Reborn in 1966

Chapter Forty-Nine: Farewell to the Old

After seeing off Fourth Grandfather, Grandma asked Grandpa what Fourth Grandfather had come for. Grandpa said, "Shenghuai came back and said things are getting more and more chaotic outside, so we should be careful at home." After saying that, Grandpa went back into the house with his hands behind his back.

Pei Yin was still sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) inside the house, holding a sandbag in her hand. She was unconsciously twisting the sandbag in her hand, not knowing what to do. It was almost New Year's, so going out to inquire about news was out of the question. Moreover, judging from her grandfather's appearance, he didn't want the family to know about this matter. Fortunately, her grandfather had always been a taciturn person, and she rarely saw any expression on his face.

No matter what, the New Year still has to be celebrated. Grandpa helped put up the Spring Festival couplets on the front door and the house door. Seeing that it was getting late, he went to his second grandfather's room and sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) with him to smoke and say a few words of custom.

Because Pei Yin was small, as long as she didn't go out recklessly or cause trouble, her family usually didn't pay much attention to her. This gave Pei Yin the opportunity to follow her grandfather. Seeing her grandfather and second grandfather smoking on the second grandfather's kang table, Pei Yin took off her shoes, stepped on a stool in front of the kang, climbed onto the second grandfather's kang, and poured tea for her grandfather and second grandfather.

Because it was Chinese New Year, the kang table on the kang was wiped clean, and a wooden tea tray with a teapot and teacups was placed on it.

Second Grandpa was a cheerful man, and all the children in the family liked to talk to him. Although many people in the village looked down on him for not having a son, he didn't care at all. Peiyin once heard him comforting Second Grandma: "You listen to what those people say? If you did everything like them, would you even have a chance to live? My dear wife, why can't you let go? So what if we don't have a son? Look how comfortable we've been these past few years. Even with a son and grandson, we still have to help them with chores, don't we? We're all sixty years old, and we've worked our whole lives. Aren't we tired? Besides, do we not have enough children now? Look at all our children, which family's child can compare to them? Don't listen to their nonsense anymore."

Ever since hearing that conversation, Pei-yin has liked her always smiling second grandfather. Her second grandfather was very skillful, carving many small things out of wood for the children, and then sanding them until they were very smooth. Grandma said that if it weren't for the war, her second grandfather might have actually learned from that master carver who had ended up in their area. That master carver was originally from the capital, but he had offended a powerful figure and ended up in Xiping City. After learning from him for a few days, the master fell ill and died because he had injured himself while fleeing. However, the master left his entire set of carving tools to her second grandfather, who treasured them.

Although women are now considered to hold up half the sky and there is a widespread promotion of equality between men and women, for someone of my great-uncle's age, it's still more reassuring to have a boy in the family. Of course, these are just outsiders' opinions. At home, my great-uncle always follows his grandfather around. My grandmother says that my great-uncle is a carefree person, and Peiyin thinks that's quite true. Look, back then, my great-uncle was a well-known scholar in Xiping City. How many years have passed, and he's now an old man working in the livestock shed in Shenjia Village. But my great-uncle is happy doing his job, and no one seems to complain about it.

That wooden tea tray was made by my second grandfather himself. It was a simple carving, sanded, and then varnished several times. The natural wood grain carried a sense of timelessness. Pei Yin had seen this piece of wood before. Last summer, an old man from Qingshan brought it over when he visited my grandfather. Knowing that my second grandfather liked this kind of thing, he said that he had picked up the wood while he was in the mountains. The village didn't want it because it couldn't be used for anything. The old man originally thought of chopping it up for firewood, but then he remembered that the second son of the Shen family liked carving, so he brought the wood over.

When my second grandfather saw the wood, he was very happy. Although there wasn't much wood, it was still good enough to make one or two small items. He made three tea trays based on the outline of the wood, one for each family. There was also one on the kang table in my grandfather's room. It was quite elegant to place a teapot and teacups on it.

The two grandfathers saw their tiny granddaughter pour tea for them and hurriedly stepped forward to take it. The second grandfather said, "Oh my, this little girl, she even knows how to pour tea for people."

Grandpa quickly took the teapot from Pei Yin's hand and asked nervously, "Is it hot? Don't burn yourself."

Pei-yin smiled brightly at her grandfather and said in a clear voice, "Grandpa, it's not hot. I'll pour you and Second Grandpa some tea." Grandpa, who had been filled with worries, felt much better seeing his little granddaughter's smiling face. He sighed, thinking, "There's always a way out. I'll ask around after the New Year. Surely we can find someone like that?" So, Grandpa put the teacup on the kang table, tapped his pipe, picked up Pei-yin, and said, "Come on, Grandpa will show you what your older brothers and sisters are doing."

Seeing that her grandfather's complexion had improved, Pei Yin hugged his neck and said, "Grandpa, shoes, shoes."

Grandpa put Peiyin on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), picked up Peiyin's cotton shoes from the ground, put them on her, then picked her up and said, "Alright, let's go?"

Pei Yin said with a smile, "Let's go."

