Back to 1984: Hunting in the Mountains

After visiting grandpa’s grave, everyone went their separate ways.

If the grave is nearby, just burn paper directly. If they are not buried together, light another fire next to grandpa's grave.

Only Yu Dehuo's new grave was visited by everyone together.

Yu Dejin once again instructed the younger generations not to forget to burn for Yu Dehuo every time they came to burn paper.

I guess that little beast Wang Ruixiang can't be relied on.

The younger generations all nodded in agreement.

Back on the road, Yu Demu and Yu Qiushan refused to stay and returned to the city to celebrate the New Year, saying that they would find time to come back after the New Year.

Everyone here also separated.

Yu Qiutang, Yu Qiujiang brought Yu Xiaowei back and saw the women making dumplings.

According to custom, dumplings should be eaten on the morning of the first day of the first lunar month, but you are not allowed to use a knife on this day, so the dumplings should be wrapped in advance and only need to be cooked the next day.

Yu Qiutang also became interested and joined in wrapping.

As I was wrapping them, I became interested and washed a few one-dollar and five-cent coins and put them in the pack to see who would have the best luck in the coming year.

We had the New Year’s Eve dinner in the evening, which was quite sumptuous.

Not to mention the children, even all the adults had never eaten such a sumptuous meal and everyone was very happy.

Yu Qiutang had already prepared a lot of red candles, which illuminated the entire room very brightly, as if the lights were on.

During the meal, he and Yu Qiujiang also drank some white wine.

Everyone talked a lot.

The emotions are very sincere.

But Yu Qiutang had heard them say these words every day, so he didn't feel anything special at the moment. He just smiled and said that these were nothing. As long as everyone lived a better life, he would be satisfied and his life would not be in vain.

People didn't think he said anything wrong, and thought he meant that his personality had changed.

Everyone's perception of him is that he changed his personality in the second half of the year.

While they were eating, Xiaowei stood up, and Dadong and Xiaodong followed closely behind him, stepping a few meters away from the table and kneeling on the ground.

"Uncle, aunt...uncle, we wish you a happy new year."

After saying this, the three children kowtowed three times in a row.

Xiaodong is young and honest. He knocks his head on the ground with a loud bang and his forehead is covered with mud.

Everyone laughed and started giving out their New Year's money.

Yu Qiutang had discussed with Yu Qiujiang in advance that they had more money, but the eldest and third sisters did not have much, so they should give according to their needs and not give too much at once so that the sisters would feel embarrassed to take out money.

Sure enough, Yu Chunxing gave two cents to each child, and of course did not forget Chunju and Xiaoyun.

Girls don’t have to kowtow when wishing New Year’s greetings, but they must receive lucky money.

After giving it to them, the eldest sister took out some money again and gave one dollar to Yu Qiujiang, Yu Qiutang, and Yu Chunmei each.

The three of them declined repeatedly.

I know my elder sister doesn’t have much money and she must have worked hard to save up the money, so I definitely can’t accept it.

"Big sister, it's a good idea to give it to the children. We are all so old now, why do we need lucky money? It will make people laugh."

Yu Chunxing smiled and said, "How old are you? How can you be as old as me? You are not married yet, so you are still children. If you are married, even if you ask me for it, I will not give it to you."

Yu Qiutang and his companions had no choice but to accept it.

The money is not much, but it is a token of my sister’s love.

Afterwards, each of them gave money to several younger generations.

Although Yu Chunju was not a junior, she was not yet an adult and was just a child in everyone's eyes, so naturally she was given a lot of money.

After the New Year greetings, everyone chatted and laughed for a while, and then Yu Qiujiang took Yu Qiutang and Xiaowei out.

They also have to visit their uncles and aunts to wish them a happy new year.

In fact, it just means wishing a happy new year to Yu Dejin and Yu Deshui.

As for Dadong and Xiaodong, they are not from the same clan, so they can only pay New Year's greetings to their grandfather after the second day of the first lunar month.

Just stay home for now.

After the three of them went out, they found that the snow was even heavier than in the afternoon.

At a glance, the whole village was illuminated by lanterns, and every snowflake was like a moth, falling densely into the yards of each house.

The three of them first came to Yu Deshui's house.

Since grandma is here, we naturally have to start with her.

When they arrived at Uncle San's house, they found that Yu Qiyuan was also going out to look for them, so they simply asked him to wait until they all finished wishing grandma a happy new year together.

As a result, as they were talking, Yu Dejin and Yu Qiushi came to pay New Year's greetings to grandma, and everyone got together.

So everyone greeted grandma together.

