Time Travel Article: Tool Man Rejects Plot

Chapter 161 New Year’s greetings on the first day of the Lunar New Year

After dinner in the evening, there is still work to do, which is to continue making dumplings.

These dumplings are saved for eating on the morning of the first day of the new year, and they should be filled with different things.

Generally, every family will make six kinds of dumplings, with six dumplings in each kind, representing good luck, and each has an interesting meaning.

Coins: symbolize good fortune.

Sugar: symbolizes sweetness and happiness.

Peanuts: symbolize health and longevity.

Jujube: symbolizes early promotion.

Tofu: symbolizes good fortune and luck.

Walnut: symbolizes family reunion.

The fillings of dumplings also have their own requirements.

As far as Gu Mingyue remembers, their family had two kinds of fillings during the Chinese New Year.

One is cabbage, which means "a hundred fortunes" and represents a lot of money in the new year.

The other is pickled cabbage, which means "counting wealth", representing that it would take a long time to count so much wealth.

In previous years, adults might have just thought that eating dumplings on the morning of New Year’s Day was just for the occasion.

In order to eat the coins, the children tried their best to stuff them into their stomachs.

Once, Guangsheng actually vomited in order to eat a coin.

You have to know that at this time, the only time you can eat pure white flour meat and egg dumplings is during the Chinese New Year. You can imagine how distressed my sister-in-law is.

Fortunately, beating children is not allowed during the Chinese New Year, as it is said that doing so will make the child have bad luck throughout the entire year. Guangsheng was spared from a severe beating.

Even though everyone lives a tight life, they still have a lot to pay attention to.

For example, there is a saying on the first day of the new year: "The earlier you get up, the better your luck."

It is said that if you sleep in on this day, you will feel listless for the whole year.

You can’t cry, otherwise every day will be bad.

Also, be careful with your words and don't say unlucky words, such as "death", "bad", "unfinished", "finished", etc. Otherwise, the coming year will be unlucky.

In addition, before the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, after each meal, people would add some water to the pot after clearing the dishes. This was commonly known as "adding water to the pot", which is meant to pray for abundance every year.

These customs or taboos are sometimes considered to be "being too picky".

But when we celebrate the New Year, aren't we hoping for a good omen, to start afresh, and to hope that good things will happen?

Whether it is real or imaginary, Gu Mingyue feels that the reason for abiding by the so-called rules of the older generation may be more of a psychological comfort.

It is not unreasonable for everyone to hold on to a beautiful vision of tomorrow, revitalize life with passion, devote themselves to work, study, and labor, and gain a sense of accomplishment or reward from them.

Everyone chatted until very late last night, and Gu Mingyue and Xiao Shitou stayed directly at their uncle's house.

I opened my eyes sleepily and checked my watch. It was just half past five.

After a while, he sat up.

At this time, she saw that Little Stone sat up on his own without her calling him, but his eyes were narrowed and his head kept nodding...

Gu Mingyue thought he was going to the toilet.

Little Stone shook his head and said in a daze, "Brother Guangsheng said that if you want to eat dumplings, you need money. If you have money, give it to Auntie."

Gu Mingyue didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "The dumplings haven't been cooked yet. Go to sleep first. When auntie finishes cooking the dumplings, auntie will come and call you to eat together."

After hearing this, the little guy, who was not yet awake, immediately fell asleep.

The steaming dumplings came out of the pot. Everyone, especially the children, sat upright with serious expressions, each expecting to get a coin.

Gu Mingyue felt that she was definitely destined to be rich in this life.

After eating a few, he spat out the coins in his mouth amid the children's surprised and envious eyes.

"Haha, good luck and great wealth." Uncle Gu said happily.

After a while, the sister-in-law ate a walnut, but her eyes instantly became red. Everyone knew that she missed Guangliang.

Guangliang, who had originally agreed to go home for the New Year, broke his promise again due to a temporary mission, which was really a false alarm.

Gu Mingyue quickly interrupted, "Sister-in-law, if you don't mind, put my coin in your mouth and eat it as if it were your own, so that you don't get the gold beans when you can't eat the coin."

