It was not even eleven o'clock when there were bursts of crackling firecrackers outside.
Xu Chenghou heard the noise outside and couldn't sit still.
"How about we distribute the paper earlier? The children should eat early and play for a while after eating. They should be sleepy."
Xu Chenghou turned around and asked Zhou Guilan.
"Okay, let's go early then. Then you take the sons to hand out paper, and I'll cook the dumplings."
Zhou Guilan looked at the clock on the wall, it was only ten forty-five.
Okay, it’s okay to go early, the exciting skits are all coming later, so I cooked the dumplings early and just went back to the house to watch the skits.
In this way, Xu Chenghou led his sons and carried the table out, with steamed buns, chicken, fish and meat placed on it.
I didn’t have an incense burner bowl at home, so I put two bowls that I didn’t usually use and filled them with plant ashes and pressed them together.
Xu Chenghou was working outside with his son, while Zhou Guilan was working with his daughter-in-law in the kitchen.
There was a fire in the kitchen and hot water in the pot.
Now add more dry firewood to the bottom of the pot, and the flames will start to light up, and soon the water in the pot will boil.
"The water is boiling." Zhou Guilan shouted outside.
Outside, Xu Chenghou ordered his eldest son to light firecrackers. Here he lit three incense sticks and then lit a large pile of printed burning paper.
"Come, you all come over and kowtow. Xiaobo, take your brother and the others and come over too."
Xu Chenghou greeted his children and grandchildren, followed behind him, and they all knelt down and kowtowed.
After that, the children lit a lot of firecrackers in the yard, and Xu Jinfeng and the others also lit some silent fireworks to watch the fun.
Sisters Xu Jinping were wandering around holding Dijiuer on fire.
The dogs at home are all old, and setting off firecrackers once a year can no longer affect them.
Several dogs were lying peacefully in their dens, making as much noise as they liked outside, and the children jumping as much as they liked, without even making a sound.
Xu Chenghou looked at the children and grandchildren in the yard and was so happy that he couldn't even close his mouth.
"Don't we still have a lot of firecrackers at home? Let's take them out and let them play. The children are all here, so take them out and let them be fun."
Seeing that the children were having fun, the old man urged Xu Shiyan to go back to the house and take out all the firecrackers.
Xu Shiyan didn't say anything else. He went into the house and took out half a basket of fireworks of various colors, small cannons and the like.
The boys competed for the firecrackers and the girls competed for the fireworks. Anyway, the yard was big so they didn’t interfere with each other.
The courtyard is now lively, with jingle bells ringing over there and colorful fireworks lighting up the courtyard.
The children were jumping up and down in the yard, and the cold wind on New Year's Eve did not affect them at all.
While the firecrackers were going off outside, the dumplings were being cooked in the kitchen.
After the children have set off the firecrackers and fireworks, the dumplings in the pot are cooked, taken out and served to the table.
"Okay, let's all come back and eat."
The temperature was low on New Year's Eve, and the children's faces were all red from the cold while they were outside.
As soon as grandma shouted that it was time to eat dumplings, a large group of people ran into the house.
After entering the house, they took off their hats and coats, and the boys jumped directly onto the kang. The older girls went to the kitchen to help carry the plates and get the small dishes.
The hot dumplings were served and the whole family sat down.
Zhou Guilan looked at the people in this room and was extremely happy.
"Alright, go ahead and eat. Today's dumplings come with a variety of fillings, so you can eat whatever you want."
According to the old rules, the dumplings are still filled with coins, peanuts, dates and sugar.
The children are not eating dumplings, they are just eating the money inside. They stare at each other and wonder which dumpling looks like.
In order to save some extra money, these children kept eating dumplings, and in the end they ate all the dumplings until their stomachs became bloated until they could no longer eat any more.
I cooked dumplings early today and ate them early. After eating the dumplings, it was still a little while before twelve o'clock.
So we quickly packed up and all sat down to watch TV.
When the twelve o'clock bell rang, Xu Haibo and Xu Jinfeng led their brothers and sisters to kneel down in front of the kang.
"Grandpa, grandma, Happy New Year to Grandpa Chu." The children greeted the New Year in unison.
"Hey, good, good, all good, all good."
The three old people were so happy that they wished the backs of their heads were smiling.
Let the children get up quickly, then take out the red envelopes prepared in advance and give them out one by one.
After the old man finished handing out the red envelopes, Xu Shixian and others also took out their red envelopes.
Don't worry about whose children this time, everyone has a share.
The children received a lot of red envelopes at once, and they were so happy that they jumped up and down for joy.
Seeing the children jumping up and down, everyone couldn't help laughing.
"I'm so happy just looking at these children, doing nothing. It's great. It's so lively during the New Year." Zhou Guilan muttered with satisfaction.
After eating dumplings and saying New Year greetings, the new year has arrived. From this time on, the children have grown one year older.
Everyone talked and laughed for a while, and then the children became a little sleepy, so they each found a place to rest.
Anyway, it's not long before dawn, so I don't even need to take off my clothes, so I can just do whatever I want and sleep for a while.
When I woke up, it was past seven o'clock in the morning on New Year's Day.
So I quickly lit the fire, cooked the three-cover curtain dumplings left over from last night, and put a whip outside.
After breakfast, the house became lively. Neighbors, relatives and friends all came over to pay New Year greetings.
Xu Haibo and others, led by Xu Haiyuan, also went around to these houses to pay New Year's greetings.
"Master, grandma, let's go to Grandpa Su's house to pay New Year's greetings.
I’ll go directly to Grandpa Han’s house soon to pay New Year greetings to Grandpa Han and my sister-in-law and uncle.”
The children came back from wandering outside, and Xu Haibo said something to Xu Chenghou and the others.
It is the right thing to visit relatives and friends on the first day of the new year.
In previous years, they didn't celebrate the New Year here and it was fine if they didn't go to pay New Year greetings. Since they are here this year, these relatives have to go there.
Especially those of the younger generation, no one will be left behind.
"Oh, okay, let's go then. Well, be careful on the road."
Xu Chenghou nodded and waved his hand to let the children go.
The descendants of Lao Xu's family are prosperous, and the younger generation has six boys, six girls and twelve children.
When such a large group of people go out, it's good if they don't bully others. There's no need to worry about anyone daring to bully them.
After getting permission, the children came out of the house happily.
How can these naughty children walk in a proper manner? They found all the sledges in the house.
The girl sat on the sledge and the boy pulled the sledge and ran.
Nowadays, no one is clearing the snow on the road. The road is covered with a crust of ice and snow, which makes the sledge slip when running on it.
Children at this time were wearing thick, large cotton-padded jackets and cotton-padded trousers.
The boy wears a leather hat and large cotton shoes on his feet, and the girl wears a thick scarf on her head and cotton boots on her feet.
Both boys and girls carry cotton handbags, which are essential equipment when going out in winter.
Wearing thick clothes, the children were not afraid of the cold, so they ran around laughing and making noise on the road.
People passing by smiled when they saw it. If they met someone they knew, the children would stop and say New Year greetings, and then continue running.