CHAPTER 183: CHAPTER 183: IT’S NEW YEAR’S DAY~

183 Celebrating the New Year!

Bright and early, Zhao Zhitong, Zhao Ya, Zhao Cheng, and Zhao Yu climbed out of their warm blankets because today they could finally wear their new clothes! Their new clothes had been made for some time, and they had been yearning to wear them. Sun Mei had forbidden them to wear the clothes, saying they were for the New Year and could only be worn during the festivities. These little radishes had been looking forward to this day for a very long time.

Last night before bed, under the children’s sparkling gazes, Sun Mei had brought out everyone’s new clothes and placed them by their bedsides. The children were so excited they almost couldn’t fall asleep. Sure enough, as soon as the sky began to brighten, they all clambered out of bed, put on their new clothes and shoes, and then sat on their beds, reluctant to get down. If Zhao Dong hadn’t mentioned they would be putting up couplets after breakfast, Zhao Zhitong probably wouldn’t have borne to let her new shoes touch the ground.

At breakfast, Sun Mei had specially scooped out a large bowl of flour-and-water mixture to cool. Once it cooled down, it became the paste they would use to hang the couplets in this era without adhesive tape. No sooner had they finished breakfast than the little ones couldn’t wait, tugging Zhao Dong along to start putting up the couplets.

After some discussion, they decided to start from the backyard. So, Zhao Dong carried the cooled paste, a stack of couplets tucked under one arm, and trailed by a string of little radishes, bustled into the backyard.

Upon arrival, Zhao Dong placed the couplets on the stone table in the backyard. Zhao Zhitong and the others gathered around and began to look through the couplets with him. By now, Zhao Cheng, Zhao Yu, and Zhao Ya could recognize quite a few characters and were getting better at arithmetic. They all stared intently at the couplets.

Zhao Ya held up a four-character couplet and exclaimed happily, "I recognize these characters! It says ’Abundant Harvest of Five Grains’!"

Zhao Zhitong cupped her little face in her hands, her big eyes twinkling, and said with playful exaggeration, "Wow, Sister Yaya, you’re so amazing!"

Zhao Ya’s little face immediately turned rosy red.

Zhao Dong brushed paste on the door and stuck up the door gods. Hearing the children, he smiled and asked, "Alright then, where do you think we should put this ’Abundant Harvest of Five Grains’ couplet?"

Hearing this, the little ones pondered for a moment. Zhao Zhitong’s eyes lit up, and she said excitedly, "Daddy, in the warehouse!"

Zhao Dong nodded with a smile. "Yes, good idea." Then he called out, "Quick, stop looking! You lot, come over and help me see if the couplets on both sides are level."

The little ones rushed over.

"A bit higher... whoops, too high! Lower it just a tad..."

Then, the little ones started shouting directions, one moment "Too high!" the next "Too low!", chirping away happily. Under the command of Zhao Zhitong and the others, the couplets still ended up misaligned...

Looking at the lopsided couplets, Zhao Dong felt these children were thoroughly unreliable. He picked out the four-character couplets, handed them to Zhao Zhitong, and said, "Here, take your Xiao Ge and Sister Yaya and figure out where these should go. Zhao Cheng can stay and help me."

"Wow!" Zhao Zhitong’s eyes lit up instantly. Blinking, she asked, "Daddy, are you really letting us put them up?"

Zhao Dong chuckled. "If you decide where they go and can reach them, then go ahead and put them up."

"Yay!"

Zhao Zhitong immediately bounced with joy, as if entrusted with a momentous task. She solemnly took the couplets from Zhao Dong, then led Zhao Ya and Zhao Yu off to huddle and study them.

They had already decided on the "Abundant Harvest of Five Grains," so the three little ones prepared to put this one up first.

"What should we use to stick it?" Zhao Ya asked.

"Daddy’s paste, of course!" Zhao Zhitong declared. "I’ll go ask Mama for another bowl!" With that, she trotted off toward the front courtyard.

"Little sister, wait for us! Let’s go together!" Zhao Ya and Zhao Yu called out, hurrying after her.

