Chapter 739: New Year’s Eve, Celebrating the Lunar New Year!

The distance from Qingshan County to Ning City isn’t particularly far—just over seventy kilometers.

Normally, it takes no more than an hour and a half by car.

Of course, if you take the county bus, it’s at least two and a half hours, and if it’s raining or snowing, three or four hours is perfectly normal.

By the time the two arrived in Ning City, it was already 11:00 a.m.

Since the train wouldn’t arrive for over an hour, Li Yi and Zhang Ziqiang didn’t just sit around waiting; instead, they drove to a shopping mall in the city.

Before leaving, his mother had asked him to pick up some New Year’s paintings on the way—she’d forgotten to buy them when she went shopping for the holiday a couple of days earlier.

As Ning City’s largest and busiest shopping mall, the Lianying Department Store was naturally Li Yi’s destination.

Perhaps because it was already New Year’s Eve and everyone had already finished their shopping, the mall wasn’t as crowded as he’d imagined.

Although there were still quite a few people, it was a far cry from the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds he had imagined!

The two walked through the mall for a few minutes and quickly found the stall selling New Year’s paintings.

The New Year’s prints these days were all made on that old-fashioned paper; they’d fade after just a few months on the wall, and they weren’t easy to maintain.

Unlike the New Year’s prints of later generations, where a simple wipe with a damp cloth is all it takes to clean a soiled print.

Moreover, the themes of these New Year’s prints weren’t the “attract wealth and treasure” or “abundant wealth” motifs common in later times, but rather focused on portraits of great leaders and symbols of fortune, longevity, and happiness.

Knowing his mother’s tastes, Li Yi immediately picked out two half-length portraits of historical figures, then selected a few New Year’s prints featuring children, thinking they should please her.

However, just as he was about to pay, he noticed that the stall also sold paper cutouts.

These paper cutouts featured simple patterns like flowers, birds, and characters, as well as intricate and beautiful themes such as dragons and phoenixes symbolizing good fortune and the Twelve Zodiac Animals. Moreover, they were clearly hand-cut by skilled women rather than machine-cut.

Li Yi remembered that his mother was particularly fond of paper cutouts. She had even once asked his second older sister to learn the craft from Qiu Shengniang, a woman in the village who was skilled at making them. But his second older sister, though capable at everything else, just couldn’t seem to get the hang of it.

After studying for quite a while, she could only manage to cut out the character for “happiness.”

Seeing this, his mother eventually had no choice but to give up.

Since he had come across these paper cuttings, Li Yi picked out a few with auspicious meanings on a whim, intending to buy them to make his mother happy.

After finishing their shopping, the two returned to the station, and by then it was nearly twelve o’clock.

At the train station, following a long, drawn-out whistle, the train finally pulled in, and Li Yi and Zhang Ziqiang made their way to the exit!

He hadn’t told his younger brothers beforehand that he’d be picking them up, so if he wasn’t waiting at the exit, he might have missed them.

No sooner had the two reached the exit than they saw a large crowd of passengers pouring out, almost all of them carrying bags of various sizes and hurrying along.

Before long, Dongzi, Shitou, Qiangzi, along with Li Yeqiao, Liu San, and others, emerged from the exit carrying suitcases, various packages, and plastic bags.

As soon as Li Yi spotted them, he waved and called out, “Dongzi, Qiangzi, over here!”

The young men spotted Li Yi and immediately ran over, delighted.

After a brief exchange of greetings, Li Yi had everyone get into the car, then drove them back to Qingshan County…

……..

New Year’s Eve!

Bright red lanterns had already been hung in the Li family courtyard, festive couplets were pasted up, and the bonfire was stacked and ready—all that was left was to set off firecrackers to ring in the New Year.

Inside the house, the whole family was preparing the New Year’s Eve dinner while watching the Spring Festival Gala.

That’s right—the Spring Festival Gala!

Many people think the Spring Festival Gala began with the 1983 Spring Festival, but that’s not actually the case.

As early as New Year’s Eve 1979, China Central Television (CCTV) began hosting the “New Year’s Eve Cultural Gala.” At that time, it took the form of a tea party and social dance event. During that gala, the song “Toast Song” resonated across the country and has remained a timeless classic!

However, before 1983, the Spring Festival Gala wasn’t broadcast live, nor did it feature the star-studded lineup of hosts seen later on. It was all pre-recorded and aired at a later time.

