Chapter 4: The Cannon-Slinging Guys
Chapter 4: The Cannon-Slinging Guys
"Niannian!" Wang Jing called to him, "Hurry up, come and change into your cotton-padded coat! It'll get dark if we don't leave soon!"
Wang Jing's family home is nearby, usually only a quarter of an hour's walk away. However, the main road in the village is only paved with a thin layer of pebbles, and the rural roads have not been renovated yet. The roads are full of potholes, and with the rain in the past few days, the water in the ponds has frozen, turning into a mixture of mud and thin ice.
Carrying large bags of New Year's goods in one hand and pulling Fang Yuenian along with the other, she instructed him: "Baby, Mommy's telling you, when you get to your in-laws, you should say 'Happy New Year, and wish them good health.' When you see your aunt, say 'Happy New Year, Auntie.'... Don't step on things! Walk carefully! Remember Brother Liangliang?"
Fang Yuenian tried to break free from her mother's overly tight grip, twisting her body and saying, "I don't remember, I don't remember!"
Wang Jing finally let go—she gently patted his head—and switched the New Year's goods in her hands. "Your brother Liangliang got third place in the class in the final exam this time! You should learn from him in your studies, understand?"
Fang Yuenian took the opportunity to run away, happily stomping on the frozen puddles ahead.
"Watch your shoes get dirty!" Wang Jing shouted again. The north wind was howling, and she, wearing only a light blue woolen coat, shivered and her breath was steaming as she spoke. "You little brat! Don't be a waste!"
Along the way, they would occasionally encounter a few smiling neighbors, and Wang Jing would have to pull Fang Yuenian back to greet them one by one. They kept shouting and dragging each other along for a full hour before finally arriving at her parents' home.
Her elder brother and sister-in-law, along with their families, had been waiting for her for a long time.
It seems all women are the same; whenever they return to their parents' home, they can't wait to get up in the middle of the night and run home excitedly. Their mothers are busy as bees, but they are still happy, rubbing their hands on their aprons before hugging their precious grandson affectionately. Fang Yuenian greeted all the adults with pride, which made his father-in-law so happy that he picked him up and carried him on his shoulders, calling over his older grandson Liangliang, to go to the corner store to buy firecrackers to play with.
A "shuai pao" is a small firecracker, usually a dozen or so in a small box. It explodes violently when you smash it on the ground, making a loud noise, just for fun.
Fang Yuenian was encountering this kind of thing for the first time. His cousin Liangliang showed off by smashing several in a row, and he tried to do the same, but he couldn't succeed no matter what he did. After being ridiculed, he got angry, grabbed one, and smashed it with all his might. With a "pop," the firecracker skin exploded and splashed onto his father-in-law's trouser leg. His father-in-law chuckled, patted his trousers, and said, "Not bad, not bad, not bad at all!"
The new toys eased the slight melancholy from before. Fang Yuenian had a great time, so she put the last few toys into her cotton-padded jacket pocket and went back to eat, completely satisfied.
After finishing their meal and chatting for a while, Wang Jing had to leave.
There were many things to do at home, so she didn't stay overnight. In the evening, she took Fang Yuenian home—no one was home.
Grandma Fang had no daughter, and on the second day of the Lunar New Year, she was always listless. Seeing other women's daughters returning home, she would lament, "My life is miserable; I have no daughter to cherish." So, early in the morning, she would go to the village entrance to play cards with her old friends. Teacher Fang was also very busy. In his own words, he was always away from home and hadn't been very friendly with the villagers. So, he would often wander around the village with a teacup in hand, and if he bumped into former students or their parents, he would chat for a while. As for Fang Wu, needless to say, after hastily paying New Year's visits to a few scattered elders on the first day of the Lunar New Year, he had already spent his time playing mahjong at a small restaurant.
These small restaurants are scattered throughout Shuibiwei. Most of the mahjong players are young people who have worked away from home all year to earn some money. During the Spring Festival, they hog the mahjong table and refuse to leave. The restaurants are always smoky and noisy. The people inside all have their hair standing on end, their lips are cracked and peeling, but their eyes are wide open, showing an over-excited expression. It's as if they won't have truly celebrated the New Year until they've handed over all the money in their pockets.
After entering the house, Wang Jing instructed Fang Yuenian to first go to the village entrance to call for his grandmother, and then the two of them should call for Fang Wu. If they were lucky enough to run into Teacher Fang, they could also call for him. As the sun was setting, it was time to prepare dinner.
She didn't bother to collect the New Year's gifts that hadn't been put away yesterday. Instead, she sat down at the table in the main room. The tea and fruit dishes hadn't been refilled this morning, so she picked and chose, ate two pieces of cloud cake, and then grabbed a handful of melon seeds to slowly crack open.
Finally, there was a moment of leisure during the holidays.
She had this in mind when she married into the Fang family. Her husband was an only child, and the family had few relatives. There were no uncles, aunts, or other relatives, and the number of extended family members was also small. Even the New Year's feast for guests was limited.
Fang Yuenian ran excitedly towards the village entrance.
Grandma usually held his hand and wouldn't let him run around the village, saying that he shouldn't be led astray by those wild kids who roll in the mud. But she probably didn't expect that her grandson was the best among the wild kids, the champion of rolling in the mud.
Fang Yuenian ran all the way from his house to the village entrance, into the U-shaped valley. His shoes were covered in mud, and his newly changed cotton-padded jacket was all wrinkled. But children don't care about such things. He clutched his pockets tightly and ran happily. He ran into Aunt Hongmei carrying a basket of pickled lettuce, who called out to him repeatedly, but he didn't even bother to respond.