Rui Ermei saw a group of people kneeling on the ground. She was very happy wearing new clothes, but she still expressed some regret that the fourth brother was not there.

And he regarded Yu Qiujiang as his father Yu Detu.

Unlike the excitement last time, this time there was obvious enthusiasm.

Yu Qiujiang did not point it out, and everyone maintained the same tacit understanding.

Then they gave each other a bunch of New Year's money.

For children, the happiest moment of receiving the New Year’s money is when they receive it, because they all know that after the New Year, the money will eventually be taken away by adults for temporary “safekeeping”, or used to buy clothes for them or for schooling.

It's just a formality.

In addition to the gifts given by elders to younger generations, younger generations can also show filial piety to their elders. Yu Qiutang gave his grandmother ten yuan separately.

He is the only grandson that grandma can know steadily.

Even Yu Qiyuan's grandmother was in fits and starts.

Everyone can see it, but no one will react too strongly to it.

Since everyone was gathered here, they naturally had to eat and drink, and the children played freely. Chunzhu wanted to go find her sisters to play, so Yu Qiutang asked Xiaowei to take her back there.

While eating, grandma said she was sleepy and went back to her room to sleep.

Yu Qiutang remembered that his grandmother used to have many rules and she attached great importance to these rules. She would definitely stay up until late at night on New Year’s Eve.

But now she doesn't insist anymore.

The men were eating and drinking in the main room, while Third Aunt Gao Meilan was busy serving the dishes. She would occasionally stop to persuade Yu Dejin to drink and even join him for a few drinks.

The people in Rongcheng can drink a lot, but they can't drink too much either.

Maybe a man is like seven or eight taels of liquor.

Compared with the whole country, it is at the middle level.

But many women in Rongcheng can maintain a drinking capacity similar to that of men. There is a saying that "women are born with a capacity for drinking half a pound of alcohol."

They usually don't sit at the table and drink with men, because they respect their men and don't want to embarrass them in front of other men.

But if they see or hear someone say that their men are bad, they can't help but get angry. They will not give in and will just grab a hoe and start fighting.

When it comes to drinking, women are just as good as men, so men dare not look down on them.

Of course, at today's New Year's Eve dinner, all the people sitting here are our family members, so there is no such thing as looking down on others. We just drink when we are interested.

Yu Qiutang's three cousins ​​were just there to keep him company. They chatted, but mostly listened to the two elders. Yu Qiutang also heard a lot about his grandpa and grandma. But as they chatted, the two old brothers suddenly started crying. It turned out that they had drunk too much without realizing it.

When Yu Qiutang sent his father back to the courtyard, he happened to see Chen Meidi going out to look for her husband, so he handed you over to her and asked Yu Qiushi and Chen Meidi to help you go down.

Chen Meidi and Yu Qiushi each held one side and walked a few steps. Chen Meidi turned around and said, "Qiutang, go downstairs and eat something. We cooked quite a lot."

Yu Qiutang shook his head. "We have a lot of them, too. My sister and the others are still waiting. Have a good New Year."

Chen Meidi nodded, "Okay, go back and be careful on the road."

Yu Qiutang responded and turned to leave.

When he got home, he found that his eldest sister and two children had gone to bed. Chunju was nowhere to be seen. Only his third sister was still sitting in the main room, sewing shoe soles. When she saw him come back, she smiled and said, "I heard from Brother Jiang that our father drank too much?"

"It's quite a lot anyway."

Yu Qiutang sat back by the stove and warmed his hands over it.

"Eat melon seeds."

Yu Chunmei pointed to the basket of dried fruits on the table, which contained some peanuts, melon seeds, walnuts, dried apricots, etc.

"No, it will make me get irritated."

He also said, "I ate a lot at night, and now I don't want to eat anything."

"Forget it then. You decide whether you want to sleep or sit by the fire. I'll take care of the night watch. You guys sleep a lot, I'm used to it, and I don't feel sleepy at all."

We also have to stay up all night on New Year’s Eve here.

If you pay special attention to the rules, you need to light up all the lights in all the rooms, that is, keep the lights on all the time.

It is said that deceased relatives will follow the lights back home.

But most people are not so strict. Instead, they keep the light on the stove top in the kitchen on all the time, and turn off the lights in other rooms after 12 o'clock.

Yu Qiutang drank a lot of wine and was blown by the cold wind outside. He felt unwell and wanted to vomit but couldn't, so he couldn't sleep.

"Sit for a while. Brother Jiang is going to sleep?"

Yu Chunmei laughed and said, "That's right. It wasn't easy for him to make it back. He vomited right after arriving at the hospital. He was as heavy as a pig. It took all of us to carry him into the room. We were exhausted."

