Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 594 Spring Festival Couplets
After working for most of the night to complement each other's yin and yang and blend in harmony, they felt refreshed on the morning of New Year's Eve.

Tang Zhitong got up, boiled water and washed up, and at the same time opened the door to see the thickness of the snow.

It had been snowing heavily all night and had stopped now. When I stepped on it, a deep pit was made, which looked to be about three fingers thick.

"Why don't you not go to work today? The snow on the road is quite thick and it's hard to walk." There were no snowplows these days. Today is what people call New Year's Eve, and sanitation workers will not clean the road in a timely manner. Tang Zhitong was worried about the road conditions and advised Xiao Wang.

"Let's go and take a look. Go a little later and come back earlier." Student Wang said after hesitating for a moment.

"Okay, drive slowly. Come back and ask mom for couplet paper and write a few pairs of Spring Festival couplets. You and the two of them can put them up together. I won't be back until later." Seeing that Xiao Wang is dedicated to his work, Tang Zhitong didn't persuade him much.

In addition to making dumplings, there is another thing that cannot be avoided during the Spring Festival in Beijing, and that is Spring Festival couplets.

Spring Festival couplets were originally called "Tao Fu".

At first, peach charms were peach wood boards with the gods Shentu and Yulei painted on them. They were hung on the front door to protect the home and family. There were no words on them. As the style spread, the style of the peach charms changed.

With the sound of firecrackers a year old, the spring breeze sent warmth to Tusu.

Thousands of families always exchange new peaches for old ones.

Wang Anshi's poem "New Year's Day" shows that common people would replace the peach charms with new ones every Spring Festival.

Su Shi, who was 16 years younger than Wang Anshi, also wrote a poem:

The north wind blows the snow at the beginning of the fourth round, Jiarui Tianjiao and Sui Chu.

Half of the Tusu lamp has not yet been lifted, and peach symbols are written on the grass in front of the lamp.

Translated it means: It was late at night on New Year's Eve, and I still had half a glass of wine to drink, so I had to lie down in front of the oil lamp and write peach charms.

Just write it, and write it in cursive, which fully expresses Su Shi’s resentment for not drinking that half glass of wine.

Since it was written, it fully shows that the peach charms at that time were almost the same as Spring Festival couplets. In addition, Wang Anshi said "in thousands of households", how could the common people in any dynasty have the money to replace the peach wood boards every year?

Besides, there were not so many peach trees to make peach charms, so at this time "peach charms" had already come to refer to paper spring couplets.

It’s definitely not rigorous, but that’s roughly what it means.

The only difference from the Song Dynasty is the date of posting Spring Festival couplets. Su Shi wrote the peach charms on New Year's Eve, so they must have been posted on the first day of the new year. But now, the couplets are posted on New Year's Eve in the old city.

Logically speaking, they should have written the couplets last night, let them dry overnight, and then posted them early this morning after the ink dried. However, the two were busy with pulping and drawing last night and had no time to write.

"Write it this morning. Post it in the afternoon after you finish." Student Wang made the arrangements while folding the quilt.

"Okay. I'll sweep the snow in the yard first." The kettle on the stove still had to boil for a while. Tang Zhitong had work in his eyes. He planned to sweep out a few simple paths in the house, so that at least his family would have a way to go to the toilet.

By the time it was time for dinner, Tang Zhitong had already cleared the yard and the road outside the gate.

Tang Zhitong also had no plans to go early today. The escort department had already made work arrangements. During the New Year holidays, everyone would take turns on duty. The last wave of incoming and outgoing letters would be sorted today. Those that could not be sorted would be left there and sorted out after the New Year. After all, the deliverymen also had to celebrate the New Year.

Before going to work, Tang Zhitong planned to accompany Xiao Wang to write Spring Festival couplets.

According to the rules of the old city, Spring Festival couplets have to be written by the men, but Tang Zhitong doesn't care about that. In the family, only classmate Xiao Wang's calligraphy is good. After all, she has that kind of family conditions and has been influenced by it since childhood. It would be a waste if she doesn't use it.

Tang Zhitong cut the Spring Festival couplets paper into strips, arranged them according to the size, ground the ink, found the brush he had used before, dissolved it with water, and moistened it a few times, but found that the tip of the brush was forked and could not be brought together no matter how hard he tried.

"How about I go buy a brush?" Tang Zhitong had been practicing calligraphy for a while, and occasionally listened to Ma Wei's popular science lectures on the four treasures of the study, which really increased his knowledge.

"I can't write many words, but just make do with it. I can write." Student Wang picked up the brush, licked the ink with the brush, tried the tip of the brush on the newspaper, and it was barely usable. She didn't want to waste time, after all, they both had to go to work after writing the Spring Festival couplets.

"Okay." Tang Zhitong did not force it. He spread out the Spring Festival couplet paper and pressed it down with a paperweight. They were called paperweights, but in fact they were two pieces of mahogany, which were leftovers from the furniture making process.

We will still use purple paper this year. Next year it will be three years since Grandma Tang and Father Tang passed away, and then we will change to red paper.

