The sound of cannons mixed with the barking of dogs and the sound of people's conversations spread out in Zhangjia Village, and the New Year arrived in people's anticipation.

Early in the morning of the Chinese New Year's Eve, Zhang Mian was woken up by his lobby brother Zhang Xun, dressed and went to the graves of his father, second uncle, cousins Zhang Xun and Zhang Yang one by one to Zhang Mian's grandfather and ancestors.

Burning paper, firing guns, kowtowing......

There are many rituals, including taboos to be observed during the grave visit.

When the sun first rises, the warm sunlight shines on the endless fields and on the tall poplar trees.

They stepped on the dead grass beaten by the frost, talked all the way from the cold field, creatted the frozen soil all the way, and said good New Year to each other when they met acquaintances.

After paying homage to their ancestors, they each went home.

After eating the dumplings, Zhang Mian's father took off his coat and used the family heirloom butcher's professional knife to chop the pig's head meat at the door at the door, and his professional level did not lag behind Zhang Mian's fourth uncle.

"How can you cut it like that, cut it from the middle of the pig's head, and when it breaks, it will be in half."

Zhang Ming's mother's clinic is still open, with fewer people than usual, and when she is done, she spends her time watching her husband, who is seriously chopping pigs' heads in the sun, and expressing her thoughts on butchers as a doctor.

In addition to cheering for the work, in Zhang Mian's impression, she really can't or is unwilling to do housework, and the only thing she can do well is to wash the dishes and brush the dishes.

The second sister Zhang Mian has already begun to prepare for the New Year's dinner at noon, and the kitchen knife is grinding on the cutting board.

Zhang Mian decided to go to his grandmother's place, who was already sitting in the room, wearing a blue old-fashioned cloth button padded jacket, her gray hair combed behind her ears, and the room was neatly tidied up, which should have been cleaned up when Zhang Mian and the others went to the grave.

"My grandmother, I give you a New Year's greeting, I wish you good health and a long life." Zhang Mian looked at the ground, and after making sure that there was no underground, he knelt down and kowtowed to his grandmother three times.

"Okay." Zhang Mian's grandmother paid 10 yuan to Zhang Mian.

From the age of six to his teens, Zhang Mian's annual New Year's greeting money to his grandmother has not risen.

Grandma Zhang never thought about inflation.

"Wait for Zhang Xun and them to give you a New Year's greeting, I'll pick you up for the New Year, and you can eat the dumplings you got yesterday."

Zhang Mian patted the ashes on his pants, grabbed a handful of grain, and scattered it on the ground in the yard, and several chickens immediately rushed from different directions to grab food and eat.

"I've eaten it, and this year it's your turn to decorate peanuts to eat."

"What is not a wheel, every year at my house, I will go to the old house in the west to have a look."

When he was in the second year of junior high school, his family moved to the east end of the street, where his mother now opened a clinic.

The old house was deserted because there was no one to live in it.

The pear tree in the yard that is the same age as Zhang Mian is still there, and every summer, Zhang Xuan's grandmother asks Zhang Xun to go to the tree to pick pears and sell them at the market.

Those with insect eyes and bumps were distributed to Zhang Mian's two cousins to take home to eat.

A few green tiles on the roof of the hall were shattered, leaking a yellow background, and the house must have leaked rain, and at this time several sparrows flew out of the hall.

When Zhang Mian was a child, every winter, his father would use a chicken cover to seal the mouth of the chicken cover, support it with a broken branch, tie a rope, and sprinkle a handful of grain under the chicken cover.

Thinking of this, Zhang Mian seemed to see a little boy sitting in front of the door of the hall with his grandmother dragging him, snorting his nose, staring at the chicken cover in the sun, waiting for the sparrow to throw himself into the net.

When Zhang Mian returned home, his father had already done a good job of the pig's head, and the pig's head meat had been boiled in a pot with marinade, and the water was steaming out, and the unique aroma of pork came to his nose.

"You go to the second uncle's house and ask for two couplets, paste them and you can eat." Zhang Mian's father said to Zhang Mian who came back.

"Okay, I'll ask for it, whether to buy batter or mix it myself."

"I'll mix it."

Zhang Xuan's house is a five-minute walk from his second uncle's house, which at that time opened a prefabricated factory to produce floor slabs.

The second uncle liked calligraphy when he was young, and by chance he got a calligrapher's point, and his calligraphy level was one of the best in the entire Zhangjia Village.

