Back at home, it was just time for lunch, and Zhou Yi was glad that he didn't talk nonsense at the conference.

Things are over, and the next days are to prepare all kinds of food for the New Year, from childhood to adulthood, this is the most interesting part of Zhou Yi's feelings.

In the blink of an eye, in the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, before dawn, everyone got up and began to get busy, preparing for the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner in the evening.

A family of four, happy and happy, this is what home looks like.

Zhou Sheng said unsatisfactorily: "Hey, Hengzhi, you are also so old, if you marry a daughter-in-law and come back, then we will have a complete meal......"

"......" Zhou Yi immediately wanted to hug Zhang Zhong and cry bitterly, and said, it's hard to be a brother.

After working for most of the day, by the end of the evening, I was finally able to eat.

The four of them sat around, but Zhou Yi saw Zhou Sheng excitedly move out a large clay pot with mud sealed.

"What is this?" Zhou Yi was very curious, the first time he spent the year of the Song Dynasty, he had already discovered a lot of new things.

Zhou Sheng patted the clay pot and said with some pride: "This is the Tusu wine I brewed, I think back then, your Lao Tzu and I are famous in this whole street, come, see how it compares to your fairy brew?" ”

Shoot open the sealing mud, and the aroma of wine is overflowing.

Tusu is the name of a grass, and there is a liquor made from this grass, which is called Tusu wine. It is said that Tusu wine was created by Hua Tuo, a famous doctor in the late Han Dynasty, and its formula is soaked in traditional Chinese medicine such as rhubarb, atractylodes, cinnamon branches, and Sichuan peppercorns.

The writer Su Zhe's poem "Except for the Sun" said: "Every year, I finally drink Tu Su, and I don't realize that I have been more than 70 years. ”

Everyone was given a large bowl of wine, and even those who no longer drank it had to drink it, because it was believed to be able to cure diseases without diseases.

Qin's big pot of dumplings from the back kitchen, steaming, the custom of eating dumplings every year, inherited for thousands of years, even the basic shape has not changed, the literature says that dumplings are "shaped like a glaive, the world eats". It's just that at this time, the name is still a slot, and the way to eat it is to drink it with soup, which is wonton in the usual sense.

Zhou Yi picked up the wine bowl and was just about to toast to Zhou Sheng, an elder, to thank him for presiding over the harmony and happiness of this family over the past year, but unexpectedly, Zhou Min next to him saw him serving the bowl, and quickly drank half a bowl of Tusu wine in one gulp, which made him stunned.

"Brother, what do you see, I've drunk everything, why don't you drink it quickly?" Zhou Min urged, and Zhou Sheng was also smiling.

This is not right, it is not scientific, it is unreasonable, shouldn't this be filial to the elders first?

But it seems to be different from what he thought, since Zhou Min drank it, then there is no problem, Zhou Yi took a sip, the strong medicinal fragrance filled the entire mouth, and the taste of the wine was not very strong.

Later, Zhou Yi saw from the book that other wines should be respected by the elders first, but this Tusu wine was drunk from a young age.

This meal was eaten for two hours, from the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve to the fifteenth day of the first month there is no curfew, everyone can party all night, today is the legendary New Year's Celebration, everyone sleeps all night, when hungry eat a large table of meals on the table, can be saved until next year's best, take the meaning of the year.

Just after eating, the originally quiet street outside suddenly became lively, the sound of firecrackers, and it was about to reach the important moment of the intersection of the years, Zhou Min said to Zhou Yi with great interest: "Brother, let's go set off firecrackers." ”

In the Song Dynasty, it was common to start making firecrackers out of paper-wrapped gunpowder. The custom of setting off firecrackers on Chinese New Year's Eve and Spring Festival gradually prevailed, and on Chinese New Year's Eve in the Song Dynasty, the sound of firecrackers continued all night.

"Tokyo Menghualu" said: "It's night, the firecrackers are forbidden to shout, and the sound is heard outside." ”

Fan Chengda's "Firecracker Walk" describes the process of lighting firecrackers: "The five-foot simmer is paid, the sweat and fire are thorough between the nodes, and the healthy servants will still walk away." But the child stood away from it, and thundered and roared on the ground. One or two ghosts were frightened, and three or four ghosts were overturned. Ten voices even the hundred gods and gods, and peace in all directions. But he picked up the scorched head and stacked it at the bottom of the bed, and there was still residual power to drive away the boil. ”

Wang Anshi's "Yuan Ri" said: "In the sound of firecrackers, the spring breeze sends warmth into Tusu." "Firecrackers can be regarded as one of the most distinctive folk events of the Chinese New Year.

Coming to the outside of the house, there are many bought firecrackers stacked at the door, it is said that because the house is also difficult, Zhou Min and Zhou Yi have not played with this thing since they were children, and every year Zhou Sheng goes to buy a few of the cheapest, and it is also a ceremony to put it. Thinking of these, Zhou Yi felt sad. So now that he has money, to make up for the gap of so many years before, Zhou Min ruthlessly bought most of the car's firecrackers to play.

On the street at the door, there were people setting off firecrackers everywhere, and the strong smell of sulfur made Zhou Yi even feel very good. I scolded myself in my heart, picked up a small firecracker and lit it with an incense candle and threw it out.

