On this day, as soon as it was dark, the sound of firecrackers rang out one after another, and even set off at the same time in many places. This quiet street is very lively now. The sound of firecrackers shook the stone floor, and the same sound was heard in all directions, and one could not tell where they came from. The voice was so urgent, so loud, like a thousand horses galloping and surging with rage.

In the Gao family, the master, wife, young master, and young lady gathered in the hall, all changed into new clothes, and the wives also tied their skirts. As in the usual worship of God, the men stood on the left, the women on the right, and a large crowd stood on each side. In the hall, the lights and candles burned as brightly as daytime, and the two main doors in the center were wide open. Under the shrine is a large rectangular offering table, which is hung with red velvet curtains. In front of the offering table was a brazier shelf, and a blazing fire was burning in the brazier. Dozens of "charcoal round" mountains were also piled up high and burned into bright red balls. Someone put two or three cypress branches on the fire, and the cypress branches squeaked and emitted blinding smoke. A large dark yellow felt was laid on the ground, and green cypress branches were scattered on it. In front of the brazier, a large prayer mat was laid and covered with a red velvet felt.

On the offering table were a pair of large candlesticks and a large incense burner, and there were many small wine glasses on the inner side and on the left and right sides, and only a few people in the family knew the number of wine glasses. It was Keming who presided over this ceremony, because the old lady Gao felt that he was old, so he gave these things to his son to do, and he waited until everything was ready before he came out to bow to his ancestors and receive congratulations from his children and grandchildren. Ke Ming and Ke'an, who were wearing robes and horse coats, each carried a wine jug and slowly poured Shaoxing wine into a small glass. The wine was poured, and the incense from the incense burner was inserted. So Keming walked into the upper right room and asked the old lady to come out and salute.

As soon as the old lady appeared, the whole hall immediately fell silent. Keming issued an order to set off firecrackers, and Wen De, the servant of the third room, hurriedly walked out in response to the call, walked to the wide open middle door and shouted: "Firecrackers!" So the fire lit up, and the firecrackers suddenly rang out. The woman avoided through the side door. The man walked to the offering table, turned his back to the offering table, and started with the old lady, kowtowing outside, saying that it was respecting heaven and earth, and then the three brothers of Keming lined up in a line and kowtowed. Juexin just took the incense and brought the stove god in from the outside and sent him back to the kitchen, and then returned to the hall. He came just in time, so he led the five brothers Juemin, Juehui, Jueying, Juequn, and Jueshi to salute in order. So the people turned and stood facing the shrine. The ladies who were hiding outside the door and peeking also hurriedly walked in.

It was still the old lady who began to kowtow to his ancestors. The old lady kowtowed and went into the room. Then the eldest wife Zhou, followed by Keming, and then the third wife, Zhang, and so on, the fifth wife, Shen, followed by Aunt Chen, these people kowtowed calmly, and it took more than half an hour. Then it was the turn of Juexin's generation, first Juexin led the five brothers to kowtow, they kowtowed the most, a total of nine, like this, only once a year, so everyone is not skilled, can not kneel down together very neatly, stand up together. Juequn and Jueshi, who were slower, had just knelt down, and before they had time to knock three times, others stood up, so they had to stand up in a hurry, while the others were already kneeling down again. This caused everyone to laugh on the side, and their mother, the fourth wife, Wang, also kept urging them. In the midst of laughter, the nine heads quickly finished knocking. They are young people after all, different from their elders. Then Ruijue led the four sisters Shuying, Shuhua, Shuzhen, and Shufen to the red felt to salute. Their movements were naturally slower, but much more neat. Although Shufen is young, she is still flexible. After they finished saluting, Ruijue led Haichen to kowtow to the red felt.

Some servants came and took the mats and spread out the red felt. Keming went in again and invited the old lady to come out, first the sons and daughters-in-law of Keming's generation lined up in a line towards him, knelt down and kowtowed to say goodbye, and then the grandchildren and granddaughters of the Juezi generation and the Shuzi generation congratulated him. He smiled and bowed, and went into his room.

After the old lady entered, the hall became more lively. The people of the Kezi generation were led by the Zhou family, formed a semicircle, bowed down on the red felt, and congratulated each other. The young people of the Juezi and Shuzi generations dispersed, prostrating to their parents individually, or asking their uncles and aunts for peace. In the end, due to Zhou's suggestion, they gathered together again to worship in a circle, while saying auspicious greetings, but this was not a blessing, but a joke. After this salutation, the younger generation scattered in all directions. The couple had to stay in the hall with their elders to be congratulated by the servants.

