Chapter 48: New Year Customs

On the morning of the Laba Festival, Caiyun woke up early and began preparing the Laba粥. She started with a high heat before turning it down to simmer slowly. After about three hours, she tasted it and decided it was just right. She then asked Yuqiang to invite Yunfeng and her entire family over.
"Elder sister, our whole family is here," Yunfeng called out the moment she reached Caiyun's doorstep.
"Good! Mind your step!" Caiyun stepped forward to help Yunfeng take a seat.
When Xiaomei saw Yulan, she called out "Elder Sister Yulan," and Yulan casually replied, "Sister-in-law," which made Xiaomei blush to the roots of her hair. Xiaomei lowered her head in silence, but Caiyun immediately stepped in. "You should call her 'Young Sister.' When she grows up and marries into our family, you can call her sister-in-law then." Yulan nodded, took Xiaomei's hand, and said, "Come on, let's go look at the two little pigs I'm raising."
Caiyun then went to invite-Fa'fu and Qingying. Fa'fu readily agreed, but Qingying was reluctant to come. Caiyun had no choice but to return and ask Yulan to go invite her. Yunfeng went along as well. After all, the two of them carried more weight, and they finally persuaded Qingying to join them.
Everyone gathered around the table to taste Caiyun's Laba porridge. The children all declared it sweet, while the adults praised it for being rich, fragrant, and thick.
"Sister Zhang, what did you put in here?" Yunfeng asked Caiyun.
Caiyun replied, "I used regular rice, glutinous rice, corn, sorghum, peanuts, cowpeas, mung beans, red dates, lotus seeds, and brown sugar. They are all everyday ingredients."
Yunfeng said to Qingying, "Sister Li, next Laba I'll invite you over to try my cooking."
Qingying smiled, "Right now, I'm just waiting to eat your wedding candy. You're due to give birth soon, aren't you?"
"Soon, around the end of the month."
Qingying turned the conversation to Honglei, "You're going to be a father soon, so you must take good care of Yunfeng."
Honglei answered, "No problem."
Fa'fu patted Honglei on the shoulder. "Remember to invite me to your wedding banquet."
Honglei glanced at Caiyun and said, "When the time comes, I'll invite all of you to the wedding feast."
A few days later, Yuqiang sought out Fa'fu. "Second Uncle, our school is on winter break. I want to learn carpentry from you during the vacation."
"All right. With the New Year approaching, there's plenty of carpentry work. Come along with me, start as my assistant, and learn the basics first."
"I'll listen to your instructions!"
"Learning carpentry starts with pulling the saw, filing the saw, and sharpening the planer blade, followed by pushing the plane, chiseling holes, swinging the axe, snapping ink lines, and cutting lumber."
"How long will it take to master it?"
"As the saying goes, 'The master leads you through the door, but skill depends on the individual.' How long it takes to learn and to what extent you master it depends mainly on yourself."
Early the next morning, Fa'fu took Yuqiang out to work. Seeing that Yuqiang's straw sandals were too worn to stay on his feet, he had to bind them together with rice straw and reminded Caiyun to make Yuqiang a new pair of shoes as soon as possible. Caiyun also felt that going to clients' homes to work looking like that was indeed unseemly, so she and Yulan hurried to make new shoes for Yuqiang.
Reluctant to let Yuqiang practice with his own cherished tools, Fa'fu paid out of his own pocket to buy Yuqiang a saw, an axe, a plane, a chisel, a wood rasp, and other common tools. He also prepared some scrap wood for him to practice using these implements.
The twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month was the day to send the Kitchen God up to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor, an event known as "Sacrificing to the Kitchen God."
In the morning, Caiyun began the "spring cleaning," sweeping the entire house until it was spotless.
In the evening, Caiyun pasted the portrait of the Kitchen God above the stove, along with a short couplet written by Yuqiang on red paper that read: "Speak good words in heaven, and protect peace in the mortal realm." She smeared some candy on the Kitchen God's mouth to prevent him from gossiping in heaven, then burned incense, set off firecrackers, and kowtowed to send him on his way.

Before New Year's Eve, Caiyun and Yulan finally finished making all three pairs of cloth shoes. Seeing Yuqiang put on his new shoes to go out to work with Fa'fu brought a deep sense of joy to Caiyun's heart.
On the morning of New Year's Eve, all the children wore their new shoes, and Yuqiang and Yujun also put on their new padded cotton jackets. She hoped that by next Spring Festival, every single one of the children would have both new cotton trousers and new cotton jackets.
The New Year's Eve dinner was the main event of the holiday. Before eating, they hung lanterns, pasted up Spring Festival couplets, burned incense and candles, set off firecrackers, paid respects to heaven and earth and their ancestors, and only then started the meal.
The New Year's Eve dinner came with many rules and customs. She told the children, "The fish at New Year's Eve dinner symbolizes having abundance year after year, so it cannot be finished. The cellophane noodles stir-fried with carrot slices are called 'string of coins,' representing great wealth and prosperity. Green vegetables and tofu symbolize safety and peace, while rice balls symbolize reunion and wholeness. The New Year's Eve meal should never be completely finished; a little must be left at the bottom of the bowl, which is called 'leaving a reserve in the granary.'"
After the meal, the children received their "lucky money" bestowed by their mother. Yulan opened her red envelope and found sixty cents inside, happily telling her mother over and over, "Thank you, Mom! I have lucky money again!"
Yulan, Yuqiang, and their mother wrapped dumplings together to prepare for New Year's Day breakfast. Caiyun slipped a copper coin into one of the dumplings; whoever bit into it would have good luck in the new year. The children stayed up with their mother "guarding the age" until midnight before finally going to sleep.
On the morning of the first day of the year, Caiyun set out melon seeds and peanuts to receive visitors at home, while Yuqiang took his younger sister and little brother around the neighborhood to pay New Year greetings.
