The Spring Festival of 1992 came happily, and the Yang family was particularly lively because there was an extra person this year. The family started preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner early on New Year's Eve. The four old people were busy in the kitchen. Li Tongfu led Yang Liufang and the others around the living room to make dumplings. In the kitchen, the two mothers were frying and cooking, each showing off their cooking skills, making a wide range of delicacies from both mountains and seas.
According to tradition, on the afternoon of New Year's Eve, the village unites to worship ancestors. Because Xibei Feng has not passed the family and Liu Xia has not been married, they cannot be included in the family tree. Although Li Tongfu is the godson of Father Yang and Mother Yang, he is not an adopted son after all, so according to clan rules, he is still not allowed to enter the ancestral hall to participate in sacrifices. The four old men and Yang Liufang brought back the ancestral tablets of the two families from the ancestral hall and held family sacrifices in the evening. During family sacrifices, the whole family participates. The young people salute solemnly along with the elderly, expressing gratitude for the kindness of their ancestors and praying for their children and grandchildren to have better development in the new year.
In addition to worshiping ancestors, the Yang family also has another procedure - worshiping Lu Ban, the ancestor of carpentry. When worshiping the ancestor, only Yangliugen and Yangliufang were carpenters of Lubanmen, so only two people could participate in the sacrifice. Unlike previous years when Father Yang was the deacon, this year it was Li Tongfu. The two worshiped in the courtyard, and Li Tongfu carried out the worship procedures until the two worshippers were completed.
The New Year's Eve dinner started at eight o'clock in the evening. Before the meal, Li Tongfu, as the eldest son of the family, led the three of them to pay New Year's greetings to the four elderly people. Nowadays, the traditional rules for New Year greetings have been changed, and no kneeling is required, but Yang Liufang still kneels to his master and his wife because he has worshiped his master before. Although Northwest Feng has not passed the exam, in fact, he has been recognized by the old man, and he has also been included. Participated in the kneeling ceremony. The four old men were not stingy with their wallets. Anyway, their son (apprentice) gave them a lot of money. This year they came back with another 500,000 in cash, which were bundles of new banknotes. They usually don't live on interest like other old people, and they don't have much money to spend, so they leave it to their children sooner or later. Therefore, everyone's New Year's money is exactly the new unopened 10,000 yuan banknote wrapped in red. In order to please the old man, the four of them happily accepted the red envelope. Northwest Feng is a different matter. Since she is a newbie, Father Yang and Mother Yang naturally have to give her a greeting gift. In addition to the New Year's money, she also gave her a 10,000-yuan red envelope, which means "pick one in a million."
Yang Liufang handed over his New Year's money to Beifeng, and said in front of the whole family: "Our wife is the head of the family." All of a sudden, Beifeng blushed and hit him on the shoulder with a pink fist.
The family sat together to eat, drink rice wine made by Yang Mu, and watch the Spring Festival Gala. Yang Liufang was about to open a bottle of Maotai, but Master and Abba stopped him and told them that there were only two bottles left and asked them to bring them to the secretary when they paid New Year's greetings on New Year's Day.
This year's CCTV Spring Festival Gala is even more exciting than in previous years. Because it is the first time that a competition mechanism is introduced and bidding is used for the gala directors, the program selection is more personalized, relatively exciting, and close to ordinary people. After dinner, the four old people continued to play mahjong to pass the time and watch the New Year. The four young people went to the room to listen to songs, play games, and drink to pass the time. By twelve o'clock, Yang Liufang was already unsteady on his feet.
All of a sudden, the village was filled with fireworks and firecrackers. Of course, the Yang family was unwilling to be left behind, and with the presence of their daughter-in-law, who had not yet celebrated the Spring Festival this year, they were even more flamboyant. Last year, Yang Liufang bought a trunk of fireworks. This year, two old men rode a yellow croaker cart four times and built half a room in the warehouse downstairs. The old people also came out and opened the big bronze door of their home, which means receiving blessings. When Yang Liufang was helped downstairs by Li Tongfu and Xin Xiefeng, a lot of fireworks and firecrackers had been set up, covered with a wooden board. The sky outside the courtyard is already blooming with red, yellow, green, blue, and purple. The night sky is bright amid the colorful fireworks. The happy faces looking up are filled with happiness in the alternation of light and dark. Yang Liufang and Li Tongfu each lit a set of "Five Blessings". The "bang bang" was almost the same as two thunder blasts, and the colorful fireworks began to shine with various lights in the sky above their yard. The old people also held lit fireworks sticks and let the thunder explode into the sky.
Yang Liuxia was so courageous that she even set off the fire with her brothers, but Northwest Feng rarely saw such a scene. In previous years, we celebrated the Chinese New Year at the Geotechnical Courtyard of Northwest Province. Because the government had stipulated that it should take the lead in banning wildfires, the yard was quiet even during the Chinese New Year. Except for the red lanterns hung on the door and red couplets posted on the house, it was no different from the Chinese New Year. Then the next day, leaders from various agencies and units of the geological system came to pay New Year's greetings to her parents. Her parents also went to the home of old provincial leaders to pay New Year's greetings. She sometimes went with them, just to listen to the talk, but she always felt that something was missing. Yes, the human touch is the human touch. After drinking, Yang Liufang came over and hugged her. He gave her a large bucket of fireworks with one hand, holding her hand danglingly, and wanted to set it off with her. She was so scared that she shrank her hands. After Yang's mother saw it, she came over and tried to beat her half-drunk son.
