sbdcsierra Chapter 19 Chinese New Year
Chapter 19 Chinese New Year
The Spring Festival in ancient times was not much different from the Spring Festival in modern times. If one had to point out the difference, it would be...
That is, the Spring Festival in ancient times was much more lively, especially with the innocence, cuteness, and liveliness of children. It wasn't like the lifeless and dull Spring Festival of modern times.
On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, Lin Zhaoshi prepared dough to make steamed buns. She was particularly skillful and made steamed buns with blooming flowers, which were used to worship her ancestors.
On the 30th, Grandpa Lin took his family to the ancestral graves to pay respects early in the morning.
Lin Yundan felt awkward thinking to herself.
"These ancient customs are really strange; ancestral grave worship was actually held on the last day of December."
Because Yundan lives in the city in modern times, every household worships at home, and only goes up the mountain to worship ancestors during the Qingming Festival.
So I couldn't quite wrap my head around it.
Along the way, I met people from my village and from the neighboring village of Xishui.
Just then, a little girl's voice called out, "Dad, Mom, it's that older sister!"
Then, like a happy little deer, it took off running to Yun Dan.
"It's my sister, it's my sister! Grandma, Dad, Mom, it really is my sister."
The little girl's parents looked at Yun Dan's family with blank expressions, wondering why their daughter was calling the other girl "sister".
After thinking for a while, the girl's mother suddenly remembered. It turned out to be the child who had brought her daughter back to the village a few months ago.
"Little girl, thank you so much for bringing Wan'er back last time."
The child only told us about you taking her back to the village after we got home.
By the time we got there, you were nowhere to be seen, and we hadn't even had a chance to properly thank you.
"Auntie, you're too kind! We're neighbors from the next village, it's only right that we do this."
"Little sister, your name is Wan'er? That's a really nice name."
When the little girl heard Yun Dan praise her name, her big eyes immediately sparkled like two glittering gems.
"Sister, thank you for taking me home last time. I forgot to thank you." She said, lowering her head shyly.
Yun Dan and Wan'er chatted back and forth, while the adults exchanged pleasantries and thanks. The two groups chatted for a while.
Since both families were going to pay respects to their ancestors, they soon parted ways.
Wan'er tugged at Yun Dan's sleeve and said in a childish voice, "Sister, will you come and play with me next time?"
Looking at the little girl, Yun Dan couldn't help but think, "This child is really carefree. Isn't she afraid of being kidnapped later?"
"Just because I took you home once, you trust me so much?"
"Okay, I'll come find you to play when I have time. But Wan'er, remember what I said, you can't run around like that again."
Don't go with strangers, or you might get kidnapped and sold, understand?
After Yun Dan agreed, the two families left.
As for the little girl Wan'er, she was almost kidnapped in the near future. Fortunately, she remembered what Yun Dan said and escaped a disaster.
Of course, that's a story for another time, so let's not talk about it now.
Grandpa Lin originally had an older brother, but he died decades ago when they were fleeing famine. Now, only Grandpa Lin and his family remain.
But the Lin family ancestors are still here, so Old Master Lin can be considered to have escaped death.
Through his decades of hard work, he raised his three children.
He is grateful to his ancestors for blessing his family, as they are living such a good life and he has a granddaughter with medical skills.
On Chinese New Year's Day, the whole family gathers together to make dumplings, putting a copper coin, symbolizing good luck, inside each dumpling. Whoever finds a coin inside will have good luck for the whole year.
Yun Dan is going to complain again. In her previous life, all she watched on the Spring Festival Gala was dumplings.
We southerners don't eat dumplings during the Lunar New Year; we eat beef hot pot instead.
"Ugh... I really want to eat beef."
Now, things have taken a turn for the worse; we've arrived in ancient times, and in the south no less, where we're even making dumplings.
Wouldn't a beef hot pot be delicious? Thinking of beef hot pot again, even though Yundan often eats wild game, it still tastes bland and tasteless.
And you know what? Ever since Yun Dan arrived in Sujia Village, almost every household has been able to eat wild game once or twice a month.
For the past month, Yun Dan has been cooking wild game for these children every few days to help them improve their malnutrition.
As it turned out, a bunch of kids actually took the remaining game home and ate it with their parents.
What could Yun Dan do but helplessly turn a blind eye?
Grandpa Lin and his family filled their glasses, and his wife and children each added half a glass to their own enjoyment. Even Lin Jiang's eldest cousin had half a glass.