Listen to it emit a little light, followed by an explosion. Zhou Yi and Zhou Min both laughed happily, maybe this is the most primitive happiness.

Not to be outdone, Zhou Min picked a relatively large one, clicked it and threw it at Zhou Yi's feet, which frightened Zhou Yi into hugging her head, but she laughed so much that she bent down holding her stomach and bending down.

"Okay, you actually plotted against me, look at me, double cannon." Zhou Yi picked a firecracker with the words "Double Ring" written on it and lit it and threw it out, causing Zhou Min to scream.

The brother and sister quarreled for a while and were stopped by Zhou Sheng, he was afraid that the two of them would be injured, and then the year would be restless.

Then everyone began to put relatively large firecrackers, Zhou Min chose an arm-thick second kicker covered with red paper, carefully flattened it on the stone slab in the distance, and then instigated Zhou Yi to put it, this thing is too big, she is not fat to that extent.

Zhou Yi slowly approached the two kicks, lit the fuse and then ran away, because of the process, the fuse waiting time was only a moment, just now Zhou Yi took the firecracker in his hand and lit it and threw it away, and a few exploded before they landed.

A deafening explosion sounded, and the red paper wrapped around it scattered, but an orange flame burst into the sky, and then exploded in the night sky, blooming into an exploding starlight.

Zhou Yi was suddenly dumbfounded, this, ignition, lift-off, why is the procedure so familiar. After thinking about it for a long time, he suddenly realized that this is a second-stage rocket!

It turns out that the Song Dynasty already had a two-stage rocket! Although it exists in the form of two kicks, the principle is the same.

The "back door" at the bottom of the second kick was not tightly blocked, and the air flow generated by the explosion of gunpowder in the lower layer rushed open the back door with a "ping" sound and sprayed downward. The downward jet of air creates an upward thrust that pushes the firecracker into the air. At this time, the fuse happened to ignite the sealed gunpowder at the upper end again, and then it burned rapidly twice - an explosion, except that the explosion at the back became continued inflatable propulsion, what is the difference between this and a rocket?

Zhou Yi's shock was incomprehensible, Zhou Min pulled him to continue setting off firecrackers, he forced the horror in his heart, a smile appeared on his face, and Zhou Min continued to play.

Half an hour later, I don't know where suddenly there were many people shouting at the same time: "New Year's ......"

In the capital, this voice came from inside the palace, and in the localities, the work was carried out by the government.

With this shout, everyone congratulated each other, and Zhou Min bowed and saluted, first to Zhou Sheng and Qin, and then to Zhou Yi.

"Happy New Year, brother, when will I send a red envelope to my sister?" She stretched out her little white and tender hand, and her purpose was self-evident.

Zhou Sheng went back to the house, he had already prepared this thing, and everyone had one in their hands.

In the following time, the sound of congratulations was endless, and the sound of firecrackers never stopped.

After sending out the red envelope, Zhou Sheng said: "Let's go, let's go to the ancestral year too." He was flushed, and he didn't know if it was because he had drunk too much wine during the meal just now.

The family came to the back yard, next to the wall of Zhou Sheng's bedroom, there was a two-story pagoda-shaped building, the carved beams and paintings were better than any building in the yard, but it was locked by a big lock all the year round, Zhou Yi had been here for a few months, and he had never seen what was going on inside.

Zhou Sheng took out the key and said while opening the door: "Come on, come on, the New Year is here, pay New Year's greetings to my ancestors, today my Zhou family has to be favored by God, there are children and grandchildren Zhou Yi, and the glory of the ancestors ......"

He babbled and opened the door, the space inside was not large, it was dim and boundless, Zhou Yi brought paper money and candles as instructed, as well as a lot of incense.

Lighting paper money in the brazier, Zhou Sheng shed tears, and said in a choked voice: "The ancestors of the Zhou family, Zhou Sheng is incompetent, the money given to you every year is less, and I hope you don't get angry, the ancestors blessed my Zhou family to transfer, my son is out, I will burn more for you this year, make up for the previous years, you can spend as much as you want, our Zhou family can't let others look down on you......"

The incense process lasted for half an hour, looking at the wafting green smoke, Zhou Yi sighed with emotion, the Chinese clan concept is unique in the world, perhaps it is this blood thicker than water family concept, clan concept, so that the Chinese people always show unparalleled momentum and infinite combat effectiveness when resisting foreign invasion, there are probably two reasons, the most important of which is the courage and encouragement from the ancestors, and the belief in protection, no one can destroy the home I guard, No one is above me.

This is the self-confidence from history and the pride in our bones, and we who have inherited it for thousands of years do have reason to be proud. No calamities or difficulties are worth mentioning in the face of this pride. It is said that the Chinese people have no faith and do not respect ghosts and gods, but they foolishly think that the Chinese people have faith, and the power of faith is much stronger than that of any race. In the minds of the Chinese people, God is not an ethereal existence, but the ancestors who bring us blessings and blessings, only their industrious hands to create all this worthy of our respect and protection, those imaginary gods that have been shaped, not grounded, and only those who have no history of the nation, to talk about self-comfort.