On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Xuejiao got up earlier than ever, and as in previous years, there was a New Year's blessing under her pillow. Chen Xuejiao reached out and touched it, and found a silver press with a twig pattern, and there were two golden cloves under the hairpin.

This is a New Year's gift from Li and Chen Xiucai to Chen Xuejiao, and this gift is very heavy in rural people. In the general countryside, the pillow gift to the child in the New Year is nothing more than a handful of melon seeds and a few tangerines, and the family with a good family is just a wooden hairpin.

Li and Chen Xiucai gave their children a heavy gift this year, firstly, the family is richer than in previous years, and secondly, they sincerely love their children.

In previous years, when there were no conditions at home, Li and Chen Xiucai would also put New Year's gifts under the children's pillows, and although the days were very poor at that time, happiness was not discounted.

This year, not only Chen Xuejiao's gifts are rich, but Chen Xueru, Chen Qiping, Chen Qi'an, including Jing Hao, the gifts are all the same, Li and Chen Xiucai are not different because of their son and daughter, or have a relative who is estranged and close. Even the titular little boy stone has prepared a New Year's gift.

In the new year, Chen Xuejiao wore a newly made dress, a peach-colored gown embroidered with butterflies, a Bafuxiang skirt intudded with satin, and a belt embroidered with fine beads in autumn fragrance around her waist. After washing his face, applying balm, picking up the simple bud, looking in the mirror, and when he was done, he pushed open the door and walked into the outhouse.

In the outhouse, the fire had been extinguished, and Chen Xuejiao rekindled the charcoal fire, with a few lily incense and half a cup of tea on it. The room was filled with a warm scent.

Due to the night vigil eating, drinking, and playing, the table and the floor were full of fruit peels, melon seeds, peanut shells, and candy wrappers, and everyone was tired at night and did not clean up.

Chen Xuejiao took a broom from behind the door and gathered the peel, melon seeds, peanut shells, and candy wrappers together. Gently sweep to the back of the door.

The custom here in Xuzhou is that you can use a broom to clean the house on the first day of the Lunar New Year, but you can't sweep the cleaned garbage out of the door, you can only pile it up behind the door.

If you sweep the garbage out, you will take away the luck and wealth of the family, and it will cause bad luck.

Although Chen Xuejiao does not believe in this statement, it has been such a custom since ancient times. And she obeyed. Fortunately, the garbage is clean and will not have an unpleasant smell when stored. The garbage is then collected and thrown outside.

Chen Xuejiao cleaned the hall, and Chen Xueru and Jing were ready to wash and stop. Stone went to the stove early, boiled a large pot of boiling water and brought it into the house.

The three of them cleaned up again and picked up the cushions that had fallen on the floor. Dust off the top. Put it back on the chair.

After Chen Xuejiao made tea, Li and Chen Xiucai freshened up and entered the hall.

At this time, Chen Qiping, Chen Qi'an and Gu Siyuan also came.

Gu Siyuan didn't go back to the private school yesterday, he rested in Chen Qi'an's house, the north wing was already crowded, and it was all stone paved before, and Gu Siyuan was even more crowded. Yesterday, at the strong request of Chen Qi'an. Gu Siyuan slept on the bed, and Chen Qi'an laid the floor with the stones.

Li and Chen Xiucai walked out dressed up.

Usually the Li family dresses very plainly. I didn't even touch a little gaudy clothes, according to her own words, my daughters are engaged, and I am not dressed up to be a fool. Because of the New Year, today's Li family is different from the past, wearing a new red silk dress, wearing the daily insertion on her head, putting on the golden crown that Chen Xiucai gave her in the autumn, the two pearls on the phoenix's mouth trembling and rolling, and a gold ring and an emerald jade ring on the left thumb and right index finger respectively. Not only that, Li also drew his eyebrows today, wiped powder, and put a layer of rouge on his lips, making the whole person look young and beautiful.

In fact, the Li family is not very old, the ancients originally got married early, although they had four children, but due to the relationship of perennial labor, the whole person looks tall and upright, full of vitality.

Today, when I dress up like this, I am even more charming than usual.

Li was stared at by Chen Xuejiao for a while, and glanced at Chen Xuejiao with slanted eyes, and couldn't help blushing.

This New Year's is comfortable, and Li is happy.

On weekdays, if a country woman is neatly dressed and greased, needless to say, others will crush you to death with spitting stars, even Mrs. Chen will not be able to pass that level.