Of course, one of the basic problems of being able to write is that he likes to drink.

The "Spring Snow in Qinyuan" posted on the hall of Zhang Mian's second uncle's house was written by his second uncle in a slightly drunk afternoon.

This painting is still intact in Zhang Xun's house. The neat font is elegant, and it is the integration of that hint of drunkenness that makes this character spiritual, and it is also one of the second uncle's calligraphy masterpieces.

When I arrived at the second uncle's house, the second uncle was sitting in the hall with a thermos cup and talking to the second aunt, and Zhang Xun was watching TV.

"My big brother is here." Zhang Xun greeted Zhang Mu when he saw him.

"Uncle I wrote me two door pairs, and I'll post them later."

"Just buy two, your uncle can't lift his tired arms after writing for a day yesterday." Zhang Mian's second aunt said expressionlessly.

"My dad has mixed the batter." Zhang Mian didn't answer the second aunt's words.

Zhang Mian's second aunt has five elder brothers, and the second uncle basically has no place at home, and it is estimated that he does not dare to fight for any status.

At that time, it was still common for my brother-in-law to be beaten by my child's uncle.

At that time, the second uncle's family was better than Zhang Xuan's family, and the second aunt had always been very mean in her speech, for fear that Zhang Ming's family would take advantage of his family's close relationship. Zhang Mian has been used to it over the years, and she doesn't care what she says.

"Go and see if the meat is cooked." The second uncle said to the second aunt that the second aunt saw that Zhang Mian did not answer and left in a huff.

The second uncle didn't hesitate, put down the teacup, took out the brush on the table, and wrote a few couplets for Zhang Mian.

didn't wait for the handwriting to dry thoroughly, after saying a few words to the second uncle, Zhang Mian took the couplet home, and by the way, he also took away a copy of "Selected Poems of Guo Xiaochuan" on the table.

"Take it back after reading it." Second Uncle Zhang said helplessly.

"Okay." Zhang replied without replying, afraid of facing the second aunt who went out.

When he got home, Zhang Mian's father had already made the batter, Zhang Mian put the book away, and stood on the stool, and his father handed Zhang Mian the batter-coated couplet, and they pasted the Spring Festival couplets.

"The left is up, and the upper link is pasted on the door on the left, and it is glued ten centimeters upward." Zhang Mian's father watched Zhang Mian paste the couplet.

"Go get your milk, and you'll be able to eat in a while."

When Zhang Mian received his grandmother, it was already past eleven o'clock at noon.

The second sister had already put the prepared dishes on the table, chicken, fish, meat and eggs, all good dishes, and Grandma Zhang Mian was arranged to sit down after washing her hands.

"It's not the same everywhere you sit." Grandma Zhang Mian said this, and her expression was still very happy.

When people are old, they especially want the family to be reunited, and their children are on their knees.

"My mother has eaten." Zhang Mian shouted to his mother, who was drying cotton shoes outside, and his mother was not yet 50 years old at that time, as if she had inexhaustible strength, and she circled around the patient every day, not caring about eating and resting.

"I'm not hungry." Zhang's mother put down her shoes and went to wash her hands.

"When it's time to eat, it's rubbing." Zhang Lu's father frowned and said, "You go and see if there are people nearby who want to fire cannons." ”

Zhang Mian's family never fired a cannon during the New Year's dinner, so Zhang Mian got up and went to the door. When he was a child, it was a miracle that Zhang Lu and his two sisters were not eaten by the Nian Beast.

"Yue Yongbao's house on the other side is hanging up the cannon, and the cannon is about to be fired." After reading it, Zhang Mian entered the house. As soon as I sat down, I heard the sound of firecrackers.

"Eat. Other people's guns are equivalent to helping our family, and all the wealth is blown into our house. Zhang Xuan's father said, and Zhang Mian hurriedly put a piece of meat in his grandmother's bowl.

"I want wine." Zhang Mian's second sister ate a few mouthfuls of food and wanted to drink.

"What to drink, when you were a child, you and your little brother drank half a bottle of wine and slept all afternoon." The mother complained and got up to get the money.

Zhang Mian bought wine and came back, and the family ate and talked even if it was the New Year, at that time, Zhang Mian's two sisters were not married, and Zhang Mian's grandmother was still alive.

Zhang Mian sat at the door for dinner and basked in the sun for a while, but decided to go around Yanzi's house, this year is different from before.

The seeds of love hidden in Zhang Mian's heart have broken through the ground.

……