The next step is to prepare the delicious food for the New Year.
Old man Jiang and his wife ground beans at home to make tofu, and served out the unbraised soy milk for each child to try.
Chun Niang and her sister-in-law steamed buns, steamed buns and rice cakes for the festival.
Some steamed buns are made into the shapes of cows, sheep, pigs and rabbits. The eyes are dotted with red beans, and then the white dough is painted with red flowers with hematoxylin water. They are very beautiful.
In another large pot, there was a pot full of sausages, pork trotters and a pig's head.
There is also a pot of braised chicken with soybeans that has been cooked, and the aroma can be smelled from afar.
The happiest thing at this time is the children, because they don’t have to write, study, or work, and they can still get lucky money.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Chun Niang and Jiang Sanlang got up before dawn and gave each of the sleepy children two slices of cloud cake to try, symbolizing joy and happiness in the new year.
After urging them to finish eating the cake, the two went to the kitchen to cook underwater dumplings and glutinous rice dumplings, symbolizing a smooth and happy new year.
Yingbao knew that she couldn't stay in bed at this time, so she quickly got up, put on the new clothes and pants that her mother had put on the bedside last night, and put on her beautiful tiger-head shoes. After thinking about it, she put on her tiger-head hat.
The new cotton-padded coat has a red background with yellow flowers, and the Five Blessings are embroidered on the skirt and back. The collar is also decorated with a circle of white rabbit tail hair, which is smooth and beautiful.
Pair it with green pants and a tiger hat on your head, and you will look like a doll throughout the year.
After getting dressed, Yingbao picked up Xiaojie and Xiaowu, put on their clothes, shoes, and tiger hats, and then took them to wash up.
"Come and eat dumplings!" Chun Niang brought out a pot of dumplings from the kitchen, placed it on the big table in the main room, and brought in several bowls of glutinous rice balls.
There are only four in each bowl, which means everything goes well.
The family sat around the big table eating glutinous rice balls and dumplings. After eating, Chun Niang gave Ying Bao two small silver coins, each weighing about one or two, and gave one to each of the twin sons.
Ying Bao and her two younger brothers knelt down to kowtow to their parents for New Year greetings.
The two twins were very happy to get the silver lock and rushed out to show off to their brother Huzi.
Chun Niang grabbed them both and said, "Give me the New Year's money to help you keep. If you lose it when you go back outside, you can't find it."
Xiao Wu immediately refused: "No! It won't fall."
Xiaojie echoed: "It won't fall! Let's keep it in our pockets."
"What if it falls?" These two boys are crazy. Where can Doudou put things?
"Mom, can you put some candies for you?"
"No, no, no!" The two boys struggled hard and finally escaped from their mother's clutches.
Seeing his wife's annoyance, Jiang Sanlang smiled and said, "Let them be." He only had two taels of silver, so if he lost it, he would look for it.
Then the family of five went to Jiang Dalang's house to pay New Year greetings, and Ying Bao and her younger brother received another wave of New Year's money.
Xiao Wu gave his sister his lucky money and asked her to keep it for him.
Seeing this, Xiaojie also gave all the new year's money to his sister to keep, and even glanced at his grandma to prevent her from snatching it.
Next, several boy dolls took the ball bought by Yingbao and divided into two teams to compete and kick each other. They had so much fun that they didn't even bother to eat.
The next day, Chun Niang, her husband and their three children returned to her parents' home to pay New Year's greetings.
Xujia Village is neither far nor close to Dongchen Village, only seven or eight miles away.
The eldest nephew, Jiang Cheng, first drove his third uncle and his family to the place, and then rushed back to take his parents, younger brothers and sisters to his uncle's house to pay New Year's greetings.
Xu Chunniang had an older brother and a younger sister. Her father was long gone. After her younger sister got married, her widowed mother, Mrs. Xu, lived with her only son, Xu Da.
Mrs. Xu stood at the door early and looked forward eagerly. When she saw the eldest daughter's mule cart arriving at the entrance of the village, she trotted over to greet her.
"Oh my grandson." Mrs. Xu hugged Xiaojie and Xiaowu, she was so happy.
Ying Bao called from the side: "Grandma."