As a woman, who doesn't like to dress up, loving beauty is a woman's eternal wish, even an old woman like Mrs. Chen, every year when the flowers bloom, there will be a few hairpins on her head, not to mention the still old Li. When he was young, Li also loved to dress up, and was favored by his parents, brothers and sisters-in-law. It's just that after getting married, she devoted herself to her husband and children, and Mrs. Chen couldn't get used to her daughter-in-law's dress, so she wore a little bright clothes, and Mrs. Chen would scold, and gradually Li took away the rouge powder, and rarely dressed up even during the New Year.

Chen Xuejiao held the tea, and Li and Chen Xiucai sat on the top chair and drank it.

Several children were all dressed up and stood together in front of Li and Chen Xiucai to salute the New Year, Chen Qiping was the youngest and kowtowed.

Li and Chen Xiucai looked at the newly grown children in front of them with a smile, accepted their New Year's greetings, and their hearts bloomed with joy.

Gu Siyuan also bowed forward, and Li and Chen Xiucai only received half a salute.

Chen Xuejiao and Gu Siyuan also exchanged New Year's greetings.

Immediately afterwards, Li Lehe took out a few beautifully embroidered purses, which was to give a few children New Year's money. In previous years, there was New Year's money, but this year, the family conditions are better, and there will be no less.

Chen Qiping opened the big red purse and jumped with laughter, and there was a handful of copper coins bulging in the purse, which was always dozens of yuan, enough to go to the shop in the town for a meal.

Li and Chen Xiucai gave a few children a lot of money for the New Year's Eve, each of them was dozens of copper coins and a pair of small gold nudes.

Not only did they have their own children, but Li and Chen Xiucai also gave Gu Siyuan, and they also came according to their own children.

After everyone talked and laughed for a while, Chen Xiucai cleared his throat and said a few words of encouragement to everyone. The family set up an incense table again and worshiped Chen Xiucai's mother-in-law, Liu.

"It's the same when you worship with us, if she knows it over there. I must know your mind. Chen Xuejiao saw Gu Siyuan watching their family worship, so she quietly took a stick of incense and an incense pot and said to him.

She knew that Gu Siyuan must miss her deceased mother.

The custom of Xuzhou Mansion is that if you can't return to your hometown during the New Year's Festival, you will face west and burn a stick of incense to your deceased relatives. Kowtow and mourn.

Gu Siyuan did so, and his heart was full of thoughts.

I don't know if it's in Gufu. Who will remember his mother, who was a merchant girl who had never been taken seriously in the mansion and who had drifted away from her father. When she was dying of illness. His father was wandering in the outer room of his childhood sweetheart.。

The woman at the gate of the mansion died when she died. It won't affect any festive atmosphere, at most it's just a little less red and green. The sound of silk and bamboo in Gufu is the same, the same lanterns are colorful, and the same is in the bright light of firecrackers to welcome the arrival of the new year.

And what is the death of the mother, it is like a speck of dust, and when she enters the Gu family's temple, there is only a cold tablet left.

Every year during the Spring Festival, a vigorous worship ceremony is held at home. This year, his mother's tablet will also be placed in the worship procession, and he doesn't know the tablet carved from jade. Is it cold or warm.

Since beating my mother away, I have lost a corner of my heart, and I don't want to stay in the mansion anymore.

Therefore, when Master Qin returned to his hometown, he asked for an escort.

Otherwise, during the Spring Festival this year, he was at home, touching the scene and hurting, but he was afraid that he would be even more heartbroken.

Gu Siyuan was holding a purse in his hand, and there was twenty coins in it that were the same as Chen Xuejiao, and an indescribable feeling surged in his heart.

In the past, at home, every Spring Festival, from the queen mother, to the grandmother, down to the peers, everyone would get or reward others with gifts. Needless to say, the queen mother's gift is very kind to these mother's little characters, and the reward is very rich and rare.

This year's New Year's Eve gift is the thinnest since he was a child, and the freshness that can bring him is the most intense.

I really didn't expect that the countryside would celebrate the New Year, so lively, happy and satisfied, and the most important thing is that the family is harmonious and beautiful, and the reunion is reunited. Unlike his family, no matter what the festival, his father's room of warblers and swallows always stabbed his mother intentionally or unintentionally, and when he saw his mother sad, no matter how good the festival was, it would be meaningless.

The family's important worship service was over.

At this time, everyone went out of the house to kowtow to Mrs. Chen and Old Man Chen, Gu Siyuan did not follow, he went to the private school Master Qin.

When they arrived at the upper room, Chen Zifu and Cai's had already brought Xuewa and Xueyan to wait, and Zhang's was busy with big eggs, arranging fruits, catching melon seeds, and running hot tea.

