Living and working in peace and contentment through the past and the present

The 25th of January in the Gregorian calendar is also the [-]th day of the lunar calendar. New Year's Eve, commonly known as Thirty Nights, is the last day of the year.On this day, people are happily busy, posting couplets and making New Year’s Eve dinner.

After lunch, An Zhuo and Ruan Li planned to post couplets. With Ruan Li here this year, An Zhuo didn't buy ready-made couplets, but bought a lot of red paper for Ruan Li to write on.After all, a large couplet costs a few yuan, and the entire courtyard costs more than ten or twenty yuan.

After tidying up the table in the main room, An Zhuo cut the red paper into strips, while Ruan Li prepared the pen and ink.

"What kind of couplet is better to write?" Ruan Li held up the pen and didn't know what couplet to write, because he had too many couplets in his mind.

An Zhuo knelt on the bench, propped his head against the table with his hands, and waited for Ruan Li to write the couplet. He had no idea, after all, the couplet was a tradition, and it was born in ancient times. He, a modern person, had memorized some rumors except when he was in school. The sound of the rain reading, and the rest of the couplets related to the Chinese New Year, I really haven't memorized, "You can figure it out, you know these things better than me."

"Then..." Ruan Li thought through the couplets in his mind one by one, and then said with a smile, "Then I will write this couplet."

As he said that, mentioning that Lang Hao quickly landed on the red paper and completed it in one go, An Zhuo looked at the first couplet and wrote it, and immediately changed it to a piece of red paper, Ruan Li did not stop breathing, and wrote the second couplet neatly.In fact, Ruan Li's understanding of couplets was only understood in modern times. Couplets originated from couplets and are derivatives of couplets. They prospered in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the Qing Dynasty was the most.

"The New Year's God agrees with everyone, and the happy event is the same as the old spring." An Zhuo read the couplet, and he praised, "It's really well written."

"How many couplets do you want to write?" Ruan Li smiled, spread out the cut red paper, and continued writing.

"Write all the paper, and send the rest to the next door. The second aunt takes good care of me on weekdays. There is also a deli. Last time you were injured, it was thanks to the third uncle." A villager pushed forward a few Generations are all related, so they are called according to seniority.

"Well, that's fine. Then I'll write it all, anyway, it doesn't take much effort." After a while, Ruan Li wrote all the couplets.An Zhuo picked out a few good ones to keep at home, and divided the rest into two, one for the neighbor and one for the deli.

"Send the couplets over first, and we'll post the couplets when we come back." The two locked the door with the couplets between them.Talking about the next door, there is actually a small river and a field with a fifth of land. An Zhuo first sent the couplet to the second aunt's house. The second aunt pulled An Zhuo and talked for a long time before letting go, and then went to the third uncle's house.

The third uncle's house was far away, and it took about twenty minutes to walk. The two of them had nothing to do, so they went on foot. Just went home.When I got home, I started posting couplets.

An Zhuo used boiled hot water to make batter for paste, and kept it for pasting the couplets, while Ruan Li, who was tall, was in charge of pasting the couplets.

"An Zhuo, is it crooked?" Standing on a stool to paste couplets to the gate of the yard, Ruan Li turned his head and asked An Zhuo.

"A little more to the left, right, right, over, a little more to the right, the bottom is crooked, okay, okay, stick it now." An Zhuo directed behind him, and Ruan Li moved the couplet again and again following his words , and finally posted the upper couplet.

"Why is it so difficult to post couplets?" Ruan Li rubbed his sore arms and jumped off the bench, moving the bench to another door.

An Zhuo handed the paste-coated second couplet to Ruan Li, and said with a smile, "Tired after such a little work?"

"No." Ruan Li immediately retorted and explained, "It's just that it's more difficult than I imagined."

"It's not easy to do anything well, and it's much harder than you think." An Zhuo saw that Ruan Li had also posted the second couplet, and then said, "Okay, go back to the house and post it."

