Chapter 18 New Year's Flavor
Thousands of households always replace the new peach with the old one. Before we know it, we are ushering in the New Year, and the way the New Year is celebrated differently in every part of China. Celebrating the New Year in Guizhou can be said to be the top event of the year. No matter how busy the year is, you have to put down the work at around the 28th of the lunar month. You have to rest, the pigs raised in the countryside have to be killed in advance, the pigs at that time are called New Year's pigs, and the meat will be smoked into bacon after killing, and you have to eat it when the farm is busy in the coming year. Those in the city with good economic conditions will go to the countryside to buy a pig to kill for the New Year, and those with poor economic conditions will buy more than 30 catties of meat and make bacon for the New Year. If you can't smoke cured meat in your own small bungalow, you have to find a place to smoke it. Killing pigs is only one aspect. Around the 27th of the lunar month, every household began to make rice cakes, and ours called baba, all of which were taken for the New Year. The production process is also very simple, in the eighties and nineties, the rice cakes were made with primitive tools, a stone trough and two wooden sticks for 3 people. Blanch the glutinous rice, pour the steamed glutinous rice into the stone trough, and use it to hedge it manually. When the glutinous rice is thickened, it is fine. The glutinous rice should be wrapped. The average is green beans. There are also those wrapped with tofu. Wrapped in sugar sesame seeds. There are a variety of fillings, depending on the taste of the family. Often the most delicious things are made in the simplest way.
Some large families also make their own tofu for the New Year, feeling that everything delicious is kept for the New Year, in fact, there is not much to eat on the night of the New Year, but thousands of years of culture have created our habit, and the delicious food is kept for the New Year. On the day of the Chinese New Year, if the girl doesn't do anything, she waits for the man to eat it. Cooking is done by women all year round. But on that day, the exception was that the girls didn't do anything, the men did, and the pillars of the family did what they did. The woman rests or helps with the start. As long as we have a traditional festival here, we have to "offer to the ancestors", almost every family has an ancestral ranking, our side is called "Shenkan", which can be said to be the most holy place in the family, and the ancestors eat first. It's called "Offering Rice". You can't eat it in front of your ancestors first. If there is a small baby at home, we can also provide "Niangniang Mom" and "Niang Niang Mom" We can eat together, and we will burn paper money after the "meal" is good, and we will say things like "let the ancestors bless". We still pay attention to family culture here, eating Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is the parents' red envelope, commonly known as the pressure of the year, mother will say put the money under the pillow, your wishes will come true. When I was a child, I listened to my mother's words and put money under my pillow, but my wish never came true, but I never suspected that what my mother said was false. After the New Year, it is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and there are several taboos on the first day of the Lunar New Year, one, no pouring water, two, no sweeping the floor, and third, not allowing girls to go to other people's homes, which is unlucky, saying that girls are troubled water. Fourth, don't spend money and say that you will be poor in the following year. Most of the people on our side live like this, this is the Han people, and there are other ethnic minorities, and their ways of living are a little different. That's pretty much the case.
Mom, are you coming home? It's almost the New Year, and the house at home hasn't been done yet, it's quite messy, but the most important thing for the New Year is to have a happy meal for the family. If the adults in the family do not come back for the New Year, the child is very pitiful, other people's families do this and that, the child will not get it at home and feel quiet, very quiet, so whether you have money or not, you have to go home for the New Year, the New Year is very important for us, it is not just a meal, but also a manifestation of family love. The Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is full of nostalgia and the bittersweet and bitter of this year. We're here tomorrow, and I'm glad to hear that, it's unusually cold, and I'm covered in a thick cotton jacket. Ya hasn't been to the city for a long time, we are all chatting on the mobile phone, and the elder brother has also returned, and the elder brother will not come back until the twenty-eighth of the lunar month. We didn't rent a house, but went back to the house, where the bricks were exposed, but the doors and windows were installed. My side is a new urban area, and there are still very few households at this time. The house was empty, it was cold, and it felt quite desolate. My brother and I both burn wood at home to keep warm. When night falls, people seem particularly lonely. There is nothing else in my room, just a bed, and the day's life is to get up to eat, play games for a while and lie on the bed, and get up at night when it is cold to make firewood.