"What to write?" Student Xiao Wang rolled up his sleeves, scraped the ink with his brush on the inkstone, and asked.

"Well... just write 'The sound of firecrackers gets rid of the old, and the peach charms in every household bring new life', and the horizontal banner is 'Bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new'." Tang Zhitong said the most common Spring Festival couplets in Beijing.

Speaking of Spring Festival couplets, people in my city used to not be very particular about them. People usually just wrote couplets in the most auspicious way possible, as it was New Year's Day and everyone wanted to get good luck.

But starting from the past few years, the trend has changed somewhat, and some people have begun to write according to the general environment.

Just by looking at the Spring Festival couplets, you can roughly guess what year it is and what happened.

For example: Resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea to protect the country, support the front line and the army and donate grain and cotton.

And in 54: Work hard to cultivate the fields, expand production and produce more grain.

In 55: The literacy campaign is of great significance, and there are many benefits for farmers to learn to read.

56 years: The motherland's construction has made great progress, and the cities and towns have a new look.

In 57: Mutual aid groups work together to get rich, and advanced cooperatives go one step further.

Even second-rate newspapers joined in the fun, with a couplet published on page 58 of the February 2, 12 issue: Go to the countryside and mountains to join the labor front, and cultivate both literary and military talents through thousands of trials and tribulations.

Although the trend is blowing, it is not compulsory and ordinary people can still write whatever they want. But after a few years when the trend picks up, the situation will be different. The Spring Festival couplets will become class-based and aggressive, and many people will even use the original words from the Quotations from Heaven.

Student Wang followed Tang Zhitong's instructions and wrote each stroke with a brush. After finishing, he took a step back to appreciate the painting.

After you are satisfied, lay the Spring Festival couplets flat on the ground and wait for the ink to dry.

"There are two more." Student Wang took another pair of Spring Festival couplets.

"Upper line: Spring breeze brings warmth to thousands of flowers, lower line: Auspicious snow welcomes spring and brings joy to thousands of families. Horizontal banner: Joy fills the house." Tang Zhitong did not choose those Spring Festival couplets that were representative of the era. Instead, he dug out two auspicious couplets from the depths of his memory that were applicable everywhere.

After Wang finished writing, Tang Zhitong placed it on the ground and pulled out the last couplet, reporting: "The first line of this couplet: Spring is all over China, thousands of miles of beauty, the second line: In this prosperous era, thousands of families are prosperous, and the horizontal scroll: Spring is back to the earth."

Spring is back to the earth, Tang Zhitong is very familiar with this. When he was young, his father wrote the Spring Festival couplets every year with "Spring is back to the earth". It was not until the printed Spring Festival couplets appeared on the market that this feature that ran throughout the 90s came to an end.

"Did you come up with these two Spring Festival couplets yourself? Very good." After writing them, Xiao Wang looked at the couplets and was very satisfied with the wording.

"I was just thinking about it on the road yesterday. It's mainly because your handwriting is good, otherwise the charm of the Spring Festival couplets can't be reflected." This is not Tang Zhitong bragging, but Xiao Wang's handwriting is really good. "I'm just at this level, I can only read it, but I'm still far from writing well." After hearing the exaggeration, Xiao Wang replied happily.

"It's not far, not far, it's right in front of me. It's hard for you to write such good words with such a bad brush." ​​After writing the Spring Festival couplets, Tang Zhitong began to pack up his pens, ink, paper and inkstone.

As for the Tang family's brush with a split tip, it is not even considered the lowest grade in the world of brushes. It was used to write Spring Festival couplets in the past few years.

Poor students have lots of stationery, and good chefs don’t pick and choose pots.

A broken brush in Xiao Wang's hands can produce a work that is beyond Tang Zhitong's imagination.

"Go, stop praising me. If you practice hard in the future, you can do it too. I will buy you a brush from Dai Yuexuan later." Classmate Xiao Wang urged with a smile on his face.

"That's too expensive. I'm a beginner and don't deserve to use such an expensive brush. I'll wait until my handwriting is good enough." Tang Zhitong shook his head and refused. Xiao Wang didn't have much money, and he didn't dare to give it to her even if he had money. It was not easy for her to save money, and Tang Zhitong didn't want to spend it.

Dai Yuexuan's brushes are unique in the city of Beijing and are very famous. They have the characteristics of "not falling apart when lifted, not soft when laid down, sharp tip, and both hardness and softness". Of course, the price is also high.

Dai Yuexuan's brushes are also divided into different grades. According to Ma Wei, the wolf-hair brushes were very popular in the past, but the current ones are just usable.

After listening to this, Tang Zhitong had only one feeling: Ma Wei is good at talking.

Dai Yuexuan formed a brush cooperative in 54, which was merged into the Xuanwu District Pen Making Society in 58, and sales soared.

Behind the increase in sales is a sharp increase in production. Handmade items can sell millions of units a year, so you can think about the quality yourself.

After packing up and closing the door, the couple went out to work.

During the New Year's Day, apart from the neighbors sweeping the snow in front of their doors, few people were sweeping the snow on the roads.

Tang Zhitong wanted to see Xiao Wang off, but she refused. In this kind of weather and on this kind of road, taking one more step would be torture.

