The Boy with The Dragon Tattoo

Chapter 101: New Year's

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Finally, it was time to go home for the New Year. Both of them did not book tickets with their classmates this year. Instead, they saved the money for the tickets, and the three drove back. Anyway, during the Chinese New Year, there is no charge for high-speed, and the most can cost some gas.

As a result, the road coincided with heavy snowfall in the north. The three of them were stuck on the highway for three days. They were hungry and cold. They wiped out all the snacks they were going to take home for the Chinese New Year. They almost starved to death. Fortunately, the People's Liberation Army sent instant noodles.

Zi Yang and Lao Wang took the instant noodles handed over by the rescuers, and squatted on the ground with hundreds of "refugees" who were stuck on the road, and the scene was spectacular. After eating, I didn't forget to be grateful, nodded and bowed to thank the PLA uncle Xuezhong for sending noodles.

It was hard to get through. When I arrived home, it was just in time for the New Year’s Eve. It was almost dark. Pharaoh put Zi Yang and Xiao Hei at the entrance of the village, and went to his home in the neighboring village without stopping. .

Both Ziyang's parents were in a hurry. Reading the news, there were still many people stuck in the road. They were surprised and delighted when they saw their son-where did they pick up this half-sized son

Zi Yang told his parents that Xiao Hei was the younger brother of a classmate. There was a car accident at home, and his parents were dead. The classmate was seriously injured and was lying in a coma in the hospital. There were no relatives at home, only he was a living person, and he was frightened. , Can’t speak... Anyway, how miserable it can be, tears what Ziyang’s mother said straight to tears, straight to the poor child, serving delicious and delicious food, Zi Yang was left out in the cold, but like him It was picked up.

Everyone said that the process of expectation is the most beautiful. After returning home, Zi Yang's mood for the New Year suddenly cooled down.

As we grow older, Nian loses its flavor more and more. The Spring Festival Gala is suspicious of life. Only the dumplings made by my mother can still taste the taste of the long-lost years.

At two o'clock in the morning, there were a few sporadic sounds of firecrackers in the distance. Then there were more and more noises. After a while, the neighbors began to set off firecrackers, and the whole night boiled with the sound of firecrackers.

Suddenly there was an explosion in the yard. Dad Ziyang also set off firecrackers in the courtyard. Ziyang was sitting on the kang, surrounded by the quilt, the soil under his body was burning hot, and his buttocks were a little bit unable to sit still.

Xiao Hei didn’t know when he got up too. Wearing Zi Yang’s big cotton jacket, Zi Yang’s cotton gloves, and Zi Yang’s stocking cap, he covered his ears and watched Zi Yang’s father set off firecrackers. Unseen smile.

The sound of rumbling for an hour or two finally ceased. Father Zi Yang hung two red lanterns on the gate of the courtyard. The far door opened wide, and in a short while, pedestrians gradually heard the New Year greetings from the street.

According to the custom, after the firecrackers are set off in the early hours of New Year's Eve, the juniors and descendants of the big families in the village will gang up and go to the elders' homes to pay New Year's greetings and kowtow in groups.

In the living room, Dad Ziyang has hung up the family tree of his ancestors made of red silk cloth. The two-meter-long red silk densely writes the ancestors of this branch from top to bottom. On the table there were three offerings of pigs, chickens, and fish, and a table full of pastries, fruits, and sugar. Two thick red candles lit up to reflect the hall.

After setting off the firecrackers, Zi Yang's father called Zi Yang and bowed his head to salute the ancestors!

Dad raised the wine glass and spilled half a glass on the ground from left to right. He raised it up and said loudly in his mouth. The ancestors bless the elderly in the family to be healthy, the children are successful in school, the crops are not sick, and the harvest is good. The days are prosperous and everything goes well Good luck...

After talking to the ancestors, it is reasonable to kowtow to the genealogy, but the old Li family abandoned the indecent gesture of kneeling a few years ago, and instead bowed once, bowed twice, and bowed three times.

