In 1976, on the third day of the third lunar month, Qin Rou went to her sister's house in Dajiao Village with her two cubs.
On February 2, the dragon raised its head, and on March 3, Xuanyuan was born. This is an important day. Maybe other people are not sensitive enough to this day, but every March 3rd, the neighboring provinces of Guangdong Province usually have a small holiday ranging from three days to seven days, which is enough to show how important this day is. Alright.
As for why so many days can be allowed, it is because the March 3rd holiday is often combined with the Ching Ming holiday. If the corporate school is more conscientious, the March 3rd holiday plus the Qingming holiday and no overtime on weekends can make up a seven-day happy holiday. long vacation.
Qin Rou was also very envious when she watched the staff from the province next door show off for a long vacation.
Of course, there is no holiday on March 3rd now, but there will be customary celebrations in the village, such as antiphonal singing, drinking rice wine, and bamboo pole dancing... There are many Li people in the village. They are people of the Li nationality, many of whom have the surname Fu.
Before, Qin Rou met a classmate from Qiongzhou Island. Her surname is also Fu. Every time she introduces herself, she is very interesting. What is your surname? My surname character (surname character).
It's not just the Li people who celebrate March 3rd. In Qin Rou's impression, Zhuang, Yao, Miao, or most of the southwestern minorities celebrate March 3rd. This is a relatively traditional and important festival.
As girls in the mountains, Qin Rou and Qin Mian used to go to listen to other folk songs on March 3rd, so March 3rd can also be called the Folk Song Festival.
"Auntie, Auntie!!"
Zhouzhou and Jiaozi ran into the aunt's house and immediately shouted happily.
Qin Mian, who was busy with work, raised her head and smiled at Qin Rou, "Amei, did you bring the child?"
"Come on, hurry up, I have boiled eggs with mustard greens here, you and the child should eat one quickly."
"I also picked fresh mugwort earlier and made mugwort porridge. You and the two children can eat some."
Qin Rou brought her children here to eat today. She doesn't really like to eat boiled eggs with mustard greens, but she likes to eat mugwort cakes. She picks mugwort around Qingming Festival, boils them and smashes them, then adds glutinous rice flour and kneads them into balls. , which is wrapped with crushed peanuts, crushed sesame seeds and sugar to make it into a glutinous rice cake. The final soul is to be steamed on grapefruit leaves. The glutinous rice cakes steamed from grapefruit leaves are very fragrant.
"It's just out of the pan, be careful it's hot."
Qin Rou and the child ate the eggs separately, and each of them held a green glutinous rice cake, because there were grapefruit leaves under it, so holding the two sides of the grapefruit leaves could keep her hands from burning, and she could blow them up with a whoosh.
"Eat Zhouzhou and dumplings slowly."
"Mom, it smells so good."
"Is it fragrant? The fragrance of grapefruit leaves."
Qin Rou lowered her head and smelled it with her nose. She lowered her head and blew a breath. She took a bite out of the glutinous rice cake in her hand. The green glutinous rice skin in her mouth was soft, sticky and slightly bitter. After biting the skin , the sugar filling inside is exposed, and the sugar juice is wrapped in crushed sesame seeds and crispy peanuts, which is sweet and fragrant.
When eating this kind of glutinous rice cake, you must eat the skin and filling together. The soft and sticky bitter and juicy sugar, as well as the crispy peanut and sesame seeds, are mixed together, sweet but not greasy, with sweetness in bitterness. The grapefruit leaves are fragrant and tangy, and the taste is delicious.
Although this kind of sugar glutinous rice cake is delicious, you can't eat too much, because you will feel tired after eating one.
The two children Zhou Zhou and Dumplings also like to eat, whistling and eating papa.
"Dumplings, snacks, the sugar filling is about to flow out."
The two of them had small hands, and they couldn't hold the glutinous rice cakes in their hands, and they didn't notice that the sugar juice inside flowed on their hands.
Little Dumpling licked his little hand, it was sweet, and he smiled at his mother.
"sweet!"
"Isn't it sweet?" Qin Rou smiled and pinched the little faces of the two children. Today, eating egg cakes is just to join in the fun. Her sister Qin Mian likes to join in the tradition. It is said that there seems to be an old saying that on March 3rd, eat mustard greens, eggs and mugwort. Ciba, what is it called "snake eyes?"
There is such a saying in the mountainous area with many snakes in the southwest.
This kind of good meaning, you must bring your children to eat.
