New Year's Eve is the last night of the year. The last day of the year is called "Sui Chu", which means that the old year is gone and the new year begins.
Ye Yaodong got up early in the morning to put up red New Year gifts, and he and Lin Xiuqing swept the doorway. Then they began to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner. Although there were only four people in the family celebrating the New Year this year, they still had to have everything they needed.
"Adong, there are only three of us in the old house now. You can either ask your parents not to prepare anything today and have the New Year's Eve dinner with us? We've bought a lot of food at home."
"I gonna go see."
His mother had said before that this year is the first year they have moved into their new home, and they cannot have an empty stove. They must celebrate the New Year in their new home, otherwise they will ask everyone to go to their old home to eat, which will be more lively.
His elder brother and second brother's families did not have a good New Year this year. Both couples had no mood to celebrate the New Year. There were sounds of beating and scolding from time to time in the house. They probably would not think of going to the old house to invite people to celebrate the New Year.
It just so happened that he arrived at the right time. The old house had just been decorated with red New Year decorations and his mother had not yet started preparing the meal.
As soon as he mentioned that he wanted to celebrate the New Year at their new home, the old lady happily agreed. Seeing this, his parents also agreed. Otherwise, how would the two of them cook
He immediately helped the old lady back to the new house and let her sit at the door to bask in the sun. She could also watch the noisy children to cheer herself up.
When people get old, they like their home to be lively and bustling. Ever since they all moved out, the old house has become deserted and unpopular. Even after Ye Huimei got married, the old lady didn't have any younger generations around her.
While Ye Yaodong was helping to light the fire in the house, he could hear the old lady outside shouting, "This one, slow down! That one, slow down! Don't fall!" and so on. He could tell from her loud voice that the old lady was very happy.
After his parents came over with the killed chickens, it was not his turn to help, so he went out to wander around.
The village is full of the festive atmosphere of the New Year. Every household is decorated with lights and colorful lanterns, couplets are posted everywhere, new lanterns are hung, and chickens and ducks are slaughtered.
Everyone on the street had a bright smile on their face, and the children were chasing each other with firecrackers, playing, making noise and laughing.
Every few steps he took, he would see a small table where a group of men were gathered playing cards or gambling, in groups here and there.
It's Chinese New Year, and the villagers take the opportunity to relax. Throughout the year, only during Chinese New Year can they have a good rest. The women at home won't care about it at this time. Chinese New Year would not feel like Chinese New Year without gambling.
Ye Yaodong looked around at this stall and that stall. Some people were betting on the size of the dice, some were opening the lids to bet on the points, some were playing cards in groups of three or four, and some were even worse, betting on Pai Gow right in the convenience store.
Most of the women are at home preparing the New Year's Eve dinner. Smoke starts to rise from the chimneys of every household since morning, and the fragrance is everywhere.
I was wandering around and ran into A Zheng and a few others. We were all bored, so we hit it off and went straight to Fatty's house to play cards. It happened that his wife had just braised large and small intestines, pig stomach and pig ears, so she served them out to them. How generous!
While others play cards and eat sunflower seeds, they do something real, playing cards and eating marinated food.
"No wonder you two are getting fatter and fatter. The food is so good. We can only eat shelled seafood every day and can't grow meat."
"This is the importance of having a good wife. You can't envy it." The fat man was a little proud. It's not easy to become a fat man these days. You have to have some family background.
The group of people dispersed until it was time for dinner, and they agreed to fight again in the afternoon.
Ye Yaodong touched the few dollars he had won in his pocket and saw children on the street playing with firecrackers. When he passed by a small shop, he also bought a few boxes of firecrackers, including some with strings.
As soon as they took them back, the children at the doorstep started shouting with excitement. Ye Yaodong did not show favoritism and all eight children got one.
"Be careful not to get your hands blown up."
"Wow... Uncle San, I like you the most..."
"There are firecrackers to play with..."
"Uncle San is really nice. He even scolded me when I asked my mother for money to buy firecrackers this morning."
"It doesn't matter. Just get through today and your mother won't be able to scold you tomorrow, New Year's Day!"
The children all nodded and said, "Fortunately, the new clothes were made in advance, otherwise we wouldn't even have new clothes."
"Hurry back to the house and eat, then come out to play after eating."
At noon, we simply fried some sweet potato vermicelli with fish ball soup. The family was enjoying the meal, but after a while, we heard scolding coming from next door.
Mother Ye also frowned immediately, stood up, and prepared to go over to take a look, muttering: "It's all your fault. You scold the children all day long. It's been so many days, and there's no peace. They are scolded like quails, and they are scolded stupidly. They are scolded even for eating..."
The old lady also sighed, and then called to the two children who had stopped, "Eat, eat, eat yours, don't worry about the neighbors."
After a while, the noise next door quieted down, and Ye's mother came back nagging.
With Ye's mother helping throughout the whole day, Lin Xiuqing felt much more relaxed. At three or four in the afternoon, they would light incense for the Kitchen God and his wife, then set off firecrackers and start eating.
The sound of firecrackers signaling the start of dinner was heard one after another in the village.
Whenever there are festivals, people usually start eating early. Fish is a must for the New Year’s Eve dinner, and the head and tail must be left when eating, which is called “abundance every year”.
