Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 723 Chinese New Year
January 27th, the 1th day of the twelfth lunar month, Lunar New Year's Eve.

As dawn broke, Chen Fan got up and washed. None of his apprentices would be coming today. They wanted to, but their master wouldn't allow it, so he had to do all the sweeping, cleaning, and cooking himself.

We can't let my uncle and cousin do it, we need to know how to do it ourselves.

After getting dressed and going downstairs, Chen Fan looked at the rooms on the first floor. Both rooms had their doors tightly closed. He could clearly hear breathing sounds coming from inside the rooms.

They're all sleeping soundly.

Okay, no need to rush to make breakfast.

I put on the big leather shoes that Captain Xiao had given me two years ago, opened the door, and a snow-white expanse came into view.

Well, it was sunny for only a few days, and then it started snowing again last night. In half a night, the earth was covered in white snow again.

Stepping across the threshold, I closed the door behind me, then walked through the eaves and towards the back of the house.

Just then, the kitchen door suddenly opened, and a dog's head peeked out. Looking at Chen Fan's back, Duoduo happily wagged its tail and chased after him along the eaves.

Qiuqiu followed closely behind, but neither dog barked, only whimpered, their tails wagging like fans, clearly very happy.

When they arrived at the livestock shed at the back, two horses and two sheep were fast asleep. However, as soon as Chen Fan approached, the two horses snorted, opened their eyes, and looked around. When they saw who it was, they immediately stood up and made soft whinnying sounds.

Chen Fan stepped forward, first patted the heads of the two horses, and then pulled out some hay to feed them.

After they had eaten their fill, we put saddles on them.

Although he's been quite busy these past few days, eating out every day, Chen Fan still managed to work hard after returning home each night to make a new saddle, and then fitted both the old and new ones with it.

He then mounted the pony and rode towards the front yard.

Upon reaching the front, several birds were startled awake. The Eurasian Hobby and the Gyrfalcon circled in the air, and even the Mynah pokes its head out of its nest, cooing a few times without uttering a sound.

Only the panda enclosure remained quiet, with three giant pandas sleeping soundly inside, comparable to Zhou Yali and the two golden monkeys beside her.

Chen Fan, wearing gloves, lightly flicked the reins, and the ponies immediately ran down the slope, then turned east and onto the embankment.

The mare followed closely beside her, half a body length behind, trotting lightly through the snow.

Following the dike northwards, we soon arrived at Lujiawan Wharf of Team 7.

Although another wharf was built downstream due to the Lujiawan Industrial Park in Nanhu Commune Town, the wharf of Team 7 is still in use. It is mainly used by the transport team to supply poultry, braised food, vegetables and other materials to the prefectural committee and Gufeng County, as well as to supply large units such as machinery factories and cotton mills.

Every morning at 7 o'clock, a boat would depart from here, delivering goods to the prefectural committee's north-facing cargo wharf and then to the county town's wharf.

So it gets very lively here in the morning.

When Chen Fan arrived, the transport team was loading cages of poultry onto the ship.

In the snow, the two horses stood out. Before he could get close, two men came to greet him. From a distance, Chen Fan recognized them as Yang Jiamin and Xiao Huaqiang, who had previously traveled to Shanghai with him.

Not long after returning from Shanghai, the two got married and then retired from the militia company, relinquishing their status as members of the brigade's directly subordinate militia squad and becoming full-time transport team members.

That was good luck, as it saved them the trouble of being conscripted.

As Yang Jiamin drew closer, he called out, "Teacher Chen, why are you here so early today? Is something the matter?"

Chen Fan dismounted, threw the reins onto the horse's back, and walked straight over without paying any attention to them. "I need your help with something."

He walked up to her, took out a cigarette and offered it to her, then lit one for himself as well.

Yang Jiamin took the cigarette, lit it, and chuckled, "Don't tell me you're asking us for help, it scares me. Just tell us what you need, and we'll do it."

Chen Fan looked at him, then at Xiao Huaqiang, and smiled, "I remember you used a van to deliver goods, right? When you're back from your deliveries, could you please pick up my girlfriend from the cotton mill?"

