National Tide 1980.

Chapter 778
"...Probably after sending off the God of Wealth, in every household, the offerings in front of the Buddha should have been arranged, and the incense should have been burned. All the houses have also been tidied up and looked brand new. All the New Year pictures should have been pasted early. , the Chinese New Year pairs are also pasted in bright red. In the past, there was a saying about pasting the pairs that as long as the Chinese New Year is thirty, once the pairs are pasted, the creditors will not be allowed to come to this house to "demand debts."

"Although I have said this, I have never seen such a fact. In the past, buyers and sellers were responsible for collecting accounts, and they all talked like clever mynahs. They can talk about it. If you really want to owe money, don't say it. Put a pair on it, even if you put a machine gun on it, it will still come."

"At this time, even the yard that has been messed up for a long time must be cleaned up, and everything is neat and tidy. First, it is the Chinese New Year, and then it is the new moon. Who doesn't have a close relative? Usually If you don’t have time to hang out, you have to come during the Chinese New Year, so it’s also for people to see.”

"However, the cleanliness of the yard can't be kept for long. Once it's really dark and the lights are turned on, the yard will be messed up again. Because according to the old calendar, people will spread sesame straw on the ground in the yard. It's messy. ,Everywhere."

"What is a sesame stalk? It is the sesame barley that is left over after the sesame seeds are ripe, and after all the sesame seeds are knocked out, they can be used for fire. This thing was used on New Year's Eve in the past. , It is an indispensable thing. The people who sell this thing in the next year are the ones who sell it. There are only five or six trees in one handful. How much each family buys depends on the size of the yard."

"What's the use of laying it in the yard? It's for people to step on. They're all dry sesame straws. When people walk on them, they'll make 'cheep, creak' noises under their feet. Put these If the thing is crushed, it is considered auspicious, which means "stepping on the new year"."

Kang Shuode sat at the cold dinner table, immersed in the old days.

He sipped the fragrant tea after dinner, and dictated the past years without any haste.

As a result, as we talked, inadvertently, the traditional New Year customs that the old man said had something in common with Christmas in the West.

"There is another kind of New Year's decoration that is inseparable from sesame straws, Mengmeng and inseparable. They are pine branches and cypress branches. These kinds of things are sold together. The closer the year is, the four townships will pick them up. The more you sell in the city, the more joyful the shouting will be. Ma’s garden is different from other houses. You don’t need to buy anything, and there are regular people who give it to you every year. The grave owner who shows the Ma’s grave will specially Let’s make a trip, bring it in a cart on New Year’s Eve, and send it to the garden.”

"However, unlike sesame straws, pine and cypress branches are not for stepping on, but for decoration, to take a little bit of green life from nature, and to make the pine and cypress evergreen. Although they will also be scattered on the ground, But it must be spread on top of sesame straws. In the past in Beiping, the grass was all yellow under the root of the year, and there were only dead branches on the trees. It was too difficult for ordinary people to see some vivid colors."

For this reason, Ning Weimin couldn't help being greatly surprised, but at the same time moved.

He suddenly thought of something.

Although there are great cultural differences between the East and the West, it seems that there are two worlds, and everything in life is therefore very different.

But in fact, whether it is religion as an excuse, or cultural origin, value as an excuse.

It seems that nothing can hinder and change the basic aesthetics of human beings and their yearning for happiness and beauty.

Festival etiquette can fully reflect this.

On the surface, the Spring Festival and Christmas are not even close to each other.

The time is different, the nature is different, the meaning is different, and the origin is also different.

But they coincide in many respects.

For example, in terms of family reunion, bright lights, and the need for abundant food, the two festivals are surprisingly consistent.

For another example, we get sesame straws and step on them for good luck, and Westerners also rely on mistletoe to pray for luck.

No matter where people are, they will be attracted by the vitality of evergreen plants due to the severe cold and dryness of winter, and use them as the best decorations for festivals.

This is the common ground based on human nature.

Through the old man's narration, Ning Weimin also discovered that our traditional customs are actually very interesting and rich.

It's not as fun, glamorous, and romantic as Western festivals, as many people think.

Now he suddenly understands that these interesting traditions are just forgotten by time.

The reason is nothing more than economic factors, because the holidays cost money.

Just imagine, the country is weak, the people are poor, and supplies are scarce. How can it be possible to maintain these traditional customs?

What can be left is probably only the basic needs of survival.

He couldn't help feeling sorry for this, because it was indeed a bit late for the master to tell him about the sesame straw.

Otherwise, if he had known earlier, this year he would have allocated a piece of land in the Temple of Heaven Park and brought some sesame straws to spread on the floor, so that all the tourists who visited the Spring Festival Garden Party would step on it.

This is also a restoration of tradition, which must be very attractive to everyone, and it is also meaningful.

He really doesn't want to wait until the country becomes rich in the future, and people don't know how to enjoy life.

"...These things on the ground are not allowed to be swept out before the 'Broken Five'. The euphemistic name is that they are afraid of sweeping away the 'wealth'. In fact, they are essentially for committing lazy bones. During the Chinese New Year, there is nothing but eating, drinking, and playing. Go to bed and do nothing. I can’t blame everyone for wanting to celebrate the New Year, huh?”

"It's just that most people have bills to force them. In the era of turmoil, there are really conditions. After all, there are still a few people who can enjoy it with peace of mind. So I can't blame it. People in the old days are like money lovers. When the new year comes, Always looking forward to getting rich. In the past years, when people met each other, the first thing they said was 'meeting and getting rich'. Or it was 'Gong Xi Fa Cai'. When eating dumplings during the New Year, they had to say that the dumplings were called 'Yuan Bao'."