After lunch, Caiyun stood at the doorway and watched as most of the village children played games outside in their new clothes. Yuqiang and a group of boys were playing a leg-tripping game, Yulan and several girls were jumping rubber bands, Yujun and some little boys were playing glass marbles, while others played hopscotch, spun wooden tops, kicked shuttlecocks, and more.
At that moment, a crisp children's rhyme for jumping rubber bands drifted over: "Little rubber ball, banana pear, Malan blossoms twenty-one; two-five-six, two-five-seven, two-eight two-nine thirty-one..."
Looking at the scene before her, Caiyun truly understood that the "contracted responsibility land" was not just a "life-saving field," but a "field of happiness" that brought boundless joy and delight to the children!
On the evening of the fifth day of the first month, Datou Langzi came looking for Caiyun. Seeing that the children were not home, he hugged Caiyun and kissed her affectionately several times. "Yun, I have a son!"
Caiyun pushed him away. "Yunfeng gave birth?"
"She did! It's a boy!"
"When was he born?"
"This afternoon."
"Who is taking care of her?"
"My mother."
"Come on, I'll go take a look." Caiyun grabbed some eggs and went with Datou Langzi to visit Yunfeng.
"Little sister, congratulations!" Caiyun greeted Yunfeng as she walked up to the bedside.
"Elder sister, why did you come over?" Yunfeng looked genuinely pleased.
"Honglei told me you gave birth, so I came to check on you. Was the delivery smooth?"
"Very smooth."
"I brought some eggs to help build your strength back up."
"Thank you! You went to trouble and expense again."
"Let me take a look at your precious son."
"He seems to be asleep."
"Babies love to sleep when they're newly born. The little fellow looks just the right weight, maybe a little over five pounds?"
"Just about."
"Look at Honglei—he's grinning from ear to ear."
"He kept saying it would be a boy, and he was right."
"Don't just stand there grinning; take good care of your wife and son," Caiyun scolded Datou Langzi playfully.
"Of course!" Datou Langzi agreed readily.
The fifteenth day of the first month was the Lantern Festival, commonly known in the Wangjiayu region as the "Little New Year," with a local saying that "the fifteenth of the first month is grander than the New Year itself." In the evening, the production brigade organized a performance at the western threshing floor, with every production team contributing at least two acts. Caiyun took part in the Yangge folk dance performance.
After eating her sweet rice dumplings, Caiyun changed into the borrowed new clothes, found some red paper, and had Yulan apply a touch of red to her cheeks. Yulan happily told her mother, "Mom, you look so pretty, just like a bride!"
Carrying a lantern, Yulan walked with her mother toward the western threshing floor. A full moon was slowly rising in the east, casting its pure white moonlight across the fields. Every household was adorned with lanterns and colored streamers, the sound of firecrackers echoed endlessly, and groups of children ran about playing with lanterns amid peals of laughter. Caiyun felt that Wangjiayu had never looked so beautiful.
A temporary stage had been erected on the northern side of the western threshing floor. From the wooden pillars on either side of the stage hung pressure lamps, their dazzling light illuminating the entire threshing floor as bright as day.
People from all the production teams had already gathered at the western threshing floor, crowding the area three and four layers deep. Red lanterns hung thickly from the trees and walls surrounding the grounds. After a speech by Party Secretary Yang of the brigade, gongs and drums thundered and firecrackers roared, officially kicking off the performances.
The main acts included traditional numbers such as walking on stilts, dragon dances, Yangge dances, flower-basket dances, money-rod dances, and land-boat rowing.
All around the perimeter of the crowd, many children were "tossing firetorches" and lighting bonfires. The youngsters ignited bundles of tied straw or worn-out brooms, hurling them through the open fields while running and shouting joyfully: "Throw to the east, grow winter melons; throw to the west, grow watermelons; throw to the south, grow pumpkins; throw to the north, grow white gourds; throw upward, grow giant melons!" The flying flames danced like swimming dragons or shooting stars, creating a magnificent, bustling spectacle to celebrate a bountiful year.
Yulan pulled Yujun through the crowd to the front. Seeing her mother holding colored fans, moving with light steps, and dancing as she twirled, Yulan happily asked her younger brother, "Did you see Mom?"
Yujun replied, "I saw her! Mom is amazing!"
The performance lasted for over two hours, punctuated by enthusiastic applause from the audience. Among the favorites were acts like "Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl to Welcome the New Year," "Joyful Yangge in Wangjiayu," "Flower Baskets Bearing a Happy Year," "Money Rods Dancing Together to Celebrate the Bumper Harvest," "Land Boat Racing Toward the Road of Happiness," and "Festive Flower Boats Welcoming the Bride."
On the evening of the seventeenth day of the first month, the commune's amateur theater troupe came to perform the Luzhou opera *Butterfly Lovers*. Not a single member of Caiyun's family missed it, and they arrived early at the western threshing floor to secure their spots.
This was Caiyun's third time seeing this opera, and as she watched, she explained the characters, roles, and plot to Yulan.
After the performance ended, the movie *Third Sister Liu* was shown.
Yulan was now an avid fan of both Chinese opera and cinema; whenever she heard word of a show or a movie, no matter how far away it was, she would insist on accompanying her mother.
There was a local saying in Dian: "The first month is great for celebrating the New Year, the second month for gambling, the third month for watching operas, and the fourth month for farming."
Wangjiayu was no exception. Once the first month arrived, the women busied themselves with New Year affairs, the men started playing tiles, and opera enthusiasts rushed to the streets to catch performances. Sometimes the village would erect a stage and invite troupes to stage popular Luzhou and Huangmei operas. This leisure period lasted until the end of March, with the busy farming season beginning in April.