"Hey!" Mrs. Xu put her two grandchildren down and picked up her granddaughter: "My baby has grown so big."
Ying Bao hugged her grandmother's neck and said with a smile, "Bao'er is four years old."
"Yes, yes, Bao'er is four years old in a blink of an eye." Mrs. Xu went home holding Yingbao in her arms.
The two grandsons behind me kept shouting: "Grandma, please let me down quickly. We want to kowtow to Grandma and say New Year greetings."
"Okay." Mrs. Xu put down the baby cherry and took the three children into the house.
Xu Chunniang and her husband also followed with big baskets and small bags, distributing gifts to her brother, sister-in-law, nieces and nephews.
"Mom, I made this piece of cotton from cotton. It's soft and has no color. You can use it to make a shirt."
"There is also this ramie material, the color is beautiful, you can make the dress yourself." It's not that Chun Niang doesn't make it for her own mother, but Xu Lao Niang likes to do it by herself, saying that it is suitable and comfortable to wear.
Xu Lao Niang touched the fabrics happily and said, "Chun Niang, why do you buy so many materials? I would bury you up to your neck in dirt. How can you wear these new clothes and new materials?"
"Stop talking like that. You can live to be ninety-nine. Why don't you wear new clothes and new materials?" Chun Niang took out another five taels of silver ingots and a lot of copper coins and stuffed them into my mother, "This is your son-in-law's filial piety."
To your body."
When Mrs. Xu saw a silver ingot, she opened her eyes wide and quickly declined: "Oh, why are you giving me so much money? I'm not going anywhere. I don't need to spend any money."
"Put it away quickly." Chun Niang forced it to my mother, "You are an elder, how can you not have a penny in your hand? At home, the children still have to give new year's money, and the rich wife is coming in soon. You can't justify not giving me some greeting gifts.
"
Daniel is Xu Da's eldest son. He is sixteen years old this year and will get married in a few months.
Mrs. Xu couldn't refuse, so she accepted the silver and copper coins.
After her husband passed away, she relied on her eldest son to live, and she really didn't have much money left.
Even if the two daughters occasionally gave her a private house during the New Year and holidays, she would also subsidize it for the children.
At this time, Sister-in-law Xu walked into the house, and Chun Niang quickly picked up two pieces of clothing material and handed them over: "Sister-in-law, this is the clothing material I bought for you and my eldest brother."
Sister-in-law Xu quickly took it and said with a smile: "Hey, Chun Niang, you have spent money again."
"In other words, you are taking care of grandma at home, and I haven't thanked you yet." Chun Niang took out four packs of candies and snacks and put them on the table, as well as hats, flowers and combs for her nieces and nephews.
Nowadays, men also wear flowers, and they are still very colorful silk flowers, so Chun Niang bought some and distributed them to her nephews and nieces.
Then he pulled Yingbao and the two children over and said, "This is your aunt, please give her a happy New Year."
Yingbao and her two younger brothers shouted: "Happy New Year, auntie, may everything go well!"
"Everything is fine, everything is fine." Sister-in-law Xu took out the ten yuan of New Year's money she had prepared from her pocket and distributed three dolls as a gift.
Yingbao and her younger brother took it and kowtowed to their eldest aunt Cong Shanruliu.
Sister-in-law Xu held the fabric in her arms and said with a smile: "Second sister will be back soon. Sister, please stay with me and talk to me while I go cook."
"Okay, thank you for your hard work, sister-in-law." Chun Niang stood up and escorted sister-in-law out.
At this time, three children swarmed in from outside, all from the eldest brother's family. They were the eldest nephew who was 16 years old, the eldest niece who was 12 years old, and the younger nephew who was eight years old.
"New Year's greetings to eldest aunt!" The three children fell to their knees on the ground and kowtowed to Chun Niang.
Chun Niang smiled and gave each of them ten yuan of new year's money, and then distributed the flower combs she bought to them.
"Thank you, aunt!" The three children thanked them, took the money and ran out happily.
Suddenly I heard someone outside laughing and saying, "Brother-in-law is here so early. Where is eldest sister? Why didn't you see her?"
Then the door curtain was lifted, and Xu Qiuniang walked in.
"Hey! What are you doing hiding in the house? Why aren't you helping your sister-in-law with the cooking?"