The best thing is that the mothers will come home tomorrow, which child does not expect the mother to come home, the mother is the best harbor, and it is the relief house for the child to say goodbye to the desolation.
Ya, what are you doing? It's cold at home? What about you? I have nothing to do at home, are you coming to the city before the Chinese New Year? What's wrong? I miss you, before the Chinese New Year, I came here, but I won't stay long, my mothers are coming home now, and I don't dare to be outside for too long. I'll be scolded in this way, but after the New Year, of course, I can, and I want to come out to play during the New Year! "Catch up with the slope" When we arrive in the New Year, adults and children in the countryside will come to the city to play, and if they don't come to the city, they will go to a place to make an appointment for songs, adults will sing mountain songs, and children will spend New Year's money. In our case, it's called "Rushing Slope", and these farmers have never been to school since they were young, but the lyrics they organize are very rhyming and symmetrical. Mountain songs are our specialty here. There are enthusiasts, and there are also mountain singers who make this a profession, and every year a mountain song competition is held in the city. It was a spectacular scene, and it was crowded. I don't like to listen to mountain songs, and I feel a headache when I hear them. Moms love to listen to mountain songs. I usually play CDs all day at home. I went out when she let go.
Okay! When the time comes, Ya and I belong to the kind of people who like to explore, do you remember Tower Mountain, Wufeng Cave? Of course I do, as we talk about it, Ya and I recalled the experience of our expedition together, and we both sounded a little scared.
Is your mother coming back tomorrow? Yes, it may be there tomorrow morning, but maybe there will be too many people for the Spring Festival. It may be later. So where are we going to play? You take me, and when the time comes, call Sister Shangtao and your brother, well, let's go to the forest farm to have a look, I heard that it's very beautiful, the forest is very dense, and there is a small river, how about we buy something to go to the barbecue? Okay! It must be fun, just the four of us? Otherwise, it's okay to call someone else! Call Ah Jun and them together. Well, I'll see! I hope it's coming soon. I'm looking forward to it.
Just as Ya and I were chatting energetically, my mother interrupted us with a phone call, is it cold at home? Wear more clothes, yes, what about Xiaohu? Xiaohu is my brother's milk name. He's in his room, why don't you answer when I call him? Maybe he's asleep! I looked and saw that it was past 22 o'clock, and this kid went to bed quite early. Mom, are you here tomorrow morning? I don't know, there are too many people for the Spring Festival, traffic jams, slippery roads, and the master drives very slowly, and it may take tomorrow afternoon to drive. Oh! I messaged Ya after the phone call with my mom, but she didn't reply to me, probably asleep. I was thinking about my future with Ya and I gradually falling asleep.
I got up early the next day and went to buy breakfast for my brother, and I worked for the winter vacation, and now I am a little local tyrant. After breakfast, I ran into my little quilt again, it was too cold to do anything. When I woke up, it was 15 o'clock in the afternoon, why didn't the mothers come yet. Get up and pick up your phone and watch TV. After a while, I heard my mother calling me downstairs. This can make me very happy, my mother is here, and I called Zhang Wei's mother to come home in a panic. There was a word from my brother's room, oh, and he got up.