There were more than a dozen delicious dishes on the table, and everyone's mouths were drooling with the food. After the meal, Ye's mother helped to clean up, while Lin Xiuqing went to give the two children a bath and change new clothes. She also prepared the New Year's money and put it in red envelopes.
Not only the two children in my family, but also the six children from the two neighboring families received red envelopes, and there was one dollar in each red envelope.
When Ye Chenghai received the New Year's money and saw the amount in it, his face fell immediately and he whispered, "Aunt San, didn't Uncle San tell you to just give half?"
Lin Xiuqing was surprised. "What do you mean by giving half? You think it's too much?"
"No... it can't get into my pocket." He pointed towards the house, "You know..."
Ye Chengjiang also agreed, "Yes, Third Aunt, can you just give us 80 cents and keep the remaining 20 cents to us secretly, and don't tell my mother and the others."
This proposal was recognized by all the children.
Lin Xiuqing didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "That won't work. It's too little. What if your mother thinks that I, as an aunt, am too stingy? I always gave one yuan in previous years."
Several children immediately became dejected.
Ye Yaodong came out of the shower and saw it, and asked hurriedly: "What are you doing? Are you not happy after setting off firecrackers? You, get your New Year's money..."
"Alas, there is not much left of what I need to hand in..."
So that's how it is. Thinking about how this kid had secretly pulled him aside yesterday and told him to just give half of the New Year's money and the rest would be given separately, he laughed and tapped his forehead.
"It's no big deal. Wait until I win some money playing cards later and come back. I'll give each of you some money to buy firecrackers."
"Hehe, then may Third Uncle win a lot. I'll go with you and be your bodyguard..."
"Don't get in the way!"
"If you go out, you must go to bed before coming back..."
So this was the idea.
"Go away, the few boxes I just bought before dinner are enough for you to play with for a while. What if you give me money now and it's bad luck? Don't get in the way. I'll give it to you when I get back."
At this time, Ye Ersao had finished cleaning up and came out to call the children to take a bath. Only then did they stop surrounding him. Ye Yaodong also took the opportunity to slip away.
It was a rare leisure time during the New Year. As soon as he walked out of the house, he saw small tables set up everywhere in the village. The men just left their meals and started gambling again.
He also saw his gambling cousin-in-law, who had blatantly teamed up with a few people from the neighboring village to set up a stall on the roadside to play Pai Gow.
It's the New Year so we don't have to be restrained
I don’t know where the money came from, but I’m glad I have a good wife.
Small gambling is fun, but big gambling is harmful to the body. He has a scale in his heart and it is fine to play cards occasionally.
However, he played cards until midnight. He wanted to go home early, but was dragged into a drink by some friends. They said they would go to burn incense together after 12 o'clock when the bell of the Mazu Temple rang.
It is the custom here to go to the Mazu Temple to burn incense on the first day of the Lunar New Year. There is no need to think about lighting the first incense stick, as the temple priest will be the first to light it when the time comes.
But there were still many people waiting to burn incense at night, and the Mazu Temple was crowded with people. After Ye Yaodong came back from burning incense, he started setting off firecrackers, and the sound of firecrackers also rang out in the village one after another.
The whole village is brightly lit tonight, a rare occasion. It is not certain whether people stay up to welcome the New Year, but every household will keep the lights on until dawn on New Year's Eve.
The child in the room was still sleeping soundly, but Lin Xiuqing was awake.
"You're back so late?"
"I was waiting to burn incense at 12 o'clock, and I set off some firecrackers when I came back." He took off his clothes and went to bed while talking, "Why haven't you slept yet? Wait for me."
"I was woken up."
"Hard-mouthed."
After he lay down, he took her into his arms and touched her belly, "Are you tired today?"
"I'm not tired. I had mom to help me, so I didn't do anything." She twisted her body and found a comfortable position in his arms.
"It seems like there's no day on the second day of the Chinese New Year. Do you want to go back to your parents' home a few days later?"
"Why don't we go back on the thirteenth or fourteenth? My mother's village has the custom of celebrating the Lantern Festival, which is very lively. It's a good time to go back and watch the fun."
"That's fine." While he was speaking, his hands were not idle.
"It's a bit far away, otherwise we can go back on the second day of the New Year and celebrate the Lantern Festival before returning."
"It's too much trouble for you to go back and forth like this now. If you want to come back next year, go back more often."
"Well, let's talk about it later. My parents are also very upset when I go back home too often." Lin Xiuqing grabbed his hand that was moving up and down, "Why do you always like to mess around in the middle of the night?"
"It's not convenient during the day, and it's New Year's Day, how about a New Year's Eve firecracker? Get rid of the old and welcome the new?"
"What? You keep saying weird things every other day..."
Ye Yaodong turned over and covered her with his ear, whispering dirty words, "Hehehe... New Year's Eve fireworks are like that... When firecrackers go off, you will have a fortune, and when fireworks go off, you will have many children and grandchildren... That's what it means... Do you understand... Hehehe... Come on... Celebrate the New Year..."
Lin Xiuqing was both angry and amused. Any serious words became non-serious when they came out of his mouth.
"Stop pressing on your stomach."
"I'm being more careful. Why don't you turn sideways? So you can save energy and not put pressure on your stomach?"
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