"Go away, it's all covered with your saliva, can't you bury it?" Liu Caixia said angrily, bursting into laughter through tears.

Gu Mingyue said innocently, "I brush my teeth every day, they are very clean."

Gu Mingwei coughed and said, "We are eating, please don't be unhygienic."

Gu Mingyue puffed up her cheeks, "Huh, you only know how to criticize me."

By the end of the meal, everyone had more or less eaten some dates, candies, and the like.

Only Guangsheng didn't eat anything.

Seeing that the silly boy was still showing off, and worried that he would vomit again, Gu Mingyue noticed a cracked dumpling with her sharp eyes. She remembered that many dumplings that were wrapped with coins tended to have cracked skins.

With the attitude of giving it a try, she gestured with a "Puff Pu" sound, "Guangsheng, try this."

After a while, I heard a cry, "Woo, woo, I finally got it."

Seeing her youngest son's silly look, Liu Caixia's remaining disappointment was made amused by him. She said helplessly, "Can you eat your fill now?"

Guangsheng nodded quickly, "I'm full, very full."

Then he held up the coin he had spit out and said, "Auntie, how did you know there was a coin in that dumpling?"

Gu Mingyue dodged the saliva-covered hand with disdain and said perfunctorily, "I was just guessing. If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have let you eat so much."

Gu Guangsheng said excitedly, "Aunt, you are my God."

Gu Mingwei glared at him and said, "If you keep talking nonsense, I will beat you up during the New Year."

After finishing the meal with laughter, Gu Mingyue took Xiao Shitou home.

Go to pay New Year’s greetings on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

You have to go home and wait before the villagers come to your door.

Since she is of a higher generation, she naturally needs to go back to receive the younger generations who come to pay New Year's greetings.

Alas, the troubles of the elders...

There was a plate full of peanuts and melon seeds and a basket of candies.

Gu Mingyue also prepared a lot of small red envelopes wrapped in red paper.

There were too many people, so she wanted to put in one cent at first, but then she thought it was auspicious to put in pairs, so she put in two cents.

Of course, the gifts for the children at home, including Xinsheng and Yinuo, cost 50 cents each.

A small stone is a dollar, and she has figured out the relationship between close and distant relatives.

Knowing that Aunt Mingyue has a lot of food, there is a constant stream of people coming to pay New Year’s greetings.

Gu Mingyue accepted everyone who came to her, and in the end she felt her face was almost stiff from smiling.

I thought to myself, being an elder is not easy, it’s so tiring.

It finally came to an end, and the floor of the house was covered with nothing but melon seeds, peanut shells and candy crusts.

Although there is a saying that you cannot sweep the floor on the first day of the New Year as it will easily sweep away your wealth.

But Gu Mingyue couldn't bear it, so she quickly cleaned up the mess while everyone had left.

This is why she doesn't like to invite people to her home.

Fortunately, her personality traits are well-known in the village, so people only visit her during the Chinese New Year, and no one dares to provoke her at other times.

Little Shitou followed other children to visit other people's homes to wish them a happy New Year.

There is only Mingyue left at home, oh, yes, and Dandan.

People have to eat and drink well during the New Year, and dogs can't be left behind either.

Reward Dandan with a bowl of meat and egg dumplings.

There is also a collar woven with red rope tied around its neck, which looks quite festive at first glance.

Maybe he was not used to it, Dandan shook his head and always wanted to put it down.

Gu Mingyue comforted it, "I'll take it off after the Chinese New Year. You can wear it for a few days first. It represents good luck and fortune, and means you will have delicious food to eat in the coming year."

Dandan rolled his eyes, obviously not believing it, but fortunately he was obedient and ran back to the nest in a listless manner.

During the Chinese New Year, every family sets off firecrackers, and children always like to pick up unlit firecrackers and light them to play with.

Dogs have very sensitive hearing and can hear sounds that are difficult for humans to detect. The sound of firecrackers is equivalent to being amplified several times next to their ears.

It would be very irritating to them. Dandan is just like that. Recently, he doesn't like to go out much and is listless.

Seeing this, Gu Mingyue led it into the house and closed the doors and windows, so that it could feel a little happier.