New Year's Day
On the first day of 1998, Xiaogou Village was hit by a heavy snowfall.
Goose-feather-like snowflakes fluttered on the ground and on the roof. Such quiet snowflakes seemed particularly suitable for the quiet courtyard.
Qin Wenli and Qin Shengtian took their family's cows to "travel" to the fields in the northwest early in the morning.
"Traveling" is the local custom in Xiaogou Village. It is a blessing activity held according to the favorable directions mentioned in the old almanac. The main practice is to paint the cattle and sheep at home red, put on red cloth, and fire a few cannons in this direction, in order to pray for peace and success in the year.
It sounds simple and is also simple to operate. Qin Shengtian and Qin Wenli are enough.
The rest of the Qin family gathered in the kitchen.
In the open pot, plump white dumplings with bulging bellies were rolling in the boiling water.
"It's snowing heavily today. I guess the Wang family won't come?" Hu Yufeng glanced at the heavy snow outside the window and chatted with his wife with a smile.
Yang Xiu also laughed. The two cousins of Aunt Wang came to visit on the first day of the first lunar month every year, and the Qin family never had enough dumplings to eat, which annoyed Hu Yufeng enough.
Before she could reply, she saw the kitchen door opened, and Qin Wenli leaned halfway in and said, "Mom, my two cousins are here..."
What she said was really true. Hu Yufeng even wanted to slap herself twice.
It was impossible to fight, so Yang Xiu quickly loaded the food onto a plate, took the meal and followed Hu Yufeng to the main room.
"Aunt..." The two children of the Wang family saw Hu Yufeng coming in and hurriedly called for help. They also poked the three children who were standing aside and said:
"Quick, call aunt grandma."
"Happy New Year, Auntie..."
"Hey, good... How did you get here in this heavy snow? You must be frozen. Come on and get on the kang..." Hu Yufeng forced a smile and greeted them.
"It's okay, it's not far away. I said I would come early to wish you a happy new year." Wang's cousin said with a naive smile.
The two brothers knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "Grandma, I wish you a happy new year. Uncle and aunt, we wish you a happy new year..."
The three little kids followed suit.
"You are a thoughtful child. You come so early every year. It's enough for you to just show up. Why do you have to kowtow? Hurry up and have dinner. Try the dumplings made by your aunt and see if they suit your taste..." Hu Yufeng said with a fake smile.
"The dumplings at my aunt's house must be delicious. You should try some too..." The two cousins waited for Qin Shengtian and the old lady to bring the bowls, and then quickly stuffed a bowl into each of the children's bowls.
Hu Yufeng continued to be polite: "Then you guys take your time eating, I'll go to the kitchen to take a look..."
*
In the kitchen, Yang Xiu was working hard to pull the bellows.
Seeing Hu Yufeng coming in, Yang Xiu asked, "Have you served the food, Mom? I just put in another pot..."
"Well..." Hu Yufeng couldn't help complaining, "Every year, she comes to our house at mealtime. I'm afraid your aunt is watching us at home. She chases us out when there's smoke coming out of our chimney. She's really smart. She knows how to save food for her family."
"It's okay, Mom. We've made a lot this year, so there will definitely be enough to eat..." Yang Xiu comforted her mother-in-law.
"Is this a matter of whether there is enough food or not? I am just annoyed with your aunt. How can you be so good at calculating? Were you an abacus bead in your previous life?"
Yang Xiu burst out laughing when she heard her mother-in-law's words, and Hu Yufeng also laughed at what she said.
"Forget it, let them eat. They can only eat white flour dumplings a few times a year anyway. Just think of it as feeding other children to accumulate blessings for your own children..."
Hu Yufeng took the half-full porcelain bowl of dumplings from Yang Xiu's hand while chattering away, and pushed the door open to go out.
"It's full, give it to the kids, if it's not enough, we still have more at home..."
As soon as Hu Yufeng entered the door, she saw a child from the Wang family put down his bowl, and she forced a smile.
Qin Wenli took the child's bowl, filled another one and handed it over:
"You're welcome. Eat until you're full. Just treat this place as your own..."
Hu Yufeng also said: "That's right, you can't do anything on a snowy day, just eat slowly and eat until you are full..."
There were eight people. Yang Xiu refilled the pot with half a bowl of soup. Wang Mancang put down his chopsticks and said:
"Aunt, I delayed you so much that you didn't even have time to eat. How can I be so embarrassed..."
"That's right, aunt, please don't bother us and just eat your meal..." Wang Mantun felt embarrassed and quickly helped to clear the table.
"It's okay, there's more in the kitchen. Your sister-in-law and I will eat it right away..." Hu Yufeng said with a smile.
"Brother Mantun, let me clean up, and you and uncle can talk..."
Qin Wenli rushed to clean up.
*
Hu Yufeng returned to the kitchen to eat with Yang Xiu. In the main room, the Wang brothers and Qin Shengtian looked at each other in silence.
Fortunately, the two brothers have become accustomed to this taciturn uncle, and at this moment they can just use this opportunity to hone their patience.
It didn’t take long before Qin Wenli arrived. The two brothers breathed a sigh of relief and started chatting with Qin Wenli.
After sitting for about ten minutes, the two stood up to say goodbye, and Qin Wenli hurriedly tried to keep them.
Wang Mancang said politely: "Let's go to my uncle's house first, and come over and sit down when we have time..."
As for coming back, that is definitely impossible. Qin Wenli also knew this, but he kept his enthusiastic smile on his face and said:
"Okay then, you must come over later..."
Seeing them go out the door, Qin Wenli closed the door, turned around and breathed a sigh of relief. The two adults outside the door also breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the door closed.
