Reborn in 1966

Chapter Six: Chinese New Year

The people in the yard chattered and laughed as they worked, while the younger ones took brooms and shovels, creating a joyful festive atmosphere.

Pei Yin heard her older sister Pei Zhi calling out, "Second Uncle, Second Uncle, hurry up and get up to put up the Spring Festival couplets."

After a while, Uncle said lazily, "Aren't you doing a great job? Uncle is busy all day long for the revolutionary cause, so I'll leave these little things at home to you. I'll buy you some good food after the New Year."

Third Brother Peitian said, "Second Uncle is lying. He said he would buy us delicious food during last year's Spring Festival, but we never saw him buy any. Now he says he will buy some again this year."

Second Brother Peijun said, "Second Uncle, we can't just talk the talk without walking the walk. Why don't you give us the money and we'll buy it ourselves after the New Year?"

Uncle said, "Why doesn't this child listen to his parents? If Uncle says he'll buy it for me, he'll definitely buy it for me."

Grandpa spoke up at this moment, "Shengqin, push this garbage to the riverbank, stop doing nothing all day long."

Uncle grumbled as he pushed the little iron cart. After it was a distance away, Grandpa said to you, the child, "You are all good children. Grandpa will buy you delicious food after the New Year."

The children cheered; Grandpa was a man of his word.

Although I can't see anyone, listening to people talking in the yard every day is a very happy thing. In this family, besides my own grandparents, there are my second grandparents who have two married daughters, my third grandmother who has only one daughter who married far away, my own family, and my second uncle who is still a bachelor.

Besides his second uncle, Shen's father also had an older sister, two older sisters who were already married, and a younger sister. He had never met any of his aunts before. Because the roads were difficult to travel in winter and it was almost the end of the year, they agreed to wait until after the New Year to come together.

From her grandmother, parents, and older siblings, Pei Yin learned that her eldest aunt was still in Beijing, her second aunt had been sent down to her second uncle's hometown in the south, and her youngest aunt had married not far away, in the next village. Because her brother from her maternal family had been sent back to the countryside for labor reform, she was said to be not doing as well as before in her husband's family.

The two aunts from my second grandmother's family married men from villages more than 30 miles away from Shenjia Village. I heard that the aunt from my third grandmother's family married a soldier, and later went to the western frontier with the army. If it weren't for the gifts sent over during festivals, I doubt many people in the village would remember this girl who married far away.

So during the Lunar New Year, only the two aunts from the second grandmother's family and her own aunt can go back to their parents' home. As for her own mother's family, Pei Yin said she had never heard of them, and the matter of her maternal grandmother's family was a taboo subject for the grown-up children.

After sorting out the situation of her family members, Pei Yin said that she should be grateful that her parents were not imprisoned in a cowshed, but were only sent back to their hometown to farm. Moreover, because of the influence of several elders, her family had not been completely defeated and could never recover in the village.

On the morning of the 31st, Grandma and Mom were chopping filling and kneading dough, preparing to make dumplings for dinner. The filling was cabbage and pork, with cornmeal mixed into the flour. After kneading and letting it rest, the whole family started making dumplings after dinner. Before long, the bamboo tray was full of plump dumplings.

The dumplings were cooked and eaten early on the first day of the Lunar New Year. The children stared longingly at the plump dumplings on the lid, swallowing hard. The third brother, Peitian, pulled his mother's hand and said, "Mom, shall we cook a couple to try?"

My older sister, Pei-zhi, also said, "Mom, let's taste the dumpling filling to see if it's salty."

Mr. and Mrs. Shen looked at their children, who were staring longingly at the dumplings, with a mixture of helplessness and sadness. Finally, Mr. Shen sighed and said, "Then let's cook two to try first. After you've tasted them, go to sleep quickly."

The children nodded in agreement.

There was a kettle on the small stove in the outer room, which was used to boil water. Mother Shen filled the kettle halfway with water, boiled it, counted and put in eight dumplings, cooked them and gave two to each of the four children.

The eldest brother, Peihua, ate one, and divided the other in half, giving half to each of his parents; the second brother ate one and a half, and gave the remaining half to the third brother. The third brother was born during a difficult time and was very particular about food. The second brother knew this quirk of the third brother, and whenever he got something delicious, he liked to leave some for this younger brother.

After eating dumplings, it was still early. After turning off the oil lamp and lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), my older sister, Peizhi, said, "Dad, tell me a story."

Dad asked, "What story are you going to tell?"

Pei-Chih said, "It's the story of the little bird filling the sea."

The room was dark. The children slept on one side of the kang (a heated brick bed), while the Shen couple slept on the other side with their youngest child, Peiyin. Peiyin felt that Peizhi had just finished speaking about her mother when she slowly nudged Shen's father, who was on the other side, and whispered, "Let's talk about something else. What if this is something that's considered 'destroying the Four Olds'?"

Mr. Shen cleared his throat and said, "It's a new society now, how about I tell you some new stories?"

That evening, Pei-yin listened to several revolutionary stories told by Shen's father. They were originally very short stories, but Shen's father was a master at creating atmosphere. He arranged the plot very well and added some things that were useful for children's growth. The children listened with great interest, and Pei-zhi fell asleep to the sound of Shen's father's elegant and refined baritone voice.

