Xing'an Mountains 1984: Starting from climbing mountains to support the family

Chapter 178 Sending my daughter to school

Because the weather in Northeast China is extremely cold, the members of the yangko team all wear cotton-padded jackets inside and various colorful clothes outside, and it is impossible to tell whether they are male or female.

However, everyone in the village was watching with great interest, and they just smiled and watched without caring about the cold weather.

"Dad! Mom!" Wu Ni ran over with her short legs.

"Aren't you with your fourth sister? Why are you here?" Chen Weidong asked with a smile.

"Fourth sister squeezed in, but I couldn't! She lost me!"

The little milk dumpling said aggrievedly.

"Uh~ She lost you, why didn't she say she didn't keep up."

Chen Weidong was happy. She looked inside and found that Si Ni and the others had already squeezed to the front.

"Daddy, hug me! Wu Ni can't see!" Wu Ni stretched out her little hands and said in a baby voice.

Xiaoliu in his arms became anxious. She was afraid that Chen Weidong would hug Wu Ni and not her. She immediately turned her head and hugged Chen Weidong tightly without even watching the yangko dance.

Chen Weidong was also at a loss whether to laugh or cry, but it was no problem for him to hold two children by himself. Chen Weidong squatted down holding Liu Ni and let Wu Ni ride on his shoulders.

"Woo woo woo~" Xiaowu knew that his father wanted him to "ride a big horse" and he immediately laughed happily.

Chen Weidong stood up, Wu Ni smiled happily, she could see very far.

"Dad! Where is my sister!"

"Sister~"

The little girl was calling, but it was so noisy around them that they couldn't hear her at all.
Liu Xueting was now gathered with Yang Xuehua, Zheng Xiaofang, and a few other women, chatting while watching the yangko team.

In Northeast China, Yangko troupes are usually composed of three groups of people: organizers, dancers, and bands. The so-called bands consist of only two people. However, bands are a technical job and cannot be done by just one person at the last minute. It requires years of practice or performance experience.
The yangge dancers, except for those who walk on stilts, need to have some skills, while the rest of the dancers can just follow the crowd.

The organizer of the yangko team is very important. Not only does he have to organize the yangko team, because the people in the yangko team are ordinary people, but he also has to be able to lead the yangko team to perform in various villages. This is very important.

When the Yangko team saw that there were so many people, they started to get off the bus, and those wearing performance costumes began to put their costumes in order.
Those who did not have performance costumes began to put on yangge dancing clothes, hats, masks, etc.

"Dad, what are you stepping on? It's so high! Taller than me."

"Dad, look..."

Wu Ni was on Chen Weidong's shoulder, staring at the actor on stilts with her big eyes, and asked in a baby voice.

She watched how the stilt walkers tied the stilts to their legs and how they were able to stand up.
Not only can he walk fast, but he can also do somersaults and splits on stilts. It's amazing.

Xiaoliu in Chen Weidong's arms was also humming and pointing at the yangko team with his little finger and calling for help.

The Yangko team was walking in front and soon arrived at the entrance of the village and started to perform! The band continued to play drums and music on the sled. Many children in the village followed behind the team.

Or you can run beside the team and watch the sounds of suona, gongs and drums. After the performance at the entrance of the village, the yangko team will start to travel from village to village.

Rich families or families in need in the village would invite the Yangko team to dance in front of their house for a while and pay the team.
Of course, there are many ways to pay. You can give money. In a remote place like Jiuqutun, most people only give a few cents. This yangko team likes to give money the most.

But if you don't have money, you can give other things, such as pork, grain, wine, snacks, eggs, etc.

The yangko team has a special person driving a cart who is responsible for collecting these items and storing them on the cart, pulling the cart all the way. After returning, he directly distributes them to the team members.

The Yangko team has a leader who dances according to the amount of money or the value of the things given by people.

The performance time of the yangko team in front of this house can be arranged from a few minutes to dozens of minutes.

People in the village have been inviting yangko troupes to sing and dance at their doorsteps, especially Aunt San, who is getting married this year and is willing to spend the money.

The little ones and the children in the village would take advantage of their free time to go to the Yangko team to see the costumes they liked.
Si Ni likes Sun Wukong and always follows him around. Sometimes she imitates Sun Wukong's movements and twists and turns.

Other children also imitated their favorite characters and twisted around in the crowd. When it was the most lively,
Some adults who were watching nearby also joined in, and the festive atmosphere reached its climax. However, Chen Weidong did not join in the fun.

In fact, in the Northeast, one yangko team is not the most lively. It would be more interesting if two or three of them got together.

Chen Weidong remembered that there were two groups of people who came to the village before. They happened to meet in the village. It was very interesting.

In order to show that they are stronger than their opponents, each yangko team will bring out their signature skills and compare them with the other side, which is called yangko fighting in the folks.

Every yangko team will do their best to maintain their reputation, honor and reputation.
When competing with each other, the spectators on the side are the happiest. They will cheer, cheer and applaud at the wonderful performances of both sides.

In the end, there will always be a winner, and the standard is very simple, that is, whose performance wins more applause and cheers.

After the yangko team finished the performance, they dispersed and headed towards their next destination.

