Chapter 357: Lantern Festival at the end of the year
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival.
After a few days, the smell of fireworks appeared again in the village.
When Zhang An got up, green smoke was floating on most roofs in the village.
The last time there was misty smoke was on New Year’s Eve last year.
Although only a few days have passed in total, it has already passed a year.
“Let’s go, Zhang An, let’s go to the show.”
Everyone passing by the door will shout this when they see Zhang An.
Actually, it’s not just Zhang An, but everyone he meets.
After all, every time when people in the village go to the market, they will shout and call a bunch of people to go together, which makes walking in a lively way.
"No, you can go quickly. We have nothing to buy at home and we are too lazy to run away."
Today is not a weekend, so it is not a market day.
But on such an important day at the end of the New Year, those vendors will not let it go.
I guess when I got up in the morning, stalls had been set up on the street waiting for everyone to visit.
When everyone goes to the streets today, most of them are rushing to buy some fresh pork.
After all, most of the meat at home is smoked bacon, as well as home-raised chickens and ducks.
The fresh pork was bought when I went to the market for the last time years ago, and I didn’t buy much.
On the one hand, it is a matter of money. Many people are reluctant to buy as much as they want. On the other hand, if they buy too much, they cannot be stored for a long time. After all, there is no refrigerator for storage.
And everyone attaches great importance to the Lantern Festival, so we have to have a good meal today.
After all, for some people with poor conditions, it may take a long time before they can eat meat after finishing today.
As the saying goes, the Lantern Festival is held when the moon is full, and the glutinous rice balls in the south are the Lantern Festival in the north.
Zhang An and his friends are considered southerners and have always had the custom of eating glutinous rice balls.
So at noon, Zhang An’s family did not prepare lunch because they had to eat glutinous rice balls at noon.
It’s not just Zhang An’s family, but everyone in this area is like this.
In Zhang An’s memory, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month every year, they would cook Yuanxiao at noon and only cook in the evening.
The glutinous rice balls do not need to be cooked, so it was almost noon when Wang Fang took two bowls of flour and started kneading the dough.
Although glutinous rice balls and the northern Lantern Festival seem to be the same, they are actually not the same thing.
Because the glutinous rice balls in the south are made in bags, raw glutinous rice flour is added with appropriate amount of water to form a dough.
Then take an appropriate amount of dough, wrap various fillings into the dough and roll it into a round shape. After cooking, it will be what everyone calls glutinous rice balls.
But it’s still the same in Zhang An’s place, and everyone calls her Baba.
For Yuanxiao in the north, the prepared solid filling is dipped in water, and then the solid filling is put into glutinous rice flour and slowly rolled into a ball shape by shaking constantly.
In fact, glutinous rice balls are also called sugar balls because most people use sugar fillings when making glutinous rice balls.
The filling for Zhang An’s glutinous rice balls is called Yinzi brown sugar. After drying the seeds of perilla, it is washed together with the brown sugar.
This kind of brown sugar is actually quite delicious. Basically every family in the village will buy a few kilograms of it during the Chinese New Year.
It is not only used to make glutinous rice balls, but also to make various other kinds of cakes.
And after the rice cakes are baked, everyone likes to eat them with candies.
Of course, some people like to chop lard residue and sugar together and use it to make glutinous rice balls.
The sweet and salty taste seemed quite fresh to Zhang An.
In this day and age, lard residue is a good thing, because in normal times, it can replace meat.
Every time someone boils lard, there will be a circle of children in the yard, all waiting to eat it.
In addition, this deep-fried dish can also be stir-fried with spicy tubes and dried black bean sauce, and can be served with rice.
When Zhang An was young, this was his favorite.
“Mom, our dumplings are a little smaller this year. They are too big and I can’t eat more than a few.”
When Zhang An was little, he liked to eat glutinous rice. Bread cake.
But at that time, every time Zhang An’s grandma made a cake, she would make it very big.
The glutinous rice balls were pretty good, especially the lotus leaf cakes. Zhang An was so impressed that they were as big as half a bowl.
After Zhang An ate a few times, he became addicted to it. From then on, when he saw rice and bread daddies, he would walk around because he was injured from eating them.
Later, after the old lady and grandpa left, Zhang An listened to his parents and found out why his grandma made such big dumplings every time.
Because the two old people came here during the famine years, they didn’t know how many years they had been hungry at that time.
Later, when we had a big pot of rice together, we felt even more hungry.
Because he lost his parents in his early years, and Zhang An's grandfather, as the eldest child in the family, could only drag his two younger brothers to grow up alone.
