According to local customs in Xizhou, on the third day after Wang Shan and Zhao Yinhua's wedding, Yinhua's parents will come to Wang Shan's house to have "three days of wine." However, the first day of the Lunar New Year is a day for family reunion, and relatives generally do not travel far, so they waited until the second day of the Lunar New Year before arriving at Wang Shan's house with their lapels, sleeve protectors and other items. Of course, the Wang Shan family warmly welcomed them. In addition to sumptuous dishes and toasts from Village Chief Zhao and Village Chief Wang, the two village leaders also finalized the cooperation between the two villages in sand mining and sand washing.
The fathers of the two families drank together in the main room, and the mothers of the two families also had to go to the kitchen with the bride Yinghua, and roll out a meal of long noodles for both parents according to local customs. This is called "testing noodles" in Xizhou. Come and show off the bride’s “tea and rice” skills. With the help of her two mothers, Yinhua rolled out the noodles and made the meat dumplings. Everything went on in an orderly manner. In fact, the two mothers were doing the hard work most of the time. Village Chief Zhao and his mother-in-law went back very late after dinner.
On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Zhao Yinhua was taken to the wheat field in the village by her married grandmother, and she kowtowed incense on the stone drum on the wheat field. After this ceremony, Zhao Yinhua officially became the working people of Wangshawan. A part of it. Although she is the daughter and daughter-in-law of the village chief, and a private teacher at Hanwangchuan Primary School, she is not a national supporter after all.
On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, heavy snow fell on the Loess Plateau again. This belated winter snow, snowflakes fell one after another, and soon covered the ravine-crissed Loess Plateau. The silver-white snow made the entire Hanwang River The night is as bright as day. At three o'clock in the morning, on the snow, a man was driving a carriage forward. Another man got out of the quilt under the plastic sheet covering the carriage, straightened the driver's cloak, and patted the snow on his shoulders. , snuggled up to him again. This is Zhao Yinhua, the bride of Wangshawan, returning to her natal home under the escort of Sina Wangshan.
According to custom, you should go out early today to avoid being seen by irrelevant passers-by. That's why the newlyweds got up so early in the heavy snow, caught up with the carriage, and drove to Zhao Yinhua's family home in Zhao Machuan. Before dawn, the two of them arrived at Village Chief Zhao's house. Wang Shan, who was sleepy, tired and cold, could not live in Chief Zhao's house according to custom, so he asked his father-in-law to help foster the carriage and raise livestock in the village. He came to the carpentry courtyard and knocked on Yang Liufang's door. Yang Liufang heard the knock on the door and saw that it was already bright outside the window. He thought it was the village chief coming to call for dinner, but he overslept again.
He regretted it endlessly. How could he let the village chief wake him up every day? However, he has been really lazy these past few days. Even if he wakes up according to his biological clock, he just gets up to add charcoal and continues to sleep. At this time, there was a knock on the door again. He put on clothes haphazardly, wrapped himself in a military coat and went to open the door. As soon as the door of the hall opened, a chill hit him. He saw 30 centimeters of snow piled at the door, while the snowflakes in the sky were still dancing like white butterflies on the white ground. Born in the south, Yang Liufang saw real heavy snow for the first time and was shocked by the scene before him.
Just as he was thinking wildly, there was a rapid knock on the door again, and Yang Liufang stepped on the heavy snow to open the door. When the door opened, he saw Wang Shan wearing a long-eared dog-skin hat like an old man, with his hands in his sleeves and his feet constantly alternating on the ground. The white breath exhaled from behind his scarf was like steam. Hovering in front of you. After seeing Yang Liufang, he kept shouting: "I'm freezing to death, I'm freezing to death..."
"It's so early and you're not at home with your sister-in-law. Why did you come to my place?"
"Um, I'm just sending your sister-in-law home. She rushed here at three o'clock. What are you doing? Is there a woman hiding in the house? You haven't opened the door for so long." He said half jokingly and half reproachfully.
"Third brother, this is just a joke. Look at it if you don't believe it."
"I'm kidding you, I thought you were poisoned by charcoal? I'll kick you if you don't open the door. But be careful while you burn charcoal alone! Don't get poisoned." After marriage, Wang Shan seemed to have grown up overnight. The words he spoke at this moment were like those of a mature adult.
