The New Year atmosphere in the village is lively, noisy and joyful.
At the Cunxitou Market, which is only one mile away from home, vendors have prepared a large number of New Year's goods early, including seafood, firecrackers, and fresh vegetables, filling both sides of the road. The villagers bought red socks and red shirts, carrying baskets and bags, and started purchasing just after the twelfth lunar month. On the east hill of the village, there is a big tree that has been growing for many years. It takes two or three people to surround it. There are many red cloth strips hanging on it, which carry the villagers’ expectations and good wishes for the New Year. Looking from a distance, it looks like a red sea. The more red cloth strips are hung, the brighter the color, which means the life of the villagers is prosperous. When I was a child, my mother would always hold my little hand to hang red cloth strips, hoping that everything would be auspicious in the new year.
The New Year celebration in the village starts from the twelfth lunar month. Cleaning and dusting, making tofu, steaming rice cakes, frying food, etc. On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, people put water in to take a bath. On the twenty-ninth lunar month, they hang up the genealogy of their ancestors and incense bowls. On the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, they close the door and post couplets and New Year pictures. , every family in the village still pastes happy New Year pictures on the wall every year. This is the busiest day, and I have to make all the most delicious things I can think of for the New Year. Before dawn in the morning, adults would get up to kill chickens, choose vegetables, and prepare for lunch. On that day when every family is reunited, the son must take his wife and children to have lunch at his mother’s house during the New Year. Adults drink, and children also learn to clink glasses. They have big eyes and small bellies. After eating a few mouthfuls, they will rush to pick up candies and melon seeds and run away without a trace. The village only has mountains, trees, ice and snow, and a bunch of children wearing cotton hats go to compete on the ice. The tool is an ice cart made of two wooden boards and two thick wires. Let’s see who skates faster and makes the best skateboard. After drinking, the men would play mahjong, cards and so on. The women are preparing for the New Year’s Eve dinner in the evening. Fish is indispensable for New Year’s Eve dinner, which means there will be more than enough every year. Dumplings are indispensable, expressing the meaning of reunion. On the first day of the new year, people who had slept for a while quickly got up and put on new clothes and hats. They took their children with them and walked from the west end of the village to the east end of the village, going door to door to say New Year greetings. From the first to the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, every day is the New Year. People in the village are so sweet that they will bow to everyone they see and say hello to the New Year. Visiting relatives and friends, carrying cakes, and planning which house to go to on which day. Children will also have three to five yuan of New Year's money stuffed into their pockets. They are so happy that they miss their family and their family.
I have been away from the village for many years, and I rarely have the opportunity to celebrate the New Year in the village. I find that this yearning for the rural flavor of the New Year becomes more and more intense as I grow older. Cities are also bustling with activity during the Chinese New Year. Business activities are happening one after another. Citizens will buy everything for the entire Spring Festival and then stay at home, unwilling to go out. I surf the Internet, watch TV, send group text messages to say New Year greetings, and don’t bother to make phone calls. I think there is a reason why I miss the New Year flavor in the village so much, because I can’t feel the simplicity, warmth and heartfelt happiness during the New Year in the city.