Travel through the farmhouse leisurely

Chapter 142 New Year's Eve (2)
And the hasty footsteps, which couldn't be more obvious.

The folks in the village are taking advantage of the last day of the end of the year to make up for the new year's things that they forgot and didn't buy at home.

Lin Xiaoqiao's family finished their breakfast in a hurry, and Mrs. Li also started to get busy in the evening, the family's New Year's Eve dinner, besides that, she also had to prepare dumpling stuffing for the family to watch the new year.

Moreover, the dishes to be prepared on New Year's Eve today are all big dishes. If Mrs. Li is busy alone, it is estimated that she will really have to have three heads and six arms to be busy. Fortunately, Widow Zheng will come to help today.

What's more, there are sister Lin Xiaoqiao who are following in the kitchen to fight. In this way, Li's burden is relieved a lot, and he is relieved.

As for the two brothers Lin Erniu and Dalang Erlang, their task today is to tear up the old couplets and replace them with new ones.

This year, Lin Xiaoqiao's family's couplets were all written by Chen Xuewen. Now that Chen Xuewen has the status of a scholar, at the end of the year, many people will come to the door to ask for a couplet, and take them home to stick.

Faced with such small requests from these simple folks, Chen Xuewen satisfied them one by one and wrote every couplet carefully. However, he refused some local products sent by the folks, such as eggs, pork, etc. thing.

Therefore, Chen Xuewen is also very busy at home these few days, and has almost no time to visit the Lin family, but waits at home all day for folks who come to ask to write couplets.

And those folks whose demands were met, saw Chen Xuewen's modest and gentle attitude, and they all praised Chen Xuewen. After expressing their sincere thanks, they carefully took the couplet home as if they were holding something rare. up.

Everyone else can ask for Chen Xuewen's couplets, so Lin Xiaoqiao's family, as his future father-in-law's family, naturally has nothing to say. Without Lin Erniu or Li's asking, Chen Xuewen wrote the couplets early and sent them in person. come over.

The two brothers Lin Erniu and Dalang Erlang, like those folks, also cherished the couplets written by Chen Xuewen. According to them, they should follow the blessing of the scholar master.

This matter provoked Lin Xiaoqiao to complain repeatedly, and he could only lament that the ignorance of these ancient people was too superstitious.

After breakfast, Lin Erniu, father and son also started to tear up the old couplets one by one, and replaced them with new couplets written by Chen Xuewen.

Lin Xiaoqiao watched the posture of the three of them posting couplets, Lin Erniu was directing from below, while the two brothers Dalang Erlang were stepping on stools and pasting new couplets outside the gate of the courtyard.

The couplets were compared and compared, and it was almost as long as a cup of tea, but they still couldn't find the most accurate position to paste them. They felt that they were a little bit to the left for a while, and a little bit to the right for a while. Lin Xiaoqiao was speechless to the extreme. As for being so cautious, even if she didn't post it well, wouldn't it be enough to ask her brother Xuewen to write a new one? good pair.

After so many comparisons, the location of the post was finally determined. Dalang Erlang still carefully pasted the couplet. After posting, the father and son looked at it and nodded, feeling that the location was finally right. .

Lin Xiaoqiao also went over to have a look at this pair of couplets that Dalang Erlang and his son took great care of. The first couplet reads "Smooth sailing and good year every year" and the second couplet reads "Everything goes well with backgammon". There is also a horizontal comment: Auspicious stars shine brightly.

This pair of couplets is really well written. The auspicious and festive meanings are all written out, which is very in line with the atmosphere of welcoming the New Year, and the words are also very grand.

After Lin Xiaoqiao finished reading this couplet, she was called by Mrs. Li to go to the kitchen to help out. Today, the work in the kitchen is the most complicated.

Therefore, the mother and daughter of Li and Widow Zheng who came to help, the four of them worked hard for a whole day, and they didn't finish their work until it was almost dark.

At noon, Lin Xiaoqiao's family and Widow Zheng's mother and son hurriedly took a few mouthfuls of food. Everyone ate some noodles hastily and then went back to work.

The three of Lin Erniu, father and son were relatively leisurely, and after posting the couplets inside and outside the house, they could go to rest.

But Li Shi and the others couldn't do it. The fire in the kitchen stove hadn't been extinguished, and they were cooking things non-stop.

After all the things are ready and the busy work is over, everyone still can't sit down to eat and rest, but to prepare the sacrifices one by one, first to worship the ancestors.

This year, Lin Xiaoqiao's family has separated, so they don't need to go back to the old house to worship, and they can worship at home by themselves.

The offerings for worshiping the ancestors are actually somewhat particular. In addition to the corresponding fruits, there are also four meaty dishes such as chicken, duck and fish, and four different kinds of vegetarian dishes. Among these four kinds of vegetarian dishes, there must be some Tofu.

Moreover, when worshiping the ancestors, it can only be done after the Li family is ready, and Lin Erniu leads the two brothers Dalang Erlang to kowtow to worship.

It was the turn of Lin Xiaoqiao's family to sit down and enjoy the New Year's Eve dinner together after the ancestors had run out.

This year's New Year's Eve, apart from Lin Xiaoqiao's family, Chen Xuewen's mother and son were also invited to spend with them.

Due to the unusual relationship between the two families, and the fact that the mother and son celebrated the New Year's Eve together, it seemed a little deserted. Therefore, Widow Zheng did not make any excuses this time, and accepted the invitation to spend the New Year's Eve with them.

After almost a whole day of busy work by the four of them, the dishes prepared are naturally very rich, with both meat and vegetables. , almost couldn't be placed.

Lin Xiaoqiao looked at a table full of nearly thirty dishes, and didn't know where to put the chopsticks in his hand. Finally, he listened to Chen Xuewen's advice and started with the one closest to him, which was the most convenient. I started to eat the dish.

Everyone chatted and laughed while eating delicious dishes, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

Today, as the last day of the year-end, Lin Erniu specially opened a small jar of rice wine and poured a glass for everyone. Everyone toasted together, said auspicious words of blessing to each other, clinked glasses and ate wine.

In order to liven up the atmosphere, the two brothers, Dalang and Erlang, even played Baolai in front of everyone. They were talking oboe and telling jokes, which caused everyone to burst into laughter from time to time.

Because, in the main room of Lin Xiaoqiao's house, there was a continuous sound of laughter, clinking glasses, and eating vegetables all of a sudden.

(End of this chapter)