Early in the morning on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the whole family returned to their hometown in the countryside, Nanyao Village, Yuntai Township. These days, it was still called the Nanyao Brigade of Yuntai Commune.
At ten o'clock in the morning, when the adults were preparing to celebrate the old man's birthday, his uncle Yang Wenyong took a large group of children and went straight to Yuntai Mountain to burn incense and worship Buddha at Yuntai Temple.
People say that sixty and seventy are seventies. The old man has wasted most of his life and has reached the age of sixty.
Communists do not like to celebrate birthdays, but turning sixty is also a watershed for people. The old man did not want to make any big plans, and did not inform his old comrades, so he went back to his hometown, where a few old brothers gathered together, a few nephews and nephews met, and a dozen or so
Children kowtow to connect their feelings, otherwise they will become distant.
In addition to celebrating birthdays, the rest is to worship and pray for blessings.
The mountain temple on the hillside of the village and the Dragon King Temple on the side of the Shenhe River both provide incense. They rely on the mountains and water to eat. The Nanyao Brigade is located at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain and next to the Shenhe River. All crops in the fields depend on the river water.
For irrigation, it is inevitable to go to the mountains to collect firewood all year round.
Eating people with short mouths and taking advantage of people with short hands, eating mountains and water, even mountain gods and dragon kings cannot forget this. This is a custom that has been going on for thousands of years.
And the Yuntai Temple on the mountain, a thousand-year-old temple, is very popular. You should go there to pray for your family. If you have a wish, ask for Buddha. If you don’t have a wish, you can also pray for a good family and everything. This kind of thing is generally a matter of faith.
It doesn’t work, just asking for peace of mind.
Chinese people worship their ancestors and have traditional customs. Even Communists are not exempt from these customs.
Lin Xiaoguang knew that before his cousin Xiaodong went to the military academy, his aunt went to Yuntai Temple. After he actually went to the military academy, he killed himself to fulfill his wish. This year, the three siblings took the college entrance examination together. Auntie, Mother Lin,
Sister-in-law, all three of them have also made wishes.
At this moment, after Lin Xiaoyun finished putting on the incense, she suddenly turned around and was a little surprised to see Lin Xiaoguang kneeling on the futon, looking very pious, with his eyes closed.
"Hey, Xiaoguang, didn't you sneer at me before? Why has it changed now?"
Lin Xiaoguang had just been praying for the whole family, hoping that their family would be healthy and harmonious. He also prayed to Buddha and Bodhisattvas to fulfill the wishes of the three of them and to successfully enter the university of their choice. When he heard his cousin joking, he was immediately unhappy.
"I have changed my mind!"
Seeing that his childish nature was nothing like that of an adult, Lin Xiaoyun was amused again.
After coming down from the mountain, the house in my hometown was tidied up, and the ancestors were placed on the altar table. Various fruit snacks were placed as offerings, as well as ghost coins, burning paper, incense burners, etc.
At noon, everyone pooled their efforts to prepare spicy noodles made by aunt Yang Wenjing.
A large basin of saozi soup is oily but not greasy. It floats on the soup without any heat coming out. It fills a large basin.
Lin Xiaoguang and several aunts from his uncle's family took turns rolling out dough and rolled out several round pieces of dough.
The dough was cut into little-finger widths, and a large handful was put into the boiling water. Firewood as thick as an arm was burning in the stove, and the bellows were pushed back and forth. Within a few minutes, after three times of cooking, the noodles were ready, enough to feed a dozen people.
After taking it out into a bowl, the first two small bowls are still dedicated to the ancestors and the Stove Lord.
After that, three large bowls of soybean noodles were carried on wooden trays to the Kang table in the main room. The three old people gathered in a group and sat cross-legged. They put chili peppers and vinegar on them. There were no pickles, so they ate them while they were hot.
These are the old man's three brothers, four to be precise. One of them disappeared while fighting the little devil.
The old man eats first, then the rest are the children, then the uncles, and finally the women who work.
One red, two white, three yellow, four green and five black, red pepper, white noodles, yellow potatoes, green coriander, black fungus, plus yellow flowers, eggs, carrots, tofu, and the most indispensable sesame seeds, it is composed
saozi noodles.