Juemin and Juehui ran out of the side door and hurried towards their room. They were afraid that servants and maids would come and salute them. But as soon as they walked under Zhou's window, they were stopped. It was Lao Huang's mother who took the lead, she respectfully greeted them and said a few words of blessing that spit out from her heart. They were very moved to return the salute. Then Sister-in-law He, Sister-in-law Zhang and several other maids came to ask for peace, which were all hired by their own house. In the end, Mingfeng came over, her face was wiped with a little powder, her braids were combed to a smooth finish, and a hemp bamboo cloth shirt was covered with a padded jacket. She greeted Juemin first, and then walked up to Juehui with her innocent smile still on her face. She called out "Third Young Master", and then buried her head and bent down, but quickly stood up and smiled at Juehui. It's a blessed smile. Jue Hui happily returned the salute. At this time, a kind smile also appeared on his face. In this moment, in this very moment, he forgot everything in the past, and he thought that the world was so happy. He thought so, he had a reason, because at this moment in this mansion, there were indeed happy voices everywhere, and there were only happy voices. Everyone is laughing and saying blessings. However, outside the walls of this mansion, what about the vast world, young Juehui never thought of it, and he had even forgotten about the child who was begging for food last night.

"Put the flowers! [note 1] "Wende walked down the stone steps in front of the hall and shouted loudly, and someone outside answered. Then there was a fire in the patio outside the middle gate, and many sparks rose straight into the air, and the golden light was brilliant, and one fell, and the other rose again, and rose higher than the previous one. Immediately in that dark patio appeared many fire trees, and countless silver flowers bloomed. When one cannon finished burning, someone went to light the fuse of the second cannon. In this way, eight or nine canisters were fired one after another, and these cannons were sent by Mrs. Zhang. The old lady also came out, and sat at the door of the hall with a chair, and watched the sons and daughters-in-law standing beside him. He watched and criticized them for the quality of these fireworks.

The brothers went up to the hall and could see more clearly. Jueying, Juequn, and Jue Shi also bought some "Didi Gold", "Earth Mouse" and "Divine Book with Arrows" to set off.

After the fireworks were fired, the people in the hall dispersed. I only heard the sound of a "sedan chair". Juexin and his three uncles all went out in a sedan chair to pay homage to the guests. Jue Hui also stood in the hall and watched Jue Ying set off small flower cannons.

A card table was set up in the old lady's room. At this table are the old lady, the eldest wife, the third wife, and the fourth wife (Zhou has untied her plain skirt, and Zhang and Wang have also untied their big red skirts). Aunt Chen, who was dressed up in a fancy way, had just taken off her pink skirt and sat next to the old lady to read the cards for the old lady, and the rest of the people were standing beside maids or maidservants, ready to fill cigarettes and pour tea at any time. A card table was also set up in Juexin's room, and this table was Rui Jue, Shuying, Shuhua and the fifth wife Shen. Rui Jue, who is a sister-in-law, wants Juemin to sit down, but Juemin pushes that there is something and must refuse to play cards, so he just stands behind Rui Jue, sees her and a deck of cards and walks out.

Juemin didn't go back to his room, but walked out of the hall. He was seeing Jue Hui in the patio setting off the "Divine Book with Arrows" for his younger brothers. He heard a thud, and a glowing object shot straight into the sky, rushed across the roof, and disappeared in midair.

Juequn and Jue Shi grabbed Jue Hui and asked him to let him go again, but they were stopped by Juemin. Juemin walked up to Juehui and whispered in his ear, "Let's go to my aunt's house." ”

Jue Hui nodded, didn't say anything, and followed Jue Min out, ignoring Jue Shi shouting loudly from behind.

At the gate, the lanterns under the eaves still glowed a hazy red, shivering in the cold air. The old man Li, who was guarding the door, sat on the chair of the Taishi who had passed through countless ages, and talked to a palanquin man who was sitting on the bench opposite, and when he saw them come out, he stood up respectfully, and waited for them to cross the threshold before he sat down.

They stepped out of the threshold of the tin bag, and next to the stone lion on the right, they saw a thin black face. The dim light made it impossible for them to see the exalted face of the old servant, and they ignored him and strode into the middle of the street.