Zi Yang lazily followed behind and muttered silently in his heart, bowing to bless his parents with good health and good luck.

Two bows, I will be lucky and successful in the next year.

Three bows... I didn't know what to ask for the ancestor's blessing, Su Rui suddenly came to my mind...

Forget it, that's it, the ancestors received so many applications for blessings, this year should also be quite busy.

Xiao Hei followed Lao Li's father and bowed with his butt, his face also pious. Thinking of Xiao Hei's three worships and nine knocks in the temple, Zi Yang couldn't help but feel a little more pity for his life experience.

When Grandpa Xiaohei is here, he should also take him to worship his ancestors, right? There should be quite a lot of customs for their cavalry. Unfortunately, once Huangshan is gone, no one can inherit the tradition.

After paying respect to the ancestors, she started to eat dumplings cooked by mother Zi Yang. Mother Zi Yang ate a few pieces of tofu in the dumplings and said with a smile: Blessed, blessed.

Xiao Hei ate a few coins from the dumplings, and Dad Zi Yang laughed: earning a lot of money, earning a lot of money.

Zi Yang didn't eat anything, thinking that everything went wrong this year, lying on the kang sulking, and watching Xiao Hei involuntarily jealous, you are so earning money, you special What a shit money! ! !

After eating the dumplings, Zi Yang's mother cleared the table, put vermicelli mixed with pork liver, bean sprouts mixed with shredded pork on the coffee table, and dug a plate of spare ribs jelly. Dad Ziyang took out a bottle of Laobaigan, two pairs of chopsticks, two wine cups... These are for the New Year's visitor. When you come, you always have to invite people to sit down, and you can brag together in the right friendship. Although you meet every day in the village, it seems that only the Chinese New Year is the real relative.

Soon there was a lot of people at the door, and a large group of people came in to celebrate the new year.

Before the people arrived, there was a loud voice shouting at the entrance of the hall, "Happy New Year to the fourth grandma." Although Ziyang's mother is only in her forties, because of her seniority, some men in their 30s and 40s have to shout too. Her four grandmothers. When the leader yelled, everyone in the yard yelled with a bang, wishing grandma a new year. Most of them are teenagers, descendants of families with close relatives.

Mother Ziyang laughed, "Thank you."

The loud voice shouted again, "Happy New Year to Grandpa Fourth," a large group of people roared, and Dad Ziyang laughed, "No need."

The leading loud voice had already entered the hall at this time, a man in his thirties and forties, still carrying the cold of the night, Ma Zi Yang greeted people on the sofa to come and sit down.

The man saw Zi Yang lying crookedly on the kang: "Ah, my uncle is back? When will he be back?"

Zi Yang closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. He studied abroad all year round, and communicated with people in the village more and more unfamiliarly. Many people just had familiar faces and couldn't call them by name. Coupled with the difference between seniority and age, the conversation is always a lot of awkwardness, simply pretending to be asleep, it is better not to be embarrassed.

Mother Zi Yang smiled and said, "I came back last night, New Year's Eve, almost stuck in the road."

The middle-aged man continued to sigh, "Oh, it's not easy!"

Dad Ziyang greeted everyone, come, "Drink some wine, drink some wine."

"Hey, don't drink or drink. I just drank it at the XX house in the village. I will continue to take this group of boys. There are still a few left." Turning back to the hall, pointing to the genealogy and telling the posterity , Who is the grandfather of our family, and who is the brother of our great-grandfather, and then he went over there to research.

"Come on, kowtow to the ancestors together" The people in the room knelt down.

After getting up, he said, "I'll kowtow to the fourth grandmother," and then the darkened person kneeled down again, and Zi Yang's mother hurriedly came over to help, and there was no need to use it.

Everyone got up, "I'll kowtow to Grandpa Fourth," the whole room knelt down again.

Zi Yang's mother pulled the man to stop him from knocking again, "Oh, what are you doing so politely, just come and sit, and you can knock me back. Old man, hurry up and say hello to drink some wine!" Dad Zi Yang rubbed his hands beside him and laughed. .