"I also cooked five-color rice, how about we cook rice in bamboo tubes for lunch?"
"Okay, sister, I'm here to cook rice in bamboo tubes. I brought some sausages, beans and radishes today." The bamboo tube rice is Qin Rou's favourite. The bamboo tube rice cooked with firewood is very fragrant. Same, add soul bacon.
Five-color rice is also a tradition on March 3rd, but the color of five-color rice is beautiful, and it is not particularly delicious. In the past, on March 3rd, Qin Rou’s five-color rice would be given by friends of the Zhuang nationality. They have the habit of cooking five-color rice .
Modern cooking of five-color rice in the city will cause strange dangers, such as accidentally adding cleaning alkali to the rice soaking water as edible alkali, and it is easy to eat... very dangerous behavior.
"No radish, no radish." The two boys, Radar, discovered the word "radish" and immediately started to quarrel.
"Okay, okay, you don't add radish to your bamboo rice."
Qin Mian looked at her sister and two little nephews and smiled. She pushed her hair behind her ears and said softly, "My sister, the two children will soon be four years old. Do you want to consider giving Zhou Zhou and the two little nephews a baby?" Dumpling gave birth to a younger sister?"
Zhouzhou and Jiaozi looked up at the adults and asked curiously, "Sister?"
"Sister, if you don't give birth yourself, let me have one." Qin Rou hasn't really thought about having a second child for the time being. Zhou Zhou and Dumplings are still young, and besides, in the 1980s, family planning should be formally implemented .
"I already have an eldest daughter, Juanjuan. You don't have a daughter yet. Don't you want to give birth to a younger sister for the two children?"
"Zhou Zhou and Xiao Jiaozi, do you want a younger sister?"
"younger sister?"
"Tiao Tiao Nian Nian is also a younger sister..."
Qin Rou said to her sister: "Tiaotiao and Niannian are children from the family courtyard, a little younger than them."
"The younger sister born to my mother is my own younger sister, sister, look, it would be great if you had a beautiful little sister now, since the moment she was born, her two older brothers spoiled her, and our Zhou Zhou and Xiao Dumpling will definitely be able to take good care of her." younger sister… "
"Isn't it? Small Zhouzhou? Little dumpling?"
Zhouzhou and Jiaozi said "hmmmm" in a daze.
Qin Rou smiled and thought, um, um, these two idiots, especially Xiao Jiaozi, are little brothers who want to be spoiled by their elder brother, and they also want a younger sister.
Qin Mian said seductively: "After you have a younger sister, you will become an older brother, little dumpling."
"Hey?" Little Jiaozi's eyes lit up, and then subconsciously said: "I'm Zhou Zhou!!"
"Whether you are Zhou Zhou or not, you can be an older brother..."
Qin Rou stopped her and said, "Sister, stop teasing them. What are you talking about, sister? She's busy and won't give birth."
At this moment, a loud voice suddenly came from outside: "Little aunt, little aunt!!! We are back!!!"
Children Xia Mingxi came to my good brother Chen Jingyi's house to play yesterday, and today the village is especially lively on March 3rd, these children are going crazy.
Xia Mingxi and Chen Jingyi walked into the room one after the other. The two children are now nine years old. Xia Mingxi is a little taller, and Chen Jingyi is thin and has very black hair. At this time, Jingyi's child no longer cuts the watermelon head. On the top is clean and neat black hair, and the hair around the ears is close to the handsome and gentle face.
"Auntie." Chen Jingyi, who was holding the album, smiled softly when he saw Qin Rou.
"Jing Yi, hurry up, come and eat eggs with Xiao Ming."
"Little aunt, why do you call me Xiao Ming?!"
"We ate."
Although the current Chen Jingyi is not very talkative in front of outsiders, he is quiet on weekdays and likes to draw in the corner, but in front of his family, he can laugh and speak softly.
Chen Jingyi is now learning painting from his grandfather, Mr. Chen.
It's just that Mr. Chen dislikes him very much: "This kid has no talent for painting."
"Why don't you have the talent for painting?"
"The things drawn are too dead, without aura."
The two sisters, Qin Rou and Qin Mian, are not appreciative artists, but Qin Rou thinks that Chen Jingyi's paintings are very beautiful. Compared with painting animals such as flowers and birds, Chen Jingyi prefers to paint various buildings.
Last year, Chen Jingyi went to Yecheng, and after returning, he drew a lot of buildings in Yecheng, which are very beautiful.