This Gao Sheng worked as a servant in their family for ten years, and later became addicted to opium, stole the old lady's calligraphy and paintings and sold them, was discovered, and sent to the police station for some time before being released. Since then, he has been wandering from place to place, begging for food. Every New Year's Day, as usual, I have to go to the old master's house to ask for a few pennies and money. He was too afraid to enter the mansion because he was dressed in rags, so he had to hide outside the gate, waiting for a servant who had been with him to come out, and then told him to go in and report it. His request was not big, but only a few dimes, and it was when the masters were happy. So he always achieved his goal. Over time, this became the old practice. This time he also got his bounty. However, as usual, he was still hiding next to the stone lion, caressing the cold stone lion who did not refuse his hand, while imagining the scene in the mansion at this time. He looked at the two dark shadows that came out, and recognized these two young masters, especially the third young master, who had once been lying on his bed next to the cigarette lamp and listened to him tell stories. He felt cordial, and he wanted to go out and hold them to talk. But when he saw that his clothes were so tattered, his heart immediately became cold. He still hid in the corner, and even crouched down, huddled in a ball, lest they see him. When they were far away, he stood up and chased after them. His eyes gradually blurred, and he could no longer see their shadows. He stood in the middle of the street in a daze, letting the cold wind mercilessly hit his emaciated body, which was only wearing a torn jacket. He rubbed his moist eyes and walked away. He turned his head and looked at the stone lion one last time. He was gone, he walked slowly and feebly, holding the bounty of his old master in one hand and his chest with the other.

At this time, Brother Kyaw Min was striding down the street. They stepped through the embers of firecrackers, walked through the quiet and lively street markets, walked past the grocery stores with a pair of large candles burning in front of them, and finally came to Zhang's house. On the way, they thought of many happy things, but they did not think of this person called Ascension.

The Zhang family looked very calm, and a kerosene hanging lamp was lit in the empty hall.

This small mansion is divided into three families, with three different surnames. Among the heads of the three families were two widows, and only two or three adult males. Although the three families live in the same courtyard, there is no lively atmosphere, and the days are very leisurely, even on Chinese New Year's Eve, it is not much more lively than usual.

The Zhang family is the most quiet in this mansion, and the only reason is that there are no men, and there are only two mothers and daughters in the family. Jean has a grandmother who lives in a nunnery and doesn't come home often. In addition, a manservant and a maid are both "old family" who have been in this family for more than ten years.

They walked inside, and Zhang Shenglai greeted them. They walked to Mrs. Zhang's window and called "Auntie" first, and Mrs. Zhang agreed inside. When they entered the hall, Mrs. Zhang was coming out of the room. They said, "Farewell to my aunt," and knelt down to salute. Although Mrs. Zhang said "no" repeatedly, it was too late to stop them, so she returned the salute with a smile. Then Jean came out of her room, and they gave her a beat. Mrs. Zhang asked them to sit in her room, and Sister-in-law Li made tea and brought it in.

From Mrs. Zhang's words, they knew that Keming and Juexin had already come one after another, so they sat for a while and left. Mrs. Zhang talked to them a lot. They asked her to go back to her parents' house for a few days, and she promised to go on the second day of the Lunar New Year, and she would take Qin to the nunnery tomorrow to pay New Year's greetings to Qin's grandmother. She also said that she likes to be quiet, and this time she may not stay for a few days, but she can let Qin stay longer. They were even more pleased with these words.

They sat for a while. Jean invited them to her room, and they followed her.

They never imagined there was another person in the room. This is a young woman, wearing a pale green lake crepe cotton jacket and a dark blue satin vest. She sat on the edge of the bed and read a book by the oil lamp. She heard their footsteps, and put down her book and stood up.

They stood there in a daze, staring at her face without blinking their eyes, unable to say a word for a long time.

"You don't recognize her?" Jean asked them in deliberate surprise.

Before they could answer, the woman laughed first. But it was a bleak smile, a smile of helplessness, and the wrinkle on her forehead that made her whole face appear more beautiful and mournful, was deepened by this smile.

"Yes," Juehui replied with a smile. Juemin called: "Cousin Mei." They still have her impression in their minds. The past passed quickly. She stood before them now: still the same beautiful and sad face, still slender figure, still with thick black hair, still with watery eyes; It's just that the wrinkles on the forehead are deeper, the braid on the back of the head has been changed to a bun, and there is only a faint touch on the face. They didn't expect to meet her here at this time.

