post middle age

Chapter 60
The folk song said: "23, offering sacrifices to the stove official; 24, cleaning the house; 25, grinding tofu; 26, cutting meat; 27, killing a chicken; It is the expectation of the people who have worked hard for a year for the New Year and the beautiful prospect of a happy life in the coming year.

The 28th of the twelfth lunar month is the day when Spring Festival couplets are posted. Li Te’s mother came home specially to prepare some New Year’s food. Ding Xiang, Ren Shuxia and Yao Ting also came to their house from the old house to help.According to Ruyang's New Year's practice, when it comes to the reunion dinner on the first day of the new year, it is necessary to cook according to the eight cold and eight hot flowing water seats, so cooking meat and fried buns are indispensable. Early in the morning, Yang Xiulian According to the traditional practice in the past, in her own courtyard, a large oil pan was set up and firewood was lit. Yao Ting saw her and asked with a smile:
"Auntie, why do you have to burn firewood?"

"Our elders say that the meat cooked with wood fire is called fragrant. In addition, in the wet winter and the twelfth lunar month, the family members can work while warming up by the fire, which is auspicious and prosperous." Yang Xiulian replied.

After lunch, Ren Ziyu smiled and said to Li Te:

"Let's go post Spring Festival couplets."

"Okay, I'll prepare now." Li Te said and went to prepare things for the Spring Festival couplets, such as: brooms, scissors, rags, and yes, some paste must be made with white flour in advance.

When everything was ready, Li Te asked:
"Uncle, let's start posting from here!"

"I want to post Spring Festival couplets too!" Wang Xiaoke begged with interest.

"Coco, do you know how to post Spring Festival couplets?" Ren Ziyu asked with a smile while tearing off the couplets pasted in previous years:

"It's not easy, isn't it my post?" Wang Xiaoke said nonchalantly.

"Pasting Spring Festival couplets here is different from the ones posted at our house. The order of front and back is very particular. Generally, the main room is pasted first, and then the gate. The second couplet. Lastly, post the goalkeeper." Ren Ziyu patiently explained.

"It's so complicated!" Wang Xiaoke scratched his head and said with a grimace.

"That's right, by the way, the word "Fu" on the door can't be pasted upside down." Ren Ziyu instructed with a smile.

"Uncle, the word "Fu" is upside down, doesn't it mean "Fu has arrived"?" Li Te asked after hearing this.

"In the eyes of the common people, the saying of "Fu upside down (arriving)" has always been popular. This is often done deliberately for the sake of getting a good start, but many people ignore it. It is not allowed to paste the blessing on the door backwards. Yes. Because in the cultural tradition, the gate is the facade of a family, and it is also the first impression for outsiders, so it is a "serious and solemn" place. If you paste the blessing wrong, it will be too childish, and you will reject the blessing The meaning outside the door, in that case, the "fortune" of the coming year may be affected, so we must be careful to avoid mistaking the blessing on the door." Ren Ziyu said with a smile.

"So it's like this?" Wang Xiaoke sighed while helping to sweep the old Spring Festival couplets on the ground into a pile.

After the three of them tore off all the Spring Festival couplets for the coming year, and wiped off the dust left on the door with a rag, they began to put on the Spring Festival couplets officially. Ren Ziyu glanced at them and said with a smile:
"Whatever you do, you must have a clear division of labor, and the responsibilities are in place, so that you will be busy and not chaotic."

"Ke Ke, you are in charge of taking the Spring Festival couplets and checking whether the Spring Festival couplets are posted correctly. Li Te is responsible for pasting the Spring Festival couplets. I am in charge of supervising whether the Spring Festival couplets are pasted correctly and the paste is delivered. Do you think it is okay?"

"Good, good, good!" Wang Xiaoke and Li Te agreed.

They first came to the anti-theft door at the entrance of the stairs on the third floor of Li Te's house, and began to post Spring Festival couplets. During the process of posting, grandpa told many legends about posting Spring Festival couplets. Wang Xiaoke listened with great interest, so he started to work Come and don't feel tired.

After posting the Spring Festival couplets here, it is time to go to the commercial housing in the community where Li Te lives. This is as simple as Wang Xiaoke's in the provincial capital, just stick a pair of Spring Festival couplets on the gate.

