The villagers of Lijiawan stayed in front of Li Ruoyu and his uncle's house, the only TV in the village, until they saw that it was close to twelve o'clock in the evening, and then left one after another, of course, before they left, they did not forget to say some auspicious words to the host, first, this is the New Year, and second, it is embarrassing to watch TV in these two houses for a long time. You must know that at this time, when you go to other people's houses to watch TV, most of them have to give the master's family a dime or two, but Li Ruoyu and his uncle's family have never confiscated money, after all, the villagers in Lijiawan are all from the same family, and now they don't look down on that money, but often take some snacks and tea to entertain the villagers, which is a bit like a free teahouse.

By the time the song "Unforgettable Tonight" on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala sounded, the villagers in the courtyard were almost gone, because at 0:00 almost every household had to set off firecrackers! In the countryside of this era, almost everyone has to keep the New Year, and no one goes to bed early as usual, even children have to keep it until zero o'clock, and then happily watch their parents and elders set off firecrackers.

Since the Han Dynasty, the time of alternation between the old and the new year is generally in the middle of the night. People all over the world are looking forward to the arrival of the New Year. The custom of keeping the New Year not only has the feeling of regret and nostalgia for the passing years, but also has the meaning of placing good hopes on the coming New Year. The ancients wrote in a poem "Keeping the Year": "Invite the Arong family to keep the New Year, and the wax torch spreads red to the blue yarn; Thirty-six years have been wasted, but since then I cherish the years. Therefore, in the countryside and cities in the 90s, everyone attached great importance to this custom of keeping the New Year and setting off firecrackers, hoping that firecrackers could be used to dispel all kinds of bad luck in the first year and be auspicious in the new year.

However, at the beginning of the 21st century, these customs are becoming less and less valued by people, and the taste of the New Year is becoming weaker and weaker, and most people no longer continue to watch the Spring Festival Gala until 0:00, but lie down on the bed and fall asleep. Li Ruoyu has a deep understanding of this, especially in big cities, because fireworks are not allowed, and many people have begun to complain about the Spring Festival Gala, so there are fewer and fewer people watching the Spring Festival Gala. Now, Li Ruoyu has been reborn, how can he not taste this strong New Year's flavor!

As soon as the clock rang at zero o'clock, Li Baosheng took a few puffs of cigarette, then put down the cigarette on his mouth, and used the red and shiny cigarette butt to light the five hundred earthen firecrackers, and then quickly withdrew a few steps, as the firecracker fuse was ignited, there was a burst of roaring sound, one after another as thick as a thumb of the earthen cannon fell, emitting a series of explosions, and suddenly the entire courtyard dam was a crackling sound, accompanied by this lightning and thunder, there were bursts of rapidly diffused gunsmoke, and the whole courtyard was filled with the smell of fireworks, and the taste of festivity.

Li Ruoyu and his family were happy to watch the five hundred cannons finished, this year is particularly good, none of the cannons are squibs, and there is no interruption, which means that the coming year will be auspicious, so even Li Ruoyu's grandmother is so happy that she can't keep her mouth shut! Li Ruoyu's parents are even happier, now their son is also working, and the treatment is very good, this day will become more and more prosperous, no, in previous years, there were often many squibs, but this year there seems to be none, and the time for the five hundred cannons to be fired is much shorter than in previous years!

However, there is another activity that follows, and only after this last activity is done will they lie down in bed and sleep. And this activity is very popular in the Yeongju area "Dancai", that is, in the early morning of the first day of the new year, every household has to go to those old wells to fetch water, and the water of these old wells is also the so-called "wealth". Whoever picks first will make more money in the New Year, so no matter which family wants to compete to pick the first load of water in the New Year.

Li Baosheng saw that the five hundred cannons had also been released, so he said to Li Ruoyu: "Big baby, hurry up, we have to rush ahead and pick up the first load of wealth!" ”

Li Ruoyu hurriedly picked up a pair of burdens called "claw hooks" in the local language, hooked two large buckets and followed behind his father, the father and son were very fast, they both hoped to reach the old well quickly, hoping that no one had come out on top. In previous years, Li Baosheng never grabbed the first load of water, because their house was far away from the old well, but closer to Li Baoguan's house, so they always fell behind Li Baoguan.

When the father and son arrived at the old well with flashlights, they also found that many people came to the old well with flashlights, but they were the fastest, and no one should have grabbed the first load of water yet. Li Ruoyu hurriedly picked up a bamboo pole six or seven meters long by the old well, which is a tool for taking water, and used a rope tied to a small bucket by the well to pass through the thickest end of the bamboo pole, and then tied it tightly, so that the bucket could be put into the old well more than ten meters deep to get water.