In Ziyang's hometown, New Year's greetings and grave visits are all men's matters, and women generally don't participate. It seems that men are superior to women. In fact, most of the heads of households and households are women's households, so the welcomers have become women.

Dad Ziyang smiled on his face and said while waving gestures, "Come on, drink, drink."

The man waved his hand and said, "I really don't drink anymore. There are still several restaurants in the back. We have to go, otherwise we won't be able to finish."

Sending off the guests, Mother Zi Yang sat on the sofa with a smile on her face and sighed, "Xiao Lu'er comes every year and brings a group of big and small guys. This family's roots are getting more and more prosperous."

Then he looked at Zi Yang who got up and said, "You two don't go out for a walk. Your uncle's Jianweige and Sanshu's Xiaojuner go out to pay New Year's greetings every year..."

Zi Yang said, "Forget it, most people don't know anymore, and I don't know what to shout when I go."

Dad Ziyang also said, "That's right, our family is high in seniority, so there is no need to go out."

Ziyang's mother said again, "The old Li family in the south of the village is of the same generation as ours, and he is not too young. He comes to visit the New Year every year. You don't know it, can you go with your Jian Viagra? He takes the lead every year."

Jianwei is the son of Zi Yang’s second uncle’s family, a few years older than him. Although the two families are close relatives, because Zi Yang’s mother had a few fights with her husband when she was young, she still has rifts in her heart, so she doesn’t usually walk around. many.

Zi Yang has been studying since he was a child, and Jian Wei Ge is ten years older than him. After graduating from junior high school, he returns to the village to farm. The children can drink soy sauce. Every time he sees Zi Yang, he calls him uncle affectionately.

"Oh, I'm not familiar with them either. We don't have a common language and can't speak together."

With the effort of speaking, a few waves of New Year greetings came to the house. Sometimes there are two groups colliding together, each wave has a leader, and then it is also about seniority ranking each other New Year, and then sign to the younger generation behind, who is this, what is the generation, what is your name.

When they are too old, they will send the juniors to go out for New Year's greetings, and the older ones will sit and chat with the host, eat a few mouthfuls of food, and drink a few sips of wine.

When dawn was approaching, the New Year greetings were almost all around. Some people started setting up mahjong tables at home, and a group of relatives started gambling. Although the two masters and third uncles called each other clearly, the gambling table is a winner or loser, and the points are clearly divided. There is a set of rules between the table and the table.

The last wave of Zi Yang's family was an old man with gray hair, who was in his 50s and 60s. After sending the little ones out to wander around, they sat on the sofa and chatted with Zi Yang's mother.

Mother Zi Yang sighed, "Brother, are you still taking your children and grandchildren out to wander around at such an age?"

The old man said, "There is no way, the younger generations now don’t understand the rules. Some people in a village don’t even know their seniority. I can hold on for a few more years. After a few years, I won’t be able to walk, and I won’t be able to come out. Turned around with everyone."

Zi Yang’s mother also sighed, “Yes, all the children nowadays are studying and working outside, and the older generation’s rules are not strict. Our family (pointing to the lying Zi Yang) after the Chinese New Year, no one knows anyone. I won’t even call people anymore."

The old man laughed and comforted Zi Yang's mother, "Now young people are more promising than we are, go out to fight for sex, and meet the world. Unlike us, you will spend your entire life digging mud in the ground."

"When did the eldest nephew come back? When did he go back? How old is this year? Did you bring your girlfriend back?"

Mother Zi Yang answered him one by one, and when the old man left, Mother Zi Yang sighed there again, "You see that the third brother of the other family will come out when he is old. You said you two..."

Zi Yang's father finally couldn't bear to nag, and said to Zi Yang, "Go, let's go out and go around."

Ziyang’s mother followed behind and ordered, “You don’t have to go to every house, Xieqin, Zumao, those with higher seniority, who often come to pay New Year’s greetings, go and see. Jianjun. Jianwei, these close relatives, You guys go around too, don’t have to talk too much, just stand and go..."

