Rebirth: It's Not You, It's Me

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the year is over with the sound of firecrackers, and the spring breeze brings warmth to Tusu. At the beginning of the New Year, before dawn, people who wish to pay New Year's greetings come to pay their respects.

This year, the custom of greeting each other and setting off firecrackers during the Chinese New Year has not been abolished yet, and the festive atmosphere is still quite strong.

There is an endless stream of people coming to my house to kowtow to my parents and wish them a happy new year. (Because my parents are older than my grandparents)

My mother also urged me to go to my aunt's house to set off firecrackers for her. I brought my "brother's army". Taotao and my second uncle's brother Mingming. (My second uncle's family temporarily lives in the village, so Mingming and I are very close to Taotao, uncle and aunt.)

"Come back quickly after setting off the fireworks. You are not allowed to eat at your aunt's house today." Mom instructed.

It was still dark and the streets were full of people. The three of us chased each other and soon arrived.

Because my aunt has two older sisters who are afraid of setting off firecrackers, we have always set off firecrackers on the first day of the Lunar New Year since we were young.

After the fireworks, my aunt invited us to have dinner, but I refused and ran away. I was afraid that I would not be able to refuse and would be beaten by my angry mother when I got home. (I have always been beaten since I was a child)

"Mom, I brought them back. They didn't eat at my aunt's house. Mingming went back to his house. He said he would come over after dinner."

"Hurry up and wash your hands before eating the dumplings. There are coins inside. Whoever eats it will have good luck for the whole year and will also be rewarded with 100 yuan." My mother said as she served the dumplings.

"Guozhen, eat quickly. You have to burn paper later. Don't wait for them." Mom urged Dad again.

We quickly washed our hands and rushed to the dining table, poured vinegar on the food, and began to eat voraciously. The more we ate, the less we could eat, but for the sake of the coins, we ate more, and more.

"Oh, I got it." I took the coin out of my mouth.

"Mom, 100 yuan." Who isn't a lucky baby?

"Me too." Dad also exclaimed.

"It's the first time in so many years that you've grown up." Mom also said to Dad.

"I don't have it. I don't want to eat it anymore." Taotao said angrily.

"It doesn't matter if you don't get to eat, there are also New Year's money, 500 per person." Dad waved his hand. It felt like a huge sum of money was being spent.

Before we finished eating, several uncles and brothers came over. Dad quickly finished eating and went with them to burn paper for grandparents. (It is our custom to burn paper for our ancestors on the morning of the first day of the New Year.)

Mingming and Susu came right after my dad and his friends left. "Aunt, happy new year, good luck and prosperity, give me the red envelope." Then he knelt down and kowtowed, stretching out his hand for the red envelope.

"Hurry up, I've prepared it for you. 500 each, the same as your sister. We are not biased."

"Sister, take me to see the new bride later. I'll treat you to spicy noodles." My sister looked at me expectantly. (It is a custom for people to walk around the streets and alleys to see the new bride who got married that year after having dinner on the morning of the first day of the Chinese New Year.)

"Okay, but it's not you who's treating me, it's my sister who's treating you, so pick whatever you want. My friends and I will take you out later, and we'll buy more when we come back."

Because I have lived through a lifetime and know who is good to me, I didn't gather with a large group of people to go out for a stroll like in previous years. I just found Jiaojiao, Yuxiao and Liuting.

I took my sister and a few others for a stroll for the whole morning. Everyone was talking about which daughter-in-law was from which family, and which daughter-in-law was pretty...

"Do you want to go to the movies this afternoon? I'll ask my dad to drive us there." I asked.

"Okay, okay, the New Year's money is just right for us to spend some time happily." Several people hit it off.

"Do you want to call other sisters?" Yu Xiao asked.

"Forget it. My car can't accommodate so many people." I laughed it off calmly.

"That's right. After lunch, we'll come to see you."

"Okay, okay," I responded quickly.

After watching a movie in the afternoon, we went shopping for a while and returned home happily.