When there was a large group, he tried to eat as little as possible and shared his rations with his two younger brothers.
So Uncle Zhang, who has been living a good life all his life, rarely even has enough to eat.
After the land was divided and the family worked hard, they finally had enough to eat, so naturally they had to eat more.
So every time Zhang An’s grandma cooked, she would make the cake very big and cut the meat very thickly.
Because in the eyes of the older generation, thick cuts of meat mean that the family is prosperous and it tastes delicious.
It is a pity that the two elders passed away after the most difficult days of their lives, and when they were about to enjoy happiness, they passed away.
But understanding is understanding, Zhang An cannot eat the meat slices and cakes wrapped by his grandma.
For decades in later generations, Zhang An never ate glutinous rice balls.
After returning to this era, there was space spring water, so the flour at home was more fragrant.
Zhang Ancai overcame the shadow of the injury and did not refuse to eat the rice and bread.
“You don’t need the food I packed. If you want to eat a big meal, you can pack it yourself.”
It’s different when you have a grandson. He hasn’t even been born yet, and Zhang An’s son has fallen out of favor. .
Come on, do it yourself and have enough food and clothing.
Zhang An, who was raised by his old mother since childhood, has no trouble putting away these things.
And wrapping glutinous rice balls is much simpler than lotus leaf cakes. You don’t have to worry about the shape, just roll them into balls in the end.
After making glutinous rice balls, Zhang An walked to the yard and found that the sun was shining in the sky.
It was gloomy when I woke up in the morning. Zhang An thought it would be the same weather all day long as in previous years.
Unexpectedly, when it was past nine o'clock in the morning, the sun, which had buried its face in the clouds, was willing to show up.
Although killing is taboo on the fifteenth day, there are still a small number of people who are not taboo about this. Many people come to Zhang An's house to buy chickens and fish.
If business comes to the door, Zhang An's family will naturally not stop doing it.
Although killing is taboo in the family, it is only sold to others and not done by oneself.
When Zhang Jianguo came back from outside, Wang Fang started cooking glutinous rice balls.
At noon, the whole family gathers together to eat glutinous rice balls.
"Xiao An, please send this piece of meat and these chickens to your second grandfather and fourth grandfather."
After eating glutinous rice balls at noon, Wang Fang took the two pieces of pork with the two yesterday The slaughtered chickens were divided and asked by Zhang An to deliver them to several elderly people. Wang Fang does this every year, but when conditions were not good in the past, she always sent half of one over.
In the afternoon, the sun was shining brightly. Mr. Zhang gathered dozens of people from three families and went up the mountain together.
This is to go to the mountain to light up the lights for the elderly. Although I only went there at the beginning of the year, I must go to light up the lights this time.
Every year, there are three days to pay homage to deceased relatives in the family.
They are to light up the lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, to hang paper on the Qingming Festival, and to burn and send bags on the half day of the seventh lunar month.
As long as someone is at home, no one will say anything even if you don’t go on other days, but if you don’t do anything during these three days, everyone will laugh at you.
The whole family went up the mountain carrying incense paper candles and artillery in a mighty manner, and the sound of artillery was heard all over the mountains and plains.
The young children at home, as soon as they came to the mountain, were like loose calves, running around all over the mountain.
However, not long after running, there were shouts from adults behind them. They had to come back honestly, otherwise they would be easily criticized.
At this time, the tiger cubs burrowed into the forest and came out with a mountain rabbit in their mouths.
The little guys who saw the tiger cubs hunting for the first time immediately started making noises.
But this rabbit had a bulging belly. There were so many rabbits at home, and Zhang An knew at a glance that this was a female rabbit with cubs.
And the fur on its body has been plucked. It is estimated that the little rabbit is only two days away from landing.
So Zhang An walked over, took the rabbit out of the tiger's mouth, and then put it in the forest.
Xiaohu and the others saw the rabbit running away and wanted to catch up, but Zhang An called him back.
"Brother An, why did you let this rabbit go? The tiger caught it with great difficulty."
When Zhang An heard this, he burst into laughter. Which of their eyes could see it? It’s not easy for Xiaohu.
Catching this kind of hare in the mountains is a piece of cake for Xiaohu, effortless.
In the past two years, Zhang An's family has raised more and more rabbits, and they can hardly sell them all, so Xiaohu and the others did not go to the mountains to catch them.
Even if he caught one occasionally, it was used by Zhang An to feed Huatou and his family.