Coconut City on Qiongzhou Island has many exotic buildings built by overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. For a while, Chen Jingyi drew many such architectural paintings. Mr. Chen didn’t like them very much when he saw them, so he was not allowed to draw them. But Chen Jingyi still likes to draw architecture.
Chen Jingyi is silent and seldom talks, but he is as stubborn as his father. He won't stop painting just because his grandfather said he can't paint, but still paints his favorite Nanyang Xiaolou.
He also sent a painting to Qin Rou.
"Like this kind of building?" Qin Rou asked him with a smile.
Chen Jingyi nodded, "I like it, but grandpa won't draw."
"If you want to draw, then draw, Jing Yi, would you like to try to draw your favorite building? You can design it yourself and add your own ideas to it..."
Qin Rou encouraged him. There is nothing wrong with liking to draw buildings. Chen Jingyi likes houses with different styles. He is interested in these buildings. Maybe he can become an architect in the future after some training.
Chen Jingyi agreed to her.
"Auntie, I'm going to get a painting to show you."
Qin Rou nodded, Chen Jingyi went to the room to get the painting, Xia Mingxi wiped the sweat off his face, and shouted: "I want to drink coconut, I just danced outside for a long time, but I'm not exhausted, let Jing Yi come and dance, He won't come again..."
"They were dancing bamboo poles outside just now."
"Auntie, do you want to go dancing?"
"No, let's play, look at your sweat, wipe it off, are you wet? Go change your clothes..."
"No need, I'll go out to play later, and dry it after drying."
That's not the smell of sweat.
Chen Jingyi showed the painting to Qin Rou. Qin Rou took a closer look. It was a beautiful four-story building with clear lines, very similar to a small Western building. She asked him with a smile: "Have you ever wondered what the inside of the house looks like?" of?"
Chen Jingyi was stunned for a moment, and then said, "I'll think about it later."
"Well, think about it."
Qin Rou patted him on the shoulder.
Now someone came outside again, it was Aunt Fu, she was still holding a big bamboo basket in her hand, she smiled as soon as she saw Qin Rou: "Sister Rou is here, come, quickly try the wedding cakes made by my family, I will The youngest daughter is getting married, so come and taste the wedding cakes, and the two children will also come and taste."
Hearing that the youngest daughter of Aunt Fu's family is getting married, both Qin Rou and sisters wished and congratulated her.
Aunt Fu smiled brightly, and greeted: "This is such a beautiful day, don't be bored at home with your family, come out and play together."
The aunt chased them all out like a pig. At this moment, the village was full of lively laughter, dancing bamboo pole dances, antiphonal songs, men and women talking and laughing.
March 3rd is also Valentine's Day.
When they walked to the square in the village, a circle of people was dancing around a couple of men and women. Aunt Fu pointed to the woman standing in the middle and introduced with a smile:
"That's my daughter, Menglan."
Menglan is a girl born and raised in the village. Her skin is a bit dark, but her facial features are beautiful and her eyes are shining. She is wearing a brocade costume of the Li nationality. When she smiles, her eyes are shy and affectionate.
Standing next to her was a man, this man was of medium build, slightly overburdened, his appearance was neither outstanding nor ugly, he was wearing black pants and a white shirt, this man Qin Rou had seen before, he was an educated youth in the village, It's called Zhou Yuanfang.
This Zhou Yuanfang used to borrow books with Wang Zhiqing at her sister and brother-in-law's house before. Compared with Wang Zhiqing who is silent and loves to read, Zhou Yuanfang is lively and funny, and he can tell jokes, so he is very popular with girls.
Aunt Fu said that the person her daughter is going to marry should be him.
"His name is Zhou Yuanfang, an educated youth from outside. I didn't want Menglan to marry an outsider, but my daughter likes it, so there's nothing we can do..."
"Come on, you guys go dance too."
"We won't."
"If you don't, just follow the team."
Aunt Fu pulled them and the children to join the team, circled around the men and women in the middle, and sang a few words from time to time, and finally everyone put two beautiful wreaths around the necks of Menglan and Zhou Yuanfang.
"Menglan, come, hug these two children." Aunt Fu pulled Zhouzhou and dumplings up. These are the two children she had been eyeing for a long time. Let her take advantage of this moment to hug and give birth to children after marriage. This pair of big fat boys.
Qin Rou is already very familiar with this kind of thing, so she asked Zhou Zhou and Jiaozi to act as little flower girls obediently for a while.
