Firecrackers say goodbye to the old year, and the couplets are new to ten thousand households.

The spring light in the courtyard is bright, and everyone celebrates and rejoices.

On the twenty-seventh day of the lunar month, Shen Han led the whole family to his hometown to worship his ancestors, and it took three full days before returning on the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve.

On Chinese New Year's Eve, after the ancestors have finished worshipping, they have to sacrifice to the gods at night.

The hall is full of the "god axis" of all kinds of gods, and the long offering table is for pig's head and three animals, vegetarian steamed buns, raw noodles, tea and wine, etc.

The so-called pig's head and three animals are pig's head, chicken and fish, not only how to place it is very particular, such as the eyes of the fish should be pasted with red paper, the body of the fish should be slightly cocked, and the shape should be like ingots; The chicken is whole, with two green onions in its mouth, and a plate of white eggs is placed behind the chicken butt, and it cannot be cooked, and all food must be half-raw.

The process of worshipping gods is the same as worshipping ancestors, the process is cumbersome and cumbersome, and the more scholarly families like the Shen family, the more etiquette rules there are.

In modern society, these ancient rites are almost gone, because they are too troublesome.

While Shen Kan was complaining about the hardships, these days also gave him a new experience, trouble is trouble, but it seems that this is the "New Year". Of course, it's better to keep it simple.

After eating a sumptuous and meaningful Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, the family sat around the fire, laughed and laughed, and kept the year until the night.

In the ancestral hall of the Shen family that night, incense was lit to worship heaven and earth. The whole village is lit up everywhere, and the lights in Suzhou are as bright as stars, and the sound of firecrackers shakes the sky.

On the fifth watch, the sky was bright, Shen Han wore court clothes, first led the family to look at the imperial capital, respectfully bowed three times and bowed nine times, and then went to worship the ancestral hall.

The first day of the Lunar New Year was called the Yuan Day in ancient times. In the early morning, the gate is opened, and firecrackers are set off three times, which is called "three levels in a row".

After a short rest, Shen Han and his wife sat down in the hall. Shen Jiayou brought a full family of children to toast and worship the New Year. Then Shen Jiamo and his wife saluted the eldest brother and sister-in-law, and the fourth wife, Sun, saluted them and his wife.

Shen Kan followed behind Shen Shi, and the brothers greeted the elders one by one, and exchanged brother and sister gifts with Shen Peiwen and other sisters.

The housekeeper's daughter-in-law also brought the daughters-in-law and girls of the inner house, and the housekeeper took the housekeeper and other men, kneeling all over the yard in the dark.

When it was over, the female dependents returned to the inner house, and Shen Kan came out with Shen Jiayou and Shen Jiamo, and immediately there were non-slave people such as account clearers, and invited them to come over to receive gifts.

For a long time, after Shen Jiayou and Shen Jiamo went back, Shen Shi, Shen Hua and other brothers continued to salute each other with the big guys, and from time to time relatives and friends came to pay New Year's greetings.

Suzhou customs, Yuan Day, forbidden to sweep the floor, beg for fire, draw water and use needles and scissors.

That is to say, there is no need to dry anything on the first day of the new year, anyway, the food has already been cooked, fried and stored a lot, and the big fish and meat have their own way to heat up and serve on the table.

For a few days, the Shen family was turned upside down, and the old man couldn't stand it at first, announcing that he was unwell and had no time to see guests. The old lady was also very tired, except for the reception of the people of her own family and the wife of her relatives, the rest were gone.

A few wives only gossip with their closest sisters, nephews, daughters-in-law, or a few face-stoping mothers-in-law and women, while Shen Peiwen and Shen Peiwei and other sisters are much more comfortable, either playing Go and playing dominoes every day, or walking around to relax.

Only the eldest wife, Zhou, is the busiest, receiving guests every day, inviting people to dinner, and making a lot of trouble. Shen Jiayou went out to pay New Year's greetings, and when everyone else should have been seen, he went all over, and the rest were all pushed to Shen Shi, Shen Hua, and Shen Kan on his behalf.

As for Shen Wei and the others, they disappeared as soon as they slipped away, in short, they each had their own places to go.

"The east wind blooms thousands of trees at night, and it blows down, and the stars are like rain."

The prosperous city of Suzhou is lit up everywhere during the Chinese New Year, and the streets are noisy with gongs and drums every day, and juggling such as lion and dragon dances will continue until dawn.

Since the Song Dynasty, the year of Suzhou is famous, at that time there was a record that "Suzhou before and after the Yuan Dynasty, each pick pine branches, bamboo leaves, etc., knot in the thoroughfare, the day is hung color, miscellaneous drainage tassels, the night is lit lamp, brilliant fire trees."

Zhumen feast, Yan fish dragon, column anointing candles, golden drums and dan ...... Inside the gate, the main street is opened, and the lanterns are all over the place, and the sun is not seen. ”

It's a pity that Shen Kan didn't see it, because Shen Shi gave Bao Yuan the task of going to Suzhou City to pay New Year's greetings, and Shen Hua went to the town, leaving him all in the countryside.

On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Shen Jiayou rested for a day, recovered his strength, accompanied his father to talk for a while in Jingzhai in the garden, and came out to the outer study, thinking about dealing with housework.

How do you know that Xin stepped into the house, but it was quiet inside, and a few literary friends and Qingke were not there, so they must have been invited to eat New Year's tea.

So he turned around and returned to the inner house, but his wife and Aunt Lan were not there, and the maid who stayed behind informed the Ye family that the girl was coming, and everyone rushed to the Zhengluo mansion.