Wang Shan quickly took off his clothes and lay down on his bed.
"Close the door quickly, it's freezing to death. I'll take a nap first."
"Oh, I'll sleep too, so I can finally have a holiday."
It was approaching noon and it was still snowing outside. Yang Liufang, who had woken up, was bored, roasting potatoes on the stove and reading a book, while Wang Shan, who got up at three in the morning, was still fast asleep. When the alarm clock rang at noon, there was a knock on the door. Yang Liufang put down his book and followed his original footsteps to open the door. When the door opened, it was the newlywed bride Yinhua holding an umbrella.
"Silver, oh, no, sister-in-law. Welcome, please come in."
"Oh, thank you, your third brother hasn't gotten up yet."
"No, I heard you guys got up early. He's still sleeping."
"Third brother, third brother, get up quickly, my sister-in-law is here."
"Uh-huh, I have to sleep no matter who comes!" Wang Shan said and got under the quilt again. Yang Liufang hurriedly went to wash the dishes and pour water, when he heard Wang Shan yelling in pain: "Ouch, it hurts."
"Can't get up?"
"Quickly let go, I'll get up, I'll get up."
"Get up and wash up quickly. Yamato's mother wants you to go home for dinner."
"You guys just sleep here together?"
"yes!"
"Sister-in-law, drink water."
"No, Brother Xiao Yang, I will invite you and your third brother to dinner. You guys hurry up and pack up, and we'll go there together."
"Thank you, sister-in-law."
The lunch meal is still big fish and meat, and the occasional improvement is okay. Yang Liufang has been eating like this for three days in a row, and he is already tired of it. He ate a few pieces of chicken and a bowl of dumplings with soup, and felt full. During the dinner, Village Chief Zhao told Wang Shan not to just focus on selling goods to make money after the festival, but to pay attention to sand washing.
Yang Liufang also intervened at the right time: "Uncle, my third brother and my sister-in-law are here today. You must have made arrangements for the third brother's affairs. I also have something to report to you."
"Hey, Xiao Yang, you Buddha (said)."
"Sou (uncle), my third brother and my sister-in-law have finished the furniture. Taking advantage of the joy of their wedding, we took over three sets of furniture. But this has nothing to do with you anymore, so we will use the venue in our village again. I have to pay my rent. What do you think I should pay per year?"
"If you don't talk about this matter these days, (I) want the accountant to talk to you. After the New Year, several village leaders (we) will meet again to discuss it, and then we will inform you."
"Okay, Uncle Sou, then you have to worry about it."
The heavy snow did not stop until the morning of the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, and the snow on the ground was half a meter deep. But just before dinner, Chief Shitou led the workers back, and each of them kindly brought a dish. Chief Shitou also brought frozen dumplings.
"Brother Shitou, with this heavy snow, I thought you wouldn't come until tomorrow."
"Afraid of delaying things, and it's not safe to drive at night, so Ermeng (we) set off during the day today. The snow is too heavy, but this year's wheat has benefited."
"So many delicious foods?"
"Hey, these are some home-cooked dishes. They can't be put on the table, but they are just a little bit of everyone's thoughts. You guys, go find shovels and clear the snow in the yard first."
Village Chief Shitou and four workers began to clear the snow in the yard, including the snow at the entrance of the yard. Yang Liufang and Wang Shan lit up the lanterns, and the yard was filled with shadows, laughter, and life again.
Everyone had a dinner together in the evening, which was so lively. The dishes brought by these people were lighter than the big fish and meat that Yang Liufang ate at Village Chief Zhao’s house these days. In addition, he was eating with his own workers, so he didn’t have too many restrictions, so Yang Liufang ate more. Some.
Early the next morning, Yang Liufang and the workers still got up at 5:30. At this time, the village radio rang. It turned out to be Village Chief Zhao calling on the whole village to have breakfast and every household to send someone to participate in the village's snow clearing activities. . At 7:30 in the morning, such a large-scale collective labor was held grandly in Zhaomacuan Village. Most people in the 1970s and 1980s had collective labor experience, so when the labor call sounded again, like A big battle, laughter and laughter formed a river.
Yang Liufang also sent workers to clear the snow at the entrance of the village committee and around his small yard to welcome the family of the old horse dealer to pick up the goods.