Early on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Pei Yin was woken up by her older sister's cheerful whispers. When she opened her eyes, she saw that it was already bright outside and wondered why she hadn't heard any firecrackers.

Seeing that Pei Yin had woken up, Pei Hua's mother wrapped Pei Yin in a thick quilt and carried her to the main room.

This was Pei Yin's first time leaving home, and she was very excited, looking around with wide eyes.

The small courtyard was kept very clean. The door to the main room was closed. When you opened the door and went in, you saw a large square table near the back window. It had been moved to the middle of the main room. Several elderly people were sitting around the table, and there were steaming hot dumplings on it.

Mr. Shen, along with his wife and several children, stood in front of the table and said to the elderly people, "Happy New Year!"

The grandparents happily invited the group to sit down and eat dumplings.

My second uncle stood up and said, "Today is the New Year. We are following the instructions of the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao to celebrate a New Year of breaking down the Four Olds and establishing the Four New. I wish my father, mother, second uncle, second aunt, and third aunt a happy New Year and hope that you will see Chairman Mao this year. I also wish the young revolutionaries represented by Shen Peihua to grow up strong and healthy in the New Year and become revolutionary heroes as soon as possible!"

Not only was Pei Yin stunned by these words of blessing, but everyone in the family was also speechless for a long time. Pei Yin looked at her second uncle, who was not very strong. Although he was very handsome, his overly bright eyes made him seem somewhat unsteady.

After a while, Grandpa, sitting in the main seat, said with a stiff face, "Alright, everyone, let's eat dumplings, or they'll get cold."

And so we ate a meal in this indescribable atmosphere.

After dinner, Shen's mother carried Pei Yin and took the children back to her room.

Peitian pestered his mother, asking, "Mom, why aren't we setting off firecrackers for Chinese New Year this year?"

Peihua said, “Setting off firecrackers is one of the Four Olds. Didn’t you hear your second uncle say that we are not allowed to set off firecrackers, burn incense and worship Buddha, or perform dragon and lion dances? Your second uncle also specifically told me that when you meet people outside, you are not allowed to say ‘Wishing you prosperity’ when you greet them for the New Year. Instead, you should say ‘I wish you will see Chairman Mao this year.’”

Mother Shen instructed, "You must listen to your eldest brother. Whatever most people do, you should do as they do. Peihua, your second uncle is right. From now on, none of you should contradict him. Listen carefully to what he says, understand?"

Peijun said, "My second uncle loves to lie."

Shen's mother said, "You can't talk about Second Uncle like that anymore. Second Uncle is an elder, and he's also part of the commune's propaganda team. He talks about revolutionary principles, so you have to listen to him carefully."

Pei Yin was speechless. She thought they were all jokes, but it turned out to be true. Those New Year customs were all considered "Four Olds" and could no longer be observed. She also thought of the joke online that there was no holiday for the New Year during the Cultural Revolution. Her heart felt heavy. These hardworking and kind people had to endure another ten years of such dark days.

Because there were young children at home, Shen's mother did not go out to pay New Year's visits. Instead, she helped her grandmother entertain the neighbors who came to visit. No matter how much we try to destroy the Four Olds and establish the Four News, these things that have been passed down for thousands of years cannot be eliminated overnight.

Several older women came to Shen's mother's room to see Pei Yin. The chubby baby lay quietly in her swaddle. When she saw people coming to tease her, she grinned, revealing her gums, and smiled with her eyes narrowed. It warmed everyone's hearts; the child was so adorable.

That evening, the family gathered together. Peihua handed a few cents to Shen's mother and whispered, "Mom, this is what my grandpa and the others secretly gave us. Fourth Grandpa also gave us some. You can keep it."

Giving lucky money during the Lunar New Year is said to be an old tradition, but the elderly secretly gave the lucky money to the children. Shen Shengsi and his wife were moved by the elderly's love for the children. Shen's mother put the money into a new handkerchief and said, "Okay, I'll keep it for you and use it to pay your tuition when school starts."

Peijun opened the bag, took out the contents, and said, "Mom, this is what people gave me when I went to pay New Year's visits with my second uncle. I didn't want to eat it, so I brought it back for us to eat together."

On the table were a few pieces of fruit candy and some roasted peanuts. In this era of scarcity, you needed ration coupons to buy anything, so those few pieces of fruit candy were especially precious.

Shen's mother asked, "Who gave you these fruit candies?"

Peijun said, "It belonged to the village secretary's family. The secretary's daughter secretly slipped it to me."

Peitian said, "That's great. If I had known that following my second uncle would bring me candy, I would have followed him too."

Peijun said, "My second uncle didn't want me to come along either. I only followed him in when he was about to enter the Party Secretary's house. Otherwise, do you think I could have followed him in?"

Shen's father said, "Peijun, don't do this again. If your second uncle doesn't want you to come along, then don't come along."

Peijun said, "My second uncle's arms were bulging. I followed him in because I wanted to know what he was taking to the Party Secretary's house. Dad, what do you think my second uncle was giving the Party Secretary?"

Mr. Shen said, "What are you kids asking about? Share this candy with each of you and go to sleep."