Zi Yang and his father put on down jackets and gloves, and went out with a flashlight to celebrate the New Year.

Xiao Hei was probably asleep in the other room. In order to prevent the folks from seeing it, they have to spend some time to explain. Zi Yang told him to hide inside and was not allowed to come out.

At this time, the New Year's greetings are coming to an end, and the street is not as lively as it was just now, but every household is still brightly lit, with lanterns hanging at the door, reflecting the red couplet.

During the day, the sun made the snow-covered ground moist and muddy, and the bicycle stamped out roller marks on the ground. After the severe cold at night, it re-frozen and turned into ravines. Zi Yang walked crookedly on the ravines.

The homes of several older generations are basically relatively old houses. After so many years of life, the walls have also been tainted by oil and smoke, leaving traces of the years, and the reflected lights have also dimmed a little.

For the younger generation, the house is relatively new, the house is bright and bright, and the furnishings are more fashionable and modern.

Dad Ziyang basically just chatted with people and introduced his son. The host family is generally very enthusiastic. Ziyang can't remember so many generations, so he can only respond vaguely. Then, in front of the ancestor's tablet, bow once and bow twice. The host's family thanked him, and then sent out.

After walking a few shops, Zi Yang also sighed. Although the appearance of his hometown has not changed much, the human atmosphere has been sublimated. The little girls in several households are all dressed in fashion, not much different from the girls in the big cities. Moreover, it doesn't use Fendai, greets people without face, and looks more beautiful and moving.

In this village that seems to be forgotten by modern times, this pure and beautiful scenery is even more outstanding, and it even makes Zi Yang a little heartened.

Before a courtyard, Dad Ziyang stopped, the door was hidden, and there seemed to be a ray of light in the room.

"Old village chief's house. Go in and have a look?"

This branch of the old village chief’s family is a single pass for three generations. The family was not very prosperous. In the generation of his son, he gave birth to two daughters. After the death of the old village chief, the family was also in depression.

The two opened the concealed door and went in. There were red and white firecrackers and confetti on the ground. The door of the main room was concealed, and the light was faintly revealed inside.

Hearing someone coming in, the old village chief's son greeted him: "Ah, the four brothers are here, come in, it's cold outside."

"New Year is good, New Year is good."

"Uncle Happy New Year."

When I entered the main hall, I saw that the memorial tablet offered was similar to that of my own home. The last digit in the genealogy reads: Li Hanchi, the fifteenth generation. This should be the old village chief.

After the New Year's greetings, the village chief’s son insisted on taking them to the back room to sit. Compared with the bustle of most people, the old village chief’s house did not have many guests and looked a little deserted.

My aunt is in poor health. She lies on the kang all the year round to recuperate, and she hears someone come up to say hello.

There was a girl standing on the ground, Zi Yang's eyes flashed, and there was a sudden suffocation in her heart. She is really a good girl of Yujiebing. She is tall and dressed in a white down jacket. Her crystal-clear snowy jade skin shimmers with an ivory halo. Her dark hair is combed with a long ponytail, which is fresh and natural from the inside out. nice.

"Xiaoli, call her brother—you see, my two girls are studying abroad all year round, and I don’t know how to say hello when I meet people."

"Brother Happy New Year." The voice was as clear as a oriole.

"My sister is happy for the New Year." Zi Yang's face couldn't help but flushed.

"How old is the child? Where do you study?" Zi Yang's father greeted him.

"Nineteenth, I am in the third year of high school, and I will be admitted to college this year. I am studying in Bi Guo No. 2 High School-I am still an alumnus with your family, Zi Yang!"

Turned his head and said to his girl: "You have to learn from Brother Ziyang, who has such good grades in school and was admitted to a prestigious university..."

Zi Yang blushed like a monkey's butt, and he was really ashamed of these remarks. What kind of shit university, and also an outstanding student, I have failed several times!

It's strange to say that in my own home, my mother described it as a trash one. But in the village, many people teach their children to take him as a role model. This is probably the "neighbors' children" effect.

