Chapter Fifteen: New Year (Three)

  As Song Jie had no relatives in the village, she only went to a few households with relatively good relationships with Zhao Juan. As soon as they left the house, they could see people walking around and it was very lively.

  After finishing New Year's greetings, Zhao Juan sent her daughter back home for a nap and went out visiting relatives herself.

  Song Jie slept until the sun was high in the sky, and she felt extremely comfortable. As soon as she opened her eyes, she smelled a wave of dumplings' fragrance, which couldn't help but drill into her nostrils. She also heard bursts of firecrackers crackling around her ears.

  At this time, Song Jie put on her clothes and got up very self-consciously, which made Zhao Juan laugh and say that she was a little greedy cat with a sharp nose. Song Jie's ears turned bright red with embarrassment.

  A new year begins with a new start, and it all starts with this dumpling meal.

  Jiaozi is a traditional Chinese food with a history of over 1,000 years. Jiaozi was originally called "jiao er", and was first invented by Zhang Zhongjing, the medical sage of China.

  At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhongjing resigned from his official position and returned to his hometown from Changsha. He saw many poor people suffering from hunger and cold, with even their ears frozen and cracked. His heart was deeply pained, and he decided to use his medical skills to treat them.

  He invented a medicine called "Qù Hán Jiāo ěr Tāng" (驱寒娇耳汤), which was made by boiling sheep meat and warming medicinal herbs in a pot, then scooping out the solids, chopping them up, wrapping them in dough to form ear-shaped "Jiāo ěr", cooking them in a pot, and serving them with a bowl of soup to patients seeking treatment. Each person received two Jiāo ěr and one bowl of soup. After eating the warming soup, people's bodies would heat up, their blood would circulate smoothly, and their ears would warm up. After taking the medicine for some time, the patient's rotten ears would heal. This soup was also revered as a classic by doctors throughout history.

  Zhang Zhongjing's dispensary continued until the 30th of the lunar year. On New Year's Day, people celebrated the new year and also celebrated the recovery of Zhang Zhongjing's ears, making a dish in the shape of his ears to eat on New Year's morning. People called this food "Jiao Er" or "Jiaozi", which is eaten during the Winter Solstice and New Year's Day to commemorate Zhang Zhongjing's opening of the dispensary and curing patients' illnesses.

  Now people no longer use dumplings to treat frostbite, but the custom of wrapping dumplings on New Year's Day has been passed down to this day, and some other things are wrapped in it to show auspicious meaning.

  The dumplings on the first morning of the new year also have a story to tell. In Song Jie's family, they wrap six kinds of fillings: coins, rice cakes, red dates, peanuts, sugar and bean curd skin, each with six pieces, symbolizing wealth, promotion, sweetness, good fortune and so on.

  Song Jie knew about this custom when Zhao Juan was wrapping dumplings, so she was very enthusiastic during meals. She was too small and could only eat ten dumplings before getting full. In order to get the dumplings with coins in them, she took advantage of her young age and used chopsticks to poke at each dumpling one by one, feeling for the hard ones and then picking them up into her own bowl.

  It's a good thing that the daughter can eat more, Zhao Juan doesn't stop her, instead she joins in with great enthusiasm to the dumpling eating army, and competes with her daughter to see who can finish first.

  As soon as she swallowed the first mouthful, Song Jie was startled and spat it out. When she looked at it again, it was a red date. She quickly showed off to Zhao Juan with a smug expression, her chin raised high.

  Who knew Zhao Juan wouldn't pay attention to her, and instead lowered her head and ate fiercely. Song Jie took a look and thought this was too treacherous, bullying her for having a small mouth? She couldn't admit defeat, so she picked up a dumpling and stuffed it into her mouth, only to realize it was sweet after swallowing, just as she was about to report back to her mom.

  But then Zhao Juan's mouth twitched, and she spat out a coin, Song Jie's mouth pouted, this was also too hurtful. She lowered her head and buried her face in the bowl to start eating vigorously.

  Just when she was about to give up, her little tooth suddenly popped out and spat out a coin! At this time, she smiled with her missing front tooth "hehe".

  Zhao Juan didn't tease her anymore and said, "Now you should be satisfied, it seems like you'll definitely have money to spend next year. Don't eat this dumpling, there are bacteria on the coin, eat something else."

  Song Jie can still eat it down, watermelon belly has come out, eating again will explode. Anyway, the task is finally completed.

  The first day of the Lunar New Year is the most leisurely day of the year, no need to rush around visiting relatives, it's a great time to go door-to-door.

  At half past morning, Zhao Juan led Song Jie to Li Shu's home. In the yard of Li Shu's house, there were scattered firecracker papers all over the ground, barely swept into a pile and placed in the corner of the wall.

  Sitting on the warm kang in Aunt Li's home, Zhao Juan and some old mothers started chatting about everything under the sun.

  Song Jie wasn't interested in those things, so she went to play with Little Swallow. The two of them fiddled with Little Swallow's new toys, ate candy, and even had to play house with the little kid. She didn't feel impatient at all, but instead was full of enthusiasm for playing.

  She didn't know what those reborn people in the book were thinking, looking down on children, eager to skip levels and grow up. Anyway, she was going to relive her childhood once, without any regrets, living a carefree life.

  Little Swallow told her many secrets and asked Song Jie who her best friend was, and Song Jie naturally replied that it was her. Little Swallow had asked her this question several times already, really not getting tired of it. No matter how old they are, girls always have countless little secrets to share with their BFFs, and always hope to be the most important one in each other's eyes.

  Once, Song Jie hesitated for a moment when answering, which made Xiao Yan ignore her for several days. She didn't dare to hesitate again and answered smoothly from then on.

  In a short while, Song Jie transformed from the father of the child to the mother of the child and then back to being a little kid again. Playing house isn't something just anyone can do.

  Accompanying good friends to play games, listening to relatives' high-sounding talks by her ear, Song Jie only felt that time was quietly beautiful, and she wished that time would never pass, just staying in this moment.

  Alas, time will never stop for anyone. In the first month, people are busy visiting relatives, and before you know it, the 15th of the first month has arrived.

  These days, Song Jie obviously felt that she had gained weight. In the past, her life was not good, and her small face was a bit sallow. During the New Year's holiday, she ate well and quickly replenished her nutrition, her cheeks puffed up, and her skin turned white with a hint of red, just like the lucky dolls in traditional Chinese paintings, looking lovely no matter how you looked at her, earning praise from everyone. This made the little brat show off even more.

  Her parents look good, let alone Zhao Juan, even her cheap dad looks okay, otherwise how could Zhao Juan marry him? Song Jie will naturally not be bad in the future either.

  On the fifteenth day, however, it was the most lively day in the whole village. Just hearing Xiaoyan mention it a dozen or so times made my ears feel like they were going to get calluses.

  A traveling Yangge dance troupe came to the village that day. They sang and danced all the way from another village to Xiaozhang Village.

  A long time ago, Little Swallow and Song Jie stretched their necks to watch the performance. As soon as they heard the suona sound, the two of them hurriedly ran to the front of the Yangge team.

  Song Jie had never seen such a lively scene before, and what she saw on TV didn't count.

  The team was very long, with many elderly grandfathers and grandmothers inside. They wore red clothes and green pants, with rouge on their faces, a red mark on their foreheads, silk on their shoulders, and they dodged and weaved under their feet, taking four-character steps, dancing with the sound of suona. It looked particularly lively.