An unforgettable night?
—Experience.
Thinking of this, Ye Haoyu, Ye Lingfan... and the rest of the brothers instantly tensed up, their scalps tingling. They didn't want to bear their grandmother's wrath.
Besides, it was only after my younger sister, my cousin Yingbao, was born that our family's life improved.
If he's not good to her, who is he good to?
The group nodded in unison, expressing their loyalty as before, without the slightest impatience. "We understand, Grandma. We will never forget our roots and will make our little sister the happiest person in the world in the future."
"Our little sister is so good, how could we possibly bully her?"
Yingbao tilted her head to look at her grandma, then at her brother, then back at her grandma again. The little old lady was adorable no matter how you looked at her. The only thing that might be considered bad by others was wonderful to her: her biased grandma doted on her too much!
Oh, yeah!
I'm incredibly happy.
Wang Cuihua was satisfied at the moment, and stopped talking about the brothers. She didn't want to say anything more, as it would be like chanting a mantra.
***
Staying up all night on New Year's Eve is a traditional cultural custom.
All that is sought, desired, and wished for is beautiful.
The ancients said that staying up all night on New Year's Eve has two meanings. The first meaning is for the elderly to stay up all night, hoping for family happiness and gathering together, so it means cherishing time. The second meaning is for the young to stay up all night, hoping that their parents are healthy, have good fortune, and are always smiling, so it also means wishing their parents a long and healthy life.
The elderly always ask for what their children want, while the grown-up, sensible children always ask for what their parents want.
—A two-way journey.
Legend has it that in the ancient primordial era, there was an extremely ferocious monster that people called "Nian". In order to prevent the Nian monster from harming people, the custom of pasting bright red "Fu" characters, hanging bright red lanterns, writing couplets on red paper and pasting them on the door, and setting off firecrackers on New Year's Eve arose.
On New Year's Eve, people must stay up all night to keep watch and prevent the mythical beast Nian from taking advantage of them.
For Yingbao, even after living an extra lifetime, the ancient times were nothing but legends and myths; she had never witnessed them firsthand, they were too distant…
She only remembered the story in the book, which her teacher told her about the origin of staying up all night on New Year's Eve. The earliest record of this story can be found in Zhou Chu's "Records of Customs" from the Western Jin Dynasty:
On New Year's Eve, people give each other gifts, which is called "gifting the year"; they invite each other to eat and drink, which is called "bidding farewell to the year"; the young and old gather to drink and offer blessings, which is called "sharing the year"; everyone stays up all night to wait for dawn, which is called "keeping watch over the year".
At that time, Yingbao did not understand what "giving away the year," "bidding farewell to the year," and "sharing the year" meant; she only knew how to stay up all night on New Year's Eve.
Many of her classmates didn't understand either.
So, the teacher took some time in class to explain it to them:
"From ancient times to the present, everyone has attached great importance to the traditional customs of New Year's Eve. On New Year's Eve, parents get up early to prepare candies, melon seeds, peanuts... right?"
Yingbao nodded and answered loudly with her classmates, "Yes."
After listening to the students' responses, the teacher continued to satisfy their thirst for knowledge, "Weren't you especially happy on this day? Did you fill your new clothes pockets with lots of sunflower seeds and candies and share them with your friends?"
"right"
Teacher: "That's right. 'Kui Sui' refers to the candies, fruits, melon seeds, and small gifts you exchange with each other, which express your blessings and care for one another."
"…………".
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