The little girl looked at him silently, with two big Shulingling eyes open. On the contrary, Zi Yang didn't dare to face her gaze, tilted his head and looked around. Xiaoli's sister is a few years older than her. Although she is not too old, she was married a few years ago. There are various pictures of a family of four on the wall. Both of these sisters are beautiful women.

After exchanging a few words between the parents of the two parties, Zi Yang and his father paid homage to the ancestral tablet and left the house. After walking out, Dad Ziyang shrank his neck and said, "It's almost done, go, go home!"

This village is not big, with hundreds of households, it takes only ten minutes to walk from the head of the village to the end of the village, and then up the slope is another village. The village is connected to another village, stretching thousands of miles to the north.

At this moment, every village is performing similar rituals, but different families and blood ties repeat similar scenes. In this land that has nurtured many generations, people have grown up and multiplied, and some habits have gradually become customary customs, which have been passed down through thousands of years, and may continue to be passed on in certain places after thousands of years.

It is more likely that in most places, these customs will gradually disappear.

Nowadays, young people are keen to go out to work and study, and more and more people are leaving the land of their hometown to carry out unprecedented large-scale migration. Customs and habits have gradually faded under the impact of environment and ideas, and gradually lost.

When we got home, it was dawn. Jianwei’s wife, Zi Yang’s sister-in-law, came to visit with her niece. After the man had finished paying her New Year’s greetings, women from various families also began to visit.

My sister-in-law is a woman in her thirties. She is plump and fair. She is at her age. In a big city, she should be a young man who gathers and enjoys life every day. In a small mountain village, she is already a ten-year-old girl. Mother's.

Zi Yang chatted with her niece and told her interesting things in college. My sister-in-law also encouraged me and said, "Study hard, just like your uncle, and go to university in the future and leave our poor rural area."

Then I talked to Ziyang’s mother about where his child was admitted to university, where did his child go to work, and how much money the child’s child earns this year... Ziyang is not interested in these contents, and sleeps in the quilt. Finished.

On the night of New Year’s Eve, everyone did not make bedding. They usually burned the kang and covered it with a layer of quilt. When the guests came at home, they took off their shoes and put on the kang. Everyone held the quilt and chatted.

It’s dawn, and when I woke up, my sister-in-law was gone. My parents were preparing breakfast. They were still eating dumplings, but the fillings were different for each meal, such as leeks and eggs, celery beef, cabbage pork, all kinds of fillings. There are different meanings, and what kind of stuffing should be eaten at any time.

Zi Yang is neatly dressed and ready to go out for a stroll. After returning to his hometown, he hasn't seen the whole picture of his hometown. In his heart, he still thinks about the sister Yanmei from Uncle Li's house next door, who is two years younger than him. People of about the same age get together to play poker, read books, and chat with each other quite speculatively.

The little girl is clever and smart, with excellent grades, and she is very delicate, but her temper is open-minded and straightforward. When she talks about the rise, she often says words like "fuck" and "we're grass" in her mouth.

On the first day of the New Year, the air was filled with the pungent smell of gunpowder. There were piles of red and white firecracker scraps in front of every house. The children picked up the firecrackers that did not explode in the pile of paper. A child held a lighted incense in his hand, hit the firecracker fuze and threw it far away, and the explosion of snow flew.

The heavy snow before the holiday submerged the entire village in Baixue Kaikaili, the world was a vast white, with the increase of pedestrians visiting relatives and relatives, gradually stepping on muddy roads in the snow.

A great view, so ruined, there is no picture.

As the cooking smoke rises, the villages covered by the university are full of life again, and there is more scent of cows neighing and horses croaking in the air.

Walking to the door of Yanmei’s house and seeing the door closed, Zi Yang was too embarrassed to go in and say hello. After two laps, he came back and lay down. Xiaohei was shoveling snow with his father—this kid is really like being in his own house. Up!

I worship my aunt on the first and second day of the middle school, worship his mother-in-law on the third and fourth day, and leave other relatives on the fifth and sixth day. This is another set of customary customs.

