Linxia

Chapter 109, Holiday

After Laba Festival comes the New Year. With each passing day, you can feel the New Year atmosphere getting stronger and stronger.

Especially in this era, especially after the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, there are activities every day. On the 23rd day, sticky sugar melons are placed on the stove to sweeten the mouth of the Kitchen God; on the 24th day, the house is swept, and the house is cleaned thoroughly; on the 25th day, tofu is ground; on the 26th day, meat is stewed.

It was the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, and they had lunch at Xuan Mo Zhai. Even though it was Liu Ding, the daughter-in-law of Manager Liu, who cooked the meal, they only had stewed meat. Unfortunately, Dong Zugao suddenly came and asked Fang Lin to come out for dinner, saying that there was good news.

Today, the two of them walked along the street and found that the market was bustling with people buying New Year's goods, but many restaurants and food stalls were closed. Fortunately, they came to the Donkey Restaurant and found the door was still open, but there was no customer at any table inside. They called out several times, but no one was there.

"Where did the shop owner go?" Dong Zugao asked curiously.

"Shopkeeper? Shopkeeper?" Fang Lin also shouted.

After a while, the shopkeeper came out from the back, bowed and apologized: "Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long. All the waiters in the shop have gone home for the New Year, so there is no one in the shop. I am really sorry for the poor hospitality."

"No wonder the wonton shop in front of me was gone when I came out this morning. Please, owner, make some food for me and give me a pot of wine... I ate early this morning and I'm really hungry."

Dong Zugao slapped his head as he spoke, and then he remembered that the other party had said, "This is how the city is. Every time the New Year is coming, half of the city is empty. It's really inconvenient."

Fang Lin nodded, thinking about what he had seen along the way, it was indeed true.

"Isn't it?" The shopkeeper continued, "I still have two salted fish here. I wanted to eat them myself. There is not much wine left. There is one more pot. I said I would close the shop today and buy New Year's goods. If the two guests want them, I will go and get them. I really don't have anything else."

"Of course I want it, so these are it!"

"Please wait a moment, sir. I'll warm up the wine for you two and the fish will be cooked shortly." The shopkeeper first served the two of them a plate of dried tofu and a plate of fennel beans, saying they were free.

"The shop owner isn't going back?" Fang Lin asked.

The shopkeeper said as he warmed his wine, "I am also from another place. I wanted to close the shop and go home, but the shop assistants all left and there was no one to look after me, so I stayed in the shop."

Soon, the wine was warmed up and the shopkeeper went to cook.

The two of them started talking while drinking.

"Brother Fang, guess what the good thing I'm talking about is?"

"Could it be some New Year's goods?"

"That's wrong." Dong Zugao said with a smile: "Brother Fang, have you heard of... the Lantern Festival at Bieshan?"

"I have indeed heard of it, but I have never seen it. I will take a good look at it in the capital today."

"This year's Lantern Festival is not in the city, but in Yuehu Lake. The prefect said that the Lantern and the old turtle should be in the water, so the Lantern was placed on the boat. Of course, you can see it from the shore and far away, but how can you see it as clearly as up close?"

"Oh, Brother Dong, do you have a way to get to the ship carrying the Bieshan Lantern?"

"Brother Fang thinks too highly of me. Before our family fell into decline, perhaps it was possible, but now..." Dong Zugao shook his head and said, "By the Lantern Festival, it will be hard to rent a boat on Yuehu Lake. I want to reserve a few seats for Brother Fang so that he can bring his family to see it closer."

In fact, this is also because the Dong family has recently been doing the feces business and has become a little better off, so they can pick up some of their connections; if he can pass the imperial examination, he can pick up some of his connections; if he can pass the imperial examination, the family's previous connections can be restored to a large extent.

This is the advantage of having a solid foundation. Although the family has fallen into decline, as long as it can get back on its feet, the many extensive connections can be easily continued. You know, Dong Zugao's great-grandfather could even hold an ivory tablet and go to court.

"That's great. Thank you, Brother Dong!" Fang Lin raised the bowl to express his gratitude.

When the Lantern Festival comes and the festive season comes, it would be a great thing to take Fang's father, mother and Tian Xuan to see it.

As the two were talking, someone came in. "Finally I found a shop that's open. Shopkeeper, give me whatever you have. Cook me two dishes and warm up a pot of wine."

"Oh, what a coincidence! Those two were the last ones left in the store." The shopkeeper poked his head out from the back and said, "Please go home and eat, sir. We really don't have anything left to serve you."

"If there is food at home, why come out?" The man patted his belly, sighed, and was about to leave.

"Brother Qian? Come and sit down!" Dong Zugao suddenly called out.

"Yes, come and sit down!" Fang Lin also stood up.

He also knew this person, whose name was Qian Wenyan. He worked as a clerk in the government office. He was introduced to the man by Dong Zugao. When Sister Guihua was monitoring the progress of the lawsuit between the three members of the Chen family, she asked the man to keep an eye on it.

"Brother Dong, Brother Fang? Haha, I won't be polite then."

Qian Wenyan sat down and said, "My parents have passed away, and my wife also died of complications during childbirth two years ago. I don't have anyone close to me at home. In normal times, I would eat at the government office and occasionally go to a restaurant for a few meals, and that's how I got by... But now it's almost the New Year, oh!"

The three of them were talking and drinking, and it became more lively with one more person.

During the meal, Qian Wenyan actually asked Sister Guihua twice.

