Although Lan Yi's mother and son fell asleep with three people, most of the people in the village knew how to keep the New Year. The window paper of every house shines with warm light, and it is far away from the stars in the sky. Several stars arranged in the shape of triangles and vertical lines in the constellation of Orion in the southern sky are particularly bright, and under the southern sky, thousands of miles away, the royal mansion is also brightly lit.

Due to the reason of separation, the Wang family's mansion was separated by the courtyard wall, forming several courtyards of all sizes, and I don't know how many joys and sorrows.

The old lady of the royal family was lying on the couch at this time, touching her forehead with her hand, and her brows were tightly locked. The furnishings in the room are the same as in the past, there is no trace of New Year's celebration, the incense burned by several pillars under the two tablets in front of the Buddha statue in the conspicuous place of the outer room wafts out bursts of fragrance, and the room that has been soaked in incense seems to be no longer a living place, as clear as the Buddha hall.

At the old lady's lap, a woman of about thirty years old knelt, gently knocked her calf to relieve her fatigue, and at this time approached a woman in her forties, walking hurriedly but without sound, quietly came to the old lady like a cat, and stood with her hands down.

"All gone?" The old lady's tired voice rang out.

The woman nodded: "Yes." On Chinese New Year's Eve, they are also not restless, and they should really go out. ”

"Humph!"

The slave maid made her own decision and went to the front yard to call the second master. Although the second master didn't come, he sent someone to pass the word, telling them not to disturb the old lady's rest, and if there was anything to do, just go to find him, and they dispersed. ”

When the old lady heard the word "second master", the fingers that pressed her forehead suddenly forced, and the back of her loose hand showed green tendons.

"At this time, he is still pretending to behave in a pretentious manner, and he really doesn't show a drop of water!"

The mother-in-law hung her head and was silent, no matter what she said, she could not comfort the old lady.

The wheezing in the old lady's chest slowly subsided, and she opened her eyes and looked at the window: "My grandson is also three years old, so he should be able to run and jump at this time." ”

"The young master is facing the rich and noble, and there is an old lady who prays for the young master in front of the Buddha every day, and he will be safe. Old lady, you have to take care of your health, maybe the young master will come back in a few days. ”

Such words naturally could not comfort the old lady, her eyes were scattered, she fell into the memory, and said no more.

Before the Buddha statue was ranked, the incense burned out, and the soot slowly bent and fell quietly in the incense burner, without stirring up a trace of ash. Suddenly, there was a burst of firecrackers outside, and the old lady's eyes refocused, looking at the flickering window paper and muttering: "This year's firecrackers, how can you listen to such a noisy sound, the hour has just passed, and the fifth watch day has arrived." ”

At this time last year, her children and grandchildren were around her knees, but this year, the situation is melancholy, and her life is desolate.

The sound of firecrackers on the fifth watch of the New Year sounded one after another, and the whole week was alarmed by the sound of firecrackers, and the dark night could not stop people's expectations for the New Year.

In any case, the new year has arrived.

**********

In the sound of firecrackers, the spring breeze sends warmth into Tusu.

Thousands of households always replace the new peach with the old one.

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, before dawn, the sound of firecrackers outside the window woke up the mother and son.

Li also told her that within three years of Lin Shan's death, their mother and son did not need to get up on the fifth watch, and the people in the village would not give her New Year's greetings, they only needed to work and rest, and let the two children come out after dawn to pay New Year's greetings.

So they didn't get up to put down dumplings and set off firecrackers to open the door, but just nestled in the warm quilt and went to sleep. The baby was already sleeping in a daze, he got into his mother's arms, and his hairy little head socket leaned on his mother's shoulder blade, and he slept very sweetly. Lan Yi touched his hot little face, and then raised his head to touch Yu'er in the quilt next to him, and saw that he didn't kick the quilt, so he slept with peace of mind.

As the sky got brighter, Lan Yi got up and added some fire to the kang first, warmed the kang to warm up, and then looked at the two sleeping children before going to the kitchen to boil water and prepare breakfast for the first day of the Lunar New Year - cooking dumplings.

After Yu'er and the baby got up, Lan Yi gave them new clothes and shoes, and dressed them neatly. Lan Yi didn't change it herself, but just changed the washed old clothes.