There are also cases where the loser is unwilling to accept the defeat, in which case they can agree on a time to fight again. There are also cases where the loser is too proud to hold back.
Then they became angry and embarrassed, and a fight broke out between the two sides. Although this situation was relatively rare, Chen Weidong had seen a lot of it in his previous life.

Every time a fight breaks out, the children who are watching run far away and can only watch from a distance, fearing that they will get hurt if they get too close. Usually at this time, an authoritative person in the village will come out to mediate and persuade the fight to end.
This person may be a village cadre or a prestigious elder in the village. In the end, the organizers of both sides just need to shake hands and make peace.

Chen Weidong also paid 60 or 70 cents to let the Yangko team perform for a while in front of his house.
The little ones were very happy and proud to see the yangko team coming to their home.

The children in the village watched the wonderful performances and imitated their favorite characters. They returned home reluctantly only after the yangko team left the village.

In Northeast China, the Lantern Festival is very lively even after dark. Every family lights kerosene lamps and hangs a pair of big red lanterns on the doorposts on both sides of the front door.
In Jiuqutun, there is also a custom of "sending lanterns", which is to send a lantern to the deceased relatives in the ancestral graves to light their way home, and pray that they will be reincarnated as humans as soon as possible and live a happy life.

Sending lanterns during the Lantern Festival is usually done on the 14th and 15th nights of the first lunar month. Sending lanterns is also called "lighting lanterns". The lanterns were originally made of vegetable oil and wicks.

Later, red candles were used because it was said that if white candles were used, the man might be single in his next life.
When sending lanterns, people come and go in the village, and every household carries lanterns, paper money and fireworks to their ancestral graves.

Chen Weidong was holding a lantern covered with red paper, and six little girls were each holding one, holding up the small lanterns, with flames flickering.

In the open fields of Jiuqutun and on the village roads, bean-sized lights can be seen everywhere, twinkling like stars.

After sending the lanterns back, the family did not stay in the house. In the Northeast, on the night of the Lantern Festival, men, women, old and young all go out of the house and take a stroll, which is called "walking away all diseases."

People walked in groups of three or four, enjoying the fireworks and colorful lights from each house while chatting.

Although Chen Weidong didn't believe this, he just wanted to have some fun.
There is a rule that you must cross every bridge, especially for people with poor health.

It is said that if you cross a few more bridges and get rid of all diseases, you will regain your health and prolong your life.

On the night of the Lantern Festival, the most people are seen near the Tunkou Bridge in Jiuququ. Some are holding lanterns, while others are scattering lanterns. According to the old people in Tunkou, scattering lanterns is to illuminate the wandering ghosts who have no one to send lanterns or burn paper for them, so that they can hold the lanterns and be reincarnated as humans.

The lanterns can be lit by candles, small lanterns, firewood, or even diesel mixed with sawdust. The places where the lanterns are scattered are usually in the woods, fields, rivers, and secluded paths.

The little boys in the village love to do this the most, so the whole village road and the fields next to it are lit up.

The little girls played until they were tired and then went home.

"Dad, when is the New Year?" Wu Ni asked in a baby voice just after returning home.

Chen Weidong and Liu Xueting were also at a loss whether to laugh or cry when they heard this. Wasn't the Chinese New Year just over?

……

After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, it was the end of February 85 in the Gregorian calendar.

As March approaches, the temperature in Northeast China begins to gradually warm up.

Although it is warming up, the temperature is still below zero degrees, but it is no longer like before the New Year, when it was often minus 30 or 40 degrees Celsius.

The current temperature is about minus 27 or 28 degrees Celsius.

Various productions in the interior of China have begun to resume, but the winter in the Northeast has not yet ended.
Once the temperature rises and the snow in the mountains melts,
It will be even colder then!
The school starts in Northeast China more than a week later than in the mainland.

Therefore, Chen Weidong did not go into the mountains these days, but he was not idle either. He called Shitou and Bingzi to chop some trees every day.

Chen Weidong plans to build a small wooden house next to the yard to dry animal furs! Otherwise, the house smells really bad.

Since it was a small wooden house, it was relatively simple, and with the help of father Chen Guangtian and eldest brother Chen Weihai, it was almost finished in just a few days.

On this day, Dani and Erni finally started school!

However, Dani and Erni do not need to go too early, because Dani and Erni are transfer students and need to wait for the teacher to arrange their seats, so they do not need to fight for seats. If school starts in the fall, generally, seats need to be fought for in advance.

After breakfast, Chen Weidong drove a donkey cart with Da Ni and Er Ni to Yushugou Primary School.

On the way, Chen Weidong took the opportunity to tell them: "Da Ni, Er Ni, you will go to school in the future, study hard. Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't study well, just work hard!"

"Er Ni, don't cause trouble at school, but don't be afraid of trouble!"

"..."

Chen Weidong talked a lot, which broke his father's heart.

It is said that a mother worries about her son even when he is far away.

In fact, my father... was also worried, but he just kept it to himself most of the time.

Even if it is a primary school very close to me,
In his previous life, his eldest and second daughters never went to school, so Chen Weidong owed his children too much.

"Dad, don't worry! I will study hard!" said Dani.

"I'll study hard too! As long as no one messes with me, I won't beat them up."

Erni also nodded.

(End of this chapter)