The Sweet Little Fulang

For a while, they put a lot of effort into it. Shen Xuanqing had earned money this year, and bought a lot of firecrackers specially, and Ji Qiuyue also looked happy happy.

    Lu Gu even dared to set off a small huoqihua in his hand, and even set off the second huoqihua or even a maleizi under Shen Yan's instigation. He was a little scared when he lit it, but he couldn't help laughing after the maleizis exploded.

    After Shen Xuanqing brought out taipinghua (kind of fireworks), the whole family stopped talking about anything else.

    This taipinghua was half a foot high and as thick as the mouth of a bowl, it was really a big firecracker, even Quanzi and Miao Chunsheng gathered around when they saw it.

    After Shen Xuanqing set it off, he stepped back, and after the sound was heard, sparks burst out suddenly, and the taipinghua shot up and exploded, like a flower of fire, extremely beautiful.

    Seeing this, a dozen or so villagers in the village stretched their necks and looked in this direction, only recovering after the flames were gradually extinguished.

    "It cost a lot of money." Quanzi's mother clicked her tongue.

    Shen Xuanqing smiled and said nothing, and brought another one out. This time, Shen Yan jumped up on the spot and yelled that she wanted to set it off.

    "Playing crazy, she's really a crazy girl." Wei Lanxiang quickly stopped her. She was twelve years old tis year, and she was a big girl, so she shouldn't go crazy like this.

    "Mother, let her go." As the eldest son, Shen Yaoqing could still control his mother and younger sister.

    "Go, go." Wei Lanxiang had no choice but to let Shen Yan go. Seeing that her little daughter was happy, she also smiled.

    Their family bought a lot of firecrackers, and other people in the village came to watch after the New Year's dinner. Later, Shen Xuanqing lit up the reddish gold revolving horse palace lanterns. The lanterns were spinning and the horses were chasing them, the colors were beautiful, there were many people who came to the Shen's house to see, and it was very lively.

    It was like this in the village. When the villagers knew that someone else's family had a rare thing, adults and children were curious, and they had to come and have a look.

    On the New Year's Eve, you have to do Shousui until dawn, and the time would pass faster when people came to chat and laugh.
[守岁 Shou sui: is a Chinese New Year tradition when family members gather after the reunion dinner and stay up as late as possible past midnight.]

   After the villagers dispersed and stayed at their own home to do Shousui, Lu Gu felt his ears suddenly quiet down. Just now when someone was watching the lanterns at home, he didn't feel it, now when he looked up, it was indeed late at night.

    Shen Xuanqing added charcoal to the brazier in the courtyard, he and Shen Yaoqing stretched out their hands to the brazier keep warm. When he had nothing else to do, he dug out a bamboo cuju ball from the firewood room. It was old but still usable, so he invited the family to kick it in the yard, so that they didn't feel cold when they moved around.

  When Wei Lanxiang saw that Lu Gu and Shen Yan brought the last few dishes into the kitchen, she said, "Okay, you all go play, I will wash these dishes."

    They had no rules when playing cuju ball, Shen Xuanqing kicked it to Lu Gu, and Lu Gu kicked it to Shen Yan, the five of them played together in the yard, and when they got cold, they warmed up next to the charcoal brazier. Shen Yaoqing kicked and kicked, then he dug out a few tianwogens (sweet roots) from the mound in the corner, and put them in a charcoal brazier to roast.

    It was so long to do Shousui, so they had to eat some snacks to fill their stomach, otherwise they would be hungry at night. This was also the reason for the Jiaoyaxing they bought at the market before, but Jiaoyaxing was candy, which was generally loved by children.
[ 胶牙饧 jiāo yá xíng: sugar made from malt, which is sticky to the teeth you eat it]

    Tired of kicking and having enough of fun, they sat by the brazier and ate sweets. The fragrant, browned Jiaoyaxing was not very sweet at first, but the more they chewed, the sweeter it became, and it was quite sticky.

    Lu Gu had eaten this kind of food when he was a child, and he ate it again this year. When he chewed it, it was so sweet in his mouth that it made his eyebrows and eyes curl up.

    Shen Yaoqing used a wooden stick to pull out the tianwogen from the brazier. Since it was too hot, he asked Shen Yan to go to the kitchen to get a chopstick. When he inserted the chopstick into it, it became soft, so he said, "It's cooked."

    It was okay to eat tianwogen on another day and they could taste a bit of sweetness, but today they ate the very sweet Jiaoyaxing first, and the tianwogen was used to fill their stomachs.

     The night was hazy, and it was cold outside. After Shen Xuanqing added enough charcoal in the brazier, the family went back to their rooms and sat on the bed with tang pozi to let them keep warm. Otherwise, it would be too cold. Just lit an oil lamp and stayed awake overnight

    The rule of staying awake until dawn was actually not that strict, as long as one or two people in the family were awake.

    As soon as midnight arrived, it would really be the New Year. Wei Lanxiang was worried about Ji Qiuyue, so she put on her clothes and went to her room to see her, and let her sleep.

    In the west room, Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing took out the new clothes and sachets that Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing were going to wear tomorrow and put them on the chair beside the bed, so they could be worn when they got up. Shen Xuanqing even told Ji Qiuyue to help Lu Gu comb his hair and put hairpin in the morning.

    They sat on the bed and chatted, holding hands under the quilt. Sometimes when they didn't speak, Shen Xuanqing would play with his fulang's fingers, the more he looked at them, the happier he was.

    Lu Gu seldom survived until this time, he was busy these few days, and today he was playing all kinds of games, so he looked a bit sleepy.

    Seeing this, Shen Xuanqing moved the small kang table down, spread out the quilt and said, "Go to sleep, I'll keep watch."

    Lu Gu glanced at him and answered in low voice "Mmm" without overcoming his sleepiness. After lying down, when he saw that Shen Xuanqing was sitting on the head of the bed, he turned sideways, stretched out his hand and carefully grabbed a little hem of the clothes, and then fell asleep steadily.

    The candle flickered slightly, Shen Xuanqing looked down at his fulang and smiled.