By the time the three little ones ran breathlessly into the kitchen, Sun Mei was boiling radishes for that evening’s dumpling filling.

Zhao Zhitong ran right up and hugged Sun Mei. "Mama, Mama, can you give us a bowl and help us make a brush, please?"

Adding a stick of firewood to the stove, Sun Mei asked, "What do you need those for?"

"We’re going to put up couplets!" the three children replied in unison.

Sun Mei chuckled, wiped her hands, and went to the bedroom, returning shortly with a piece of old cloth. She wrapped the cloth around a wooden stick and tied it securely, creating a makeshift brush for spreading paste on the door panels. Then she took a bowl from the cupboard and handed it to the three of them, saying, "Be careful now."

The three little ones nodded vigorously, then trotted back to the backyard. They scooped a small half of the paste from Zhao Dong’s bowl and, carrying their own bowl, ran off to the warehouse. Zhao Dong had asked Carpenter Wang to make some wooden rings. When fitted together and stacked, they could be used for storing grain. At that time, there were two tall grain bins in the warehouse.

Zhao Zhitong suggested, "Let’s paste them on the grain bins."

Zhao Yu and Zhao Ya nodded in agreement.

The three little ones then sprang into action: Zhao Ya held the paste bowl, Zhao Yu brushed the paste onto the grain bins, and Zhao Zhitong carefully stuck the couplets on. Once they were done, the three of them felt a huge sense of accomplishment and joyfully ran back outside.

For couplets that needed to be placed high up, the little ones fetched stools to stand on. Indeed, no difficulty could deter these resourceful children. For a while, the courtyard was filled with their continuous, playful laughter, making it exceptionally lively.

By the time they had finished putting up all the couplets, it was nearly noon. Zhao Dong began to help Sun Mei chop the meat filling.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

The rhythmic sound of the knife striking the cutting board echoed from the kitchen.

Sun Mei squeezed the water from the cooked radishes and placed the dried radishes into a basin. She then mixed them with the chopped pork, ginger-scallion water, and various seasonings to create the dumpling filling. For the New Year celebration here, they always made radish and pork dumplings. Once the filling was thoroughly mixed, its delicious aroma filled the air even before they started wrapping the dumplings.

Zhao Zhitong and Zhao Ya squatted nearby, watching intently.

"Mama," Zhao Zhitong said, "I want to help wrap dumplings later too!"

Zhao Ya eagerly raised her hand. "Me too!" she exclaimed.

Zhao Yu and Zhao Cheng were not to be outdone.

Sun Mei smiled. "Alright," she said. "Later, I’ll roll out the dumpling wrappers, and you can all wrap the dumplings."

Of course, the little ones weren’t very skilled at wrapping, so when they were finished, the dumplings came in all sorts of peculiar shapes. Nevertheless, they were thrilled, convinced that the dumplings they had wrapped themselves would surely be the most delicious.

With the crackle of firecrackers, Sun Mei dished out a few bowls of dumplings and began the offerings to the God of Wealth and the Stove God. Zhao Zhitong and the others followed Sun Mei’s lead, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing several times to the God of Wealth.

After the offerings were complete, each of the little ones received a bowl of fragrant, steaming dumplings. Holding their bowls, they gathered around the table and began to eat with delight.

Zhao Dong suddenly remembered something and asked, "Aren’t we going to the village Ancestral Hall tomorrow to pay respects to our ancestors?"

Sun Mei thought for a moment. "Yes, I believe so."

In her memory, every first day of the New Year, the Zhao Family members would go to the Ancestral Hall to worship their ancestors. However, only the eldest son of the main wife from each branch could actually enter the Ancestral Hall as a representative to perform the ritual offerings. Mrs. Wang of the Zhao Clan House had always been dissatisfied with this. She wanted her son, Zhao Chun, to represent their branch at the offerings. But with their eldest brother, Zhao Xia, around, it was never Zhao Chun’s turn. Now that their eldest brother was gone, it should logically be Zhao Dong who would go as the representative for their branch during the ancestral worship ceremony.