In the lively atmosphere of New Year's greetings, Zi Yang's days have slowly become boring, boring, and even irritable. I just talk when I have guests at home. When I don’t have guests, I watch TV and go in a daze. I don’t go out like other kids of the same age. I stay at home and wake up late every day. I lie on the kang when I often eat. , Xiao Hei doesn't pull every meal, and automatically sits at the table as soon as the meal is reached.

Under the strict guidance of Zi Yang, Xiao Hei also stopped practicing in the field during this time. In small mountain villages, most people have never seen the world, and big things can become big news. In addition, the uneducated villagers often have the "bad habits" of adding fuel and vinegar. Xiao Hei's kung fu should be seen. , Maybe it can become a strange talk of ten villages and eight townships.

Because of Xiao Hei, a hardworking kid, Zi Yang became more and more lazy.

The school report card arrived that day, and the fuse of the explosive barrel was lit. It can be seen that Zi Yang's mother is trying her best to endure her temper, but the scolding on her mouth is still continuous.

"Huh? What do you do in school when you spend so much money a year?"

"Huh? Village head Xiaohui is the same age as you. He helps the family all day long. You don't think you are too lazy to carry it anymore."

Zi Yang can't bear to compare himself with other people's children.

"I was admitted to college, and Xiaohui worked in his hometown, can it be the same?"

But when people start a fire, who will tell you the logic.

"Huh? Look at the path of the third aunt's house, help his parents make dumplings, make steamed buns, and ask you to do some work. You lie there and hum."

"Huh? XXX from the XXX family, look at your XXX."

Sometimes the scolded person is really dysfunctional, and the blood is surging in his chest, and he can't help crying frantically: "Hello, my son, you can bring it back and be a son!"

It is really strange that before returning home, I missed my parents so much and missed this little family so much. After a few days, I gradually felt bored and bored.

Before going home, I secretly vowed not to be angry with my family and to suppress my temper, but the outbreak always made myself unexpected.

Outside, he was also polite and behaved properly, but at home, he became that lazy bear boy.

Outsiders can be tolerant and condescending, but diametrically opposed to family members. Before I knew it, I gave the worst temper and the worst to the people closest to me.

Finally, one day, Zi Yang couldn't help nagging. In order to avoid a more intense conflict, he ran to the street looking at the distant mountains and sulked alone, thinking about whether to buy a ticket and leave home.

With his hand in his pocket, he pinched a note in his pocket. It was the phone number given by Professor Zhang. I put it in my pocket after I received it last time, and then I forgot it. This jacket was brought back from school. It was relatively thin and it was too cold at home to wear it. Only then did I think of it.

Looking at the phone number, I hesitated a bit.

When I got home, I called Lao Wang.

"Hey, Lao Wang, it's me, Zi Yang. New Year is good, Uncle Wang, okay?"

"Um, Zi Yang, good Chinese New Year, good Chinese New Year, new year's uncles and aunts, okay ● 31 novel app download address ●

After the polite remarks were over, the two fell into a short silence.

"What are your special mothers doing at home? I quarreled with my parents again. I'm annoying!"

"Oh, don't mention it, I have done everything here..."

It turned out that after Pharaoh drove the jeep home, Mr. Wang did not cheer for joy, but asked suspiciously: "Whose?"

"mine."

"Steal?"

"bought."

"how much is it?"

"30,000...5..."

"Where did the money come from?"

"borrowed."

"You little bastard!"

Old man Wang roared, raised the shovel in his hand and hit the stove, "You haven't made a few damn little bastard money. Now you learn to borrow usury, I can't kill you little beast. You buy a broken car and can't plow. Land, you can’t buy goods, you spend tens of thousands of dollars to make a poor man..."

On New Year's Eve, Pharaoh ran for miles in the ice and snow.

In the end, Lao Wang risked his life and went home. Elder Wang didn't beat him again, didn't drive him out of the house, and didn't push the car into the ditch. The Chinese have a saying, after all, the New Year’s...