Reborn in 1981, the first to get rich start with dairy cows.

New Year's Eve finally arrived, and Shen Dong was woken up just as dawn was breaking.

He has a lot to do today, so he needs to hurry.

In Pengcheng, the first thing to do after getting up on New Year's Eve is not to eat breakfast, but to sweep the yard, wipe the doors, and wash the windows.

"Welcome the New Year with a clean and tidy home" means sweeping away all the bad luck and dust of the past year.

It's been quite cold these past few days, and buckets of water left outside will freeze, so he put two buckets of water inside beforehand.

First, they wiped the door frame and the door panel. Shen Min was standing to the side with a feather duster, dusting haphazardly inside and outside the house, making dust everywhere. This made Shen Dong cough. Shen Min was laughing loudly, but then she suddenly coughed as if something had fallen into her throat.

After finishing all that, the brother and sister finally started eating breakfast.

After finishing their meal, the two went to Shen Changping's place.

There was a large table in the courtyard with a stack of red paper on it, and a calligraphy brush and an inkstone next to it.

"Grandpa!" Shen Dong greeted him, and seeing Shen Weiguo sitting to the side, he deliberately suggested, "Uncle, why don't you write it this year?"

Shen Weiguo was eager to try, but thinking of his limited education and terrible handwriting, he smiled sheepishly and said, "No, your grandpa can do it!"

In previous years, Shen Changping wrote the calligraphy at home. As one of the few cultured people in the team, he had beautiful handwriting.

It's only seven or eight o'clock now; if we wait a little longer, someone will come asking for Spring Festival couplets.

Shen Changping stopped and thought for a moment: "Dongzi, how about you give me a hint on what to write this year?"

Shen Dong was prepared and calmly said, "First line: Abundant harvests welcome the New Year; Second line: Family joy celebrates the bountiful year; Horizontal scroll: May all your wishes come true."

"Okay!" Shen Changping nodded, read it aloud again, and then bent down to write it down.

Red paper with black characters, the strokes of the pen are vigorous.

After the writing dried, Shen Dong first applied paste to the door, then aligned it with the door frame and pasted it on.

Once the Spring Festival couplets are pasted on the gate, the whole courtyard immediately looks like it's Chinese New Year.

After pasting up the Spring Festival couplets, there are also the character "福" (fortune), window decorations, and door decorations.

Sure enough, after the Spring Festival couplets were put up at home, someone from the team arrived right on time.

Seeing that it was almost time, Shen Weimin came over and called Shen Weiguo and the children to go to the grave together.

On New Year's Eve, paying respects to ancestors is an essential part of the celebration.

Firstly, it's a way to express one's grief and let the deceased know that the living are doing well; secondly, it's a way to burn paper money to let the ancestors live a better life.

Nowadays, most rural areas still practice traditional burial: a coffin, a set of funeral clothes, and they are simply buried in a pit.

The cemetery was all mounds of earth, not as neatly planned as in later times, and there weren't even any stone tablets; it was purely identified by the naked eye.

First, we paid respects to our great-grandfather's generation, and then we paid respects to Shen Fang's family.

A bundle of yellow paper, a few sticks of incense, a string of firecrackers—that's all it takes to complete the worship at a grave.

Shen Dong and Shen Min knelt before Shen Fang's grave, spread out the yellow paper, lit it with a match, and the flames shot up with a "whoosh," the ashes being swept upwards by the wind.

"Mom, Xiaomin and I are both fine. I hope you are doing well over there. Please bless our family with peace and good health."

He kowtowed.

After burning the paper money, Shen Weiguo lit a small firecracker, which crackled and popped. The group patted the dirt off their knees and headed home along the ridge of the field.

Lunch was simple, but dinner was the main event. So we took out some of the vegetables we had prepared over the past few days, chopped and stir-fried them, and quickly finished cooking for the whole family.

Shen Dong had nothing to do in the afternoon, so he rode his bike to Qiu Xiaoqin's house.