He paused for a moment, then explained, "I didn't mean to trouble you, but it's snowing, and I was worried about their safety coming by car..."

Before he could finish speaking, Yang Jiamin waved his hands repeatedly, "What are you saying? It's just a small matter, why are you talking about trouble? It's Jiang, the educated youth from the cotton mill, the factory director's daughter, right? I know her. I'll personally drive over to pick her up later and make sure she gets home safely."

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow. "Hey, you got your driver's license?"

Yang Jiamin exhaled a puff of smoke, grinned and chuckled, "I still have to thank you for this. You managed to get a lot of training slots from the prefectural committee's driving school, and the brigade arranged for a group of people to go. I'm good at driving the horse-drawn carriage, so I was selected. Even the 350 yuan tuition fee was paid by the brigade headquarters."

Xiao Huaqiang, standing next to him, nodded and smiled, "Me too, we're in the same batch."

Chen Fan nodded, "That's great. Once the Lujiawan Industrial Park develops, you'll have plenty to do."

After chatting for a while, all the goods had been loaded onto the ship, and Yang Jiamin and Xiao Huaqiang said goodbye and left.

Chen Fan could park his car at the prefectural committee's Chengbei freight terminal, but Secretary Yang and his team couldn't bear to part with it. So, every time they delivered goods, they would put a gangplank on the ship, drive the car onto the ship, and take it with them.

Watching the two men steadily drive the car onto the ship, and the cargo ship slowly leave the shore, Chen Fan waved goodbye to the deliverymen before riding away.

He didn't go back to Team 6, nor did he go through Team 7. Instead, he crossed the field path and went straight to Team 5.

Today is a special day; it's New Year's Eve, so he doesn't enter other people's homes. When he encounters a house guarding the gate, Chen Fan just smiles and greets them, then passes by without going in.

They waited until they reached Master Lu's house before dismounting.

Old Master Lu was quietly busy at home. The old man was all alone, but he didn't look lonely or dejected at all. The door to the main room was wide open, letting the wind and snow blow in. He was busy in the kitchen, obviously preparing a big feast for New Year's Eve.

Chen Fan went inside, craned his neck to look, and laughed, "You're living a good life, getting such a big rooster."

Master Lu turned around, holding up a bun of eggs in his hand. "Does your rooster lay eggs?"

Chen Fan wasn't embarrassed at all. He put his hands behind his back and laughed, "Your hen has a really big comb, almost as big as a rooster's."

Master Lu grunted twice, packed the cleaned chicken into a container, then washed his hands and said, "I heard your uncle came over. Why aren't you at home busy preparing for the family reunion dinner? What are you doing here?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "We're taking you over for the New Year's Eve reunion."

"A family reunion dinner?"

Master Lu wiped his hands clean with a rag and looked at him in surprise, "Even if you acknowledge me as your master, you should come to pay your respects on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Why would you invite me over for a New Year's celebration? That's not reasonable!"

Chen Fan followed him out, smiling as he said, "This is a principle that people have established. A hundred years ago, there was no Spring Festival, but now we're used to celebrating it."

In ancient times, the "New Year's Day" was not January 1st of the Gregorian calendar, but the first day of the first lunar month. It was called the New Year's Day worship ceremony, and it was also called the "first month".

Even the "first month" was not fixed at first. The Xia Dynasty used the first month as the first month, the Shang Dynasty used the twelfth month as the first month, and the Zhou Dynasty used the eleventh month of the Xia calendar as the first month.

The Han Dynasty was even more outrageous. Xu Shen explained the character “年” in his book “Shuowen Jiezi” as: “年, the ripening of grains.”

That is, the year is when the millet ripens.

According to this saying, the eighth and ninth months of the lunar calendar are the Lunar New Year.

The Book of Songs, in the poem "July", also records: "In the ninth month, the frost is severe; in the tenth month, the threshing floor is cleaned. Friends drink wine and feast, and a lamb is slaughtered. We ascend to the public hall, raise the rhinoceros horn cup, and wish for boundless longevity."