Grandma Fang and her elderly sisters were playing cards at a table under the old poplar tree at the village entrance. They were having a good time and didn't feel hungry. When her grandson came to call her, she touched the tip of her tongue with her index finger to wipe the cards and said, "Little Bao, be good. Grandma will rest a little longer before going home. You go find your father first." Seeing that Fang Yuenian was grumbling and didn't want to move, Grandma Fang coaxed him, "Yuenian, be good. Your father played mahjong all day today and won money. He's going to buy you a toy airplane to play with."
Fang Yuenian wasn't unwilling to call his father; his little brain worked quickly, and he turned and ran off in a flash, saying, "I'm leaving."
After turning around the bend, we reached the other side of the river.
Anyway, Dad will definitely make him go find Grandpa first, and Grandpa will definitely... Anyway, the other side of the river must be fun too!
Soon, he ran straight to the other end of the rice field—the end opposite his own house across the river.
The two orange trees not far away had their branches touching, their leaves lush and vibrant, and several bright yellow oranges were hanging from them. It seemed they were keeping them to enjoy the harvest and didn't intend to pick them to eat.
Fang Yuenian stopped and stood at a distance, biting her fingers.
After a while, he touched his pocket, as if he had mustered up his courage, and finally took a step and walked in that direction.
The first person to see him was Cheng Xiaoxiao.
Cheng Xiaoxiao had grown into a beautiful young woman, slender and fair-skinned. She had always been well-behaved and quiet, always greeting people with a gentle smile. Everyone in the village spoke highly of her. As dinnertime approached, wisps of smoke began to rise from the Cheng family's chimney. Cheng Xiaoxiao, carrying a large, glistening plate of fried spring rolls, rounded the back door, intending to deliver them to Grandma Lin's house, when she spotted a small figure standing hidden among the orange trees.
She recognized Fang Yuenian—after all, the village was only so big, and she would see him from time to time—but as she got closer, she noticed that little Fang Yuenian seemed to have taken a step or two back before standing still.
The two children, one big and one small, stood facing each other for quite a while before Cheng Xiaoxiao finally called out to him, "Come and play?"
Fang Yuenian stared at her clean yellow cotton-padded jacket for a while, and after vaguely confirming that she was from Cheng Bing's family, she whispered, "I'm here to see Cheng Bing."
Cheng Xiaoxiao was taken aback. She actually recognized these two little guys?
"Why are you looking for him?"
"Nothing much, just hanging out with him."
Cheng Xiaoxiao walked over, picked one out of the pile of spring rolls on the plate, and handed it to him. "You eat first, I'll call him out."
The spring rolls were fragrant and piping hot. Fang Yuenian licked her lips, temporarily forgetting her mother's teaching not to be greedy, and took one. She had just taken a careful bite when her lips were covered with bits of fried dough.
Cheng Xiaoxiao didn't say anything more, just smiled slightly, and turned to leave.
Cheng Bing and Cheng Junjun were sitting together at the stove opening.
Cheng Qiuyan always doted on her children. Before the New Year, Lin Guohui once went to town to deliver a table and brought back some roasted sweet potatoes from a street vendor. The sweet potatoes were fragrant, sweet, and soft, and Cheng Junjun and Cheng Bing ate them until their mouths were covered in charcoal, but they were still very happy. Yesterday, Grandma Lin had given them three or four yellow-fleshed sweet potatoes, each one large and clean. Taking advantage of the strong fire in the stove, Cheng Qiuyan gave one to each of the three children, instructing them to bury them in the firebox and to be careful, otherwise they wouldn't be cooked through and wouldn't be edible, and if they were cooked for too long, most of them would turn to charcoal and be wasted.
This got the children excited. Ever since we put the sweet potatoes in at lunchtime, they've been keeping a close eye on it, constantly turning the stove upside down and trying to extinguish any remaining flame.
Cheng Xiaoxiao poked her head into the house and called to her younger brother, "Bingbing, come help me."
Cheng Bing shuffled out.
"Help with what?" He looked at the plate of spring rolls. "Should I deliver them to my great-aunt's house?"
Cheng Xiaoxiao, who was still swaying precariously, quickly raised her arm, "I don't need you, I don't need you. Look, who's over there?"
Cheng Bing then noticed Fang Yuenian.
Fang Yue Nian, who usually acts like a little tyrant at home, is quite well-behaved now. When he sees Cheng Bing, he waves at him repeatedly, beckoning him over. Once Cheng Bing gets closer, he grins and hurriedly rummages through his pocket for a while before pulling out four or five firecrackers. He shows them to Cheng Bing mysteriously, "Look, these are firecrackers, they can be set off!"
He was holding a firecracker in one hand and a spring roll in the other. Cheng Bing hesitated for a moment and said, "But the little guy can't set off firecrackers."
“Hehe,” Fang Yuenian chuckled, “This one doesn’t need to be lit. Like this,” he made a gesture of smashing it on the ground, “Just smash it like this, I’ll show you!”
As if showing off, Fang Yuenian took two steps back and threw a firecracker on the ground. However, despite putting all her strength into it, the firecracker didn't go off. Meeting Cheng Bing's puzzled look, Fang Yuenian's face turned red. Looking at the firecracker lying motionless at her feet, and then at Cheng Bing, she became anxious and quickly threw another one. But, as if under some kind of curse, three firecrackers in a row sank without a sound.
Cheng Bing finally understood Fang Yuenian's behavior, and the firecrackers were quickly exhausted, with only one left.
Cheng Bing quickly reached out and took it in her hand.
"Swing it like this?" As soon as he finished speaking, the firecracker he smashed on the ground exploded with a bang.
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