Chapter 397 Chapter 5 New Year's greetings and gifts

Suddenly there was a "crack", the red jujube charcoal fire burst, and countless sparks splashed out of the stove.The old farmer sitting by the fire stove couldn't dodge in time, and there were a lot of sparks on his hands and face.Fortunately, the sparks were not too hot when they fell on him. The old farmer's son and daughter-in-law were quite surprised, and hurried forward to ask the old farmer if he had any burns. At this moment, the old farmer's granddaughter came in from the outside, her clothes were stained with grass leaves, her hair and clothes were a little messy, and her eyes were empty.As if she didn't see her grandfather and parents, she just walked straight to her boudoir.Her parents let out a soft sigh as if they were squinting at her stomach.

The old farmer patted the dirt that had turned into ashes from sparks, got up and asked his granddaughter what she was doing.Since he knew that his granddaughter was not emotionally stable recently, he spoke softly when asking, for fear of arousing her strong reaction. Without even looking at him, his granddaughter walked into the room and slammed the door, as if mad at someone. The old farmer's son chased after him and beat on the door vigorously, asking his daughter to open it. The old farmer's daughter-in-law said disgruntledly: "Just let her go! It's Chinese New Year now, let her live a peaceful life for two days." As she spoke, tears filled her eyes, and she raised her sleeve to wipe the corners of her eyes.Seeing this, the old farmer didn't know how to persuade his daughter-in-law and son, so he took the tongs and stirred around the fire, cursing: "Tell you to burn me with sparks! Tell you to spew sparks!" Burn me!"

At this time, the sky is already a little bright.The number of children on the road gradually increased, and each of them carried a cloth bag or schoolbag in his hand.They came out to pay New Year's greetings. Here, I want to talk about the unique New Year greeting habits in our place.It is said that people from Shandong have to kowtow respectfully and respectfully to celebrate the New Year. I heard that the mantra of the people in Cantonese is "Gong Xi Fa Cai, bring red envelopes".But we don't kowtow to people and don't ask red envelopes for New Year's greetings.

When adults pay New Year's greetings, they simply say "New Year's greetings" by cupping their hands.People who pay attention to politeness will say a few more compliments and blessings, and pass two Baisha cigarettes. Small children are different.After breakfast, the children, in groups of three and five, went to the village to visit houses to pay New Year greetings.Go to the door of someone else's house and shout: "Happy New Year!" Then open the cloth bag or schoolbag you carry with you, and wait for the owner of the family to distribute candy or snacks. When the family distributes candies or snacks to them, they run to the next house and shout "Happy New Year" while opening their cloth bags or schoolbags.After such a long time, every child's bag will be filled with all kinds of delicious food.

Of course, when you visit someone’s house before the New Year’s greetings, you must see whether the red couplets or yellow couplets are pasted on the lintel of the house.If it's a red couplet, just shout New Year's greetings loudly; if it's a yellow couplet, you have to slip past it quietly.Because the Huang couplet represents that a relative of this family passed away last year, this year's New Year must mourn and miss the deceased, and cannot celebrate. My brother and I used to pay New Year's greetings like this when we were young. The candies we got during the New Year's Eve were enough for us to eat until the fifteenth Lantern Festival, and we were not deprived of this privilege until we were adults.Adults are embarrassed to go door to door asking for candy.After reaching the age of 18, at most people will leave a cup of tea for New Year's greetings, and people will stuff fruit in their pockets and pretend that they don't want it.

In fact, every time I go home during the Chinese New Year, I still want to run around the village like I did when I was a child, begging for happy candy, not for the candy that breaks my teeth, but for the kind of childlike fun and nostalgia.Unfortunately not. On New Year's Day that year, I didn't go out to ask for candy.I came back from my grandfather’s house after breakfast, changed my identity, and became a kid sitting in front of a table of candies waiting for the village to come to visit me. The old farmer's family in Lishu Village also sat next to a table of candies, distributing candies to every child who came to pay New Year's greetings.The old farmer asked his granddaughter to go out with his peers to pay New Year's greetings.At the age of the old farmer's granddaughter, in the blurred stage of adulthood and underage, it's okay to go to New Year's greetings to ask for candy, or not to go.

The old farmer didn't want his granddaughter to have more candy to eat, but to let her walk around and relax. His granddaughter didn't answer, and kept the boudoir door shut.He said a lot of good words, and there was no movement in the room.He had no choice but to go back to the stove listlessly, waiting for the children. Later, the old farmer said that he discovered that there was an extra person in the house after he fiddled with the half-dead charcoal fire in the stove. The man stood in the middle of the room, neither shouting "Happy New Year" nor asking for candies, but just bent his eyes and smiled at him, making him uncomfortable.

The old farmer's son and daughter-in-law went to the back room to watch TV. The old farmer looked at the man who came in quietly, and asked, "Aren't you from this village? I haven't seen you. But if you are a relative of someone else, then you have to pay New Year's greetings when you enter the door." .It’s Chinese New Year, say good luck!” The man dusted off the white clothes, looked around, and ignored the old farmer. The old farmer said unhappily, "Why do you have to wear white when it's Chinese New Year? When you go to someone's house, they will be taboo." Although the old farmer didn't like this man, since it was Chinese New Year, he had to treat him well.He walked to the table, grabbed a handful of candy and stuffed it into the man's arms, then hurriedly pushed the man out of the door. "Okay, I've given you the candies that should be given. You can go to the next one." The old farmer said.

"Next?" The man finally said, "Oh, no, no, I'm not here to ask for candy, I'm here to give you something." People can't lift their spirits. The old farmer looked him up again, squinted his eyes and said, "Didn't you come to pay New Year's greetings? Or did you come to give me something?" The man nodded seriously. The old farmer smiled mockingly, and said: "You haven't told me which family in our village you are a relative of. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, there are only lovable candies, so how can anyone deliver them to your door? Are you kidding me? "

The man didn't speak, he clenched his fist and sent it to the old farmer's chest, and looked at the old farmer with fixed eyes. The old farmer looked into his eyes, then looked at his fist, hesitantly cupped his hands under his fist, as if waiting for a drop of water to drip from a dry faucet.