During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the first month of the lunar calendar was officially designated as the first month, and the first day of the year was the first day of the first month. From then on, the first day of the first month was used as New Year's Day until the end of the Qing Dynasty.

In July 1913, Zhu Qiqian proposed to Yuan Shikai that, based on folk traditions, four festivals should be established each year: New Year's Day as the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival as the Summer Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival as the Autumn Festival, and Winter Solstice as the Winter Festival, with a one-day holiday for each festival.

As a result, Yuan Shikai only approved the Spring Festival. This marked the beginning of celebrating the Spring Festival on the first day of the first lunar month.

Therefore, the history of the Spring Festival is not very long. Of course, if we include New Year's Day and Lunar New Year's Eve, then its history is much longer. In fact, the Spring Festival is an evolution and continuation of ancient festivals such as New Year's Day, Lunar New Year's Eve, and the Lantern Festival. As the saying goes, they are all connected by a single lineage. It is not unreasonable to say that the Spring Festival has a history of more than four thousand years.

Chen Fan is currently arguing with Master Lu.

Master Lu didn't want to pay him any attention. He sat down properly in the chair, picked up the ceramic pot that was on the iron plate of the heater, took a nice sip, and then raised his head slightly. "I'm not going."

Seeing that the old man was unmoved by reason, Chen Fan was at a loss. He pulled up a chair and sat down beside him, frowning as he said, "My wife is definitely coming over for the family reunion dinner today, but it's inconvenient to bring her here. She'll visit you tomorrow."

So you still refuse to go over there? Does that mean you're planning to renege on your debt?

Upon hearing this, Master Lu couldn't help but twitch his beard twice, and he shot a cold glare at him, "I'm going back on my word? I think you're the one who's a scoundrel."

Chen Fan clapped his hands and sighed, "If you don't go, they can't come. Is it that you're unwilling to give, or that they're afraid to accept? Isn't this a mess?"

The old man's eyes twitched as he listened. After finally catching his breath, he took another sip of tea, and without saying much, got up and went into the bedroom.

A short while later, the old man came out wearing a new cotton coat. The coat was bulging, and it was unclear whether there was anything hidden inside.

Chen Fan quickly stepped forward, bowed, gestured, and said with a smile, "Fourth Master, please!"

Master Lu waved his hand and said, "Let's go."

When leaving, he closed the gate properly, but Master Lu didn't lock it. Then, with Chen Fan's help, he was easily lifted onto the horse.

Chen Fan mounted his horse and, instead of taking the main road, rode back along the country lanes behind it.

Back home, Chen Fan first invited Master Lu to sit in the living room, lit the fireplace and moved it next to the sofa, then turned on the TV and made tea before asking the old man to wait a moment.

He turned and left the living room, listening intently. His uncle was getting up, and as for Zhou Yali, she should be awake, but she was tossing and turning in bed, refusing to get up.

Looking at the time, it's exactly eight o'clock in the morning, which is still quite early, isn't it?
Without disturbing them, he first led the two horses to the back pen, removed their saddles, added a trough of hay, and then returned to the front.

By this time, my uncle had come out, finished washing up, and was chatting with my grandfather in the living room.

I don't know what they talked about, but they were both laughing and the atmosphere seemed pretty good.

Chen Fan turned and went to the kitchen, washed his hands, and began preparing breakfast.

A basket of large meat buns, mixed with a few steamed buns, a pot of millet porridge, a slice of braised meat, two pots of warm yellow wine, and two bowls of refreshing pickled vegetables—that's all you need.

There's a big meal at noon, so breakfast will be fine.

Zhou Yali came out following the fragrance, and when she saw Master Lu in the living room, she blushed immediately. She quickly ran to the bathroom to wash up and tidy herself up. After that, she ran to the kitchen to complain, "Why didn't you tell me in advance that Master Lu was coming? I could have gotten up earlier!"

Chen Fan chuckled and said, "I was just afraid of disturbing your sleep."

Zhou Yali covered her face, "If Fourth Master finds out I overslept, I'll lose all face."

Chen Fan: "It's fine, you have no face anyway."

