Every household, in front of and behind the house, has a few scattered poplars, which are not fat at all. Because they believe that besides raising pigs, they can plant trees and get rich.
Every winter, the colors of other seasons become monotonous, the flowers and trees in the village wither, and even the wind blowing from the fields is bleak.
This slow-developing village in northern Jiangsu, like an old sweater given by an elder, is old in style, obviously outdated, but full of warmth.
On such a winter day, the mist always covers the tops of poplar trees first, soft and shallow, like a layer of white gauze covering the back of the whole village. Compared with sunrise, when the sun shines, the mist spreads towards the irrigation river.
Only the Chinese New Year will add some colorful colors to the simple winter, from costumes and window grilles to smiles and delicious food. What is particularly memorable is that in order to welcome the new year, every household hangs lanterns and sticks Spring Festival couplets, which are full of joy and excitement.
My father is too strict with me. I will never be allowed to lie in bed, whether at school or on holiday. I will be forgiven on the 30th this year and wake up naturally.
I woke up that day and turned over and moved. What caught my eye was a ripe persimmon, round and bright. Grandma prepared this for me. I like this feeling.
Just like the person who loves you can't bear to wake you up when you are sleeping, just stay at the bedside with peace of mind and give you your first kiss in the morning with a red face.
When grandma and parents are preparing for the Spring Festival, I naturally can't be idle. Today's task is to post Spring Festival couplets.
At that time, the Spring Festival couplets had not been mimeographed like this. Instead, I bought a few pieces of paper painted red on one side from the market and cut them into strips of different sizes according to the specifications and quantity of doors and windows. Because my brother-in-law can read and write well, the people in the village asked him to help write down his hopes and wishes for the coming year on red paper.
The newly written couplet ink has not been completely dried, so it needs to be put in a dry place in an appropriate way. It takes about half an hour. When the ink is completely soaked in red paper, a pair of thick and informal Spring Festival couplets, full of human feelings and artistic sense, is completed.
In order to display the Spring Festival couplets perfectly on the door wall, it is necessary to be wind-proof and tear-proof, and it is necessary to paste them firmly, which requires special viscosity. The process of making paste is not complicated, but it is not light.
You should choose cooked rice, put a little into the pot, add a proper amount of water and make a fire. When the water boils, slowly sprinkle the prepared flour, while stirring with a spoon, observe the consistency of the flour and control the amount of flour. When the paste is thick, take it out of the pot and put it in a basin, and then put a brush made of straw in the basin. When the paste is cold, you can paste the Spring Festival couplets.
The time for posting Spring Festival couplets in our family is usually after lunch, and my father and I do it together.
I put the Spring Festival couplets straight first, turn the side with words over, then dip a thin layer of paste in my abdomen with a brush and brush them from one end to the other. Because the paste was too sticky and my hands were small, I brushed the whole table.
After a brush, you hold the two ends of the Spring Festival couplets, without looking at the front and back of the words, and hand them to your father after determining the direction. My father has cleaned up the pieces of paper damaged and faded by wind, rain and sun. He stood on the bench, compared the whole Spring Festival couplets on the wall and asked me if I was crooked. After adjusting the angle, fix one section first, then stick it on the other section slowly, and finally press the Spring Festival couplets on the wall with your big hand.
After installing the window, I installed the door. In the whole process of posting Spring Festival couplets, my father commands me to run before and after like a general, and I will also give my father some advice, just like a little staff member.
My father will touch my eyebrows with his hand dyed red by Spring Festival couplets in the gap of the sticker, and a red mark will be engraved in the center of my forehead. He said I was the Fuwa who came out of the portrait.
After all the Spring Festival couplets are posted, my mother will bring out the boiling hot water, and my father will gently put my hand in the water to wash it. The fingers on the back of my palm are clean, and his big hand is wrapped around my small hand, which has a rough warmth.
When my mother saw the "red makeup" on my face and forehead, she laughed and scolded my father, pretending to be angry and harsh.
Look up at the neighbor in front and the house behind. In the bleak winter, there are so many dazzling China reds standing high in the cold wind on the black tile gray wall, which may be the charm and continuation of life. That touch of red added color to the troubled autumn.
Compared with my cheers, my father saw more hopes and longings for the coming year.
When I am proficient in "business", in a few years, my father will also make me a general. From the beginning, I stood on the bench trembling, slowly stood on tiptoe, and then climbed up and down freely, as if I had grown from a baby to an indomitable man.
My father's positive eyes and huge hands gave me courage and encouragement.
Spring Festival couplets are also posted now.
But it is no longer the soft freehand brushwork of paper dipped in ink, but the vendors in the market, with thick paper and neat bronzing characters hanging all over the streets.
Buy a copy from the market, pull a bundle of tape, and it will be pasted in half an hour.
It's boring to think about it. It's too heavy.
I called my father and asked if the long-sealed brush and ink were in good condition. I plan to be a general and staff officer with my father again.
The more you grow up, the more you understand that whether you live in a family, a society or a country, you need a continuation of some kind of ceremony. Culture will not disappear with the passage of time and the change of environment, but will be more integrated into children's bones and blood.
As they grow older, they know more and more about the warmth passed down from generation to generation.
The advantage of posting Spring Festival couplets at home in those years is not to exercise your thin body, but to get rid of the shackles of the brand of "children" completely. Keep in mind that growing up is just grafting your father's ability on yourself and continuing.
It also gives me a more adventurous side of my personality. I like this part of myself and deliberately keep it to this day.
# Yu X Hongsheng #
# Yu X Hongsheng # Activity Portal/P/P/EE05E7EF678