"Second cousin, third cousin...... How are you guys? …… ...... years," she said, although it was a faint ordinary word, but she laboriously said it.

"We're all good. Cousin May, what about you? Juemin asked kindly, and he smiled reluctantly.

"I'm still like this, but in recent years, I've been easily sad, and I've often become sad for no reason, and I don't know why." She furrowed her brows as she spoke, the same as before, but now she looked more moving. She added: "I am sentimental by nature. ”

"Cousin Mei, I think the environment also has something to do with it," Juehui explained, "but you haven't changed at all. ”

"Why don't you all sit? Everybody stand. It's polite to see you for a few years! Jean interjected next to him.

So everyone sat down, and Jean and Mei sat side by side on the edge of the bed.

"I've always missed you after I said goodbye. …… The past few years seem to be a sad dream. Now I wake up from a dream, but there is nothing, and I am still an empty heart. She said, and then corrected herself: "Actually, I'm still in a dream, I don't know when I will really wake up from a dream?" I don't have to feel sorry for myself. What disturbed me was that it dragged my mother down. ”

"Is Auntie alright?" Juemin asked politely.

"My mother is very good, thank you very much. How is the second aunt? It's been a few years," Mei said with a smile and kindness.

"Mom is very good, she misses you a lot," Jue Hui continued.

"Thank you, Second Aunt, I'm just afraid I'll never see her again," Mei said with a touch of sentimentality, burying her head slightly.

"Sister Mei, you really shouldn't be so pessimistic. You are still very young, and you will still be happy in the future, who can know the future in advance? All you say is this frustration! Jean stroked Mei's shoulder and said; Times are different now. Maybe it will bring you happiness. ......" she put her mouth to Mei's ear again and whispered two or three words.

Mei's eyebrows loosened slightly, and a glimmer of light swept across her face. She glanced at Jean and reached out to pick up the sideburns that hung down on her right. Her face was once again overshadowed by a dark color. She smiled sadly at Jean, and then said:

"The third cousin just said that the environment has something to do with it, and I think it's very interesting. Our circumstances are different. I'm out of time. All my life, I just let fate play at the mercy of me, and I can't be the master of anything. Where can I be happy? Mei said and pulled Qin's hand over and pinched it gently, tilted her head to look at Qin, and praised: "Sister Qin, you are really worthy of envy!" You have the guts, you have the ability, you won't be like me. ”

Jean listened to Mei's sincere admiration, and although she felt relieved for a moment, it was like a breeze that blew past and didn't come back, leaving only a sad smile. This sad smile is a way for some women to deal with problems that cannot be solved, although Jean, who is praised as "courageous and capable", sometimes turns to it.

"Cousin Mei, although the environment has a lot to do with it, the environment is also man-made. Why can't we change the environment? No matter what, people should struggle with the environment. If you can conquer the environment, you can win happiness back for yourself," Jue Hui said these words enthusiastically, but he still felt that there were many words that he had not spit out.

When Juemin saw Mei's actions, he had all kinds of feelings. He was sad, satisfied, frightened, and pity, not only for May, but also for Jean, but also for himself. But when he saw Qin's smiling face, he gradually regained his calm state of mind, and he even found words to comfort Mei: "You have been in a bad situation in recent years, so you are often sad." In a few years, circumstances will definitely change, and you won't be the same as you are now. In fact, the environment of Qin Mei is not much better than yours. If you don't have one more family affair, it's like having one more nightmare. There is only one world, and you look at it from the pessimistic side, so it's sentimental; From the optimistic side, Qin Mei feels that everything can be done. ”

"Cousin Mei, I advise you to read more new books when you have time, but fortunately Sister Qin has them at home," said Juehui, who thought the new books could solve all the problems.

Mei smiled slightly, she didn't answer right away, just looked at them with watery eyes. They couldn't guess what was going on in her mind. She suddenly retracted her eyes, looked at the lamp, sighed softly, and wanted to speak, but held back, as if there were many words hidden in her chest but could not speak. She silently bit her lower lip. After a while, she nodded and said, "Thank you, but your intentions are good, but they are of no use to me." What good is reading a new book for someone like me? She closed her mouth again, paused for a moment, and said, "Everything is irretrievable." No matter how times change, my circumstances will not change. ”

Juemin felt that there was nothing more to say, and he knew that her words were right. Everything is irretrievable, she has been married, and her eldest brother has a sister-in-law. Even if times change, how can it bring the two of them together? Moreover, the mothers of the two have become enemies. At this time, even Juehui also understood that not all problems can be solved by books.

