The world of Chinese style creates a prosperous era for girl groups

The Tara girl group has been favored by the Spring Festival Gala stage for the past two consecutive years, which means that Xia Haoyang has not been able to return to Vancouver to celebrate the New Year for several years.

For a prominent family like the Xia family that values ​​tradition and has existed for more than two hundred years, the most important thing is for the whole family to be together during the New Year and other holidays. As for whether or not to appear on the Spring Festival Gala, working overtime during the Spring Festival to make money is really just that.

But the son has grown up and has his own ideas. He wants to join the entertainment industry. He cannot go home for the New Year because his girlfriend is performing on the Spring Festival Gala. Although Xia's parents don't say anything, they are not happy in their hearts.

But this year is different.

Xia Haoyang returned to Vancouver early. With the growth of the third generation of the Xia family, baby Yuanxue, the birth of baby Yuanxiu, and the third baby in Zeng Jingyi's belly, this year's Chinese New Year is the most complete year for the family in recent years, so Mother Xia is extremely happy and satisfied.

At 4 o'clock in the morning on New Year's Eve, the whole family got up early as usual to eat half-cooked rice. The Xia family called it "gangfan". This is a tradition that cannot be changed.

"Jingyi, eating too much raw rice will cause stomachache. I'll make some soup for you to mix with it." Mother Xia was taking good care of her pregnant daughter-in-law.

"Thank you, Mom."

"Since it's not good to eat uncooked rice, just cook it before eating." Xia Haoyang said meaningless nonsense.

"Every year on New Year's Eve, eating Gangfan at the moment when the sun rises is our ancestors' admonition to us to remember the bitter past and cherish the sweet past, and to understand the hardships of survival. From a race or a country to a family, it is extremely difficult for a family to survive for a hundred or two hundred years. Eating half-cooked Gangfan is to tell you not to forget the hardships and tribulations of your ancestors in starting a business. And this is still considered good. Thank your ancestors for blessing you so that you don't have to eat tree bark and Guanyin soil."

This scolding is purely self-inflicted.

Because Xia Haoyang had heard this argument more than once, and he knew that if he spoke out against certain inherited family customs, his father would get angry.

But you just can’t guess what young people are thinking. Maybe they think it’s “fun” and sometimes they feel uncomfortable if they don’t get scolded. Now that they are scolded, well, they feel better and can eat in peace. Maybe this is called “being a loser”.

After finishing the meal, it was already dawn and it was time to put up Spring Festival couplets.

In the Xia family, the customs that remain unchanged every New Year include eating the new year's meal, pasting Spring Festival couplets, drinking New Year's wine, lighting New Year's lanterns, and setting off firecrackers in the early morning of the first day of the New Year.

The first two items are done on the morning of New Year’s Eve.

Every year, the Xia family's Spring Festival couplets are written by grandpa Xie Kunting himself, and then he arranges for his children and nephews to "invite" them back from Yuhang. Therefore, there is a strong sense of ritual when posting the Spring Festival couplets.

There will be a sacrifice before pasting the Spring Festival couplets. Xia Haoyang couldn't figure out whether it was for the ancestors or the door gods. Anyway, he needed to burn incense and bow. After being scolded just after eating, Xia Haoyang didn't dare to ask any more questions. Anyway, he would do whatever you arranged.

The paste used by the Xia family to post Spring Festival couplets must be made from rice every year. It cannot be simply stuck on with double-sided tape or even transparent tape. Moreover, it must be done by a male member of the family.

When Xia Haoyang was not at home, it was the job of the second son, Xia Haoqi, to post Spring Festival couplets. Now that he was back this year, this job was assigned to him.

"Next year, the children from Yuanxue will be able to put up Spring Festival couplets, and the third generation of males will officially take over."

It seems that the sixteen families in Kuaiji all post Spring Festival couplets in this way. Generally, the youngest male in the family is asked to do it. I wonder if this is another tradition.

Fensui wine is a name unique to Vancouver, also known as "Fensui rice" and "Shousui rice". In fact, it is the New Year's Eve dinner prepared by every household across the country.

If there is anything special about the New Year's Eve dinner in Vancouver, it is that when there is a pregnant woman in the family, an extra wine glass and chopsticks will be added to the table to indicate a prosperous family in the coming year. This is also called "adding people and mouths" wine.

Others, like people all over the country, eat and chat at the table while turning on the TV to watch the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. This has been the living habit of the Chinese people for nearly fifty years.

It doesn’t matter whether you watch it or not, the program broadcast on TV on New Year’s Eve must be the Spring Festival Gala.

After eating the New Year’s Eve dinner, you need to light the New Year lanterns in the early morning.

This is a common custom in Jiangnan areas, but it is not popular in the north of the Yangtze River and in the Jingxiang area.

Lighted red candles were placed in every corner of the house, and the candles were inserted into small pieces of carrots. The starry sky in the house was loved by the third generation baby of the Xia family and Zeng Jingyi very much.

"The festive red candles and the carrots of similar color set off the prosperous atmosphere of the New Year. Watching the candles slowly go out at night is also a special experience. I think this ritual is very good and romantic."

"Jingyi is right. New Year lanterns are meant to stay up all night. They are not only to highlight the prosperity of the new year, but also to express good wishes for the coming new year. In our Vancouver city, almost every household will light them up in the early morning of New Year's Eve and place them in every room of the house. In the past, they would also light New Year lanterns in front of the pigpen and barn, which means "fat livestock and abundant crops."

Zeng Jingyi stuck out her tongue awkwardly: "I just thought it looked good, I never thought it had such a meaning."

Lighting up New Year lanterns and eating a bowl of glutinous rice balls is the standard way for Vancouverites to start the new year.

On the morning of the first day of the New Year, firecrackers are set off, which are euphemistically called the opening firecrackers.

Just like people in some places would rush to the temple to "burn the first incense" in the early morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, people in Vancouver would also rush to set off the first firecrackers on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year.

It is easy to understand why firecrackers are set off. Initially, it was used to ward off evil spirits and drive away the "Nian beast". Later, it gradually evolved into the meaning of bringing good luck, promotion and wealth.

In this way, both businessmen and officials would attach great importance to the opening firecrackers on the morning of the first day of the New Year, and they would set off firecrackers for three days until the third day.

The first day of the new year dinner is different for the Xia family because today is also baby Xia Yuanxue’s birthday.

Zeng Jingyi's first visit to the Xia family to celebrate the New Year was purely accidental. At that time, she was not Xia Haoyang's girlfriend yet. It was because she happened to be working in Vancouver on New Year's Eve that Xia Haoyang invited her to his home for dinner and celebrate the holiday.

Unexpectedly, in the early morning of the next day, that is, early morning of the first day of the new year, sister-in-law Kuang Yurou gave birth to the eldest grandson of the third generation of the Xia family in the hospital.

In this way, Zeng Jingyi was awarded the reputation of "the gift of children".

In a wealthy family that values ​​inheritance, your arrival adds a male to the family. Even if it is just a coincidence, it is natural for the whole family to look at you with admiration and even look up to you.

At least sister-in-law Kuang Yurou is really grateful to Zeng Jingyi.

In fact, most of the socialites and wealthy ladies who grew up in large families look down on female celebrities in the entertainment industry. In addition to the innate sense of superiority, they have also seen too many ugly behaviors of female celebrities who want to curry favor with wealthy families.

However, Kuang Yurou treated Zeng Jingyi with kindness and care from the very beginning. Perhaps one of the reasons was that her arrival allowed her to give birth to her baby Yuanxue smoothly.