This old well has a spring, although it is not very large, but in the case of more than 20 households in the vicinity picking up a few loads of water every day, the water level can be kept at three or four meters from the wellhead all year round. Li Ruoyu was excited, put the bucket with the bamboo pole into the old well, the bucket quickly entered the water, Li Ruoyu quickly grabbed the bamboo pole and lifted it up, his hands kept exchanging, and soon put forward the first bucket of water of the new year.

Under the light of the flashlight, this bucket of water looks particularly clear! It's good water! Li Ruoyu still remembers that this well should have been drilled in the early 70s, but it is a pity that at the end of the 90s, because every household drilled a well in their own yard dam, and pumped it directly into their own water tank with a water pump, there was no need to go all the way to carry water, so this well was abandoned later, which is a pity! And with the abandonment of the old well, people no longer engage in this "wealth" activity, and the smell of the New Year is getting weaker and weaker.

Li Ruoyu used both hands together, and filled the two large wooden barrels with three strokes and five divisions, and at this time, the villagers who came to grab the first load of wealth also arrived one after another. The first to arrive were Li Ruoyu's uncle and cousin, who carried two large buckets.

When he got closer, Li Baoguan laughed and said, "Oh, it seems that we are a step late this year!" This head of wealth is still grabbed by our college students in Lijiawan, this is the will of God! ”

Li Baosheng also smiled and said: "Big brother, in previous years, you were robbed of this burden, but this year our luck is very good, and we finally grabbed it for the first time!" ”

Li Ruoyu handed the bamboo pole to Li Ruofeng and said, "Big brother, this is for you!" In fact, the second load of wealth is also very good, this is all wealth! I think everyone will have a good harvest this year! ”

Li Ruofeng also smiled: "Ruoyu, then borrow your auspicious words!" ”

After taking this load of water, Li Ruoyu and his father said goodbye to everyone, and then walked home quickly, and poured the "wealth" weighing more than 100 catties into their own water tank, which was considered a great success.

I heard that the father and son grabbed the first "wealth", Huang Shuying and Li Ruoyu's grandmother were very happy, this is the first time, and now Li Ruoyu's work is also very good, and they are so hopeful! So after saying goodnight to each other, the family went back to their rooms to sleep.

Li Ruoyu was so excited that he couldn't sleep! I haven't experienced this kind of life for many years, and after staying in a big city like Huhai for a long time, there is always a feeling that people are like clockwork machines, working non-stop every day, but ignoring the fun in life! Although Li Ruoyu later became an industry expert, a company executive, and earned a lot of money, he never regained the happiness he had in his hometown. It is right to say that once people have wealth, they should be happier, but Li Ruoyu deeply feels that if you don't have money, you will definitely be happier than if you don't have money. Maybe in the countryside in the nineties, people were poorer, but spiritually rich. So Li Ruoyu is thinking, even if he achieves a career in the future, he can't forget these traditions, and he must continue to maintain this sense of happiness!

Thinking about it, Li Ruoyu fell asleep unconsciously. I slept until dawn, and when Li Ruoyu got up, her mother also made breakfast.

Breakfast is a traditional water-milled rice ball. Home-grown glutinous rice is mixed with a certain proportion of ordinary rice, ground into rice milk little by little with its own stone mill, and then drained with gauze to get the purest glutinous rice ball powder. In the rural areas of Rongzhou in the nineties, almost every household did this, and this kind of pure glutinous rice ball noodles were much better than those industrially produced rice ball noodles sold in supermarkets in later generations, Li Ruoyu couldn't help but swallow saliva as soon as he smelled the long-lost fragrance!

Li Ruoyu still remembers when he was a child, he loved to eat glutinous rice balls very much, and even when he ate glutinous rice balls, he was afraid that others would come to grab them, and it was completely like swallowing dates when he ate them, and once there was an accident, an egg-sized glutinous rice ball was stuck in his throat and couldn't go up, and the brown sugar in this glutinous rice ball was very hot when it was opened, and that time Li Ruoyu was so hot that he jumped to his feet, and almost lost his life by holding his breath! So Li Ruoyu loves and fears Tangyuan.

Eating glutinous rice balls on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year also has an unusual exquisiteness. First of all, from the meaning, this glutinous rice ball represents the reunion of the family, and the brown sugar in it represents the sweetness and sweetness of life in the new year, and it is booming! In addition, it is also very important to note that every family is putting a coin in a certain dumpling when making rice balls, and if anyone eats this coin, it means who has the best luck in the new year!

Li Ruoyu remembers that when he was a child, he basically ate this coin by himself, and he didn't know if his luck was really so good, or if his mother deliberately put the rice balls with coins in his bowl? However, Li Ruoyu knows that most of this is deliberately done by her mother, she always gives the best things to her most beloved son, who is not like this among parents in the world?