After the end of the year, it is the year of Guihai. Guihai is the last of the sixty Jiazi, the heavenly stem is the water of yin, the earth branch is the water of yin, the double water of yin and yang is harmonized, whether it is to worship the sky or worship the ancestors, people are praying that this year is a complete harvest year, the water of yin and yang must not cause the water of great calamity.

Yangjiawan's New Year is at noon, and a hearty lunch with rice as the staple food is followed by a grave to worship the ancestors; As for the evening, it has become much more deserted, except for those who are slightly rich, fireworks and firecrackers are generally omitted; Only when the time comes, the old people get up at the time to light a firecracker, light the three pillars of incense, and usher in the new year.

Jiangyun's Spring Festival is much more lively than Yangjiawan, but it seems to be contaminated with more northern atmosphere, Chinese New Year's Eve night Chinese New Year's Eve, not only rice, but also dumplings; What's even more festive is that at night, a long string of red lanterns are lit along the banks of the Yangtze River, and fireworks are set off until the early hours of the morning.

Liu Yonghan's Spring Festival became different because of his two children.

This literati madman, from the thirtieth of the Chinese New Year's Eve to the fifteenth of the first month of the previous year, spent his time as a "flower child". At the end of the lunar year, the cargo ships on the wharf are moored on the shore, the ships that have worked for a year no longer sail far, and the "bangbangs" of the wharf finally unload the tiredness of the next year and return home for the New Year, and even the widow Zhu Lianhua can return to her home in the countryside to have a decent New Year. Liu Yonghan and Zhang Haikui, two old bachelors, were left on the wharf, looking at the occasional fishing boats floating by and the wide river, a few peanuts and rice were drunk, even if it had been a year! I don't know that it was from that year, Liu Yonghan had a whim, and made a lotus flower with a broken bamboo pole, and shuttled through the streets and alleys of Jiangyun in this New Year, singing "Luozi" with a pair of bamboo boards. Liu Yonghan saw what he was singing, and the auspicious words in his mouth were one sentence after another, with the jingling sound of the big bamboo board in his hand, and the businessmen or households of Tujili gave more or less "broken silver". At that time, Zhang Haikui felt that it was a shameful job, but Liu Yonghan was happy to do it.

Gui Ying was very excited. Liu Yonghan personally went to the street to buy pork, saying that he wanted to make dumplings at night, and Gui Ying was busy mixing noodles in the kitchen. In the past few months, her kitchen workout has greatly improved her cooking skills, and she can stir-fry vegetables and knead dough and roll the skin. For that little Guiying in Yangjiawan, she Yanran has gone from hell to heaven, in addition to being able to eat enough, she can also have her own pocket money.

Fushun was sullen. A few days ago, she received a letter from Yang Jiawan, in which the talented sister Shufen told her interesting story in the Chunlei class, which was so vivid that Fushun seemed to be in the situation, he was sincerely happy for Shufen, and hoped that he could quickly enter such a palace of knowledge and receive only nutrients that belonged to him. There was another letter in the envelope, written by his adoptive father, Yang Zegui, which expressed his adoptive parents' sincere thoughts about him and their ardent hope that he would return home for the New Year.

Fushun also thought about going back to Yangjiawan for the New Year, but when he told Sister Guiying about this idea, Yang Guiying categorically refused, resolutely not going home for the New Year, and asked Fushun's family to tell her, saying that she would never go back! Fushun's thoughts became confused, of course he still remembered the promise he made at his parents' grave last year, if he didn't go back, how would he place that sorrow?

But after all, he still didn't have the courage to go back, for him, that home has become more and more distant, the home of the muddy ditch no longer belongs to him, Yangjiawan's home has also been abandoned by him, this child who is about to turn fifteen years old, has subconsciously regarded this warm dock as his home! In his reply, he wrote:

“…… Father, mother, sister, I'm really sorry for you, I don't want to go home yet, I'm doing well here, Uncle Liu is (waiting) for me to (like) my own son, I have decided to (Jue) to study from Sister Shufen, while doing work on the horse's head, while going to the architecture school. I still say the same thing I said: Father, mother, you are also my relatives, when I grow up and have money, I will definitely honor you......"

Fu Shun took the 200 yuan he had saved recently and sent it back with him in his heart. I also went to the bookstore, bought a few books on fruit planting, and sent them back to Yangjiawan for two cents.

At the "Bangbang Dormitory" on the dock, Liu Yonghan was elated, and he had forgotten how many Spring Festivals he hadn't spent in the house. He took Fushun and Gui Ying to wrap dumplings in the kitchen, and the two children were like his own children, ah, if he really had both children like this, how good it would be!

This Spring Festival is very fresh for the three of them, Lao Liu is as happy as a child, from the bottom of the bed to find a dusty folding wooden table, wooden stools stretched out and wiped clean, three plates of dumplings of different shapes served on the table. Except for Gui Ying's dumplings, these two men who rarely go to the kitchen make dumplings like dirt lumps.

Fushun's unpleasantness was quickly dispelled by Liu Yonghan. When he ate a coin in the dumpling filling, his toothache-giving muscles twitched. Liu Yonghan looked at Fushun happily.