The Lin family's spicy noodles are not from Xiqi, nor from Chang'an, but from Qinzhou, and the taste is relatively bland.
The noodles were so delicious that Lin Xiaoguang missed them so much that he ate two big bowls in a row.
Putting down the bowl and chopsticks, someone suddenly came into the house. He looked up and saw that it was the brigade secretary, and he was immediately happy.
Not only the party secretary of the brigade, but also several respected elderly people in the village came over.
There were several people in the village who had served in the National Army, but they either disappeared or the army was wiped out during the liberation. The only one who had served in the Eighth Route Army was an old man. In June 1945, his unit, the 17th Route Army 38
The 17th Army Division rebelled in Luoning, Nanhe, and defected to the Eighth Route Army. A year later, together with the various units of the 38th Army that had revolted successively, they were reorganized into the 38th Army of the Northwest Democratic Alliance Army, under the command of the Chen-Xie Corps, and the 17th Route Army entered the PLA camp.
The old man had a good life. He served in the National Army for eight years and joined the Eighth Route Army on the eve of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. With the Eighth Route Army's reputation, he transferred to the army as a lower-level officer and cadre. He was not affected during the subsequent turmoil.
By now, he is one of the few big figures in the village who has gone out.
Although he, the Buddha, has retired and cannot help the village much, people from the brigade often come to ask for advice on any matters in the village. When help is needed, the old man is very generous and will do his best even if he has no money. As time goes by, the villagers still ask for help.
When he is a consultant.
Communists do not celebrate birthdays, but today is the first day of the Lunar New Year to pay New Year's greetings. Villagers who knew the news came one after another, including several highly respected old people and brigade cadres, but they ignored these rules.
They have their own reasons, why can't they celebrate birthdays? Can't they still celebrate New Year?
Who told the old man’s birthday to be on the first day of the Lunar New Year? This birthday couldn’t be better.
Because today not only the old man, but also his children from several units are also here. The eldest son is in the Armed Forces, the second son is in the Public Security Bureau, and the youngest daughter is also in the finance department. Not to mention the daughter-in-law and son-in-law, these are all powerful departments, how can we underestimate them?
The old man and the brigade cadres all have a strong balance in their hearts, and they move no slower than the other.
They are a large group of people who eat a bowl of hot rice and drink wine. The old man is fine, reminiscing about the past, saying that socialism is good, etc.
The cadres of the brigade are much worse. Compliment this one, compliment that one.
It was finally over, and we waited until after dinner in the afternoon. In the evening of the same day, Lin Xiaoguang, his parents, and a large group of people returned to the county town, leaving only the old man, his mother-in-law, and a few children at home.
Lin Xiaoguang originally wanted to stay, but who told him that his hometown had no electricity, kerosene lamps, or heating?
He's cold, and he can't create if he's cold!
But two days later, Lin Zhongping took Ke Xiaomo to the unit leader's house to pay New Year greetings. Yang Wenshu was frying sunflower seeds in the kitchen, and Lin Xiaofei was wiping tears and doing homework.
Yang Wenshu scolded while frying: "Everyone looks like they have never seen the world. They have never eaten melon seeds. They are all eaten in two days. What will happen when guests come?"
While he was talking, there was a knock on the door and a guest had arrived.
Quickly welcoming the person to the living room, Yang Wenshu glared at Lin Xiaofei, who immediately packed up her homework and said hello sensibly: "Happy New Year, Aunt Zhang!"
The visitor turned out to be the deputy director of the women's committee of the neighborhood office.
Yang Wenshu wanted to entertain guests, and Lin Xiaofei didn't know how to fry melon seeds, so Lin Xiaoguang had to come.
He was sitting on a stool, warming himself around the stove, frying melon seeds out of boredom, thinking at the same time that Xiao Fei recently said that the villain's books were boring, and he couldn't read other books. Should he translate "Aesop's Fables" or "Aesop's Fables"?
"One Thousand and One Nights" and other foreign children's books, or write a novel "Black Cat Sheriff" and "Avanti".
At this time, the sound of voices in the living room made him move.
"Manjusri, didn't your Xiaoguang pass the college entrance examination? He passed it."
"ah?"
"Someone came here years ago with a Peking accent. He said he was here for inspection, but I haven't had time to tell you yet!"