In those years, we were young, just like children now. I also look forward to the Spring Festival every day, but the way of waiting is different. Before Laba, my mother would put me in charge of picking eggs, because the eggs laid by chickens may have been sold and replaced with money as a favor to treat or subsidize the family. Mom said how many days before the Spring Festival, how many eggs I have to pick up every day during the Spring Festival, and I can't let the eggs break, otherwise I will eat less or not. Sisters have their own things to do, that is, to help their mothers make soles. Staring at the henhouse every morning, I sit next to it with a wooden stool and a big basin in my hand. I waited for a long time, but I didn't see the chicken laying eggs. I ran away when I was bored, for fear that the eggs would be picked up. Since I was a child, I just knocked on the pot to play, and the chickens were scared away and stopped picking eggs at night. The next day, I continued to wait for three days, but there was still no one.
My mother asked me if I had picked up eggs these days. I shook my head and was disappointed. My mother couldn't help laughing at my silence and told me to follow them quietly at noon tomorrow, so I knew why I couldn't pick up the eggs. It is so cold that the sun doesn't come out at noon. People in the yard are busy, drying bean curd, sewing, killing insects and flying with their children in their arms. The children are chirping happily, and the matchmaker comes to play matchmaker for the older girls, chirping and flying the laying hens. Mother is busy making cloth shoes for our family. She is teaching her sisters one by one.
After lunch, I finally saw the shadow of the sun. I heard chickens singing at the gate of the mill. I ran over and looked, wow, a nest full of eggs happened to be a chicken nest in the bamboo forest in the mill, which was not easy to be found. I happily ran back to the kitchen and brought a bamboo basket. "One, two, three ..." I filled the bamboo basket cheerfully, but at that time I couldn't count eggs at all. My sister said I would count from one to seven. I carefully carried the eggs back to the kitchen, thinking, is tomorrow the Spring Festival?
Before tomorrow, as soon as my mother came in, she heard that I had picked up a basket of eggs and brought my neighbor's aunt. I saw my neighbor's aunt happily put away her eggs, and my mother always accompanied me. Isn't this our egg? Why does mom let others carry it? Later, I learned that my neighbor's aunt had been looking for her eggs for a long time before I picked them up by mistake. My mother looked at me with a sad face and said that someone else had taken something wrong and wanted to return it, even though I didn't give up. I don't know when to celebrate the New Year, my mother said, soon, I will pick two every day, and there is still nearly one day before the New Year. In the evening, the aunt next door sent a bowl of poached eggs. Three poached eggs are embedded in the water like yellow clouds, and there are several small dumplings with red dates floating on them. In the mother's concession, the aunt next door still left poached eggs, saying that they were for the children to eat, so as not to make the children unhappy. After all, Chinese New Year is a holiday.
Mom looked at my sweet food and asked me if it was delicious. I nodded and suddenly asked, after the Spring Festival, it will be my sixth birthday. Will my mother still boil eggs for me? Mom smiled and didn't answer, and her mouth was a little helpless. Mom said that chickens are most afraid of disturbing their eggs, so they can pick them up in the nest at night. Every day before dark, I can pick up two eggs, take care of them, and be afraid of bumping into them. The yard is as lively as ever. Bacon smoked by grass leaves is golden yellow, shining in the sun, and has been scented by history for hundreds of years. Just look at the lips and teeth, it smells good. A family doesn't have much human flesh, just one or two pieces. Hanging on the rope in the yard, swaying in the wind. Several people with homely eyes stared unblinkingly at bacon. Maybe meat was a luxury in the Spring Festival that year, so everyone was very careful. I remember there was a female classmate in our class with a relatively well-off family background. Every time she eats meat, she brings out a small piece of lean meat. She deliberately tore it open in front of her friends with a slender little hand, gently put it in her mouth and chewed it slowly. Many students envy, hate and are indifferent. Times have changed, and her glib appearance was mentioned intentionally or unintentionally by her classmates in her spare time.
