Time Travel: The Queen's Coronation

On New Year's Eve, everyone gets up early to prepare various things, hoping to be the first to worship at the land temple. The local custom is to take offerings to the land temple first during festivals, then take them home to be offered to the ancestral tablets before dining.

In the past, the division of labor was Grandma and Mom cooking, while Dad and I put up the couplets and cleaned. This year, Rong Zixuan joined us. He's grown so tall he's almost as tall as the door frame, so putting up the couplets naturally fell to him and me. Grandma and Mom continued to prepare the meals, while Dad ran errands, buying fish from the street, buying new couplets when they were broken, and buying new glue when we ran out...

Celebrating the Lunar New Year in the village was a truly fascinating experience for Rong Zixuan. He was incredibly enthusiastic, and we quickly finished pasting the couplets on all the doorframes of the entire building, cleaning up the scraps of paper left behind. When we were done, Rong Zixuan kept pulling me along to find something to do; he never sat idle. We showed him how our family celebrated the Lunar New Year and even took him out to see other families.

Along the way, every village was busy preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner. Festive red couplets were affixed to every door, and people were bustling about in and out of their homes. When we reached the main street, there were quite a few people, but they were all rushing to buy something and then leaving quickly, not lingering for the usual time, rushing home to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner.

After a busy day, we finally finished in the afternoon. Grandma offered the stewed chicken to the Earth God Temple as an offering, then to the ancestors. Finally, she set off some firecrackers and ate. I'm terrified of setting off firecrackers, but it's a boy's favorite. Rong Zixuan volunteered to light them. The moment the firecrackers went off, he was startled and ran to the other side. After the fireworks blared for over a minute, he finally emerged from the smoke.

We sat around the round table, and Rong Zixuan sat next to me.

"Xiaorong, eat. Countryside meals are so simple," my dad said.

"Uncle, you are too polite. This is not simple at all. It's full of fish and meat."

Rong Zixuan was a talkative person at the dinner table, much to the delight of my family. Although it wasn't evening yet, we still had our New Year's Eve dinner. If we got hungry that evening, we could just heat it up and fill our stomachs.

Evening was the time Rong Zixuan looked forward to most. After dinner, he couldn't wait to get out the fireworks he'd bought. Since people were setting them off all the time, he couldn't contain his excitement, so he set off one too. The moment the fireworks shot up into the sky, he shouted with excitement, as if releasing the pressure pent up deep within him. As the fireworks continued to rise and explode, his face lit up with a happy smile. He wanted to set off a few more, but I stopped him, telling him that the fireworks would be more exciting at midnight, when everyone would be "competing for beauty and blooming." If he set them off now, he'd lose out to them that night. His competitive spirit welled up, and he listened.

It doesn't snow on New Year's Eve in the south, and it's not as cold as in the north. People rarely stay home; they love to go out and about. There's a lot of activity on the streets: people playing mahjong, playing cards, children setting off fireworks together, and visiting friends and family for drinks... People celebrate New Year's Eve in so many ways that the Spring Festival Gala on TV becomes just the background music. But I still have to watch it. After all, I'm a homebody and don't like to go out, so watching a skit is good for some entertainment. Rong Zixuan couldn't help himself, setting off fireworks with his neighbor's nephew at the door, having a blast. I advised him to hold back, as there wouldn't be any fireworks around midnight. He listened, but then he went to the fireworks shop at the entrance of the village to buy new ones, setting them off right after he bought them, just to be cool.

As it was almost twelve o'clock, Dad was preparing big firecrackers to welcome the arrival of midnight, and Rong Zixuan also came back. He went to the rooftop balcony to set up the fireworks he was going to set off. Before midnight, people were already setting off fireworks and firecrackers. When it actually reached twelve o'clock, firecrackers and fireworks were set off in every household. The sound of fireworks and firecrackers drowned out all other sounds! Rong Zixuan kept lighting fireworks, and the fireworks from each household took turns to explode. He was as happy as a little child. On New Year's Eve, everyone's fireworks seemed to be competing with each other. Your family would set off theirs, and then your family would stop and then my family would start setting off theirs, and it never stopped for an hour. He only had enough fireworks for half an hour, and for the rest of the hour, he could only stare at others setting off theirs, feeling extremely annoyed and regretful that he didn't buy more.

At one in the morning, the first climax of the Spring Festival had passed, and the countryside had settled into a peaceful state. Although the occasional sound of fireworks could still be heard from afar, it was generally much quieter than it had been at midnight. Some people stayed up to celebrate the New Year, while others went back to sleep. Rong Zixuan was one of the former, and I was one of the latter. He had wanted to drag me along to stay up, but I was too sleepy to pay attention, so he had to go play cards and other activities with my cousins.

The next morning, I was awakened by the sound of firecrackers at six o'clock, forcing me to get up and clean up. I went to Rong Zixuan's room, but he wasn't there. I sent him a message asking him to come back. He soon appeared in front of me, full of energy. I was amazed that he could stay so energetic all night. An 18-year-old boy has so much energy. I have to admire him!

On New Year's Day, I took him around to visit relatives and gave red envelopes to the children. In southern China, red envelopes value the thought, not the amount, so as students, we could afford it. That evening, he recounted his experiences on New Year's Eve and today with such pride and excitement that he seemed ready to talk for three days and three nights.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, we went to my grandmother's house. It just so happened that he had a car, so he took me, my parents, and my sister, five people in one car. We went to my grandmother's house and took him to visit her. The environment there was a little different from ours. It was a bit remote and there were more mountains, but it was a different experience for him. Climbing mountains, climbing trees, catching birds... these were all fun for boys.

In the following days, the atmosphere of the Spring Festival gradually faded, but his enthusiasm did not diminish at all, and he could find something new every day. It was not until the Lantern Festival that the Spring Festival was considered over. Rong Zixuan stayed at my house for more than ten days and showed up in front of almost all my relatives. He was very happy. He didn't have many relatives, and he was a person who loved lively atmosphere. Now he could connect with so many people, eat with dozens of people, and it was lively and he was extremely satisfied. While eating, he hinted to my parents that he would come often in the future, and my parents said without hesitation that if he had nothing to do in the future, he could come often. Rong Zixuan took the opportunity to ask to come every holiday in the future, and my parents agreed without even thinking about it.