It turned out that the daughter-in-law who had not passed through the door came, but in fact, the Ming Dynasty was not called a daughter-in-law, but a daughter-in-law.

As soon as she entered the door, Miss Ye hurriedly came out with a maid when she heard the news, and Shen Jiayou said softly: "You are a guest, let's go in and talk."

At this time, Shen Kan also came back from outside, and as soon as he saw the uncle sitting down, Miss Ye came forward and knelt down to ask the elders to be safe.

Zhou Shi hurriedly took her hand and exclaimed, "Oh, look at this cold hand, it must have been frozen in the couplet just written."

Shen Jiayou was stunned for a moment, looked left and right, and there was a couplet hanging on the screen: Yansheng fragrant cinnamon is solid and fresh, and the clouds are beautiful and free.

The handwriting is elegant and beautiful, not like the handwriting of his own family, he knows that it was written by his future daughter-in-law, and Shen Jiayou secretly praised it in his heart.

Shen Kan also saw at a glance that the sister-in-law who had not passed through the door was famous and beautiful.

At this time, Ye Xiuru said: "The child is weak by nature, not frozen."

Shen Jiayou said: "Although it is early spring at this time, the weather is still cold, and this room is too big, and it is very easy to get sick when it is hot and cold, it is all because Peiwen is not good, she must have written it pestering you."

"Blame me." Shen Peiwen said with a smile, "Quickly bring the charcoal basin and let the guests guard the fire." ”

As he spoke, the big guys couldn't help but stare at this delicate guest, with long hair combed smooth and shiny, wearing delicate and dazzling pearls, and a snow-white sable collar around his neck, fluffy, noble and cute.

A floor-to-ceiling pleated long skirt embroidered with parrot green embroidered with red peonies, covered with a royal blue cloak with hundreds of butterflies, a macaroni dragon and phoenix white marble on the chest, and the red tassels hang down long.

The appearance is beautiful and delicate, with a melon seed face, slender eyebrows, a small cherry mouth, and a medium build, but the complexion is slightly dark, which is compared to Shen Peiwen's rare white greasy.

The future sister-in-law is very good-looking, Shen Kanxin said, but it is nothing to him, a standard Jiangnan beauty.

Zhou has been looking at his daughter-in-law, Ye Xiuru was embarrassed, and asked with a smile: "Why is the wife looking at the child so hard?"

Zhou smiled: "Naturally, the more I look at it, the more I love you."

The big guys laughed, Shen Kan quietly retreated when he saw this, and before anyone passed the door, it was inconvenient for him to stay in the house.

After coming out, he went to the kitchen very consciously, because there is a slang in Suzhou, the New Year's greeting to the seventh or eighth day of the new year, there are only two water chestnuts left in the house, and the New Year's greeting is to the tenth day of the new year, only radish and no meat left.

"Uncle Shen, are there enough things? Today's distinguished guests are coming, and there will definitely be a few tables in the evening. If you keep people to live for a few days, you must not be sloppy with three meals a day, and if you don't have enough, you can quickly send people to the city. ”

"Enough is enough, I'm having something, why don't you go in and take a look yourself?"

"Who's in there?" Shen Kan suddenly hesitated, thinking of Shen An's daughter-in-law, don't be alone in the same room and gossip.

"I have a lot of family here, and I have a few wives." After Shen An finished speaking, he hurried away.

"That's good."

Texas thousands of miles away.

Shen Jiaji arrived all the way to the outside of Dezhou City and got off the boat, Li Renyi led him to change ox carts and go to the south of the city, where the Shen people have formed a large village after several generations of reproduction.

The trees are towering, the fields are horizontal, and the houses of each family are very magnificent.

Staying at Shen Shao's house, relatives have a lively feeling when they see each other.

The next day, Shen Shao took him to worship the gods of the past generations, and then went to all the families of his clan, regardless of the rich and the poor. In the past few days of the Chinese New Year, every family has rushed to invite him to dinner, and they are all hospitable.

Choose an auspicious day to sacrifice, on this day the whole clan has come, first to see the ancestral tomb, and then in the ancestral hall, Shen Shao is the son of the great sect, personally the main sacrifice to the lord, the sacrificial text to the ancestors of this branch of Shandong, affirming that the descendants have recognized the ancestors and returned to the ancestors.

When it was over, Shen Jiaji went to the cemetery again, wrote down the location of each tombstone one by one, copied down the epitaph, and introduced Shen Shao if there was no epitaph, and each family also said some about the past of their own tribe, and everyone held a feast in the ancestral hall that night, that is, to enjoy the favor of the ancestors.

The next day, Shen Shao took Shen Jiaji to the city, and the in-laws of the Shen family visited them one by one, giving gifts, and the relatives also bowed and invited wine.

At night, Shen Jiaji and Shen Shao talked with candles in the study. Today, on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, you can hear the sound of reading in the village.

Shen Jiaji listened to this, was very pleased, and said: "The village is full of scholars, and it is still three points better than that of his hometown. In the past few days, the relatives are kind, the village is quaint and quiet, I really want to stay and not leave. ”

"Then let's stay." Shen Shao said with a smile, "There is a lack of great Confucians like my uncle in the family, if my uncle is willing, then the school is your house, and I will ask someone to repair it immediately." In addition, there are three hectares of water and dry land, and it will be my uncle's property from now on. ”

"Six hundred acres of land?"

Shen Jiaji couldn't help but secretly speak, although he had seen the wealth here with his own eyes, he didn't want to be so rich.