Seeing them drinking so happily, Yun Dan was so anxious that she kept scratching her ears.
If this were in their previous lives, Yun Dan could have drunk them all under the influence of water without any alcohol content.
Yun Dan marked all the dumplings she made, and gave one to everyone. Those who bit into the coin laughed heartily.
A cool breeze was blowing outside, but it was warm and cozy inside.
After dinner, people in Sujia Village stay up all night to welcome the New Year. It's usually the grandparents or great-grandparents who stay up, or the parents if there are no grandparents in the family.
Some children don't have to go to bed early tonight; it's only once a year, and they can play until they fall asleep on the ground in the village.
Then they were taken back by their respective parents.
In ancient times, there was a custom of staying up all night on New Year's Eve. In the north, snow was falling outside the window, while in the south, the air conditioning was magically cool, and the Lin family's room was brightly lit.
The adults stayed up until midnight, and the children were only taken to sleep when they were so tired they could barely keep their eyes open.
Yun Dan couldn't help but sigh as she thought about what had happened in the nearly six months since she arrived here.
"Dad, Mom, little brother, Xiaoyu, Happy New Year. I'm doing well now, so you don't need to worry about me."
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, everyone got up very early.
Meanwhile, our protagonist Yun Dan is still lazing in bed; this is the first time she's ever lingered in bed since arriving here.
It feels so good to stay in bed, I really miss it, but this bed isn't as comfortable as a modern one.
The elders of the Lin family had already prepared red envelopes, just waiting for the little children to come and wish the adults a Happy New Year and ask for red envelopes, hoping for good luck.
Grandma Lin gave a red envelope to Yun Dan, who was dressed in bright red and came to kowtow, as soon as her four little children got up early in the morning.
Yun Dan kowtowed and said auspicious words, and the adults gave her a red envelope. Yun Dan secretly squeezed it, just like a little money-grubber.
Yun Danniang smiled and said, "Little girl, I'll save it for your dowry."
Upon hearing this, Yun Dan was filled with questions: Marriage?
"She's still so young, and they're already arranging her marriage."
"Mom, I'm only 9 years old this year, who knows how many years it will be before I get married."
So, I'll keep this red envelope for myself for now.
"Marriage? There's no way I'll ever get married in this lifetime. Even when I was almost 30 in my last life, I never had any thoughts about it, let alone here in ancient times."
Yun Dan's mother was also amused by Yun Dan and smiled broadly.
He pointed at Yun Dan's forehead and said, "You, you."
The three siblings kowtowed to Grandpa Lin again, offered auspicious words, and received another red envelope.
After a while, all the little kids under fifteen in the village will go to each household to wish them a Happy New Year, offering auspicious words and giving each person a red envelope containing one coin.
When other children from the village came to the Lin family to wish them a Happy New Year, they all received a red envelope containing two coins.
These two-cent red envelopes were given by Yun Dan, since Yun Dan is not short of money anyway.
Yun Dan is planning to make a big push this year, first to make the village prosperous. Not to mention that every household can become rich, at least the housing of these thirty-odd households needs to be improved.
Especially at night when I'm trying to sleep, the music from this wooden bed is quite lively.
The liveliest place in the village is these dozen or so kids, and Yun Dan can't possibly join in their crazy antics right now.
Yun Dan simply sat under the tree watching a group of children running around and having a great time.
Xiaoyue came to Yundan's side and said, "Little girl, why don't you come and play with us?"
"It's alright, you guys have fun. By the way, have you been practicing martial arts lately? Is there anything you don't understand? If there is, remember to tell me."
"Yes, you told us to cultivate for at least one incense stick's time every morning, and we did it. I feel like my internal energy is as thick as a chopstick now."
Upon hearing Xiaoyue's words, Yundan placed her right hand on Xiaoyue's chest and felt it.
He nodded and said, "Not bad, not bad, your internal energy is gentle and steady, neither arrogant nor impatient."
"The worst thing in cultivating internal energy is being impatient and restless. Xiaoyue, you're doing very well."
Every child is diligently completing the Yun Dan Sect's cultivation methods.
Xiaoman was especially diligent, but unfortunately, Yundan didn't know why, but his internal energy was basically absorbed by that mysterious thing inside his body.
It's like one dantian is always stealing food from another dantian, and it's never full, which is why Xiaoman's internal energy is only as big as a hair.
Yun Dan is powerless to do anything about it and can only let the little snotty bug continue its cultivation step by step, or something unexpected might happen in the future.