“That’s a female rabbit with a baby. You can’t catch it. If you catch it, you have to let it go.”
They are all children in the mountains, so they need to be educated in these aspects from an early age. Only when you grow up can you remember.
Seeing that the rabbit they got was gone, a group of younger brothers and sisters were quite disappointed.
But they all believe in what Zhang An, the eldest brother, says and can listen to it.
After walking a few steps, they started to make trouble again, either pulling weeds or breaking down trees.
There was a lot of excitement along the way because of the children. Isn’t that the point of having children?
I ran around all afternoon, lighting up lights and setting off cannons on several ancestral graves at home.
Everyone is scrambling to share the fruit, not to mention some are scrambling to eat the food, which is quite delicious.
After coming down the mountain, everyone went home and started preparing the last meal for this year’s New Year.
"Hey, there is also a piece of beef. Mom, would you like to make beef in sour soup tonight? I suddenly want to eat it."
When Wang Fang was cooking in the evening, Su Ying saw Zhang An took out a piece of beef from the freezer and told his mother-in-law.
In the past few days, Su Ying not only likes to sleep, she can fall asleep at any time, but her appetite has also increased a lot.
"Hey, okay, just sit down and mom will cook it for you."
When Wang Fang heard that his daughter-in-law wanted to eat beef in sour soup, he immediately became happy and picked up tens of thousands of yuan. Same thing, Zhang An was confused.
Finally, the rice was ready, not only beef in sour soup, but also fish fillets in sour soup, hot and sour hoof flowers, etc.
There are several dishes on the table that are sour and spicy.
“Mom, why did you cook so many spicy and sour dishes today?”
It’s not that Zhang An doesn’t eat sour food, but he prefers spicy food, and he won’t go without eating it for three days. Sore, to the point where I miss my mark when walking.
"What's wrong with the sour food? The sour food is delicious."
Su Ying liked it very much. She picked up a piece of beef and put it in her mouth. She was very happy to eat it.
"Yes, if you like it or not, just don't eat it. Some of them even pick and choose."
Sure enough, those dotings are no longer the same as before, the old mother Now that he was no longer used to it, Zhang An huddled aside and shivered.
"Xiaoying, come and try it to see if it suits your taste. Tell mom what you want to eat in the future and mom will cook it for you."
Wang Fang sat with her daughter-in-law. He kept picking up food for Su Ying, as if Zhang An and his son were superfluous.
After dark, a round bright moon appeared in the sky tonight.
Zhang An can’t even remember how many years he hasn’t seen the sun on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
The moon tonight is so bright thanks to the sun during the day.
Because the sun is shining brightly during the day and the sky is cloudless and blue, there are only a few clouds blowing in the wind at night.
The last time he saw such a night scene was when he was in his teens.
Under the moonlight at night, he and his peers in the village played hide and seek in other people's vegetable fields at the entrance of the village.
Because I played too crazy at night, I trampled the vegetables in other people’s fields to pieces.
As a result, he was sued the next day, and his buttocks were swollen by Wang Fang.
So many years have passed in the blink of an eye.
The moon tonight is not much different from that of back then. It is round and bright, and the bright moonlight illuminates the earth brightly.
Even the calm water surface of the river is like a layer of silver satin, which is particularly enchanting.
The scenery is still there, but those childhood playmates have now gone their separate ways and started their own families.
He and Zhou Yang were the only two people still in the village, meeting every other day.
"Xiao An, go and turn on the lights on the second and third floors."
Standing at the door, a gust of night wind blew, and the old mother's instructions came from inside the house.
Old people often say that the fire on New Year’s Eve is the light on the fifteenth day of the year.
Every New Year’s Eve, every family will light a fire in their homes big and prosperous.
On the one hand, it is because it is convenient to prepare New Year’s Eve dinner, and on the other hand, it is also because of customs.
Paired with high wax overnight, it represents a prosperous life.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, all the lights in the house should be lit. If there are no lights, light candles or kerosene lamps instead.
For those who are concerned about the electricity bill, they will keep it open tonight, at least after twelve o'clock.
This is a custom left by our ancestors, which is why during the Lantern Festival, the streets are full of lanterns.
It is precisely because of this that the word "thousands of lights" is used by so many people to describe the Lantern Festival.
Zhang An walked upstairs and turned on the lights on the second and third floors in turn.
The sudden turning on of the lights made Huatou and his family uncomfortable.
Originally they were all ready to fall asleep, but when Zhang An turned on the light, they woke up again.
I wish everyone a happy National Day
(End of this chapter)