She sat on the kang and asked the child to kowtow to herself for the New Year, and then one of them gave a red envelope of ten cents.

Although Lan Yi doesn't like the rule of kneeling and kowtowing, if you don't follow it, it will make people think that you have no rules and lose your manners, and she can only let the children follow the rules.

After a while, it snowed heavily, and the whole world was covered in silver and white again, and she didn't have time to clear the snow, but just swept out a path.

Lan Yi asked Yu'er to light the firecrackers, she boiled the two dumplings with cabbage and pork filling and leek egg filling, put three bowls in a small bowl and put them under the New Year's painting in the hall, and lit the incense burner to invite the ancestors to eat first. Then I took my two children for breakfast.

After opening the courtyard door after breakfast, Lan Yi asked Yu'er to lead the baby to the second uncle's house and Wang Linyuan's house to pay New Year's greetings, and told them the auspicious words they should say. Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, the people in the village visit each other to pay New Year's greetings, and there is no time to clear the snow, Lan Yi can only watch the two children walk hand in hand in the snow road that was stepped out in front of the door, she can't go out for a hundred years, because she is a newly widowed widow.

After Yu'er and the two came back, they got a few more red envelopes and happily showed them to Lan Yi.

Lan Yi asked them to put it away by themselves. Since the New Year's fair, Lan Yi consulted Yu'er for her opinion and separated him from the baby's pocket money, and the baby now has his own money jar. The baby can now distinguish which is his brother's and which is his money jar, and every time he gets a copper plate, he happily puts it in his own money jar and puts it away, waiting for his mother to buy him persimmon cakes to eat.

"Mother, the baby will be handed over to you. I still have to go out and pay New Year's greetings. ”

According to the rules, the baby only needs to pay New Year's greetings to the second grandfather, the second uncle and the third uncle. As for other people's homes, he is still too young to go or not. Yu'er is older, and the people who are familiar with each other in the village still have to go for a walk, such as Niu Dan's house, Zhao Lizheng's house, and the eight mothers-in-law's and two sisters-in-law's houses.

"Go ahead, don't ask for New Year's money." Lan Yi filled his small satchel with snacks before letting him go out. Yu'er and the baby's small satchel is also newly made, the red satchel is embroidered with white thread cartoon version of the foal, and the shoulder strap made of red thread is tied up, this year is the Year of the Horse, and it is also a good time.

Lan Yi waited at home for someone to come over to pay New Year's greetings, and also prepared dried fruit snacks and tea. A few groups of children came to the village, Lan Yi packed food for them, gave them a red envelope of two cents, and after the sun rose, everyone greeted each other for the New Year. Everyone began to clear the snow in their homes.

Although you don't need to do anything from the first day of the Lunar New Year to the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, you can't let the snow collapse the roof, right?

Later, Chen and Liu took two Niu Niu to Lan Yi's house to chat about the New Year. Lan Yi took a red envelope for the two children as usual, and took a small silver bracelet bought in the county town and put it on for them, while the three of them sat on the kang and chatted.

The three of them chatted about their plans for the year, and when they heard that Lan Yi wanted to send Yu'er to the school, Chen and Liu were strange at first, and then they understood it, and they couldn't help but be happy.

Chen thought that this little sister-in-law looked very shrewd on weekdays, but she was always a little confused in these little things. It's no wonder that her sister-in-law came back for a year, but she didn't like to inquire about things, and she didn't understand many rules in the village.

"Sister-in-law, the Yixue in our Beigou Village was built by every family in the village with money raised, and you can see it, just behind the old locust tree in the middle of the village, next to the ancestral hall of the Zhou family. Now there are several masters in the private school, among which Lei Fuzi came from a study tour, and everyone said that he was very knowledgeable, and the children liked him. But this Yixue only accepts students over the age of eight, and our Yu'er is only six years old this year, so we have to wait for two years. My family Daifuku is seven years old this year, and he can't go. ”

Lan Yi was embarrassed when she heard this, she didn't have enough common sense, she had never been clear about the ancient education system, and she only knew a thing or two about the imperial examination system, and she had never bothered about it since she came over.

After that, she spent some effort and learned from many sources that the schools in Da Zhou are divided into two categories: official and private, and the forms of private learning are flexible and diverse, and they are mainly divided into two categories: Mongolian schools and fine houses.

