering together.
On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Sheng Xiping took his wife and children to Songjianghe to pay New Year's respects to his father-in-law and mother-in-law.
Zhou Qingyang's wedding is scheduled for the sixth day of the first lunar month. There are many things to do at the Zhou family's place, so Sheng Xiping and Zhou Qinglan can go back and help out.
Zhou Qingyang's marriage is a major event for the Zhou family.
On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, relatives from the Zhou and Wang families arrived in Songjianghe by train.
Sheng Xiping and Zhou Qingyue went to the station to pick up Zhou Qinglan, and met nearly twenty people, including her uncles, aunts, uncles and aunts, cousins, and other relatives.
When Zhou Qinglan got married, Zhou Mingyuan's younger brother Zhou Minghua and Wang Chunxiu's older brother Wang Zhongjing came to escort her. Sheng Xiping had met them both.
Sheng Xiping didn't know any of the remaining relatives. It was only thanks to Zhou Qingyue's introduction that he was able to greet them one by one.
"Uncle, Second Uncle, let's go home first. There are special carts available outside, let's take one back."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Sheng Xiping quickly led everyone out of the train station.
There were more than a dozen people, and one donkey cart wasn't enough to carry them, so they found another one. The two donkey carts pulled everyone straight to Baishan Street.
Upon arriving at the entrance of Zhoujia Hutong, everyone got out of the car. Sheng Xiping paid the fare and then accompanied everyone to the Zhou family's residence.
"Dad, Mom, we've brought our second uncle, eldest uncle, aunt, eldest maternal uncle, and second maternal uncle over."
Zhou Mingyuan has only one younger brother and one younger sister, but he has many cousins. This time, his older cousin also came, so Sheng Xiping called him "Uncle".
Wang Chunxiu has many brothers and sisters, but some of them live far away in other places. Only her eldest brother, second brother, and two younger sisters came to visit.
Hearing the commotion, Zhou Mingyuan and Wang Chunxiu hurriedly came out of the house. They were overjoyed to see their relatives and warmly shook hands and greeted each other.
Zhou Qingyang and Zhou Qinglan also came out of the house. When they got closer, they first greeted the elders, and then greeted their cousins and other relatives of the same generation.
"Xinhua, Xinyu, come here quickly, these are your great-grandparents." Zhou Qinglan pulled Sheng Xinhua and Sheng Xinyu out from behind her to greet their elders.
"Happy Chinese New Year, Grandpa! Happy Chinese New Year, Grandma!"
Before the two children arrived, Zhou Qinglan specifically instructed them that they must greet their elders and not be timid or hide, as that would be impolite.
The two Sheng children are both quite cheerful and outgoing, so when their mother mentioned it, they quickly went to wish their elders a Happy New Year.
"Oh my, these are the two boys from the Qinglan family? They're so handsome."
"Come on, Grandpa was in a rush today and didn't prepare any gifts for you. This is some New Year's money from Grandpa, you two keep it safe."
Zhou Mingchen, Zhou Mingyuan's older cousin, took out two one-yuan bills from his pocket and gave one to each of the two children.
Although Sheng Xinhua was young, he knew it was money, and he knew money was a good thing. His eyes lit up the moment he saw the money.
However, the boy was shrewd and didn't dare to reach out and take it directly. Instead, he looked at his parents.
At this moment, Zhou Qinglan quickly refused, "Uncle, this won't do. They're just little kids, what would they do with money? We can't give it to them."
"Go away, this is for the child, not for you."
Zhou Mingchen glared at his niece, bent down, and stuffed the money directly into the pockets of the two children.
"Sweethearts, this money is from Grandpa. You can keep it and use it to buy candy whenever you crave it."
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