On the twenty-third day, we began to prepare for the New Year, the faces of the people in the village are filled with enthusiasm and happiness for the New Year, the children in the village get together and have a good time, because the New Year is coming, adults will not gather children, after all, for the current people New Year, a very important thing, do not want to hear unlucky words, hear the child's cry, so these days are particularly tolerant of children, even if the child makes any mistakes, but also waiting for the New Year to settle accounts together.

Twenty-three sugar melons sticky, twenty-four sweeping the house, twenty-five making tofu, twenty-six stewed meat, twenty-seven killing stove chicken, twenty-eight sticking window flowers, twenty-nine going to drink, Chinese New Year's Eve making dumplings. People still follow this custom to welcome the New Year, so from the twenty-third onwards, the family starts to be busy.

People believe that the Lord of the Stove will go to heaven and say a few kind words in front of the Jade Emperor, which will bring happiness to the family and bless the family in the coming year. Therefore, every year on the twenty-third day of the lunar month, every household has to sacrifice to the god of the stove[2], asking him to say more good and auspicious words after going to heaven. This ritual of sending the god of the stove is called "sending the stove" or "reciting the stove". On Chinese New Year's Eve, I have to bring back the "Vesta". Because, on the night of the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, the portraits or photos of the Lord of the Stove and the ancestors should be hung on the wall, and the wine, tribute, and worship should be carried out until the Chinese New Year's Eve.

When sending the stove, put candy, water, and beans on the table in front of the statue of the king of the stove, among them, the last two items are for the mount of the king of the stove to ascend to heaven. In order to let the king of the stove "say good things to heaven and return to the palace to be auspicious", people used various methods to deal with him. Some salute it with gum tooth candy, so that the teeth of the king of the stove can be glued, so that he can not talk nonsense; some use a wine trough to smear the door of the stove, which is called "drunk commander", so drunk that the god of the stove can not talk nonsense. The god of the stove is specially entertained by people, and "eats people's soft mouths", of course, it is not good to speak ill.

My mother and Grandma Zhang also got up early and began to make stove sugar, which is a kind of maltose with great viscosity, and the sugar stick that is drawn into a long strip is called "Kanto sugar", and the one that is drawn into a flat circle is called "sugar melon". In winter, it is placed outside the house, because the weather is cold, the sugar melon is solidified and there are some tiny bubbles inside, and it tastes crispy, sweet and crispy, and has a unique flavor. Kanto candy is so hard that it can't be broken, and it must be split with a kitchen knife when eating, and although it is very heavy, the material is very delicate. The taste is slightly sour, there is no honeycomb in the middle, these sugar children can also eat, because the craftsmanship of the people in the village is not the same, so the children will take the sugar given by the family in exchange, my mother also gave me and Wang He a few pieces, it is really sugar, it is particularly delicious, and it is very fragrant, I remember that my mother will do it during the New Year in my previous life, and it has always been this taste. Mom and Grandma Zhang were busy all morning, and finally finished the sacrifice to the king of the stove.

Soon it was the twenty-fourth day of the lunar month, "the twenty-fourth day of the lunar month, dusting and sweeping the house". After the festival is held, preparations for the New Year begin in earnest. Sweeping is the year-end cleaning, sweeping the dust before the Spring Festival, sweeping the day, the whole family worked together, cleaned the house, the courtyard, scrubbed the pots and bowls, dismantled and washed the bedding, clean to welcome the New Year, now there is no washing machine, my mother got up very early to boil a large pot of water, put the sheets of Grandma Zhang's house and our family together in the laundry detergent to wash, Wang He and I helped to throw clothes, in the sheet on the washing rod, the current weather, just put on it, the sheet was frozen hard.

"On the twenty-fifth day of the lunar month, grinding tofu. "Folklore has it that after the King of the Stove reported to the heavens, the Jade Emperor would visit the lower realm to see if each household was as the King of the Stove played, so each family ate tofu dregs to show their bitterness and hide the punishment of the Jade Emperor. We don't have to eat bean dregs on this side, but we will go to grind tofu, eat tofu, there is only a mouthful of mushrooms in the village now only six grandfathers, everyone in the village has to line up, and chat about gossip by the way, very lively, my mother soaked the beans last night, waiting to grind tofu early today, the tofu that has just finished the mushroom is still hot, although the weather is very cold now, but each family will take thick clothes to cover the basin, hot white and tender tofu, there is a fragrance in the mouth, the tofu in the previous life does not have this taste, it is ground out with a machine, and in order to make the tofu whiter, there will be a lot of things added to it, and there is no taste of tofu at allIn the previous life, the village developed very well, and gradually no one went to grind tofu anymore, I have not eaten this taste for many years, it is so delicious, at noon my mother and Grandma Zhang made a table of tofu banquet together, everyone was very satisfied.

After the god of the stove ascended to heaven, the Jade Emperor personally descended to the realm on the 25th day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar to inspect the good and evil in the world, and determine the blessings and misfortunes of the coming year, so every family had to sacrifice and pray for blessings, called "receiving the Jade Emperor" [2]. Be cautious in daily life and speech, strive for a good appearance, in order to win the favor of the Jade Emperor, and bring blessings to the coming year, children should pay more attention, so they generally pay special attention to children's words and deeds.

After sending the god Vesta to heaven, he did not welcome him back until Chinese New Year's Eve, during which there was no god in the world, there were no taboos, and the people married many times, which was called "rushing the chaotic year". The chaotic year is a specific period of time designed by the people for themselves to regulate social life. At the end of the year, people have leisure and savings, and it is a good time for leisure and entertainment for people who rarely have the energy to do big things.

There are also a lot of people in the village on this day to do happy events, now do happy events, is to follow the ceremony, because the family is poor, the general feelings will spend 5 yuan, a better 10 yuan, relatives on 20, if it is a family on 30, my mother has to spend a little gift money every time at this time, because when my father and mother got married, the gift money was received by my grandfather, and my family has never done a happy event, my mother has always felt that she spent a lot of money, but it is a village, and can not not be spent, Wang He and I are children, so we will directly follow the adults to eat, and now the happy events in the village will be held for 3 days, although there are no too good dishes that are not enough to have some meat for every meal, it is also very good, and the people in the village eat together, and it is also lively.

The family can basically not cook during this time, generally there will be a few families together on this day, due to the small number of people in the family, we can only eat separately, the current host family, all hope to hold the banquet, come a little more, lively, this proves that the family in the village is popular, the village people give him face, so I and Wang He are responsible for a family, parents and Zhang Grandma are also each family, I and Wang He together, is on behalf of the two families, the bride price money Mom and Grandma Zhang have been spent, the two of us are here to make up the number of people, a meal, Wang He when he eats again, has been taking care of me, I can't clip the dishes, and he has been clipping me, because now there is no oil and water in the stomach, generally just come up with a dish, if you don't hurry up, you can only see the empty plate, I still remember meeting a particularly strange person in my previous life, when eating, directly grab the plate, and then pour the dish into the bag he brought, at that time the conditions of my family have been much better, and I don't care much about the matter of sitting at the table, so I just sighed, if it wasn't for Wang He accompanying me today, I guess I wouldn't be able to eat anything.