Tao Changyi was 49 years old this year (1914), while Zhao Lingli was 45 years younger than him (1918).
As the youngest brother in the family, he has two older brothers and two older sisters, the eldest of whom is a full twelve years older than him. The old man is seventy-nine years old this year. He got married at eighteen, and his grandmother is three years younger than him. She married him at fifteen and gave birth to her first child at sixteen. She is also seventy-six years old this year.
In this day and age, living to seventy is already remarkable, let alone approaching eighty; there are probably no more than five such people in the entire village.
Moreover, after last year's flood, many of the elderly people over seventy years old have passed away one after another, leaving only Grandpa Tao and Grandma Tao still alive.
New Year's Eve is a day for family reunion. When Zhao Lingli arrived home at seven o'clock in the evening, the children had already prepared everything.
It was almost time to boil, steam, or stir-fry it. By the time Tao Zui picked Cui Ju up from her house, it was nearly eight o'clock.
Fortunately, everyone worked on time, and when the firecrackers went off at exactly eight o'clock, their New Year's Eve dinner began.
There was one table for men and one table for women, with the same dishes.
The difference was that the men's table had the old man's homemade rice wine, while the women's table had hot dumpling soup instead.
The table served eight dishes: four cold dishes, four hot dishes, plus two large plates of dumplings, one with sauerkraut and oil filling, and the other with mackerel and chive filling.
Four cold dishes: fried shrimp, fried ribbonfish, garlic cabbage and tofu strips, and pork skin jelly, which they make every year.
The prawns were provided by my fourth sister, and the kelp strips were cooked and dried a few years ago. We hadn't finished them yet, so I soaked them a bit before making a cold salad.
The pork skin in the pork skin jelly was specially cut off by Xiao Jiu after thawing frozen pork from his space.
Hot dishes are even more affordable, such as braised pork ribs with pickled cabbage, steamed pork ribs with rice flour, braised fish, and steamed sea urchin with egg.
The dishes were prepared according to everyone's usual consumption amount, no more and no less, until they were all eaten.
They didn't think about leftovers. The idea of having abundance every year is meaningless. They prepare plenty of fried food every year, which is enough to cover any surplus. There's no need to bother with leftovers at the dinner table. It's much better to eat fresh food than to reheat it repeatedly.
Of course, in this day and age, people probably didn't have the means to have leftovers. With many family members, there was usually not enough food to go around.
She has a large family, so she prepares plenty of dumplings; they can make more after they're finished.
The patriarch, the old man, began the opening remarks for the New Year's Eve banquet.
"Last year was a year of many disasters for our family, but thankfully we made it through without any major incidents. Although the house was severely damaged, the village committee repaired it for each household, which cost a total of over fifty yuan. The repaired areas were fixed, and the windows were replaced. This year, we heard that they are going to start repairing the river embankment, which is a good thing for our village that is close to the river. Our family may not be able to contribute, but we may have to contribute money. You should be prepared for that."
This year, our little Jiu is taking the college entrance exam, and Cuihong is getting married. These are all good things, so let's start preparing in advance. As older brothers and sisters, younger brothers and sisters, don't be stingy. If you have money, contribute money; if you have strength, contribute strength. When our generation is gone, your parents and godparents will be old, and you'll have to support each other..."
The old man said a lot, and his voice choked with emotion as he spoke. Tao Changyi quickly stood up: "Dad..."
"It's nothing, I'm just getting old and starting to reflect on life and look back on the past. I'll write a letter to your two younger sisters after the New Year and ask them to come and visit us!"
Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed, and they all nervously looked at the two elders. In contrast to the grandfather's veiled meaning, the grandmother was happily being taken care of by her daughters-in-law and granddaughters, eating heartily, with someone even wiping the corners of her mouth for her, without even glancing at the grandfather.
But the grandfather looked at his children and grandchildren and said, "Your grandmother's health is deteriorating day by day. I'm afraid she won't make it through this year!"
Let them come back, bring the children back. Every time we see them, it's one less time we'll see them. Who knows, one day they might…”
“Oh, Dad, what are you saying? My mother’s condition is getting worse every day, but she can still eat and drink. That’s a blessing.”
As Zhao Lingli was speaking, she couldn't continue. Xiao Jiu quickly grabbed her hand and said, "Mom, Grandma will be alright."
Nobody wants to start planning these things during the Lunar New Year, but if we don't talk about it while our children and grandchildren are talking about it, when will we?
The old man didn't even think there was anything to be ashamed of.
"Changyi, while we're still here, cut up our coffin lids, find someone to fix them, and repaint them. That way, we won't have to buy new ones when we need them."
...
Although those eating there felt depressed, they all understood the old man's feelings. They wanted to make sure he had everything he needed to say before he became senile. Who knew how long he would live? That way, when that day came, his children wouldn't be caught off guard.
Xiao Jiu held back her tears for a while before resting her head on the old lady's knees, enjoying this happiest moment.
After dinner, while everyone sat in the main room to stay up all night to welcome the New Year, they didn't forget to make dumplings for tomorrow.
The old man and woman were exhausted and went to bed early. After they left, the once cheerful main room gradually became quiet.
Tao Changyi's voice was filled with suppressed sorrow: "You all heard what the old man said, right? Don't be sad. Try to come back and visit whenever you have time. As the old man said, 'Every time we meet, it's one less time we'll see each other.' It's also my fault as a son. I've only been busy with work and forgot that they also need my company. If it weren't for Cuihua and the others all these years..."
As he spoke, Tao Changyi felt even more guilty. He even stood up to bow to Cuihua and her sisters, which startled Cuihua, who quickly pulled him back.
"Godfather, what are you doing? Isn't this what we should do? Without Grandpa and Grandma, where would we be today?"
"Yes, Godfather, love is mutual. It's our duty to take care of them. Let's skip the formalities."
...
Undoubtedly, no one expected the last day of the Year of the Tiger to be so difficult. Everyone talked a lot that night.
When the Year of the Rabbit rang, the dumplings were all made.
After the New Year's firecrackers had been set off, Tao Changyi led his whole family in paying respects to Heaven and Earth and honoring their ancestors.
Looking back, it seems that no year has ever been as somber as this one.
Fortunately, their emotions were quickly calmed down, after all, the old man's words were just a reminder, not a harbinger.
After the Tang sisters returned home in the early morning, Cuihua led them to worship the God of Heaven, the God of Wealth, the Earth God, and the Kitchen God, repeating the same rituals they had just performed at the Tao family's house. The only thing they didn't worship was their ancestors.
In their view, they were all driven out, so where did their ancestors come from?
It was almost one o'clock when they finally went inside to sleep, but this night was destined to be a sleepless one.
Especially after dawn, with more firecrackers going off, it became even harder to fall asleep, so I got up and continued making dumplings.
There are many sisters, and the fillings were all prepared and brought over yesterday. Today is the first day of the lunar new year, so we won't be eating at the Tao family's house.
The two families prepared their New Year's goods together. Half of them were brought over after they were finished. Except for the dumplings, which needed to be made on the spot, everything else was semi-finished, just like the other side.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com