Two chickens lay eggs. It looks like the basket will be full of eggs. My father also came back from far away. He looks like a cadre, neatly dressed. Hair is not like people in the village. I don't know. I thought he was a teacher, but my father and I are a little different. My father watched me play with eggs one day and asked me if I counted them clearly. I neglected my father. Every time my father comes home, he will buy a lot of fruit sugar and send it to his family and neighbors. Father took out the fruit candy and asked me to call him. I took the fruit candy and hid behind my mother. My mother would say that she doesn't get along well with children. Father opened his hand awkwardly and turned to go fishing by the river with fishing gear. As long as my father comes home, fish is indispensable at home, not necessarily rice. It is generally no problem to eat a meal every other day.
As soon as my father came home, there was an endless stream of people coming to my house for medical treatment and medicine. I felt particularly happy in those days, with meat and sugar to eat. Father also baked bacon for us with bamboo tubes. The snacks my mother bought are usually pig offal, baked with salt and then dried. Because it's cheap, it's poor for many years to set dishes. Pumpkin seeds, peanuts, walnuts and odorous broad beans are all grown and processed at home. Serve when necessary. My family is in full swing every day, and the New Year pictures and couplets posted on the doorframes and walls are personally selected by my sister, which makes me feel particularly warm.
Different places have different customs. We usually go to relatives' home for dinner after the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, put on new cloth shoes made by our mother and sew new clothes, New Pants. My sister tied two small trumpet braids for me, and burned bangs on my forehead with hot chopsticks. She went to visit relatives with adults beautifully. Step by step, I followed my sister gently for fear of getting my shoes dirty. My mother will come and remind me not to sit on the ground and play casually in a short time, because I can't get dressed on the first day of the first year. Walking past relatives is still cautious, a little nervous and a little happy. After dinner at a relative's house, the hostess distributed the honeydew melon mixed with fruit candy to the guests, especially the children. At this time, the pocket will come in handy, and the owner will send a red envelope when he goes home, ranging from a few cents to a few dollars.
It's our turn to have a family reunion dinner. My mother and sister started to be busy very early. Father greets guests and dares not neglect others before cutting tea and pouring water. Today, in order to entertain everyone, my mother has prepared food and wine for a long time. Reunion dinner is not a form, but a feast that embodies a woman's virtuous housekeeping. Every dish has a unique taste. The more you serve on a big table, the better, which indicates the prosperity in the coming year. Mother's wisdom is not to use all her money as a table mat. Some common farm side dishes are rarely served on the table. She will cook several dishes with local materials. The point is that people who have eaten are full of praise. Especially the dumplings made by my mother. This dish has been asked to be put on the table every year for decades and has always been meaningful. Every time I look at my mother's preparation, I feel tedious. I soak glutinous rice for a day or two and change the water halfway. It is only a matter of time before the minced meat and her secret stuffing are cooked in the pot. Unlike the art of dining, there is also the mother's innate petty bourgeoisie.
On New Year's Eve, family members who have been busy for a while can finally sit down and enjoy leisure. Everyone is sitting around talking about their families. In the era when there is no TV and network, the intensity of family ties can be imagined. When my father asked us what our New Year's resolutions were, I said a few words to myself. I don't want to be Liao, but I want to be Liao. I fell asleep when I was talking. My mother woke me up when my father gave me lucky money. Although I was later teased by my sisters that I wanted to call You Xiang's name, now I remember. This may be a few years old girl's purest wish in the new year, to be lucky and rich.
Yes, our days are much richer than in the past, especially the material things, but we can't find the feeling of Chinese New Year. As plain as ever. It's still that year, but I really don't know where it tastes. As time goes by, we all grow up and have our own income and jobs. For the new year, it is more meaningful to get along and communicate with family. I want to cook some delicious food to entertain my family and myself. Everything comes from gratitude. We are attached to the years, how can we live up to its contribution to us from beginning to end during the Chinese New Year? We enjoy the flavor of the year, but why bother to add carelessness to it in the new year? Waiting to pick up eggs and witness a simple feast, similar to the lucky money and the memories of musicians, maybe only a group of grown-up children can understand and feel the beauty after many years.