"Even in the five watch dumplings on New Year's Eve, you have to put a small coin in it. Most of them are Guangxu Tongbao or Banlazi. Even the children are scrambling to eat the dumplings. Everyone wants to eat the small coin." Son, let’s hope that the coming year’s auspicious stars will shine brightly, and the fortune will be in the lead. But the result is that the more people want to eat, the more they can’t eat. Let’s not talk about other places, let’s talk about Mr. Song’s family, every New Year’s Eve. The dumplings were all discovered by me and fell into my hands. Do you know why?"

Perhaps the master and apprentice really have a similar mind to some extent.

Listening to the old man's narration, Ning Weimin had just thought of the problem of maintaining the tradition and needing an economic support.

Unexpectedly, the old man changed the subject and talked about why people in the country always look forward to getting rich during the New Year, and the word money is inseparable.

Co-authorship is now being considered, but there are actually certain reasons for it. In the unbearable years, people let the word "poor" be forced.

YouQi was caught off guard, and finally heard the old man ask himself such an interesting question.

Ning Weimin couldn't help but use his brain, thinking hard to think of the answer.

"Are you cheating? You made a mark, or left the dumpling with money on purpose..."

"It's nonsense, the dumplings were mixed together when they were made, and they were sent to the kitchen to be cooked together, and then fished out with a strainer. Can I find which one?"

"Then... that's Mr. Song cheating. He stayed on purpose and cooked it for you..."

"It's nothing, Mr. Song is not tired, even for his own son. Besides, I'm a young apprentice."

"Or it's because you brought the dumplings, and when you come out of the kitchen, you can touch them tightly, and you can find the traces of coins through the shape of the dumpling skin..."

"Fuck you, how could such a thing happen?"

"Then...then I really can't think of it. It can't be attributed to your luck, okay?"

Seeing his apprentice thinking for nothing, and having to admit defeat in the end, Kang Shude was overjoyed.

"Haha, you kid always claims to be smart, and you can't figure out such a simple question."

Then the answer was revealed, "Yeah, let me tell you, what's the matter? It's because the Song family's Chinese New Year dumplings require thin skin and big stuffing. And the Japanese lady who made the dumplings listened to Mr. Song too much. You think, good The dumplings made by others, the skins are too thin, and they will break if you don’t pay attention, let alone the dumplings with money. Every New Year’s Eve, the dumplings made by others are fine. Only the Japanese wife loves to break the dumplings. This time, she was the one who put in the money. As a result, the money had to go to the bottom of the pot. I drank dumpling soup and fished it out once, and I knew where to find the money when I came back.”

This answer, which was reasonable but unexpected, immediately made Ning Weimin laugh too.

And provoke a thumbs up, sincerely support.

"Master, you are really good luck! Your story is good enough, it's about the same as Ma Sanli's "Secret Recipe of Family Tradition". It's enough to make up a short cross talk!"

In this way, the master and apprentice talked and laughed, and chatted for half the night.

When Luo Guangliang had finished the New Year's Eve dinner with his family and came over after eight o'clock in the evening, the father and son hadn't lost their enthusiasm yet.

It just so happened that at this time, the old man talked about the old days of keeping up with the old age, and the various games that adults and children play to pass the time in order to stay up late.

Ning Weimin became interested, and asked the old man to follow the old way and bring the two of them to experience it for himself.

Kang Shude couldn't refuse, so he asked Ning Weimin to get a bigger bowl, and got three dice himself, and taught them how to play "monkey chasing".

This is a kind of dice game in which winners and losers were judged by the number of dice points in the past. Any number of people can participate, but one person must be the banker.

The rules are also very simple.

Those who are dealers are afraid of throwing a little "eye monkey", and they are also afraid of throwing "one two three", which is called "little whip".

Or "two, three, four", which is called "rubbing".

All of these are subject to compensation.

The best throw is "Sky Monkey", or "Shun'er" of "Four Five Six", or three identical "Taozi".

That's the "big win" take-all.

If you find this complicated, there is also a simple way to play with two dice, to roll "seven consecutives, eight picks, and nine pots".

What does that mean?Two dice, at most a total of twelve points.

When playing, the participants agree on an amount, and each puts a share.

Whoever throws out seven points will put in another one.

Whoever throws out eight points gets one back.

Those who can really throw nine o'clock, no matter how many are in the pot, they will receive all gifts.

And except for the seven or eight or nine points, everything else is counted and re-rolled.

So in the second half of the night, the old and the young ones had something to do.

They took turns throwing the three ivory dice that Kang Shuode had received into a large bowl of safflower pastel from Xianfeng official kiln that Ning Weimin had found.

This tinkling crisp sound is far more attractive than the Spring Festival Gala on TV.

A one-dollar gambling game is surprisingly exciting, who cares about watching TV?

Not to mention that Ning Weimin and Luo Guangliang were engrossed and never tired of it, even Kang Shude, who took them to play, was also devoted to it.

In fact, it's not that this kind of baby gambling is so attractive to the old man.

The main reason is that I haven't heard this crisp sound for many years, which inevitably reminds the old man of the old days.

In Kang Shude's impression, the white-bearded blue master who lived in the same room with him would always win him, Li Li, and Xiao Zhong to cry for their parents by "chasing monkeys" at the end of the year.

First they wiped away all their money, and finally returned it intact with a laugh. It was purely to tease the children.

Unexpectedly, today, he also played the role of Master Lan in the past.

Naturally, they are also determined to let Ning Weimin and Luo Guangliang experience this kind of life where extreme joy begets sorrow, and joy amidst sorrow.

Just spending money?Where can I buy such fun, is there?

(End of this chapter)