The custom of Li Wen's family is that on the night of New Year's Eve, all relatives who have not yet left the country will go to each other's homes to pay New Year greetings.

On the way home, I met people in the village. Everyone was cheerful, saying hello to each other and gossiping.

It’s the New Year, and men have put down the cigarette sticks they’ve been using for a year, and put filtered cigarettes in their pockets.

Families generally smoke Hansen brand cigarettes, and the better ones are Monkey King cigarettes.

The women also carried melon seeds and peanuts in their pockets. They were sitting at the door carrying household items, showing off the newly purchased fabrics and red-headed ropes and other supplies.

When I got home, my father asked my mother to heat up the food for today's sacrifice, and I ate these for lunch today.

Today's sacrifice is because the Li Wen family brought a big pig's head, so the number of sacrifices distributed will be relatively larger. This is the rule.

There were various kinds of sacrifices brought back, but they were all edible.

Wang Chunmei selected some pieces of chicken and pork and stewed a pot of stew with the cabbage and potatoes at home.

After lunch, the children and men all went out to play.

Children were blowing up the streets in the village with firecrackers, toys, melon seeds and candies.

The men took the copper cymbals, musical instruments passed down from their families, and walked towards the door of the village committee one after another.

Starting from the 20th of the twelfth lunar month, the village will beat gongs and drums every day to celebrate the New Year. Today is the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month and it will definitely be more lively.

Most people in the village have copper cymbals in their homes. Every festival or celebration, the Li family will take out the copper cymbals and beat the drums to celebrate.

Bronze cymbals are musical instruments that have been passed down for thousands of years. They have been a local cultural custom for thousands of years. People also love this musical instrument to the core.

Li Wen's family also has one, and his father and his second uncle usually take turns playing with it.

Why is it called playing instead of percussion? It’s because it’s just for fun, it’s just fun, and it’s just fun.

As the beating of the big drum spread throughout the village, the playful men set off with their beloved toys.

Today, because some people wanted to listen to the radio, my father did not go to play the cymbals. Instead, my second uncle took some of the boys at home.

Li Wen also loved this kind of cultural activities. He went to the village committee wheat field with his second uncle and his eldest brother and his second brother to join in the fun.

When he arrived at the village committee, Li Wen could already feel the strong atmosphere.

Don't ask what the atmosphere is? Of course it's a passionate atmosphere.

I saw Li Dequan, the third uncle in the village, and Li Delong, the fourth uncle, standing around a large drum with a radius of more than one meter, with their shirtless arms, beating passionately.

The rumbling sound of the big drum makes people's blood boil! No wonder drums were used to beat the battles in ancient times.

On the side, a dozen cymbal players were also banging the cymbals in their hands desperately. Everyone took off their large cotton-padded jackets, wearing underwear and waving them up and down, and some were shirtless.

Of course, most of them are young people. Old people don't dare to do this.

Li Wen was so excited when he saw it that he wished he could join in the fun.

Just then, people kept coming and joining the cymbal player's team.

Ten minutes later, the wheat field was crowded with people, and dozens of cymbal players were tumbling up and down around the drummers, making it very lively.

From time to time, pairs of cymbal players would bang the cymbals and compete. The surrounding villagers were also watching enthusiastically and cheering for each other.

Li Wen's second uncle also went crazy by himself. He was shirtless and banged up and down in the field, very excited.

After five or six minutes, a set of drum beats was completed. Everyone was tired from playing, so they stopped one after another.

It’s so refreshing! Come down and let the next generation of our Li family guys take the stage,” said Li Dequan, the third uncle who put down his drumsticks.

The people who were playing gongs, drums and playing cymbals just now were all married adults over thirty years old.

Next, it is the turn of the younger generation, the young people under the age of thirty.

Because every year when the gongs and drums are played, the men, women, old and young in the village and some people from outside the village will watch the performance.

And young people who perform well will also be praised by the elders of the clan. They will also leave an impression on people from other villages, and it will be much easier to find a daughter-in-law in the future.

"Come on, Ah Wu, come on." The second uncle handed the cymbal in his hand to Li Wu and said.

"Oh well!"

Li Wu blushed and scratched his head and said embarrassedly.

It's not Li Wen's turn to do this kind of thing, he's still young. Usually young people over 18 years old play.

Although the cymbals are small in size, they are indeed made of pure copper. A pair of cymbals generally weighs about ten kilograms in total, and the small one weighs five or six kilograms. I am too young and my wrists are not strong enough to play a few tricks.

The ones holding the drumsticks are Li Shoucai from the third uncle's family and Li Dongqiang from the fourth uncle's family.

Li Shoucai and Li Shoucai were born first, and they learned to play drums from their father when they were young, so they must be the drummers today.

After five or six minutes, thirty or forty young people walked out of the crowd under the supervision of their parents and elders.

"Come to Shoucai and Dongqiang. You will play the drum music first to familiarize yourself with the feel. Then you will follow up with the cymbals." Third Bo Li Dequan directed.

Two or three minutes later, a group of young people began to bang the cymbals.

At first, each of them couldn't keep up with the drumbeat and made a fool of themselves, causing everyone around to laugh.

Gradually, all the young people were no longer shy and gradually became immersed in the rhythm of the drums.

Li Wen was also watching from the wheat straw pile in the wheat field.