Finally, there is the old house of Li Te’s family. It is almost dusk at this time, and the faint sunset is like a naughty doll playing hide-and-seek, secretly covering most of the red face, and splashing the clouds in the sky with a smile. It was bright red. The north wind was blowing viciously, scraping all the corners of people's clothes, making people shiver. At this time, snowflakes suddenly floated in the sky, and fine snowflakes flew down from the sky. Down, like a gentle and fragile woman, holding the winter evening into her bosom.

Ren Ziyu glanced at the flushed Wang Xiaoke, and asked distressedly:

"Coco, are you tired?"

"I'm not tired, but I'm a little cold." Wang Xiaoke replied while rubbing his red ears with both hands.

"Coco, post the Spring Festival couplets today. Grandpa has told you so much about the Spring Festival couplets. You have enough material for your composition." Li Te spoke beside him.

"Don't worry, this year's Spring Festival composition, I will definitely write well and strive to get No.1 in the class." Wang Xiaoke said.

"Do you see how immodest we are?" Ren Ziyu laughed loudly after hearing this.

"Grandpa, how do you know that this kind of modesty makes people lag behind, and only pride can make people progress." Wang Xiaoke smiled secretly.

"This ghost girl, when she speaks, she talks one way, another way, and she speaks fallacies." Ren Ziyu pointed to Ke Ke's nose and taught.

"Finally the Spring Festival couplets are posted." Wang Xiaoke danced happily in the snow dance.

Just when Li Te was about to get off the ladder, Ren Ziyu suddenly shouted:

"Oh, no, the Spring Festival couplets are pasted wrong."

"Grandpa, that's a wrong post, why don't I know." Wang Xiaoke carefully looked at her proud work, and whispered the horizontal comment:

"Charming Ruyang"

"Are you going to read the Shanglian again?" Ren Ziyu reminded.

"Dukang's fine wine is delicious and fragrant," Wang Xiaoke blurted out.

"What about the second couplet?" Ren Ziyu continued to ask.

"Ruyang Dinosaur Dragon Dance, the world is dawning" Wang Xiaoke hesitated for a moment, then continued to mutter.

"Hey, how many times have I said it just now, this Spring Festival couplet should not be pasted wrong, especially at the gate." Ren Ziyu continued to babble:
"After distinguishing the upper and lower couplets according to the sound of "Ping Zhe", paste the upper couplet on the side of the first character in the horizontal batch. Our horizontal batch is "Charming Ruyang" (left is the first), and the upper and lower couplets are pasted on the left; The character is in the sound of "奄", which is the third or fourth tone in Pinyin; the ending word of the second line is generally flat tone, which is equivalent to the first or second tone in Pinyin. Coco, read it again and see, Right?"

"This, this?" Wang Xiaoke said while reading the Spring Festival couplets.

"Is it wrong?" Ren Ziyu asked with a smile.

"Grandpa, it's really wrong." Wang Xiaoke glanced at the snowflakes floating in the air, and begged grandpa with a smile:

"Grandpa, you see that the snow is getting bigger and bigger, don't you think it's okay."

"That can't be done. The Spring Festival couplets at the gate are especially important. They must not be pasted upside down. If they are pasted upside down, it will be really embarrassing." Ren Ziyu replied firmly.

I had no choice but to peel off the pasted Spring Festival couplets again. Fortunately, they had just been pasted up, and the sticking was not strong enough. This busy work took another 20 minutes, and it was finally over perfectly at six o'clock in the evening.

Back in the old house, as soon as Wang Xiaoke entered the house, he could smell the fragrance of the garden. The meat was cooked, and some pancakes, oil buns, meatballs and other fried products were fried. At this time, Yang Xiulian was pouring into the oil pan Put sweet potato chips, ready to be fried, for Coco to eat.

When Wang Xiaoke saw the sweet potato chips, he didn't wash his hands. He grabbed a raw piece and put it in his mouth. While chewing, he kept shouting:
"I'm hungry! I'm hungry!"

"You girl, you have been working all afternoon, you don't wash your hands, you just eat it when you pick it up, hey, you don't think it's cold." Grandma said while dragging Wang Xiaoke to the bathroom.

(End of this chapter)