"Shun'er, I know you're lucky, look at it, the only coin of these dozens of dumplings has been eaten by you!"

"Godfather, what do you mean?" Fushun didn't know that dumplings were full of coins.

"Hehe, there's something to say about this. Dumplings were originally eaten in the north for the New Year, but there are more northerners who come to Jiangyun, and Jiangyun has this custom. In the north, dumplings are generally packed with three things. One is bran, which means happiness; the second is water sugar, which means sweetness; Three is the coin, which means making a fortune! In short, only those who are lucky can eat it! ”

Fu Shun spat out the coin from his mouth and looked at "Scar Liu" innocently, for him, there are two things that are the happiest on this dock. One is to hide in the house to read books and pile up stones, and understand that the pile is successful; The other is to listen to the uncle "brag". This "Scar Liu", who knows astronomy and geography, can bring happiness to everyone.

"Then our family is the happiest, our family eats bran all year round!" Gui Ying did not forget to use her own shabby to "humor".

Fu Shun carefully wiped the coin clean and put it in his jacket pocket. He believed it was a symbol of good luck and prayed for the new year to find his big brother and a rich family. "Godfather, does the dumpling have a set of origins? The one we call 'copying' there is similar to this! Fushun is used to calling Liu Yonghan "godfather".

"Do you want to hear real or mythical?"

"Listen to them all!"

"The truth is like this, dumplings were there as early as the Three Kingdoms, at that time it was called 'chaos', the Tang Dynasty was very popular to eat dumplings, the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty were all New Year's necessities, the Qing Dynasty called it 'dumplings', of course, now there is also a place called 'wonton stew', it seems that the coast is called that. In fact, the meaning of dumplings is 'Jiaozi', it is generally wrapped before twelve o'clock tonight, and then eaten when it is time, which means 'Jiaozi for short', referred to as Jiaozi, homonym 'dumplings'! ”

Gui Ying didn't understand what Liu Yonghan was saying at all, so she just buried her head and ate the dumplings, this picky eater, picked the skin and the filling, and looked forward to finding a coin. After a period of tossing and turning to no avail, he raised his head and looked at Liu Yonghan: "I don't understand, Liu Godfather, do you talk about myths?" ”

"Mythology, well, do you know Nuwa?"

"I know, I heard you tell me that she went to fill all the holes in the sky, and there are other people, she made them with mud!" Gui Ying is full of interest in mythological stories.

"This dumpling was invented in honor of Nuwa. The people she created are too cold in the north, and the ears pinched by the mud are going to freeze off. In order to keep her ears from falling off, she specially pierced a small eye on people's ears, threaded them with threads, and asked people to bite them with their mouths. Therefore, northerners eat dumplings and make them into the shape of ears, and there is still thread (stuffing) wrapped in them, that is, northerners should bite the thread and don't drop their ears! ”

Gui Ying opened her mouth wide, looked at the filling that had just been picked out of the bowl, touched her ears, and gobbled it into her mouth. made Fushun and "Scar Liu" laugh.

The lively New Year's atmosphere in the city soon wiped out all the unhappiness of the children. Beams of dazzling pillars of fire flew into the sky, and the sudden explosion of sparks decorated the sky over the city in a colorful manner, and colorful fireworks hovered in the night sky like meteors, reflecting in the sparkling Yangtze River. From Hulong Mountain to Jialing River, the beauty of the Heavenly Maiden scattering flowers makes the whole Jiangyun intoxicated, the dazzling splendor makes the whole Jiangyun charming, and the liveliness of flowers, trees and silver flowers makes the whole Jiangyun boil......

It was also the first time for Liu Yonghan to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city night so quietly, and at this time in previous years, he and Hai Kuizi had already been drunk and collapsed under the bridge. It wasn't until the next day that I found his bamboo board, sang the lotus flower and went to the streets and alleys to "perform"!

The bell tower of the Crossroads has already struck the bell at three o'clock in the morning, and the people of the city are as sleepless as the city. Fu Soon and Gui Young cheered, jumped, and ran selflessly...... At this time, they are all children of the earth and the sky, and there is no distinction between urban and rural areas, Jiangyun City and Yangjiawan. Liu Yonghan was relieved and even happier, he leaned on the railing of the Jiangyun Yangtze River Bridge, looked at the two running children, with unspeakable tears in his eyes, and read out a "just right" "lotus falling" in his mouth:

Lotus flowers fall, lotus flowers fall, and golden flowers are sprinkled in the night sky on Chinese New Year's Eve.

I lived under the bridge last year and want to move to a new home this year.

The dead vines and old trees sprout, and the small bridge flows in a hurry.

Who would have thought that I Liu Scar, there is also a doll under my knees.

－－－－－－－－

The Yangtze River is long, the Yellow River is yellow, and there are two boundless life and death in ten years.

Once lingering on impulsive things, forget about the mountain alliance and abandon the chaff.

Years are easy to pass away, people are easy to get old, and the cycle of things is impermanent.

I only hope that there are destined people in the world, and they will be safe everywhere.