The first time I saw my mother, I was at a loss, and I was probably overjoyed. Why didn't you open the door for so long, I just fell asleep upstairs, my father saw the mess in the house, sighed and said, alas, hurry up and get some money to decorate the house, it feels like a bad house. As if he had just woken up, the elder brother casually called out to Dad, Mom, Xiaohu has grown taller again! I went to look for what my mother brought to eat, and Zhang Wei would only eat ready-made. As soon as my mother came home, she said what she was going to do, buy meat to make bacon tomorrow, and buy rice to make baba the day after tomorrow. Dad looked at the house he had made, walked around the house a few times, and then ran outside to look outside, and he could see that he was quite proud, yes! Dad had been busy all his life and had no fixed residence, and now it was not easy for him to buy a foundation to make a house in the city, and our family had four children, and the eldest was now married to Hubei, and he was not happy, so how could he say that my brother-in-law was very happy? I can only say that we value profit over parting! I never ask about outsiders, as if there is no such thing as him. The old lady just greeted the situation at home from time to time. My father had a lot of hardships in his life, he lost his father at the age of 11, and he went to the fields to plant crops at 12. I also raised my younger brother, who is my uncle. So he felt that it would not be easy for him to build this house. I could see in his eyes that he was quite proud, it was really not easy for his father, it was so difficult at home, and he still provided us with education in the city. My brother and sister have all finished junior high school, and now only Zhang Wei and I are in high school, and we will have to take the university entrance examination in the future?
This day really passed quickly, and we came over like this in the past few days before the Chinese New Year. My brother is coming home too. Nothing is important for a family to sit happily together, and that's how family fun is.
Today, my mother makes baba, of course, we don't use wooden sticks, now most of us are beaten with machines, my mother makes a lot of stuffing, there are green beans, tofu, meat, of course, there is also my favorite sugar sesame filling, my family is the only one who loves to eat sugar sesame seeds. That's why my mom made it for me. The glutinous rice that has just come out of the oven is very fragrant, and it is inconvenient for my family to make it at my second aunt's house. As soon as the glutinous rice was cooked, I ate a bowl. I won't be able to eat much after the poop is ready. My brother is a complete otaku, he doesn't go anywhere, he doesn't eat poop, he stays at home. My brother and father went to the street to buy something, when the baba came out of the oven, I first used a little sesame candy to eat, the taste was delicious, chewing in the mouth soft and very elastic, eating the baba without sesame candy felt fragrant, especially the rice fragrant, eating the baba was like walking in the rice field in the morning, it felt very beautiful. I ate a lot, and my mother told me to eat less, and if I ate too much, I would be separated, that is, I would not digest it. I took two and said, let's go, take two for Xiaohu, take it!
When I came back, my brother was still playing with his mobile phone in bed, I gave him poop, and he said unhurriedly, I don't eat poop, then you pad your stomach first, no one is cooking now. He looked disgusted. I took a picture casually and sent it to QQ Dynamics, Ya commented on me, wow! Baba, I want to eat, I replied, you come here! She replied to me again: I can't come, and added a pitiful expression. I sent her a QQ message and asked her what she was doing! My brother and father came back, and I saw that they bought a lot of ribs, saying that they were making bacon. Say that the pork ribs are more delicious. The busy day passed like this, and in the evening, my brother could blatantly call Sister Tao but I couldn't, and I had to find a place to call if I wanted to call, and I didn't dare to go back to the room because we didn't have a door in the room yet.
Ya and I mostly chat about QQ, and occasionally play videos. Playing videos is generally in the dead of night. The voice should be very small, very small.
Today is the most important day of the year, my father got up early in the morning to get a lot of firewood, saying that he wanted to get a meal of pig's feet and bacon, and bacon is indispensable for the New Year here. Although our family's meat is not bacon, it is already edible, and my father wants to eat the piece given by my grandmother. Mom is resting this day, so I went to buy some side dishes in the morning and came back, and said I'll leave it to us, today is your men's cooking day, get it and call me, Dad hurriedly said You go and rest, just don't get in my way, I'll be in charge of eating today anyway. I said in the back, "Mom, you're so happy, happy?" I just do it one day a year, and I can't enjoy it properly. What about Xiaohu, tell him to get up and light the fire, he's still sleeping, the old brother said. Dad said: Let him sleep when he sleeps, and he can't do anything when he gets up. Just don't sleep badly. No, I can't let him sleep too much, if he sleeps too much, he will sleep badly, so I will call Hu'er, and my mother will go to my brother's room as she goes, and it is only 7:30! My brother was woken up. It's been a long time since I've gotten up so early, and my eyes are still vague, Mom, what am I going to do? Go to the fire and don't sleep too much, you'll become a lazy pig. My brother complained that the New Year didn't make me feel better, and my father said on the side Why did you tell him to get up, Tiger go to sleep. Leave your mother alone, my brother is not going to go, my mother said that I am afraid that he will sleep too much, so get up and exercise, today is the New Year! I am still killing fish, and for a while my brother has become the focus of the whole family. Mom sees that he is too sleepy, you go to sleep, get the delicious food and call you, my brother put his hands together, thank you Mom, you are busy! I will go to make up for my mind first, and then go back to the room. Dad laughed at the kid on the sidelines.