"Then ride slowly, try to ride on the white areas, and be careful with the compacted snow because it's slippery." Tang Zhitong couldn't persuade Xiao Wang, so he gave him earnest advice.

"Got it. After you finish the things at hand, go home quickly." Classmate Xiao Wang smiled sweetly through his scarf, waved to Tang Zhitong, and rode his bike towards Chongwenmen.

Tang Zhitong watched Xiao Wang ride away on his bike before turning around and walking south with his back to Chongwenmen.

They were very careful along the way, and when they arrived at the escort department, except for the occasional noise coming from the sorting department, other departments were quiet. If it weren't for the black smoke coming out of the chimney, Tang Zhitong would have thought that everyone had skipped work and gone home.

Tang Zhitong opened the door of the Finance Department and planned to light the stove first, but he saw a bag of things on his desk.

Hanging up his scarf and hat, Tang Zhitong walked forward. In the net bag were two bottles of wine, two cans of food, and a letter underneath.

I opened the letter and saw that it was Ma Wei's handwriting.

In the letter, Ma Wei roughly explained the whole story: someone came to find Tang Zhitong and insisted on leaving the things behind, saying that Tang Zhitong was the child's savior and so on.

Tang Zhitong looked at the date on the letter, which was yesterday, and knew that Yan Xiong had flown over.

Tang Zhitong felt embarrassed because of this incident. He didn't leave his home address with Yan Xiongfei, and he ran across the city in the heavy snow just to give him some New Year gifts. Shouldn't he return the favor?

Tang Zhitong scratched his head, looked at the time, and decided to deal with the things at hand first and talk about the return gift in the afternoon.

He lit the stove first, then Tang Zhitong checked the payroll made by Ma Wei. After making sure there were no mistakes, he put it in the drawer. He could ask Fang Yuan to sign it after the new year.

Tang Zhitong had a very quiet day. He practiced calligraphy for a while, reviewed the Chinese-English and Chinese-Russian dictionaries, and then drew up a draft of a chime kettle based on the kettle in the office.

There is actually no technical content in making a chiming kettle. The main thing is to make the lid fit tightly with the kettle body, then make a hole at the twist position and place the chiming device.

This chime device is a little difficult for Tang Zhitong, after all, he doesn't understand music, but it's not that difficult. At worst, he can buy a harmonica, take it apart, and then put it in.

As long as the prototype can be made, the rest can be thrown to my mother-in-law. It would be best to inform Aunt Li as well to show that I value her encouragement. Perfect!

As for how the chime kettle can win the favor of the citizens of those countries with foreign exchange, Tang Zhitong thinks that he can start with the reed of the kettle and imitate the sound of that country's favorite musical instrument.

Tang Zhitong wrote this on the back of the drawing.

In addition, Tang Zhitong also marked the pre-production tests to ensure that the kettle lid can make a sound under normal atmospheric pressure, and cannot be silent due to changes in air pressure or due to boiling water for a long time.

As for how to experiment, Tang Zhitong did not intend to participate. He just wanted to make a pot lid that could make a sound and then call it a day if it worked.

After checking and making sure there were no mistakes, Tang Zhitong packed up everything, took out the lunch prepared by his mother from his bag, and prepared to eat.

As the main earner of the family, Zhang Guifang loves her son very much. She gives him two steamed buns, a layer of shredded pickled vegetables and a few slices of pork head under the shredded pickled vegetables.

Tang Zhitong folded the newspaper, wiped the stove cover, and then put the steamed bread on it to steam.

This method is very common. When Tang Zhitong was young, he often followed his father to eat this way. However, at that time, the buns were steamed buns, and the heat had to be controlled. The best ones were those with a slightly yellow and crispy crust. If they were steamed for too long, they would become mushy.

While eating steamed bread and pickles, Tang Zhitong recalled the years when he worked like a slave. At the beginning, it was okay because New Year’s Eve was a holiday, but later it became a working day.

Niu Ma goes to work as usual in the morning, goes fishing in the morning, and then follows the department manager to pay New Year's greetings to the boss and listen to some old-fashioned words of encouragement, which are nothing more than to keep up the good work and cheer for the boss to get a new car or something.

It was only in the afternoon that I could sneakily board the train back home.

Just one word: miserable.

Of course, you can also not go to work on New Year’s Eve and take a leave. Annual leave is okay, but your salary will be deducted for personal leave.

It is not quite accurate to say it is a salary. After all, as the nominal owner, you have to work for the capitalist and keep your head down and listen to the capitalist's scolding. It is indeed a bit humiliating. It should be called humiliation pay.

After earning 3,000 to 5,000 yuan, deducting the fixed expenses such as rent, water, electricity, transportation, and communication, and then deducting food and clothing, there is not much left...

Although we are poor now, we are poor in a down-to-earth way. We don't have to worry about anything. We have so little money that after deducting daily expenses, there is not much left.

Because of their status, they can work hard even if they have no money. They don't have to worry about being fired at 35, and when they retire they can choose a son or daughter to take over.

Both situations have their pros and cons.

(End of this chapter)