Yu Qiutang smiled.

"He can drink a lot, and he doesn't want to talk too much in this kind of situation, so he just drinks. But it doesn't matter, it only happens once a year. After drinking, he can rest well. Tomorrow morning it will be a new day, oh, a new year."

"That's right, it's not easy for him either. He has to take care of Chunju and has lost his fifth uncle since he was a child. It's very difficult."

Yu Qiutang nodded.

He thought so too.

He found that the third sister and the eldest sister were similar in many ways, both were gentle and kind people, but there were some slight differences between them.

My eldest sister is a person who only looks at the present and has no foresight.

Therefore, the eldest sister can worry about very little and does not understand the ways of the world very clearly.

That's why she was bullied by Wang Youcai and couldn't escape.

Although the third sister is physically disabled, she actually has a broad mind and thinks things through very thoroughly and carefully.

This is the potential he has tapped.

If my third sister had been left in the troglodyte courtyard to live with her father, she would probably not have become the cheerful girl she is now.

Thinking about it this way, his original choice was very correct.

"Tangtang, after tonight, it will be the first month of the lunar year. You still have more than ten days to get married. How do you feel?"

Yu Chunmei suddenly asked with a smile.

Yu Qiutang was stunned. The third sister's question was so sudden that it forced him back to his senses.

Miali's image immediately appeared before my eyes.

He smiled and said, "Third sister, if you want to ask me how I feel, it's actually very complicated. I'm looking forward to it but also a little nervous."

Yu Chunmei pursed her lips and smiled.

"It's ok to be nervous. People are like this before getting married. But when the day comes and you see your beautiful bride, you will be so happy that you won't have time to be nervous."

Yu Qiutang smiled and said, "What about you, Third Sister, you and..."

"You bastard, Third Sister is talking about your business, why are you dragging me into this? Third Sister is like this, there is no future for her."

Without waiting for Yu Qiutang to refute, he continued, "Do you think that Third Sister is a burden living here with you, and you are in a hurry to get rid of her?"

Yu Qiutang said with a smile: "Third sister, everyone is asleep, there are only two of us here, why are you still hiding things from me?"

"Who covered it up? What should I cover up?" Yu Chunmei was so excited that she pulled the hemp rope on the same side of the sole. She soon found something wrong and had to remove the stitches in a hurry.

As a result, after a few rounds of tossing and turning, his face turned red.

"Look at your blushing face."

"Who is blushing? The stove is too hot. Ask elder sister to add less firewood."

"Once I've finished my work here, I'll go check on yours."

"What's wrong with me? Don't talk nonsense."

"If you insist on me saying it, won't the fire burn brighter?"

"dignified!"

My third sister is no longer able to work.

"Honestly, I'm not kidding you. You and Brother Wen Zhong are getting along pretty well. I think Brother Wen Zhong is a very honest, simple, and capable person. He gets along well with you, so you're a good match.

It just so happens that he has feelings for you too, isn't that great, you two can just get together, there's me and Yali, and you two are together, isn't that a closer relationship?"

"dignified."

Yu Chunmei held the sole of the shoe in her arms, looked at the blazing fire, and said with a wry smile: "You are so smart, why do you say such foolish things? You don't know what I am like, how can you delay Brother Wen Zhong?

He is so capable, he does his job well, he is a nice person, and he makes a lot of money. I can't even walk properly, so if I'm with him, I'd just be a drag.

If you ask me what I think of him, I don’t really have any opinion.

Just a really nice guy.

If there's nothing wrong with my leg, it's not impossible for me to live with him.

But this is fate, who made me like this..."

As Yu Chunmei spoke, her eyes began to dim.

If it wasn’t Chinese New Year, I might have shed tears.

Yu Qiutang pulled the stool towards Yu Chunmei and said, "What is fate, sister? Look at our lives now, and think about how we celebrated the New Year last year.

Tell me, at this time last year, did you think you could have a good life now?
Were you thinking at that time that your life just goes on year after year, and you still have to live even during the New Year, right?
But now.

We live in a big new house, and we can eat meat dumplings and meat buns during the Chinese New Year.

Isn’t this something you haven’t thought about?”

Yu Chunmei was stunned and looked at Yu Qiutang. Yu Qiutang's words seemed like a stone, suddenly thrown into the lake of her heart that had been forced to become dead, splashing high water.

"Sister, if everything in this world is predetermined by fate, then why do you think people are still alive? No matter what happens, the final result will be the same.

I think the reason why we keep working hard, fighting and struggling is because only by doing so can we break through our inherent disadvantages and live a better life, don’t you think? " (End of this chapter)