Mom has become a commander today, we all have to listen to her, there is a dish in our family that belongs to me every New Year, that is, fish, I only make fish, spicy fish, so the fish is handed over to me every New Year. After my dad killed the chicken, he handed it over to my brother. Dad went to get bacon. Mom will get some coriander and side dishes. The division of labor is clear and looks very harmonious. The feeling of family happiness is extremely happy, which is the interpretation of our Guizhou people for the New Year.
I'm the kind of guy who eats while cooking, and my brother can't sleep, so he gets up when he smells the fragrance. He grew up eating ready-made food and would only get his hands dirty. First of all, I ate several pieces of pork knuckles, and I ate a lot of bacon, and my mother said to eat less, and I couldn't eat it at once. Dad said when not to eat. That's true! When I'm done with everything, I'm sure I won't be able to eat it. So I've got to save some stomach for something delicious.
At about 17 o'clock in the afternoon, we were almost finished, and my father "offered" the meal, muttering that he didn't know what to say, calling the ancestors to bless or something. "Meal" is about 10 minutes. Burn three pieces of paper money and you're good to go.
Seeing a table full of dishes, the family is really happy to talk and laugh. Before eating, my sister called. On the phone, she said that she would come home to celebrate the New Year with us, and her mother was very happy and sad. Because my sister has never been to the house since she got married. Mom didn't want her sister to marry in Hubei at all, it was her sister who eloped at the beginning, and she had no choice but to admit it.
After eating, we went up to the second floor to eat fruit, the house was not decorated, there was no TV, but there was a sofa. The family sits in a row and says something, eating fruits and melon seeds. Around 10 p.m., I went out and called Ya. Just wish her a Happy New Year. At that time, there were no WeChat red envelopes. Most of the time it is given in cash. The New Year's money I gave her was given later. Didn't say much and came back. This year, my brother is the happiest, and many people have New Year's money. My three hundred, my brother's five hundred, my sister's five hundred, my father's and mother's three hundred. That's a lot of money! I went to work on winter vacation, so I paid him. If I hadn't gotten there, I would have had to pay for the New Year. My mother also said that there is no New Year's money today, and my grandmother's name is Yang Lei. I'll give you a ten-yuan red envelope to ask for good luck.
That's how I got ten dollars. My brother said he was rich, richer than me! Haha! No way, I'm a local tyrant. The first time I gave my brother New Year's money, not to mention how cool it felt. I feel like I'm an adult, and I feel a sense of accomplishment. My brother nagged that I would also go to work next year. Dad touched his stomach on the side and said, "Yes, it's not bad to experience it, let him try how hard it is to make money." My mother said, "If you have a good experience, you can concentrate on reading, and you will have time to find money in the future." The elder brother was busy playing with his mobile phone and chatting with Sister Tao.
At 0:00 a.m., we ordered firecrackers to "offer" tea and set off fireworks, which was very noisy, and my father suggested that we should not sleep to be woken up. I still fell asleep. At 0:00 a.m., I was woken up by the sound of firecrackers. Scared the hell out of me. The elder brother wiped his eyes and said: "It's noisy, my father is like a child, and told us to get up and watch fireworks and eat supper." How can you be in the mood to eat? I slipped headlong into the quilt, but it was still too noisy. I got up and sat down for a while and went up to see the fireworks. It's really beautiful, I don't like fireworks very much, and I don't like noisy scenes very much. After a while, I got under the covers again, and after about an hour, the world finally calmed down.