Zhou Yali was furious and about to explode when Chen Fan stuffed a large meat bun into her mouth, saying, "It's New Year's Eve today, don't get angry."

She could only swallow her anger and keep it in mind, waiting to settle the score later.

After breakfast, Chen Fan busied himself preparing a big meal.

Zhou Yali didn't want to get involved in her father and Master Lu's conversation, so she went to the kitchen to help. However, she watched her younger brother doing things haphazardly and couldn't get a word in edgewise. She could only stand aside and watch the show.

Then Chen Fan made him go to the panda enclosure to feed bamboo to the three pandas.

Time passed little by little, and before we knew it, it was 11 o'clock.

All the ingredients were steamed or fried, everything was ready, and all that was left was for the arrival of the young wife.

Just then, the sound of a car starting up came from the embankment. Chen Fan walked out of the kitchen and whistled at the myna bird.

The myna bird immediately flapped its wings and flew away.

It flew back quickly, landed on the eaves and cried out, "My wife is here! My wife is here!"

Chen Fan's eyes twitched slightly, and he raised his hand as if to strike. The myna bird was so frightened that it immediately flew up and disappeared into the woods without daring to make a sound.

A short while later, Chen Fan heard the sound of footsteps in the snow, so he went to the side of the slope to wait.

Just as Zhou Yali saw the commotion and was about to leave Gun Gun behind, two figures emerged from the woods and appeared at the bottom of the slope.

Wearing a white cloak and hood that covered her entire body, her brown leather boots crunched in the snow, reflecting off her rosy cheeks, making her look like an elf emerging from the snowstorm.

One person was at the top of the slope, and two others were at the bottom, separated by a long sloping hill, their faces beaming with joy.

After the two sisters walked up the slope, Chen Fan looked at them and grinned, "You're here."

Jiang Lili smiled and nodded vigorously, then turned to look at her sister, whose face was flushed. Just as she was about to speak, a figure rushed up to her, exclaiming, "Oh, you've finally arrived! We've been waiting for you for so long!"

Jiang Lili steadied herself, took a deep breath, looked at her cousin clinging to her, and smiled helplessly, "Sorry to keep you waiting, cousin."

Zhou Yali let go of her, grabbed one person with each hand, and smiled, "It's good that you're here. Did you have a safe journey?"

He then pulled the two of them into the house, saying, "Let me tell you, my brother made a lot of delicious food today, and Master Lu is here too. Hey, do you know Master Lu? You should know him, right?..."

Chen Fan turned around and watched as the two sisters were pulled into the house by someone. He helplessly rubbed his head.

Alright, let's get ready to eat.

I don't need anyone's help... and it seems like no one is helping me anyway.

Master Lu and Uncle are both elders, so they definitely won't make a move. If it weren't for Zhou Yali, Lili and Tiantian would definitely come to help, but now they are both being held hostage by her, so Chen Fan has no choice but to do it himself.

Fortunately, Teacher Chen was resourceful and cooked by himself. Before long, a sumptuous reunion dinner was served.

Chen Fan ran to the living room and invited everyone to sit in the dining room.

Then, from the storage cabinet, he pulled out a 5000-shot electric firecracker. This was the longest firecracker at the time; the kind that started at 10,000 shots in later generations didn't appear until the late 1980s.

Chen Fan disassembled the firecrackers and laid them out in a straight line on the threshing floor. He took out a cigarette, lit it, took a puff, and then squatted down to light the firecrackers.

Just then, Zhou Yali ran over and said, "Brother, brother, can I have some?"

According to tradition, the head of the household should be the one to light the firecrackers, but no one stopped her this time.

Zhou Yali was unaware of this custom. Zhou Zhengdong wanted to correct her, but seeing that Master Lu didn't care, his future nephew's wife remained unfazed, and Chen Fan even offered him a cigarette, he remained silent.

Chen Fan handed her a cigarette, saying, "Be careful, light it and run."

Zhou Yali took the cigarette, squatted down, and held it out to him from a distance.

As soon as the fuse lit, she turned and ran.

With the crisp sound of firecrackers, it officially announces that it's Chinese New Year!
(End of this chapter)