Mengxue has private schools that open classes all year round (the master sets up apprentices in his own home), Yixue (or Yishu, where local officials or landlords pay to hire a teacher to open a school in their hometown to educate their own people and the children of the township), and Jia Xue(many official families hire teachers to set up schools in their homes in order to educate the children of their families). There are also seasonal village schools, winter schools.

The Yixue in Beigou Village recruits students every spring, and the plan for the year lies in the meaning of spring. There are not many children in the village, and there are only three or four masters in the Yixue, each of whom is responsible for one grade. After the children in this village have been learning to read and write for three or four years, those who have learned well and have money in their families will send their children to study in the county and take the imperial examination. The other children began to help the family with farm work after graduating from the school.

Lan Yi's idea of letting Yu'er go to school failed, the child was looking forward to enrollment, and now Lan Yi had to think about how to comfort him.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Lan Yi sacrificed to the God of Wealth at home, burned the paper money she bought for the God of Wealth, and also put fish and mutton on the table to invite his old man to eat more.

At noon on the second day of the new year, she ate wontons at noon according to the custom, which is commonly known as "ingots soup", taking auspicious meanings. From the first day of the new year to the seventh day of the new year, what you eat every day is prescribed, and it can't be counted, otherwise you are afraid that the gods will blame you.

Lan Yi feels that she has passed the 20 Spring Festivals since she was a child, and this year's Spring Festival is the most cumbersome and the most festive, no wonder the children here are all counting and looking forward to the New Year.

On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Lan Yi took the donkey and took the baby at the entrance of the village to wait for Zhao Lizheng's Hua family to take the family to Huajia Village to pay New Year's greetings. She looked at the crowd and did not see her eldest daughter-in-law Wu, in addition, Lan Yi also saw Zhao Lizheng's youngest son Zhao Liangcai for the first time.

Zhao Liangcai studied in the county school on weekdays and rarely returned to the village. At this time, he was wearing a cyan Tang scarf and a cotton robe of the same color, and his elegant face was slightly smiling, and he did have a bit more literati temperament than his eldest brother.

He saw that Lan Yi just nodded slightly, and then followed his mother into the carriage, Zhao Lizheng's eldest son Zhao Liangxiu drove the ox cart, Lan Yi rode a donkey and followed the car, and everyone rushed to Huajia Village.

Huajia Village looks no different from Beigou Village, with brand-new red couplets and Fu characters pasted on the doors of every house, the total horned children running back and forth, and the loud barking of dogs one after another, these Lan Yi are used to seeing and hearing, and they don't feel new.

Wang Linshan's cousin Hua Changdong stood at the entrance of the village, and when he saw Lan Yi's mother and son riding a donkey, he hurriedly greeted them and invited them home.

Wang Linshan's third uncle went to other places to do business and was not at home, and his aunt who married outside did not come back today. Wang Linshan's grandmother saw Lan Yi's mother and son in tears, crying her hard-working daughter and grandson all the time, and pulling Lan Yi to reminisce about the past.

For some reason, Lan Yi looked at her old man like this, but she couldn't arouse a trace of sadness, so she only held the baby and bowed her head silently. Although her grandmother and several uncles, aunts, and cousins were very polite to Lan Yi's mother and son, she always felt that there was a lack of family affection, more like going through the motions, and Lan Yi felt that her grandmother's dim eyes looking at the baby had a taste of inquiry.

The grandmother cried for a while, and after leaving Lan Yi and the baby to eat, she said that she was old and wanted to rest, so she asked Hua Changye's daughter-in-law He to take Lan Yi to her to recognize the juniors.

Although Hua Changye treats Lan Yi's mother and son more affectionately, He is not like this. She only had a light smile on her face, and after giving the baby two pennies to the general public, she chatted with Lan Yi not far away. Lan Yi always felt that she was an outsider when she was with this room, they talked and laughed very lively, but she couldn't get in, so she took the baby to entertain herself, teasing him to talk, and it was easy to stay up until ten o'clock later, Lan Yi said goodbye and rode back to Beigou Village on a donkey.

When she came back, she could walk all the way to the village along the flower stream, and she was not afraid of getting lost, but the unmelted snow along the way suppressed the scenery of a thousand things, and it seemed boring and tight. R1152