My village can't be like this

Chapter 513 Reunion to celebrate the New Year

Because Zhang An and Zhang Jianguo smoked bacon every day, after spending less than half a month, they finally smoked all the freshly baked Gunshan pork into bacon on the 19th day of the twelfth lunar month before the Chinese New Year.

It may not matter to other people, but Zhang An feels that they have put so much thought into this year, and they need to eat something good during the Chinese New Year.

Moreover, their family has finished the bacon from previous years, so they rush to smoke the bacon before the Chinese New Year.

On the 29th day of the lunar calendar, Zhang An sent over all the bacon smoked by several families at his home, and came back in the afternoon to prepare with his family for the New Year tomorrow.

Although New Year's Eve only lasts for one day, rural people have always paid most attention to celebrating the New Year.

Although the pigs have been killed, the chickens, fish and some more troublesome dishes have to be prepared in advance.

Because these things take so much time, it’s too late to squeeze them all into the New Year’s Eve day.

After returning, Zhang Jianguo was already handling other things besides the big cock with a knife.

Because in the hearts of rural people, big roosters are completely different from other ducks and fish. Chickens are sacrifices and should be kept until the New Year's Eve to be killed first to worship gods and ancestors.

Wang Fang is also busy in the kitchen stewing bones, braised pork, braised beef, etc.

Even Su Ying was peeling peas and corn while holding little Siqi in her arms.

These are not in season right now, but not long ago Zhang An discovered that someone seems to be making out-of-season vegetables.

So I planted a batch in my space and took it out just in time for the Chinese New Year.

When family members asked, Zhang An replied, saying that they bought greenhouse vegetables.

After all, Su Ying is a young person and can easily accept this.

The same cannot be said for Wang Fang and Zhang Jianguo. They have always lamented that with the development of science and technology, they can actually eat summer vegetables in winter.

In the afternoon, Zhang An went to Hongyan Town Railway Station and picked up Xiao Siqi's grandparents.

The eldest daughter's family is far away in the provincial capital and has no plans to come back, so there are only two people in the house, Wu Qiuping and Su Shaowen, and it will definitely be deserted during the Chinese New Year.

So since last year, Zhang An has said directly that as long as his sister-in-law's family doesn't come to pick them up to spend the New Year together, he will come to Changqing to unite as a family.

Wu Qiuping and Su Shaowen did not refuse this. Ever since Su Ying and Zhang An fell in love, they treated Zhang An as their own son. Now the two families are just like one family, there is no difference.

Originally, when Zhang An went to deliver bacon to Zhu Yuliang's house in the morning, he wanted to pick them up together.

But this year they still have to go to work when they are 29, and they don’t start taking annual leave until New Year’s Eve.

But this is much better than last year, when I had to go to work on New Year's Eve last year.

So when Zhang An went to pick them up, the second elder asked Zhang An to come back first, and they would take the train over after get off work in the afternoon.

After Wu Qiuping arrived, she worked with Wang Fang's parents. Together with Su Ying, the kitchen was only occupied by mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, mother-in-law and daughter. This freed up Zhang An.

On New Year's Eve, after Zhang and his party packed up the Sanqing Temple, they went down the mountain by themselves.

He has no children and has always celebrated the New Year by himself in the temple, but it is different now. Zhang An will not leave him alone. He said that every year, like his father-in-law and mother-in-law, he would take him down the mountain to reunite with him.

Zhang Yi Xing couldn't stand up to Zhang An, so he stopped refusing, but he said he didn't need Zhang An to pick him up, because there were only a few steps to go, and he would pack up and go down the mountain.

No, he was afraid that Zhang An would go up the mountain to pick him up, so he came by himself in the early morning of his thirties.

Coming so early, naturally I am not idle, it is the time of year to write Spring Festival couplets to everyone in the village.

In the past, when Zhang Yixing was away, Zhang An had to write for most of the day before he could finish it for everyone.

Now with Zhang and his team together, we can save a lot of time.

There are not many tenants staying in Dongli Courtyard to celebrate the New Year, but only one or two choose to return to the city, and Wang Hua is one of them.

Many old men among those tenants can write their own couplets. After all, there are still many people who can hold a writing brush these days.

But when they stood in the yard and saw so many people from the village crowded around Zhang An's house, they were very curious about what everyone was doing.