"Look at how clever these two boys are."
"Aunt Fu, you are blessed, hug your grandson soon."
…
After a group of people laughed and laughed, they went to shake the wooden bridge together. There is a wooden bridge made of ropes and planks in the village. This kind of bridge is very wobbly. Shake together.
When a group of people stood on the wooden bridge and shook it vigorously, it became even more swaying.
Children especially like to jump on this bridge. Qin Rou brought Zhouzhou and Jiaozi up, and was immediately shaken to grab the rope. Zhouzhou and Jiaozi hugged their mother's legs, and followed the shaking bridge with the people around them. Ahhh..."
Fearing that the two of them would be injured, Qin Rou didn't take them to play on the bridge, and went back to her sister and brother-in-law's house to cook glutinous rice.
"Mom, I want to drink water." After playing outside for a while, both children were thirsty.
"Water or coconut."
"I want a coconut, I want a coconut..."
Qin Rou opened a coconut for each of the two children, and Qin Mian also came back, followed by a tall, thin man who was as thin as a hemp stick and carried a lot of firewood.
"Leave it here, thank you, Ah Shi."
The man put down the firewood, turned around and left without saying a word. Before he left, he saw Qin Rou, his eyes froze for a moment, but he didn't stay long, and walked back with his head down.
Qin Rou saw his face, there was a lot of stubble on his chin, and his eyebrows were very thick. Because of too much hair, he could no longer see his original face.
"Sister, who is he?" Qin Rou asked curiously.
"He, his name is A Shi, and their family is also poor. Of course, you can't say that outside—" Qin Mian leaned over to talk softly to Qin Rou, "His family's status is not very good, and he was also sent here. It is said that his family used to be very rich and owned a large piece of land... Later, his uncle received the news and ran away with his concubine and several other children, leaving their family on the island. His father died and the young concubine was also driven away. He wants to remarry, and now only his grandmother and a dumb sister are left in his family. The family is quite pitiful, and his sister's child is studying at your brother-in-law's."
"Before, his grandma fell ill on the road, and happened to be discovered by your brother-in-law, father and son. She was sent to the hospital, and she was rescued. He is very grateful to our family..."
"Anyway, the composition of our family is the same, and it's nothing to associate with their family..."
Speaking of this, Qin Mian dragged Qin Rou to a room on the first floor, removed the cabinet, and dug out a wooden box from the bottom. Qin Rou turned around and avoided: "Sister, you are too careless."
Why did you start digging for treasures in front of her.
"You are not an outsider."
Qin Mian handed the box to Qin Rou. As soon as Qin Rou opened it, she was stunned, because there were two big and round golden pearls inside.
A perfectly round golden pearl, reddish gold, about 12 to 15 millimeters in diameter, although it has been old for a long time, its gloss is still very high, one has some slight flaws visible to the naked eye, and the other has very few flaws.
"Amei, if you like it, you can take it away, our house is not suitable for storing these things."
"Our family didn't want it at first, but he insisted on your brother-in-law to accept it... Ah Shi and his family used to raise and sell pearls."
Qin Rou closed the lid, "Sister, it was given to you, so you can take it."
"Okay, let's bury this." Anyway, this kind of thing can't be shown to others. It looks good, but it's useless.
After returning from her sister's house, Qin Rou has been thinking about pearls. She is not thinking about the two Nanyang gold beads, but thinking about the possibility of raising pearls in two or three years.
She is now in a good location.
No woman can refuse jewelry. Even if it is not suitable for wearing at work, she should look beautiful in front of the mirror when she returns home, and even go out in a beautiful dress during holidays.
In the past, Qin Rou was obsessed with pearl jewelry for a while. She was very fond of all kinds of pearls. She also read a lot of historical materials on pearl cultivation, researched and tried pearl cultivation. There is a small treasury for her small hobbies.
All kinds of pearl necklaces, pearl bracelets, pearl earhooks, earrings, earrings, and earrings... She has collected a lot, and she also likes to DIY. Compared with black Tahitian pearls and golden South Sea gold beads, the young Qin Rou is more I like to wear white or pink pearls. Freshwater pearls and seawater pearls have their own beauty.
Qin Rou touched her earlobe. After coming to the 1970s, she hadn't worn jewelry for many years.
When all kinds of beautiful red skirts become popular on the street in a few years, all kinds of jewelry and necklaces will come back to everyone's vision.