"What brings you here?" Qiu Xiaoqin was surprised to see Shen Dong and smiled shyly.

"I came to see you." Shen Dong greeted Qiu Xiaojun, then went into the kitchen to check on things. "Are you all done?"

"Dad, who is this?" Wang Li sat on the stool, looking at Shen Dong with a serious expression.

Qiu Xiaojun could only walk over and lean against his mother, saying, "This is Xiaoqin's classmate, Shen Dong."

"Hello, Auntie!" Shen Dong forced a smile and greeted her.

"Oh, classmate, have you finished your homework?" Wang Li smiled.

"It's done."

"Okay, you classmates can chat."

As she spoke, Wang Li continued her needlework.

Shen Dong and Qiu Xiaoqin went outside to talk.

As they were talking, a middle-aged man they didn't recognize walked in.

"Second Uncle!" Qiu Xiaoqin called out.

"There are people at home! We're having dinner at your grandpa's tonight. Your uncle said he called you but you wouldn't come, so I had to come and call you myself."

Qiu Xiaoqin's second uncle is named Qiu Zhonghu. He first nodded to Shen Dong.

"No, everything's ready at home. I can just go with my mom."

"How can that be? That would make us a laughingstock. If you don't come, your grandpa will be here soon."

"No, Second Uncle, we're doing just fine on our own. If we go over for the New Year, everyone will be unhappy. Let's separate," Qiu Xiaojun said, walking out and leaning against the doorframe.

"You guys, keep making a scene!" Qiu Zhonghu said curtly and left.

Shen Dong glanced at Qiu Xiaoqin's face and, seeing that she seemed unaffected, knew that this matter wouldn't affect her. He then casually said, "Actually, the three of you are doing quite well together. It's good to be family!"

"Brother-in-law, my sister thinks the same way!"

Ever since Qiu Xiaoqin returned home yesterday with a radiant smile, Qiu Xiaojun has been pressing him about how things are going between his older sister and Shen Dong. Even though Qiu Xiaoqin has kept quiet and hasn't said anything, he still understands.

This time, she immediately took advantage of the situation and called him "brother-in-law".

After chatting for a while, Shen Dong was chased away by Qiu Xiaoqin. Who stays at someone else's house on New Year's Eve?

Before it got dark and the sun was still setting, everyone started eating their New Year's Eve dinner.

The elderly say that the New Year's Eve dinner should be eaten while the sun is shining, because the sunset marks the end of the day and also symbolizes the end of the old year.

So around 4 o'clock, Shen Weimin started calling everyone to sit down at the table.

The New Year's Eve dinner at this time each has a symbolic meaning:

There must be fish: symbolizing abundance year after year.

There must be meatballs: symbolizing family reunion.

A chicken is a must: it brings great fortune.

There must be fried food: it's a must for good luck and prosperity.

As one hot dish after another was served, everyone began to find seats.

There are two tables in total. Last year, Shen Dong was sitting at the children's table, but this year he has "upgraded" and is now sitting at the adults' table.

My two aunts and grandmother were cooking in the kitchen and didn't come to the table.

There is a custom here that women don't sit at the table, but because there are so many dishes, they do need to stay in the kitchen. When these two situations come together, it seems quite normal for women not to sit at the table.

Shen Dong had already prepared the wine: Wutijiang Daqu, a famous wine from the neighboring Binhai.

He was the youngest in terms of seniority at the table, so naturally he was the one to pour the wine, filling the cups for his grandfather and two uncles before pouring for himself.

Shen Changping picked it up and smelled it: "Good wine!"

"Hehe, sir, I know you like this kind of food, but I specially asked someone to buy it for me. I couldn't find it at the regional supply and marketing cooperative last time."

"I'll buy two bottles for your uncle next time, they smell really good," Shen Weiguo said.

Just then, Shen Dong's aunt brought over the dishes, and Shen Dong suggested that everyone raise a glass together. His aunt then pulled his grandmother over as well.

Two tables full of 12 people, raising their glasses together:

happy New Year!