Because of the indelible genes engraved in the bones of Chinese people, they all made an appointment to come and see it.

After arriving in Zhang An's yard, I realized that so many people were gathered around, asking Zhang Yi Xing and Zhang An to help write Spring Festival couplets.

So I followed everyone around and watched for a long time, and found that Zhang Yixing, the Taoist priest, was not only a fairy-like Taoist, but his calligraphy was even more amazing.

Anyone who knows how to do calligraphy will know how good it is as soon as they see Zhang Yixing's handwriting.

Zhang An next to them also surprised them. They did not expect that Zhang An, such a young man, would be so sharp and unique in his writing.

Ever since, after watching their performance for a long time, they had given up on writing Spring Festival couplets.

I quickly went home and took all the red paper that had been cut. Like everyone in the village, I asked Zhang An and Zhang to help me write.

However, they felt that something was missing, so they brought some gifts from home as payment for hiring ghostwriters.

Because they feel that on this New Year’s Eve, they must not go to someone’s house empty-handed.

Zhang An looked at the things that the old men brought, with a bit of a smile on his face. He wanted to refuse them, but they had already taken them home and put them down.

So I can only tell everyone that it’s just this once and I won’t take it with me again.

Zhang Yixing has always responded to such requests, so he happily wrote it for them.

Because there are not many people in Dongli Courtyard, it doesn't take much time for Zhang An and Zhang An to share the house.

After writing Spring Festival couplets for everyone, Wang Fang steamed the glutinous rice on the stove and it was time to make rice cakes.

This is an indispensable part every year. Zhang An’s family is very lively every year during the rice cake festival. Many people like to bring over and borrow their family’s stone pei.

It’s not that there aren’t pebbles at home, or there’s no one at home to beat them.

It's just that there are a lot of people here in Zhang An's family, so everyone comes to join in the fun, and they can also get closer to Zhang An's family.

And this year is different from previous years. In addition to the neighbors of Zhang An's family, there are also the tenants of Dongli Courtyard.

Most of them did not have the habit of eating rice cakes during the New Year when they lived in the city.

This year, when they heard that every household in the village was preparing to make rice cakes, their curiosity arose, so they wanted to make rice cakes just like the other people in the village, thinking of doing as the local customs do.

The work of beating rice cakes is very tiring, but every family who comes to borrow a stone pestle will bring their own labor. On the one hand, it can be beaten for their own family, and on the other hand, it can also help others. However, many people need to take a break after playing for a while.

Zhang An was not in a hurry to help, and would only take action when the neighbors whose young people had not returned were playing rice cakes.

Among the tenants in Dongli Courtyard, many young or middle-aged people came with their elders carrying steamers.

I saw everyone in the village making rice cakes very happily, so I felt a little itchy and wanted to try it myself.

Li Mingwu's family must be there, and Zhang An was afraid that they wouldn't get used to it, so he tried to help with a pestle and stick.

Unexpectedly, brothers Li Weihong and Li Weiguo were the first to get the two pestle sticks for beating rice cakes before Zhang An.

"Zhang An, making rice cakes is quite fun. We have never done it before. Let's try it first."

Even though the two brothers are already in their thirties and forties, they have never eaten rice cakes before, so like everyone else, they want to experience it themselves.

"Okay, then you guys give it a try and call me when you're tired."

Zhang An didn't insist, and was thinking about whether the village could hold a rice cake-making experience activity in the future so that the city people who came to play could experience it.

Although the two brothers Li Weiguo followed the example of everyone just now, they were still making melons and eggs. They were not skillful and unsure every time, and soon they were exhausted and out of breath.

But seeing that neither of them had any intention of giving up, Zhang An stood by and told them where to hold the pestle stick and how to exert force to make it easier.

After all, this thing is really tiring, especially for those who have not mastered the skills, it will be even more tiring.

Many people in the village have been under the guidance of their elders since childhood and have practiced for several years before they mastered how to save effort, let alone them.

"I can't stand it anymore. I'm really tired and can't bear it anymore. Zhang An, please come and help me."

Despite Zhang An's step-by-step teaching, within a few minutes, Li Weiguo couldn't resist anymore and quickly asked Zhang An for help.

At this time, his face was flushed, he was sweating profusely, and he was out of breath when talking. It seemed that he was very tired. This was probably the most tiring thing he had ever done in his life.