Chen Xuejiao took a closer look at Zhang's family, although she was wearing a new set of clothes, her face was very ugly, and the corners of her eyebrows and eyes were dissatisfied.

As early as the end of the month, Zhang shouted that he wanted to go to Xuzhou Mansion and Chen Zigui to renew the year, and was scolded back by Mrs. Chen. If the Zhang family really goes, then there will be no one in the upper room, how will this year be lived.

Zhang's didn't go to Xuzhou Mansion, her mouth was broken, she didn't bring the door when she encountered anything, and seeing that there was no hope of going to Xuzhou Mansion, she yelled that she was a widow all day long, and the angry old lady Chen scolded her all the way before she stopped.

According to Chen Xuejiao's understanding, the reunion dinner in the upper room was not rich. I also know that Mrs. Chen is reluctant to cook a few big dishes, according to her words, it is impossible to eat it if there are few people, and those big dishes are reserved for Chen Zichang and Chen Qilin to eat.

Zhang didn't go to Xuzhou Mansion, and he didn't let go of his stomach to eat the New Year's dinner, he was depressed in his heart and didn't dare to attack, so he could only put it on his face.

Old Mrs. Chen and Old Man Chen sat on the edge of the bed in new clothes. Old Mrs. Chen's clothes were made by the Li family, and they used good materials, while Mrs. Chen's clothes were sewn by herself, as if to overwhelm the big house, and they were specially made to be richer than Old Man Chen's clothes.

A half-old blanket was spread on the ground, and several grandchildren, under the leadership of Chen Qi'an, knelt down to kowtow to Mrs. Chen and Old Man Chen.

"Good, good, all up, all up." Old Man Chen's touched beard trembled, his eyes moistened, and he stretched out his hand to help him.

Chen Xuejiao and the others straightened up.

Raising her head, Chen Xuejiao met Mrs. Chen's gaze. Perhaps because of the Chinese New Year, Mrs. Chen's eyes were not as gloomy as before, but on the contrary, they were as full of tears as Old Man Chen.

It was definitely not because she was moved by seeing Chen Xuejiao and others, Chen Xuejiao thought for a while and understood, Mrs. Chen saw these grandchildren and thought of Chen Qilin in Xuzhou Mansion, in the eyes of Mrs. Chen, no one can match Chen Qilin.

Old Man Chen coughed twice, and Old Mrs. Chen opened the black wooden box behind her, trembled and touched a few red seals from it, and handed them to her grandchildren one by one.

It's just that when I gave it to the big house, my face was obviously gloomy, and my hands paused.

"Take them all, this is specially prepared by your milk." Old Man Chen said to everyone with a smile.

Chen Xuejiao pinched the red envelope, a thin piece, no need to guess, only a few cents.

However, this is the first time for Mrs. Chen. In the past Chinese New Year, from Chen Xuejiao and others in the big room to the big egg in the fourth room, they have never received the red seal from Mrs. Chen. As for Chen Qilin and others in the second room, whether they gave it or not, only Mrs. Chen and Old Man Chen knew.

Everyone sat down, had tea, ate some melon seeds, and then left the room one after another.

They also have to go to Master Qin, the village Zheng, the respected people in the village, and the people who are good friends with the Chen family's big house.

When I came back from a round outside, it was noon.

The custom here in Xuzhou Mansion is that you can't eat meat dishes on the first day of the Lunar New Year, you can only eat vegetarian dumplings, vegetarian dishes, and porridge.

For Chen Xuejiao's family, of course, it is to eat dumplings, which are simple and delicious, and the dumplings were wrapped as early as last night, frozen outside, and taken into the pot house and put into boiling water when eating.

After eating the vegetarian dumplings, everyone sat around the house and chatted and ate the fruits, which was quiet and beautiful everywhere.

"I'm going to your grandmother's house tomorrow to visit relatives, just don't be snowing." Li talked about going to his mother's house tomorrow to visit relatives.

As early as the twenty-sixth day of the lunar month, he sent his mother's family half a sheep, ten catties of meat, three rulers, all kinds of cakes, of course, the Li family's return gift is also very rich, mountain fungus, pecans, chickens, eggs and so on.

"Mother, let's hire a big car tomorrow." Chen Xuejiao smiled and said, "I'm afraid that my mother will forget about it, so I let Shi book the car as early as a year ago." ”

Li glanced at Chen Xuejiao approvingly.

Everyone discussed the matter of going to Li's house tomorrow, and there was a carriage sent by Qingbi outside, and Jing Jing went back to Wang's house for the New Year. (To be continued......)