Early the next morning, Yanagi began to work in the kitchen. The main thing is to prepare the offerings for the evening and the New Year's dinner for the whole family for the day. These days are the most tiring days of the year for women, especially those with hundreds of relatives and many relatives, ancestor worship, visiting friends, sacrifices, Chinese New Year's Eve meals, all food and supplies are prepared by the women at home. Men don't cook, and it's a custom that has been passed down for thousands of years. (Of course, singles are counted separately...) ）

Fortunately, the old Liu family is thin, and there are only a few distant relatives who seem to be broken, and they may not necessarily come during the New Year, so Liu He's family does not need to prepare too many things. It's a lot easier than others.

To worship ancestors, there must be wine, meat, grain, and incense. The wine should be in a large bowl, the meat should be whole, the grain should be sharp, and the fragrance should be long-lasting. It starts on Chinese New Year's Eve and ends on the eve of the last year. The dishes must be changed every day, and the incense must be kept unextinguished. These are not small expenses, but they are used to worship ancestors, and few people will complain.

In the morning, Wang Zhihong sent someone to send the 120 yuan to Liu's family early, which brought a lot of surprise to Liu Yiyi, and he thought that Wang Zhihong would give this money after the year, but he did not expect Wang Zhihong to send it on the day of the Chinese New Year's Eve. From this point of view, Wang Zhihong seems to have gained a lot of benefits this time.

But this has nothing to do with Liu Yiyi, and it is the most affordable to get money now.

A few days ago, when the ploughing oxen were delivered, Liu Yiyi was thinking about whether to make a few plowshares for the purpose of clearing the wasteland and cultivating the land. It's just that there was too big a gap in the money in my hand at that time, so I had to put it aside first. Now that I have the money, these are also on the agenda.

Liu Yiyi is now a small landlord with a little wealth, such as sowing, harvesting, and plowing the field, these basic production equipment must be done well, and the best must be used. Isn't it a joke that someone has a cow but doesn't have the corresponding equipment?

It is now the early days of the Taitang Dynasty, and most of the plowshares used by farmers are straight plows. There is one in the old Liu family, and Liu Yiyi has also studied it several times, and came to the conclusion that this era is too crazy, and this kind of plow can also be used to plow the land?

Not only is the straight plough bulky and physically demanding to use, but it is also extremely difficult to turn or reverse. Lack of sufficient flexibility, which will greatly affect the efficiency of farming, is simply not suitable for rapid clearing and farming.

Therefore, if Liu Yiyi wants to prepare the thirty hectares of wasteland before spring ploughing, he must make some improvements to this tool.

As for how to change it, Liu Yiyi has been thinking about this problem for the past few days.

He recalled that when he learned the chapter on ancient agricultural tools in history class before, the history teacher had made a detailed introduction to the Quyuan plough in the late Tang Dynasty.

It seems that at that time, in order to let every student have a good understanding of the structure of the curved plough and its advantages over other ploughs, the teacher specially found a model of the curved plough for the students to refer to. According to the model, the manufacturing process of the curved plough and the use of each part are explained in detail.

It's just that most of the students didn't pay attention at all at that time, thinking that Quyuan Plough was no matter how advanced it was, and now it was not needed, so what was the use of understanding it so clearly? Unfortunately, Liu Yiyi also thought so at the time.

So, at the end of the lesson, he only remembered the general shape of the plough and knew that it was composed of eleven parts. As for the names of those parts, I don't know.

With the only memory he had left, Liu Yiyi had drawn the general shape of the plough on paper, and now he had to ask some experienced masters or blacksmiths to try it out to see if he could make it out of this drawing.

But now is the end of the year, everyone is busy with sacrifices, New Year's greetings, visiting friends, and I can't invite anyone to come. Everything will have to wait until after the end of the year.

Liu Laoshi asked for a bowl of paste from the kitchen and began to paste red paper and door gods. The door god is pasted on the gate, and the red paper is pasted on the small door and side door.

When it gets dark, hang two big red lanterns at the main gate and at the main entrance of the hall, and light the red candles inside, so that they will remain on until dawn the next day. This is also a custom handed down from ancient times, and it is said that it is used to scare away the legendary "Xi" beast that only appears in the Chinese New Year's Eve.

The day passed quickly, and it flowed to dusk in Liu Xiaohui's laughter.

Liu Laoshi once again drove the Liu He clan to the hall, and led the two brothers in the stove room to greet the god of the stove who had been sent to the west by them when he was young.

The ritual of welcoming the god of the stove is much simpler than when it was given to him, or it is not a ceremony at all, just lighting two incense plants and re-hanging the portrait of the god of the stove that was newly bought or invited back.

After that, ancestor worship began.

Liu Laoshi first put the sacrifice on the table, then lit an incense plant, bowed three times in front of the ancestors' spirit cards, knelt on the ground, and recited words in his mouth, how could he ask the ancestors to protect and keep the family safe. With that, he got up and stepped aside.

Next is Liu He's family, Liu Yi, Liu Ertiao, and Liu Xiaohui. According to the seniority, from the highest to the lowest, take turns to burn incense, prostrate, and worship in front of the desk.

Seeing that the whole family had finished worshipping, Liu Laoshi led the family to the courtyard, and asked Liu Yiyi to light the bamboo he bought back in the morning, and after listening to the sound of the horn when the bamboo burned for a while, he said: "Okay, let's have New Year's dinner!" ”

As soon as Liu's honest voice fell, Liu Xiaohui and Liu Erjo rushed to the dining table in the main hall. Tonight's meal was the most sumptuous of the year. No wonder they are so anxious and rejoicing. And no one will blame them at this time, the New Year needs this kind of joy from children.

It's just that there are fewer dumplings in the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, which makes Liu Yiyi feel that there is less taste of the year.

This afternoon, he wanted to go to the kitchen to pack a few, but as soon as he entered the kitchen door, he was kicked out by Liu He. Cooking is the exclusive preserve of women, and the men of the family are not allowed to interfere. Liu Yiyi wanted to put forward some opinions, but he didn't say anything more stupidly when he was covered by Liu He's face.

Liu Yiyi poured a glass of wine for Lao Liu, brought it to Liu Honest, and said: "Dad, on behalf of me, the second brother and the younger sister, I would like to give you a glass, thank you and my mother for teaching our three brothers and sisters over the years." We wish you and my mother good health and a long life! Forever young! ”

"Well, good, good, I'll drink this wine!" Lao Liu had never heard such a fresh joke before, and he felt that his child was sensible, so he happily took the wine glass, and poured all the wine in the cup with a tilt of his neck.

Lao Liu's amount of wine was shallow, and after a glass of wine, his whole face turned red. He picked up the chopsticks and took a bite of the dish, and said, "Thanks to the blessing of my ancestors, let me Liu Fengkai have your heirs in this life." Especially you, one, the Liu family has you, it is the blessing of my Liu Fengkai! Then he picked up the wine glass and said, "Come, while we are happy today, let's have a few more drinks." ”

"Yes, Dad." Liu Yiyi picked up the wine glass and touched it with Lao Liu, and then drank it on his back. was waiting to drink with Lao Liu again, but Liu He interjected on the side: "Don't drink too much, you two have to keep the New Year tonight, what if you are all drunk?" ”

"Oh, yes, yes, I'm going to keep a New Year's Eve tonight, so let's drink less." Lao Liu put down the wine glass and said to Liu Yiyi: "Let's drink again tomorrow, let's eat first." ”

Liu Yiyi nodded, he also knew some about the customs of the Chinese New Year's Eve vigil, but did he really have to keep it until dawn?