In the kitchen, Li Yi placed the stewed pig’s head and pork knuckles in a large aluminum basin to cool. He had to wait a while before stripping the meat off; otherwise, it would be too tough to remove once it had cooled completely.

Today, he had completely transformed into a master chef. After returning from town, he had holed up in the kitchen, starting to fry fish and stew meat; any dish requiring a bit of “skill” was entirely his responsibility.

What could he do? After all, he was the best cook in the family!

As for the others, they weren’t idle either—they had their own task: making dumplings!

There were a lot of people at home this year. Besides Li Yi’s extended family, there were four additional guests: Zhang Ziqiang, Yang Zhiwen, Zhang Feng, and Yang Miao. Add in the eldest sister and little Ruirui, and there were a total of 12 people, young and old.

With so many people, cooking every day was a major undertaking, so Li Yi suggested making extra dumplings today so they could just boil them for the next few days if they didn’t feel like cooking!

Naturally, his parents and Jiang Xue had no objections.

After all, living standards had improved; the household had plenty of pork, cabbage, and flour, so making a few extra dumplings wouldn’t hurt.

So starting at three in the afternoon, nearly the entire Li household pitched in to make dumplings.

As soon as a steamer basket was filled, they immediately carried it outside to freeze. Once frozen, they packed them into burlap sacks and stored them in the cold room.

At 8:00 p.m., as the final dish came out of the pot, the Li family’s New Year’s Eve dinner began.

This year’s New Year’s Eve dinner was particularly lavish. Aside from the staple dumplings, every other dish was a hearty main course, including braised pork belly, braised pork strips, braised pork hock, braised rabbit, pheasant stewed with mushrooms, clear-simmered lamb, hand-shredded lamb tripe, braised pork with fried tofu, and stir-fried pork with soybean sprouts!

In addition, Li Yi had prepared plenty of drinks for the occasion, including baijiu, red wine, and locally produced sparkling wine.

A festive occasion, delicious food, and fine drinks!

When all these elements come together, the result is nothing short of a lively celebration!

The only slight letdown was that Li Yi didn’t drink because he was waiting to see in the New Year with his younger brothers.

There was nothing he could do about it—he knew his own limits. If he’d raised a glass today, he wouldn’t have been able to do much for the New Year celebrations.

So, he showed great willpower and didn’t drink today!

The New Year’s Eve dinner lasted nearly two hours.

By the time they had cleaned up, it was already past ten o’clock.

Then everyone went back to their rooms to get dressed in their new clothes.

This is a local custom: neither adults nor children usually wear new clothes before the New Year’s Eve dinner.

It is only after the New Year’s Eve dinner that they begin to put on their new clothes.

Then, at midnight, they set off firecrackers to “welcome the gods,” and only then did the New Year truly begin!

In the main room, Li Yi was happily playing with Yun Rui and Yun Jin on the heated brick bed. The two children circled around him, sometimes walking, sometimes crawling—their every move was pure spontaneity.

Li Yi kept a close eye on them, fearing they might bump into something or get hurt—he was incredibly careful.

Meanwhile, Jiang Xue stood on the floor, organizing the new clothes for the family of four.

Noticing that a button on Yun Rui’s shirt was a bit loose, she quickly fetched a needle and thread and sewed it back on. The atmosphere in the room was warm and happy.

At 11:30, the sound of firecrackers began to echo from outside, the “bang-bang” never ceasing.

Li Yi knew it was time to “welcome the gods,” so he and Jiang Xue quickly dressed Yun Rui and Yun Jin in their new clothes.

Then the two of them got dressed as well and went outside!

In the courtyard, their parents, eldest sister, Zhang Ziqiang, Zhang Feng, and others had also come out. Everyone chatted while watching the “double-kick firecrackers” and “sky-climbing monkeys” that occasionally shot into the air and exploded.

At 11:50, Father checked the time and decided it was about right, so he told Li Yi to get ready!

Li Yi handed Yun Jin, whom he was holding, to his mother, then walked to the center of the courtyard and lit the “bonfire.”

In an instant, the pile of firewood burst into flames, and the massive blaze lit up the entire courtyard.

Afterward, the men of the household brought out all the firecrackers and fireworks they had prepared earlier and began setting them off.

Soon, fireworks soared into the sky amid the crackling of firecrackers, briefly bursting into a dazzling display of colors…

……..

PS: “Welcoming the Gods” and “Prosperity Fire” are local New Year customs. The former involves welcoming the God of Wealth and the God of Happiness, while the latter symbolizes a thriving and prosperous year ahead!