Everyone was looking for the right words in their stomachs, but Mei spoke again, "I just saw these copies of 'New Youth' at Sister Qin's," she said, looking over at the table, where the sixteen-folio magazines with dark yellow covers were stacked on the table in front of the bed. "Of course, there are some things I don't understand, but there are also things that I do. There are good things about those discussions, because I have been victimized, so I know it. But when I read these books, I only feel uncomfortable. It's like another world, and everything in this world is completely different from my environment. I may envy all of this. But I knew I couldn't do it myself. So reading these books, it's like a beggar standing outside the garden wall of a rich family and hearing the laughter inside, or walking past the door of a restaurant, smelling the meat and rice inside, and I don't know how uncomfortable it is! As she spoke, the wrinkle on her forehead became more pronounced. She took out a handkerchief from her arms, covered her mouth and coughed a few times, and then said with a wry smile: "I often cough lately, I often have insomnia at night, and my heart always hurts." ”

"Sister Mei, you forgot about the past. Don't torture yourself with it. You have to take good care of your body, even when we see you like this, we feel distressed," Qin said as Mei almost burst into tears.

Mei turned to Jean and smiled slightly, nodding her head in gratitude. But she still said sadly: "Sister Qin, you know my temperament. The past seems to have been engraved in my heart. You still don't understand how I'm living. I'm similar to you, except for our mother and daughter, I only have one more brother than you, and he prepares his homework all day to take the school exam. My mother's busy day was either playing cards or visiting customers. I was alone in my room, flipping through a few books of poetry to read. I couldn't even find anyone to talk to and listen to me. I will cry when I see the flowers fall, and I will be sad when I see the moon is missing. All this evokes many painful memories for me. In Yibin, I came back from the Zhao family and lived with my mother for almost a year. There was a plane tree in front of my window, and when I first visited, new sprouts had just sprouted on the tree, and the leaves were increasing day by day, and gradually they were becoming green. In autumn, the leaves turn yellow and fall in the wind. By the time we returned to the province, there were only dead branches left. I think it's similar to me, I've passed the leafy season, and now I'm on the way down. …… It rained all night the night before the big day, and I tossed and turned in bed, and I couldn't sleep. The raindrops knocked on the tiles, knocked on the windows, and kept ringing. The lights are dim and dim. I thought of two lines of poetry: 'The past is vaguely like a dream, and it all comes to my heart with the wind and rain.' You think, how is this not a sad scene! …… You all have tomorrow, where do I have tomorrow? I only had yesterday. Yesterday's events were painful, but they were the only ones that comforted me. At this point, she suddenly changed her tone and asked Brother Juemin, "Is the eldest cousin okay now?" ”

Brother Juemin was listening attentively to her and was very moved, when he suddenly heard this unexpected question, and seemed to understand what she meant, and could not answer at once, but then Jue Hui was quick to speak, and replied briefly: "He is fine, he said that he had seen you." His words were only understood by Mei alone, and both Geumin and Juemin looked at him in surprise.

"Really, we've met. I knew him as soon as I saw him. He's a little older than he used to be. He may complain about me, but I ignored him, but I avoided him. I wanted to see him, but I was afraid to see him, for I was afraid of reminding him of the past, for fear of causing my own sadness, and thirdly for my mother being there again. …… He's been here before. I heard his voice, and I didn't dare to glance at him through the crack in the door, and only when he was gone did I sneak a peek at his back. ”

Jue Hui said "he won't" repeatedly, which was just a reply to her sentence "He may blame me".

Jean saw that Mei was sad when she mentioned the past, so she advised, "Don't mention those things again." You came to me to play, originally because I was afraid that you would be easy to be sad during the New Year, so I specially invited you to come to my house to relax, but who knew that it would evoke more memories for you, only blame me for not bringing them in to meet you. ”

Mei's sorrow gradually diminished. Although she was still frowning slightly, her face was no longer dark, and she even said with a smile: "It doesn't matter, after talking about so many things, my heart is a little refreshed." Usually I don't have anyone to talk to at home. And when I talk about the past, I'm much happier. So she asked Brother Kyaw Min in a cordial tone about their eldest brother and sister-in-law.

[Note 1] Flowers: i.e. fireworks.