60s: I have a store

Chapter 348 Chinese New Year

After seeing this scene, Zhou Yimin was also very happy. He went back into the house and took out two more strings of fifty-shot firecrackers.

Then he said loudly: "Come here and line up."

This kind of behavior would definitely be criticized in the future. Once a child gets into trouble, he will suffer.

When the children heard Zhou Yimin’s words, they knew there was something they could get.

They all came rushing over to line up, and soon the line was neatly formed.

Zhou Yimin began to distribute firecrackers to the children in line. Each person got two or three firecrackers. Although they could not compare with Lai Fu and the others, after all they were Zhou Yimin’s younger brothers and sisters.

Even if they are not biological children, they are still cousins!
After receiving the firecrackers, the children all thanked Zhou Yimin.

After seeing this, Gouzi felt very regretful. If he hadn't rushed forward to grab the firecracker, would he have gotten a share? But it was too late to say anything now.

After receiving the firecrackers, the children started setting them off.

Suddenly, the whole Zhoujiazhuang was filled with the sound of endless firecrackers.

It gets dark quickly in winter, so it’s already dark before the firecrackers have even been set off for long.

Zhou Yimin bought some fireworks from the store. He hadn't set off fireworks for a long time in later generations. There was no other way. In later generations, many cities banned the setting off of fireworks, or they could only be set off in specific places.

Just when the old man and Zhou Yimin's grandmother were still watching TV, they were pulled out by Zhou Yimin.

Zhou Yimin lit the fireworks in the yard.

As the fuse was lit, bunches of fireworks quickly rushed into the sky and then bloomed in the air.

Fireworks and firecrackers are the traditional cultural heritage of the Chinese nation. For thousands of years, the culture of fireworks and firecrackers has been flowing in the blood of the Chinese nation, just like the Yangtze River and the Yellow River.

From national celebrations to folk weddings and funerals, from the birth of a baby to the death of an old person, fireworks and firecrackers are indispensable.

It can be said that fireworks and firecrackers have concentrated the wisdom of the working people of our country over thousands of years of history, played their unique functions, and formed unique cultural connotations.

The Spring Festival is a particularly important festival for Chinese people. Celebrating the New Year amid the sound of firecrackers is a Chinese romance that has lasted for thousands of years.

Fireworks and firecrackers are not only a symbol of the New Year atmosphere, but also a spiritual sustenance for driving away the Nian beast, curing diseases and exorcising evil spirits in traditional stories.

When the villagers of Zhoujiazhuang heard the fireworks exploding in the sky, they couldn't help but go out to take a look. There was no doubt that it was Zhou Yimin who was setting off the fireworks. Zhou Yimin's family was the only one in the village who could afford to set off fireworks. In this age when even food and clothing became a problem, who had money to buy fireworks and other things?

But it does not prevent the villagers of Zhoujiazhuang from watching it!

They haven't seen fireworks for a long time. The last time they saw them was last time.

It was only in the village that Zhou Yimin played so recklessly.

After seeing the fireworks, the old man and grandmother Zhou Yimin did not clamor to watch TV at first, but stood in front of the door and watched the fireworks quietly.

The fireworks didn't last long before they were over.

Seeing that there were no fireworks to watch, everyone went back into the house to warm up, especially lying on the kang, which was so comfortable that they didn't realize how comfortable it was.

If we were in the Northeast region in the future, there would still be heating supply, and it would be very warm at home, and we could wear short sleeves and eat popsicles.

Back in the house, the old man and Grandma Zhou Yimin continued watching TV.

Zhou Yimin was bored and watched it too. Soon the TV program was over and everyone went back to their rooms to sleep. Zhou Yimin was woken up by the sound of firecrackers in the early morning. There was nothing he could do. At the beginning of the year, every household would set off firecrackers to welcome the new year. If the family was better off, they would buy more and louder firecrackers. If the family was not so well off, they would buy fewer and louder ones.

In later times, some cities would set off firecrackers all night long, causing people to not be able to sleep all night.

As soon as Zhou Yimin got up, he saw the old man setting off firecrackers and immediately covered his ears.

Soon the sound of firecrackers spread.

“Bang, bang.”

Zhou Yimin saw his grandmother washing things with cold water and hurried over to her: "Grandma, why don't you use hot water?"

This had been mentioned before when the weather was not so cold, and Zhou Yimin's grandmother agreed immediately, saying that she would use hot water to wash dishes or other things in the future.

You know, he saw many women in the hospital with dislocated and swollen hand joints. This was because they used cold water to wash things when the weather was cold. And in today's weather, if you use cold water to wash things, you will get frostbite on your hands and suffer from joint diseases.

Grandma Zhou Yimin smiled awkwardly, not expecting to be caught by Zhou Yimin: "It's not very cold now, isn't it a waste of firewood to use hot water?"

Whether burning wood or coal, it either costs money or requires going up the mountain to chop wood.

"It's not like we can't afford heating at home. We must use hot water to wash things next time." Zhou Yimin said very seriously.

When Zhou Yimin's grandmother heard her grandson's serious voice, she knew there was no room for negotiation: "Okay, just do as my dear grandson says."

After saying that, she turned around, went in and got a kettle of hot water, then poured it over the cold water before continuing to wash the dishes.

For the old people in Sichuan, the first meal of the New Year is to eat dumplings in the morning.

As there is a folk saying that one should not use a knife on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the dumplings for the first day of the Lunar New Year must be made on New Year’s Eve.

The old people in Sijiucheng pay attention to making dumplings together as a family on New Year’s Eve. After midnight, they start eating dumplings, and the remaining dumplings are used for the first meal of dumplings on the first day of the New Year.

In the old city, in addition to paying New Year's greetings on the first day of the Lunar New Year, people also get up early to eat dumplings. After eating dumplings, they start paying New Year's greetings. At the same time, the family should also prepare a snack box with nuts, melon seeds and other mixed foods to entertain the guests who pay New Year's greetings.

Zhou Yimin took the dumplings that he had wrapped the night before and went in to cook them.

It’s good to be in the north. The cold weather is like a natural refrigerator. If you have leftover meat or other things, you can just leave them in the yard without worrying about them going bad.

The dumplings were cooked quickly, and Zhou Yimin and the other two sat together to eat their first meal of the New Year.

After eating, Zhou Yimin didn’t want to visit other people’s homes to wish them a happy new year, so he stayed at home.

The old man took out a bulging red envelope and said, "Yimin, this is a red envelope from the two of us."

Although the money is not much, it is a token of their appreciation.

Then, Grandpa and Grandma also gave Qianqian two.

Zhou Yimin didn't hesitate and took it directly. This red envelope was the first one he received after traveling through time.

He didn't care about the size of the red envelope, but the thought behind it.

Children nowadays love to pay New Year’s greetings very much, so that they can receive red envelopes, and then use the money to buy firecrackers, or the money may be confiscated directly by their parents.

It is very popular in later generations. Your parents will keep your New Year's money for you and then return it to you after you turn 18.

(End of this chapter)