"Dad, aren't we going to my uncle's house?" a boy asked quickly when he saw the adults walking home.
"Go, wait until the afternoon. People are having dinner now..." said Wang Mantun.
"Oh...but we are full..." The child felt quite regretful.
"Idiot, you only come here in the afternoon when you are full. What's the point of having dumplings in the morning when every family has them..." said the older child.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Go back quickly..." Wang Mantun glared at the older child.
*
At the Wang family, after Aunt Wang swallowed a black-flour dumpling, she saw her three grandsons walking into the house laughing.
As soon as the youngest one came in, he shouted, "Grandma, we ate dumplings too, made with white flour, they were delicious..."
"Okay, are you full?" The aunt looked at her grandson with kind eyes.
"I'm full, grandma, how did you eat the black noodles?"
“Grandma likes to eat black-faced dumplings, they make you feel fuller. You can go and play after you’re full…” Upon seeing her two sons enter the house, the old lady stopped talking and quickly swallowed the last dumpling.
"Mom, it's New Year's Day and you're reluctant to make some white flour dumplings. Even if our family is poor, we can still afford to eat white flour today..." Wang Mantun had already noticed his mother's actions and couldn't help but complain.
The old lady didn't respond, she just asked, "Did your aunt treat you badly this year?"
"No, Mom, don't always look down on my aunt. She was very welcoming and brought two bowls of dumplings. We all ate our fill..."
"Hmph, she's sensible. I guess it's because I scolded her last time that she finally knows whose bowl she is holding..." The old lady was quite complacent.
Wang Mancang opened his mouth a few times, but finally closed it and packed up his stall.
In the kitchen, the two daughters-in-law of the Wang family cursed quietly:
"So only the Wang family is entitled to eat white flour, and we, the people of other families, can only eat black flour? They are so stingy that they can't even afford to eat a bit of white flour on the first day of the first lunar month..."
"That's right, she's still scolding my aunt. I don't think she's even half as good as my aunt. My aunt wouldn't do something like having two meals for the whole family..."
"That's right. She also thinks her aunt is giving her a cold shoulder. If Wenli brings the child to visit her on New Year's Day, she will probably kick him out..."
"What kind of person is this? You are so stingy. I don't think you can make a fortune by being stingy!" She threw the rag down and said:
"What kind of life is there? I can't even have a meal of white flour on the first day of the first lunar month..."
*
Hu Yufeng had no idea that Wang’s sister was still eating black flour dumplings. Even if she knew, she would just sneer and say: Why don’t I dig you to death!
The snow was falling heavily, and the family, who were used to doing farm work, were bored to death.
"How about we play cards and call Wen Zheng and his wife over?" Hu Yufeng suggested. She wanted Qin Shengtian, this stupid teammate, to continue playing, but Wen Li would definitely not be happy about that.
Sure enough, Qin Wenli was very sensible. He put on his shoes immediately, said "I'll go and pay it", and went out.
After a while, Qin Wenzhen and his family came over in the wind and snow.
"Come on, let's play cards..."
Hu Yufeng thinks she is an excellent card player and is full of confidence at the moment.
Qin Wenzhen glanced at Qin Wenli and also got on the kang in his slippers.
"I don't want to play. I'll learn a trick from my sister-in-law..." Yang Xiu didn't want to play cards with her mother-in-law anymore, so she quickly refused.
"I'll fight. I'm on a team with my dad..." Qin Fang actively participated in the battle, and Yang Xiu immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
The battle in the main hall was fierce. The two teams were fighting back and forth, chasing each other, and they were evenly matched. Hu Yufeng was sweating all over her forehead.
Qin Zhu and Qin Yu, who were watching from the sidelines, also stood on their respective sides and cheered.
Yang Xiu's two sisters-in-law looked at each other and quietly withdrew from the battlefield.
*
"When did Second Aunt learn to play cards? She looks so enthusiastic."
Li Lanhua whispered.
"She knew how to do it before, but you know who dared to fight before... She only dragged my husband and me together and fought with my second uncle for two hours last night."
"Second uncle can play too?" Li Lanhua was curious. Second uncle didn't look like someone who could play cards.
"No, Yuyu's dad was almost mad to death..." Yang Xiu imitated the one-sided and tragic battle last night and laughed so hard that Li Lanhua's stomach hurt.
"Emma, Second Aunt is also a wonderful person..." Laughing, she looked at Yang Xiu and couldn't help but envy: "Second Aunt has a good temper. You have finally made it through. Unlike me, when will it end?"
"It's okay. You and your aunt-in-law are not in the same courtyard. She can't always keep an eye on you. Besides, I don't think Liu Rong has a good temper..." Yang Xiu comforted.
"Liu Rong has a bad temper. You may not know, but the couple had a fight last night, and Wenqing was scratched several times on the face, which made my mother-in-law very angry..." Li Lanhua said in a low voice.
"Ah, then Liu Rong is more powerful than Xueqin. Xueqin has not been willing to touch Wenqing for seven or eight years..." Yang Xiu sighed:
"What is Wenqing trying to do..."
"Maybe it's because Liu Rong has a hot temper and likes to tickle people!" Li Lanhua is also a narrow-minded person.
This time it was Yang Xiu's turn to laugh until his stomach hurt. After a while of laughing, Li Lanhua looked around and whispered:
"Also, next time Lingling comes over, be careful what you say. If Liu Rong hears it, it will be another big problem."
"What's wrong? What did you find?" Yang Xiu asked.
"Didn't we invite uncle and aunt to have dinner this morning? Lingling is here too, and she's talking to Qianqian and the others in the house. When I came out of the kitchen, I saw Qiangqiang standing under the window..."
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