Liu Xia still had a way to wrap a piece of paper around the fuse of the bucket of fireworks for her sister-in-law. Northwest Feng carefully lit the paper and quickly ran back to Yang Liufang. The two hugged each other, and she rested her head on Yang Liufang's shoulder. In an instant, the paper ignited the fireworks fuse, and colorful flowers bloomed through the vast night. Light up the happy and sweet face.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the family hadn't even woken up yet, and the New Year greeters had already arrived. Li Tongfu was diligent, and as the eldest member of the family, he greeted the guests first for the elderly. Yang Liufang had already sobered up, and Northwest Feng also got up. They quickly washed up, and the family gathered in the living room to greet the villagers who came to pay New Year's greetings to eat melon seed candies. Please let everyone go. Play with fireworks.
More and more people came to pay New Year's greetings, and everyone simply talked in the yard. Under the flower stand originally used for summer meals, seats were placed, and melon seed candies were placed on the black steel-framed glass table. Everyone came to say auspicious New Year greetings to Father Yang, Mother Yang, Master and Master. Some young people like to have fun, so everyone sets off fireworks and firecrackers to have fun. Until after ten o'clock, guests continued to come to pay New Year's greetings. Yang's father, Yang's mother, master and his wife also urged them to go and pay New Year's greetings to the secretary. Only then did the five of them go to the secretary's house with two bottles of Maotai liquor and a box of gifts.
The secretary's mother-in-law took the gifts and invited them to sit on the sofa in the living room. The secretary made tea himself. Li Tongfu led the three of them and said auspicious New Year greetings. The secretary was polite to them and did it for a quarter of an hour. Yang Liufang saw that there were people behind him. Others just made excuses and walked away. A dragon dance performance was held in the village at noon. Originally, the village secretary asked each family in the village to provide one person, but everyone shied away. Later, each family simply paid to hire a professional dragon dance team. The dragon dance team first performed a dance in the square of the village. The elderly and children, as well as some bored young people, went to watch. Later, they held the dragon and danced through the streets, giving ten or twenty yuan to anyone who came to their door. one time.
At noon, the family cooked a lot of dishes. Yang Liufang wanted to drink porridge, but his parents said he couldn't drink porridge on New Year's Day because there is an old saying that "a mess makes a pot of porridge", which is a taboo. I cooked old duck soup for them, but all four young people drank the soup, and the four old people could only cook a full casserole for them. After lunch, Yang Liufang took a shower and Northwest Feng slept until dinner when his grandmother knocked on the door and asked them to get up for dinner. I looked at my watch and it was already eight o'clock.
There was still a table full of fish and meat for dinner. Yang Liufang was tired of eating, but he couldn't show that he didn't want to eat in front of his parents, so he reluctantly ate a bowl of rice. The four vegetables on the table were swept away. Yang Liufang Only then did I realize that my brother, junior sister and girlfriend also wanted to eat something light. The old people didn't understand, and said that if they had no money before, they wouldn't be able to eat anything they wanted. It is true that Yang Liufang learned skills from his master at the age of 15. Until he founded his own furniture factory in Xizhou, he never thought that he would be able to live such a life of big fish and meat.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, it is a day to visit relatives and return to your parents' home. No one from the Yang family goes out, let alone returns, and there are few relatives. The master's family still has a few relatives, but he moved to Wenzhou a few years ago and moves around There has been little contact in the past few years. There is only one relative in the morning, and the Yang family entertained them with all their heart. Four elderly people came back from exercising at the Senior Activity Center and found that the young people were still sleeping and drinking tea and playing cards in the living room.
After preparing a meal at noon, the four young men were woken up. After dinner, Yang Liufang suggested going fishing. Northwest Feng only learned "Kitten Fishing" from Chinese textbooks in elementary school. When he grew up, he only read about fishing in books to cultivate one's character. He had never tried it. Apart from traveling, he rarely went to the river. Fishing is also novel.
Yang Liufang asked his master and his father to find four moso bamboos in the warehouse. The master was worried that his daughter and Beifeng would get their hands hurt, so he repaired the handles for them and tied them tightly with cloth strips. Yang Liufang also teased the master and said: "Partiality, favoring girls over boys." The master who was serious about laughter laughed out loud.
Liu Xia drove Li Tongfu and Northwest Feng, leaving Yang Liufang alone to carry four moso bamboos and walk to the river. After Li Tongfu and the others arrived, the riverside was already full of fishermen, both fishing and watching. After getting off the bus, Li Tongfu politely spread cigarettes to everyone and said some auspicious words for the New Year. Seeing them coming down, a familiar person helped them point out fishing spots. The people in the village were also very generous, and they even deliberately brought them together.
After Yang Liufang arrived, he greeted everyone and prepared to fish. He first helped Northwest Feng tie the fishing line and adjust the float before he started fishing. Over there, Li Tongfu also helped junior sister Liu Xia tie the fishing line and adjust the float, and the four of them started almost at the same time.
Unlike last year when he was short-sighted and did not wear glasses, this year Yang Liufang wore glasses and his eyesight was particularly good. He was the first to catch the fish, and then the small crucian carp connected with the rod. Northwest Feng was fishing for the first time, but she didn't know how to do it. Seeing that her dear kept catching fish, she simply came to help him pick fish. When he didn't catch fish, she played with the fish in the bucket. Yang Liufang was afraid that she would catch cold, so she acted recklessly. Seeing that no one was paying attention, she inserted her hands into Yang Liufang's neck. Yang Liufang was shocked by the ice, and then she lay on his back to warm her hands.
Li Tongfu also caught a lot, and his junior sister also caught a dozen. Yang Liufang began to adjust the float, and kneaded the bait mixed with white flour and sesame oil into a ball and hung it on the hook. The fish he caught was indeed bigger. Every time, he received praise from Northwest Feng, and sometimes it was a secret kiss.