Then, the two pasted couplets on all the doors and windows in the house. After they were pasted up, the old courtyard immediately came alive, filled with festive New Year everywhere.An Zhuo looked at the time, it was already past three o'clock in the afternoon, and it was getting late, so he was busy preparing the New Year's Eve dinner immediately.

In the past, when An Zhuo was alone, he just cooked two or three dishes casually to pass the year. However, this year, there are two people, and it has not been so lively for a long time. An Zhuo wants to cook a large table of dishes to celebrate. Besides, it is winter The leftover dishes will not be spoiled.

Washing vegetables is a physical job, and Ruan Li has already done a lot of housework during this time, including one thing, which is washing vegetables.On weekdays, he washes the vegetables, An Zhuo cooks, and then he washes the dishes. The division of labor is very clear.The tap water is very cold in winter, so Ruan Li uses well water to wash the vegetables, and then rinses them with tap water after washing.

"Ruan Li, wash the Chinese cabbage first, I'll use it later." An Zhuo shouted to Ruan Li from the kitchen, who was standing on the bench and cutting the pork hanging on the beam .

"Oh, I'll wash it right away." Ruan Li responded, quickly rolled up her sleeves, brought up a bucket of well water, and then put the cabbage with the leaves removed into the well water to wash.An Zhuo cut the meat and carried a pot of boiling water, and brought the meat to Ruan Li. Ruan Li washed the Chinese cabbage, and he washed the meat. It is better to wash the meat with warm water.

"After washing the cabbage, wash the fish first. Remember to clean the internal organs, especially the black film in the fish belly. If you don't clean it, it will cause cancer if you eat it, and the gills must be removed."

Although Ruan Li didn't know anything about cancer, but An Zhuo told him to clean it up and he did it.An Zhuo hummed a tune, and after washing the meat, he went back to the kitchen.When Ruan Li washed the fish and took it to the kitchen, he saw An Zhuo was chopping the meat, and asked curiously, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to make dumplings tonight, and I'll save them for the morning of the first day of the new year." An Zhuo was chopping the meat nimbly, and seeing Ruan Li wash the fish, he put down the knife and took the fish, "Go and wash the killed chicken .”

Ruan Li snorted, and went to the east room very diligently to wash the killed chicken by the well, and then washed all the garlic, leeks, spinach and so on.At this time, he smelled the fragrance of the fish made by An Zhuo, and took the dishes into the kitchen to put them away. He saw An Zhuo smiling, taking care of the fish in the pot while chopping the meat.

Seeing An Zhuo's slender arms and legs, chopping meat so hard, Ruan Li felt distressed, helped An Zhuo wipe off the sweat from his forehead, took the knife, and said with a smile, "I'll do it, you cook."

"Okay." An Zhuo smiled at Ruan Li, then turned around and went to the pot to turn the fish over.

"An Zhuo, why are you so good at cooking?" Ruan Li asked An Zhuo who was behind him while chopping meat. "You learned how to do it after your parents left?"

"No, I knew how to do it a long time ago. I am the only child in the family. I used to learn to help my parents cook when there was no one to cook when the harvest was busy. I knew how to do it when I was very young."

"So it's been so long, no wonder the dishes are so delicious." Ruan Li sighed.An Zhuo's craftsmanship is not just bragging, it's really great, and there is evidence for Ling Yun's liking so much.

The two cooperated quite tacitly. When they were two children, the meals were ready, but the dumplings hadn't been made yet, the stuffing was ready, and the dumpling wrappers hadn't been rolled yet.

"Put this fish in the east room and cover it with a cover." An Zhuo put the packed fish into Ruan Li's hands, and Ruan Li took the fish dish and asked, "Aren't you going to eat tonight?"

"Eat this small one." Ruan Li pointed to another plate of fish and said with a smile, "Save that one for tomorrow morning, it's auspicious, and it means more than every year."

Ruan Li nodded with comprehension, and burst into a very hearty smile, "There are fish every year, and there are more than every year..."