Although he and Li Shoucai didn't have any dealings with each other, I had to admit that this guy was really good at playing the drums. When he played the drums, he moved as he pleased, and his movements were very beautiful, attracting the attention of the surrounding audience.

And this guy is just like his father, he plays the drums with passion and constantly provokes Li Dongqiang who is opposite him to play the drums with him.

The young people who were beating the cymbals all around were also mobilized by the two drummers. They started fighting in pairs, and it was very joyful for a while.

Li Wu's cymbal skills are average, because this is his first time playing on the stage this year. He was still young and had never played on the stage before, so he made a lot of fools of himself today. But he has developed it today, and at least he is no longer shy.

After several drums, all the young people had exhausted their energy and stopped to rest. The elders on the side patted the younger ones on the shoulders and took the cymbals.

This is how the gongs, drums and cymbals of the Li family have been passed down from father to son from generation to generation.

The next step is the mixed male and female Yangko. Because it is a lively performance, the Yangko team has to go around the whole village.

A few big men walked in front carrying big drums, and Sanbo Li Dequan followed suit. Behind them were two groups of women and men, each performing the Yangko dance happily.

The Yangko Troupe advanced slowly. The surrounding villagers and children also followed and watched the progress. Some little guys behind even imitated the Yangko Troupe, which made everyone laugh.

At around four o'clock in the afternoon, the yangko team also completed the tour of the entire village, and only the gongs, drums and cymbals were left to continue beating in the village.

The men and children continued to watch and play. The women went home one after another.

Because tonight the clan members have to move around each other and the women have to prepare meals.

This custom of walking among relatives on New Year's Eve has been passed down for thousands of years.

Generations of relatives and children will gather together on the evening of New Year's Eve to pay each other New Year greetings. By the way, they can maintain family ties and discuss life.

Usually on New Year's Eve, all the hard dishes are served, and the big fish and meat at home are put on the table for everyone to enjoy together.

So after the women watched the performance, they all went home to prepare.

In the evening, Li Wen and his second uncle returned home talking and laughing.

"Xiao Wu, did you participate in the cymbal performance today?" his father Li Deyou said with a smile.

"Hey! Dad, please stop talking, you will lose your life." Li Wu said with a wry smile.

"What a shame, you just played for the first time this year. In the next few years, you will be good at it."

"You kid, you're so embarrassed!" The second uncle on the side said with a smile.

"Brother, you are fine. I think many people are not as good as you." Li Quan said with a smile.

Li Wen also smiled and nodded in agreement.

"That's right! My fifth child is not a coward. What are you afraid of? If you can't knock it well, how can we break it? This is how your uncle and I came here."

"If you practice for a few more years, you will still be a good cymbal player." Li Deyou patted Li Wu on the shoulder and said with a smile.

"Brother, you are the best." Several little guys also encouraged Li Wu.

A few little ones who were playing nearby also went to watch today.

Li Wu felt relieved when he saw that none of his family members laughed at him. He secretly said that he would study hard in the future.

"Okay, everyone has packed up the seats. Someone will be here soon." My mother walked out of the kitchen and said.

"Awen and Xiaowu, go and pack the melon seeds, peanuts and candies. Pack three plates and put them all on the table. We can't let anyone say that we are stingy today."

"Xiaoxia and Ah Quan, come to the kitchen to help serve the dishes. We have to hurry up, our family is the first to leave tonight."

After hearing this, everyone got up and got busy.

Li Wen and his eldest brother went to the old lady's room to get candy melon seeds. Because there were many people coming in the evening, they filled three plates full of melon seeds.

It means that this year's living conditions are good, and Li Wen has more tickets. Otherwise, according to the situation in previous years, he can only finish it with a plate of melon seeds at most.

Second uncle Li Dezhong took the little ones to clean the melon seed peels that everyone was eating. His father Li Deyou went to the room to get the Xifeng wine that Li Wenxiao had given.

In the past few months, Li Wen exchanged a lot of wine tickets from Zheng Kai and others, and also stocked up on a lot of wine.

There are quite a few Xifeng wines, Fenjiu wines, and Wuliangye wines. Of course, there are also several bottles of Moutai. But they are all kept by Li Wen in the space.

When braised pork last time, Li Deyou's bulk wine was used by Li Wen. So Li Wen went to the county town and bought three bottles of Xifeng wine and a bottle of Fen wine for his father.

When Li Wen took out the wine, the brothers Li Deyou were so happy that they praised Li Wen for being sensible.

The Li Deyou brothers also like to drink, but even bulk wine is too expensive and requires tickets.

Li Wen's family only bought a few pounds during the Chinese New Year. His father and second uncle occasionally took a sip to satisfy their cravings, and only drank it when waiting to entertain people.

The Fenjiu and Xifeng wines produced by Li Wenna are fine wines that have lasted for thousands of years. A bottle costs several yuan. They are usually drunk by the leaders in the city. Therefore, my father treasures these wines.

After Li Wen got it back, Li Deyou gave his second uncle Li Dezhong a bottle of Xifeng wine.

A few nights ago, I opened a bottle of Fenjiu with my second uncle. But neither of them wanted to drink more, and there is still more than half of the bottle left.

Today Li Deyou also went all out to earn face among his clan members. He took out a bottle of Xifeng wine and the remaining half bottle of Fen wine to entertain everyone.
Chapter completed!