Quick Wear: Passerby A's Daily Life of Eating Watermelons

After playing for a while, I decided to go home when I saw that it was almost time. I went to the bathroom before going to bed. It was very cold that night, but the good thing was that there were not many people around, so I finished the fight before my butt got frozen. Mother Jiang was already packing things to take back home tomorrow.

"Yuer, take good care of your brother tomorrow and just follow us closely."

"Ok, I know."

New Year’s Day, five in the morning.

At this time, everyone was still asleep, but Jiang Yue's family had already started getting up. Mother Jiang found some glutinous rice noodles to fill their stomachs, and then the family set off.

When I went out, no one in the backyard was awake yet. I slept late yesterday so I had to sleep a little longer today. When I went out, I met a few people who were dressed the same as the Jiang family. We greeted each other and said we had to go home too. Then we smiled and went our separate ways.

After walking for a distance, Jiang Ze fell asleep again in Jiang Yue's arms. Jiang's father looked at Jiang Yue and asked if she was tired and if she wanted him to hold her.

"It's okay, I can hold you. I'll call you when I can't hold you anymore."

"Well, don't be stubborn. If you can't do it, just call your dad."

"Why don't you give it to me?"

"No need, brother, you are carrying the food."

These days it’s best to bring food with you when you go back to your mother’s house for a meal, because no household has any extra. It was much better after we got on the bus. We left early and managed to get a seat. When we arrived at the bus terminal, our family got off and waited here for my third uncle’s family.

There are no cars available on the road beyond that, so it depends on whether they can find a tractor or ox cart to take them for a ride. There are usually ox carts during the Chinese New Year.

After waiting for more than ten minutes, Uncle San and his family arrived. The two families greeted each other. Uncle San and Dad Jiang looked a bit like Uncle San, a younger version of Dad Jiang. Others could tell at a glance that they were a family.

After the reunion, Third Aunt carried Jiang Ze over. She asked Jiang Yue to take Xiaojun and Xiaoguo with them. The two were old and didn't need to be carried. They just needed to lead them and not wander around.

After walking for a while, they met an oxcart from the next village. They came early in the morning to send people who were coming back to celebrate the New Year on their 30th day into the city. After they got on the car, they gave them money, but they refused. Jiang Ma and Third Aunt gave them some peanuts, melon seeds and candies. Nine people couldn't ride on their car for nothing.

I got off the ox cart at around 8:30 in the morning and had to walk the rest of the way by myself. After getting off, I thanked the driver, sorted my things, made sure I didn't leave anything behind, and continued on my journey. Fortunately, there was no snow during the New Year this year, otherwise the road would have been difficult to walk on.

After walking for about half an hour, the group arrived at the entrance of the village. At this time, there were already quite a few people at the entrance. On the road, Jiang's father and Uncle San led them over to say hello. Jiang's father took out a pack of Peony cigarettes and handed one to each of them. Then he lit them up for some elders and greeted them. After smoking a cigarette and chatting, they finished the greetings.

We met several groups of people along the way, and the basic process was the same. After getting away from the crowd, the two families walked towards my grandfather's house. They did not stop when they met people on the way, but just asked questions and chatted for a few minutes.

When they arrived at grandpa's house, their second uncle and eldest aunt had already arrived. When they saw them coming back, they came out to greet them. The children also came out in a swarm, chattering and greeting them. Jiang Yue couldn't hear who was talking.

After entering the house, Jiang's father and mother took out red envelopes and started giving them out. Jiang Yue did not receive a red envelope this year because the rule in their family is that only the younger ones and those who are still in school can receive red envelopes, while others are exempted from receiving any, to avoid conflicts over who should receive the red envelopes or not.

But grandpa and grandma still gave it to Jiang Yue secretly. No one could say anything about what the old couple wanted to do. They drank brown sugar water to warm themselves up. After the children went out to play with firecrackers, Jiang's mother and third aunt took out the food they brought. Not only grandpa and grandma had a share, but also second uncle and eldest aunt. Because the Jiang family has a good relationship, they would usually send food and vegetables to Jiang Yue's family, and they would not forget them when there was meat to eat.

The family sat together picking vegetables and preparing lunch while chatting. The men smoked and walked around the house and yard to see if there was anything that needed repairing, and talked about what happened last year and what they would do this year.

When it was time to cook, Jiang Yue was pulled out by her mother for a walk. While cooking, Jiang Yue heard a commotion outside the yard. At first, Jiang Yue didn't pay much attention until she heard her grandmother crying. Then she felt something was wrong. The second aunt who was cooking for Jiang Yue was also curious: "Xiao Yue, take your time, I'll go see what's going on."

"Well, Second Aunt, you go ahead. I'm fine." Although Jiang Yue was a little curious, someone couldn't leave the pot without her. She would wait until the food was done before going out. She didn't hear any sounds of quarreling or fighting, so everything should be fine.

In between cooking, Jiang Yue paid some attention to the outside. It was strange why the boy didn't come into the house and what he was doing at the door. Jiang Yue couldn't hear anything. After the last dish of spicy and sour potato shreds was out of the pot, Jiang Yue boiled water in the pot. The water was used to cook dumplings. Although they had eaten them yesterday, they still had to eat them today.

After adding a few pieces of firewood, Jiang Yue prepared to go out. She was so curious about what they were doing and no one notified her. When she walked out of the door and looked around, she saw a group of people gathered there and she didn't know what they were doing.

Jiang Yue leaned over to take a look, and it turned out that it was her second aunt who came back. Jiang Yue's second aunt married a soldier in her early years and had not been home for many years after joining the army. However, although she was happy to have someone back, she couldn't stay at the door all the time. It had been almost ten minutes, wasn't she cold?

"Grandma, Second Aunt, come in! The meal is ready."

Jiang Yue shouted and a group of people reacted. After saying goodbye to the onlookers nearby, they hurriedly took the second aunt's family into the house. Jiang Yue looked at the second aunt's family. She had never met the two children. She still had some impression of the second aunt, but she didn't have much impression of the second uncle-in-law. He came back even less often.

During the meal, my second aunt introduced two cousins, one named Zhang Jianjun and the other named Zhang Jiandang. In short, they were very typical of that era. We originally thought that we would chat more during the meal, but because the food cooked by Jiang Yue was so delicious, everyone was busy eating and only continued chatting after they had almost finished eating.

When we had almost finished the dishes, the dumplings were put into the pot. Although there were a lot of dishes today and the portions were large, there were too many people, so the dumplings were still not enough after they were cooked. In the end, we cooked some noodles and added a little more to feel full.

After dinner, they started chatting. Melon seeds, flower cakes and candies were all put out, and the children soon started playing together. They took small firecrackers and went out to play with their friends in the village. The adults were all asking about the situation at Second Aunt's side. They didn't go into details because there were so many people outside.

The conversation lasted until the evening. My grandparents' house was a newly built one. Two of the three main rooms had big kangs, but there was not enough space for too many people to sleep, so the men, including Jiang's father and second uncle, went to my second uncle's house, and the women stayed with my grandparents. Fortunately, people are not fat these days, otherwise there would be no room for them to sleep.