Li Weihong next to him was also very similar to him, so Zhang Yi Xing and Zhang An took their pestles and sticks and poured them into the unbroken glutinous rice in the stone pot.

You can't wait too long when making rice cakes. You have to make them quickly while the glutinous rice is still hot.

Otherwise, after the glutinous rice in the stone bucket has cooled down, it will not be able to be washed away no matter how hard you try.

Just after finishing the rice cakes from Li Mingwu's family, another family arrived. It can be said that Zhang An's family was full of guests.

There is no other way. Coming from Dongli Courtyard, the closest home to the village is Zhang An's home.

And on weekdays, the tenants in Dongli Courtyard buy various daily necessities from Zhang An's house, so they are more familiar with their home than other families in the village.

This kind of troublesome matter must be discussed with someone who is relatively familiar with it, so they all came over as if it was an appointment.

As for the remaining few, although they had just seen the Li Weiguo brothers being as tired as dogs, they had never experienced it themselves and were still unconvinced and wanted to experience it.

So, everyone went up and played for a few minutes. Finally, they were so tired that they had to ask for help.

As for Zhang An's house, there were too many people and too much movement, which attracted Zhang Jianwen and many villagers.

Therefore, there were very few opportunities for Zhang An to take action later, and everyone in the village had already taken the initiative to help before he could.

Everyone is very happy about this. Once they can show off their faces in front of these tenants, they can buy what they need in the future if they are not sure, and that is all money.

On the other hand, it is because of everyone’s psychological reasons. Everyone wants to show themselves to the people in the city and see that we can do what you can’t do.

It wasn't until two o'clock in the afternoon that everyone who was making rice cakes was sent away.

Although many people come to borrow this stone pei in Zhang An's house every year, this year the number of people borrowing it is simply unprecedented.

After everyone left, Zhang Jianguo grabbed the big rooster that had been selected at home and prepared to operate it.

As the only heir in the family, Zhang An washed his hands before taking out the incense sticks and preparing to burn incense.

Soon, Zhang Jianwen saw blood with his sword. After making the big rooster, he carried it to the shrine in the main room. He held two chicken wings with one hand and the big red rooster comb with the other hand and began to bow. This is to worship the gods.

After finishing this step, I poured hot water that was not too hot to scald the big cock and started plucking the hair.

The water for killing the chicken should not be boiled too high, because if it is too hot it will easily burn the chicken skin.

After everything was ready, Zhang Ancai took a bunch of dustpan-sized firecrackers and set them off in the yard.

At this point, the worship ceremony has ended, and the family can start preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner.

Because many dishes were prepared in advance, and with two mothers, Wang Fang and Wu Qiuping, there, the New Year's Eve dinner was ready quickly.

This year, a total of seven people in our family sat together to have New Year’s Eve dinner, which was much more lively than before.

Originally, Zhang An planned to bring his second grandfather, second grandmother, and fourth grandfather over to celebrate the New Year together, which would make it even more lively.

But this year, Zhang Jianzhong's family took Mr. Zhang and his second wife Zhang over in advance to celebrate the New Year together. Mr. Zhang has been living with his son, so this idea completely came to nothing.

This year, everyone at home is happier than before.

Because this year there is one more important person in the family, and that is Xiao Siqi, the grandson of several elders.

While eating, Zhang An added a partition to the walker he had prepared earlier and put little Siqi in, so that everyone could sit and eat without anyone having to hold him with their hands free.

Little Siqi is also very well-behaved and stays well-behaved in the walker. I don’t know if he knows that today is the Chinese New Year, so he always has a happy smile on his face.

Wang Fang and Wu Qiuping sat next to each other. They were the two people who doted on their grandson the most, so they pulled Xiao Siqi between them.

When eating, I often feed the little guy some food.

Because the two middle and lower incisors have completely grown in, Wang Fang has started feeding her grandson rice in recent days.

I don’t know whether it was because the rice at home was so fragrant or for some other reason, but after two meals, little Siqi completely fell in love with it.

Every time when we have dinner at home, if we don’t feed him a few mouthfuls, he will be unhappy and act arrogant.

So every time he had a meal, Wang Fang would feed him some so that he could feel a sense of participation in the meal.

(End of this chapter)