Fang Lin looked at the man's body. Although he was not small, he didn't know whether he should persuade him. Finally, he thought about it and gave up: "Sister Guihua is not a big villain. If she pursues you seriously and has no dark thoughts, there is no need to be afraid..."

On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, Manager Liu of Xuan Mo Zhai gave Fang Lin, Huang Di, and Chai Yiwei a holiday until the sixth day of the first lunar month, and also gave them New Year's goods such as bacon, radishes, sugar cakes, and so on.

After returning to Xixiang Hutong, Mr. Ou sat on a rattan chair under the osmanthus tree, squinting his eyes and drinking tea. Now that his private school was on vacation, he was very relaxed.

"Fang Lin, is your store closed for the holiday?"

"Yes, Master." Fang Lin took out the sugar cakes and gave two to Master Ou. He then waved and called over the Lu family's little kid and several other children who were playing over there, and shared some with them.

"Thank you, Brother Fang!" The little kids took it, thanked him, sang New Year's nursery rhymes, and ran away.

Fang Lin took the things back, came back and sat down to chat with Master Ou.

"Speaking of holidays,"

Master Ou talked to Fang Lin, "In the early years of the founding of the country, Emperor Taizu worked hard to govern the country and dealt with government affairs day and night. In his eyes, state affairs and people's affairs were above everything else. How could he take a vacation? Officials, you want to rest? Fine, then don't be an official and go home to farm."

This was a humorous statement, and Fang Lin found it interesting. He asked, "Master, how many holidays did officials have in a year at that time?"

"Three days."

Master Ou gestured: "There are only three days off a year, one for New Year's Day, one for the winter solstice, and one for Taizu's birthday. To be honest, the officials were naturally unhappy, but who dared to object? With such a short vacation, officials from other places could not return home to visit their families, and officials in the capital could not have a good reunion. Being an official at that time was miserable!"

"What do you mean?" Fang Lin said.

"The money is small, the work is heavy, and if you're not careful you might get beheaded."

Master Ou said with great interest: "First, let's talk about salary. There is a sad saying, 'Since ancient times, the salary of officials has never been so low'; then there are many things to do. Taizu handles government affairs day and night. How could he let you idle? Finally, if you are not careful, you will be beheaded. In the early years of the founding of the country, there were many major cases, which often implicated more than 100,000 people... There were also people suing officials. Some people held up the "Daxia Edict" and rushed into the county government office and arrested the county magistrate and took him to the capital."

"But, at that time, officials had a hard time, but the people were happy. Now, it's easier to be an official, but the people are having a hard time... Today is not as good as in the past, so let's not talk about it! Let's not talk about it!"

Fang Lin listened, pondered over it carefully, and felt that this was indeed the truth. Officials must be conscientious and careful, and it is not easy for them to be officials, so that the people can be happy. If officials sit in the yamen all day long drinking tea, accepting benefits, taking bribes, and taking the job easily, then the people will have a hard time!

"Let's not talk about this, let's talk about the holiday."

Master Ou continued, "During the Jiankang period, the court felt that three days off a year was inappropriate, so they relaxed the policy and set a five-day holiday for New Year's Day and a ten-day holiday for the Lantern Festival, starting on the eleventh day of the first lunar month. During the Tianhua period, the New Year's Day and Lantern Festival were combined into one holiday, totaling 20 days. Now, there is an additional New Year's Eve holiday. Officials start on December 24th, and the New Year's Eve holiday continues until the twentieth day of the first lunar month, combining New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and Lantern Festival into one holiday..."

As we chatted, smoke from the cooking stove rose up in the sunset.

……

The Fang family’s dinner tonight is old duck soup.

The soup was delicious, and the family talked while eating it.

"These two days, many stalls and shops on the street are closed. People have gone back to celebrate the New Year," said Fang Lin.

"Yes, only the market is still busy. Everyone is stocking up on New Year's goods. We have quite a lot of New Year's goods this year." Fang's mother counted on her fingers: "There are chickens, ducks, fish, bacon... and vermicelli, cabbage..."

"Yeah, when my mother and I went to buy New Year's goods, there were really a lot of people at the market..."

“The pier is also busy.”

Father Fang was chewing on the tough duck head and said, "The dock has been full of ships these past two days. On weekdays, there are many merchant ships, but these past two days, most of them are passenger ships, all returning for the New Year.

You don’t know, there were so many boats, starting from the pier, lined up for a mile or two, like a long worm... The pier was packed, there was no place to moor the boats, and there was no place to disembark... Only after the boats in front slowly left, the boats in line could gradually move forward...

Those with less luggage could jump over from the queue, but those with more luggage, or those who were older, and had servants following them, had no choice but to wait.

It was rare for Mr. Fang to say so much, and his words were spoken in a simple manner, but just listening to them, one could imagine the crowded scene.

As Fang Lin listened, a thought suddenly occurred to him: 'Humans are no different from animals. They all need to migrate. Animals can migrate at least once a year, but many humans cannot even solve the problem of migration. They are alone and cannot reunite with their families... From this point of view, humans seem to be worse than animals.'

He shook his head and dispelled the thought: "Don't worry about others, at least my family is reunited. This is the first New Year my family has spent in the city!"

The family is eating.

Snapped!Snapped!
Outside, someone suddenly started setting off fireworks, which exploded brilliantly into the sky. In the streets and alleys, the sound of firecrackers popping could be heard from time to time, and there were also the sounds of children singing New Year's nursery rhymes... The air was filled with the flavor of the New Year.

Such festive and lively atmosphere seems to indicate that the New Year is really coming.

……

(End of this chapter)