In the room where Grandpa and Grandma slept, the three grandmothers, along with Shen's mother and second aunt, were all busy making dumplings on the kang (a heated brick bed). Because there were many people in the family, they needed to prepare several trays of dumplings. As soon as they reached the door, they smelled the aroma of pork and cabbage dumpling filling. So much so that many years later, Pei Yin would feel that the smell of pork and cabbage dumplings meant the New Year was coming. Of course, this aroma of cabbage had to come from cabbage that had been exposed to frost; cabbage grown in the summer didn't have that smell.

The small table on the kang (a heated brick bed) had been moved elsewhere. It was a low, four-legged table with the family's cutting board on it. Shen's mother stood in front of the kang, at a perfect height to roll out dumpling wrappers. The three grandmothers sat on the kang to make dumplings. Once they were wrapped, they were placed on a mat made of thin sorghum stalks. Soon, the mat was full. The second aunt helped Shen's mother press the dough balls. The group worked together seamlessly.

It was a little after 3 p.m. Shen's father and second uncle, along with several boys, cleaned the front and back yards thoroughly, even the empty pigsty and the empty vegetable garden in the backyard. Grandpa took Peiyin for a walk around the front and back yards. Peiyin felt that this was how the New Year should be celebrated, with the house cleaned up to "get rid of the old and welcome the new."

In the main room, there was a low dining table with a large cutting board on it. Second Aunt and Mother Shen rolled out dumpling wrappers, while the three grandmothers were in charge of filling them with cabbage and pork. The cabbage was drained and chopped finely, and the pork was mixed with scallions and ginger, along with soy sauce. Then the chopped meat was mixed with the cabbage, a little soybean oil was poured on, and a sprinkle of salt was added. The enticing aroma filled the entire room.

We ate dumplings for dinner, and we had to eat dumplings again for breakfast. A large bamboo mat made of sorghum stalks was covered with plump, white dumplings. Peijun would run into the house after a while and ask, "How many have you made?" I would look and look, and then I would crane my neck and count them with my fingers. My aunt would laugh and say, "Oh my, Peitian is really good! He can count to a hundred! You'll have to eat a lot of dumplings tonight."

Peitian chuckled and said, "Second Aunt, thank you. I'll definitely eat a few more." Then he ran to the yard to help with the chores.

Shen's mother said with a smile, "This child, even while working, is thinking about food."

Grandma said with a smile, "A person who can eat well is blessed, Peihua's mother. We neglected Peitian's stomach a couple of years ago, but things are getting better these years. We must take care of the child's stomach and make up for what we neglected a couple of years ago, otherwise the child will suffer too much."

Shen's mother said, "Second Aunt, I understand."

It was dark before six o'clock, and the village was quiet. There was no smell of gunpowder from firecrackers, which Pei Yin remembered from afar. But the air was still filled with the scent of the New Year. This scent was not something that could be perceived by the taste buds, but rather the anticipation for the New Year that people had held for thousands of years, and the beautiful expectations for the coming year. In Pei Yin's view, this was a feeling, a joyful hope for the coming year, and an interpretation of "New Year" that was passed down from generation to generation and imprinted in people's bones.

There was no gala, no lavish feasts, just a large eight-immortal table filled with the whole family.

A few oil lamps were lit in the room, and under the dim light, the aroma of steaming dumplings on the table kept assaulting people's taste buds and salivating glands. Even Pei Yin felt that she was getting more and more hungry. It had only been a few days since she had eaten dumplings, but she already wanted to dip them in the vinegar dish in the middle of the table and eat a few of them.

Grandpa saw everyone staring at him expectantly, looked at the dumplings on the table, cleared his throat, and said, "This is our family's New Year's Eve dinner. I wish us all good health next year. Come on, let's eat dumplings." He then picked up a dumpling with his chopsticks.

As Grandpa started eating, everyone at the table followed suit. Shen's mother first picked up a dumpling for Pei Yin, dipped it in vinegar, and placed it in the small bowl in front of Pei Yin. Pei Yin then used a small spoon to scoop up the dumpling and slowly ate it from the edge of the bowl.

The filling was made of cabbage and pork, with chopped scallions and ginger. The aroma of the meat and the spiciness of the scallions and ginger collided together and tasted so delicious that Pei-Yin felt like she wanted to swallow her tongue. She watched as her older brothers and sisters were also engrossed in eating dumplings.

Because it's Chinese New Year, people are expected to eat as much as they want on this day, otherwise they'll have less to eat throughout the coming year. So everyone looks forward to Chinese New Year so they can enjoy some delicious food that they don't usually get to eat.

After dinner, everyone sat around the kang (a heated brick bed) of their grandparents, chatting and talking.

Uncle Shen said, "Let me play the accordion for everyone. It's a festival, let's have some fun together."

Grandpa hesitated and said, "Is this appropriate? Is it okay to make so much noise during the New Year?"

Uncle Shen said, "When our Party was in Yan'an, Chairman Mao held a New Year's gathering. We should be happy during the New Year, there's nothing wrong with that. You wait here, I'll go get my accordion."