The Pioneer of the Rebirth Era

The winter of 1979 was not as cold as last year. Except for several consecutive heavy snowfalls at the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, there was no raindrops. Therefore, the dirt roads in the countryside have been dried after half a month of wind and sun, which makes the market in the town more lively. Women are carrying bamboo baskets, and husbands are holding their children. Everyone has a smile on their faces.

Seven or eight catties of pork, half a basket of radishes, a few pieces of Chinese cabbage, a chicken, and duck eggs that have been marinated for several months. Even the most stingy people are happy to buy new year's goods at the end of the year.

This year, Yangjia Village had a fat year, and there was a rare winter fishing. Each family had at least two big fish, plus the rapeseed oil brought back by Yang’s father from the supply and marketing cooperative in the city, and chopped up the fish pieces. It seems that you don't have to be as stingy as you used to be when you wrap it in flour, and it's not bad to fry it.

Rural people have the habit of offering sacrifices to their ancestors at the end of the year. Women take their girls to chop dumplings at home and make dumplings. The father and his son bring fire paper before it is completely dark. All the young and old in the village go to the cemetery to burn paper to worship their ancestors.

On the night of the New Year's Eve, only burning paper, and setting off a few firecrackers at will is a reminder to the ancestors, telling them to get ready to "get money" after the New Year.

Yang Dongxu frantically followed his father, and kissed the old man himself. On the grave of the grandma, Yang's father lit the fire paper himself, and put more fire paper, and then began to throw fire paper from grave to grave.

The firecrackers were lit and crackling, and everyone stepped back to the front of the entire cemetery. The oldest stood in the front row, followed by the second row and the third row. The people standing in each row were of the same generation. After the firecrackers were set off, everyone knelt down and kowtowed three heads, first paying homage to their ancestors in the early years.

After kowtowing, the little boy rushed over with a bang, yelling at the adults, and getting slaps on the buttocks from time to time, or a few kicks, picking up some unexploded firecrackers.

There is still gunpowder in the unexploded firecrackers, which are stripped and ignited with a string that connects the city. The flash of fire makes the little kids scream. This is the favorite game for rural children during the Chinese New Year.

Yang Dongxu also rushed over to pick up two and then stopped. It doesn't matter if you pick up more or less, the important thing is to participate.

I followed my father back home, and gave my little sister the cannon he picked up to play with. Watching his mother and sister making dumplings, Yang Dongxu rolled up his sleeves and wanted to help, but his mother kicked him out of the kitchen. He forgot to wash his hands and was so dirty that he was almost beaten.

He was pulled by his sister to peel off the cannon, and then used gunpowder to show her the "flowers". The two small firecrackers quickly completed their final mission.

"Go to your grandpa's house and call to see if they will come to celebrate the new year?" Yang's mother shouted at Yang Dongxu.

Although I don’t deal with my grandparents very much throughout the year, I have to let go of all prejudices during the Chinese New Year. Even people who have a bad relationship with each other will nod and say hello to each other when they meet during the Chinese New Year, let alone family members.

"Oh, I see." Yang Dongxu took his sister's little hand out of the house.

My parents have been separated from my grandparents, and my younger father joined the army and has not yet married. So it became Yang Dongxu's task to go to the back every year and ask his grandparents whether they want to come to the eldest son's house for the New Year. Although every mission will fail, grandpa and grandma won't come. But the process of the task must go through.

"Go to Teacher Zhou and call out." My mother's voice came from a few steps behind the door.

"Got it." Yang Dongxu responded.

Grandpa and grandma refused as always, but this year their smiles were much stronger, and they even grabbed a handful of roasted peanuts for Yang Dongxu and his sister, and stuffed rock candy in their mouths.

Peeling a peanut and blowing off the thin fruit coating on it, Yang Dongxu stuffed the yellowish and crispy peanut kernels into the mouth of his sister who was not satisfied with the candy.

Mr. Zhou also refused to celebrate the New Year with Yang Dongxu's family. He had already guessed it on the way here, even though this was the first time he called Mr. Zhou to celebrate the New Year.

The New Year's Eve dinner in the evening was very sumptuous. Yang Dongxu's mouth was full of oil, and he finally had the feeling that later generations had a big meal during the New Year. It's just that there is no electricity, and the smoke from the kerosene lamp is too much to make people happy.

After dinner, Mama Yang packed up her things, and a few little girls from school came to play with her sister Hongying.

"Take the two of them with you too." Seeing that Father Yang was about to go out, Mother Yang shouted.

Father Yang frowned, obviously he didn't want to take care of the child at this time. He is going to play cards at the carpenter's house in the threshing field. He can only play cards on the New Year's day all year round. Besides, this year's pocket is so rich, so he must have a good time. If he takes the child there, once the child makes a fuss, there is nothing he can do. playing cards.

"I'm not going, I'm playing at home." Yang Dongxu shook his head, and pulled the blinking little girl out of the glass ball.

Papa Yang, who was originally frowning, turned into a smile in an instant: "Xuzi is the most obedient, papa wins money and will buy you candy tomorrow."

Yang Dongxu rolled his eyes. In his last life, as long as he could remember, Dad Yang would play cards at the end of the year. As for whether he won, he must have. But most of them lost and went home to quarrel with his mother, so he has no hope of fulfilling his father's promise.

"Don't play too much." Mama Yang warned again.

"Got it, got it, I just played 'run fast' with them for a while and got two dollars in my pocket." Father Yang waved his hand.

"Two yuan is still less, how much more do you want?" Mama Yang snorted and continued to clean up the dishes.

"Run Fast" is a kind of card game, big king and little king, three 2s and one ace are removed, four people and three people can play a card game.

Under normal circumstances, there is only one card left for 'Call the Police' and not to lose, and it costs one and two cents for one. As long as you are not too unlucky, two yuan is enough for Dad Yang to lose until dawn.

In fact, one penny and two cents are not too small. You must know that some time ago, Grandpa Yang Dongxu sold Chinese cabbage for one penny and two catties, but it was only two cents and three catties when the year came.

But this year, Yang Dongxu's family has a lot of money, even if they lose all the two yuan, Yang's mother will only be upset and say a few words to Yang's father, and there should be no quarrel. So Yang Dongxu didn't care, and accompanied his sister to play marbles on the bed under the yellowish kerosene lamp.

"Xuzi, I'll go to your aunt's house to have a sit. You play with my little sister at home and I'll hang the door and not lock it from the outside if you play with my little sister." Mama Yang said to Yang Dongxu who was lying on the bed after packing up her things.

"I'll go, I'll play." Dandan threw away the glass ball in his hand, Gululu slid down from the edge of the bed, and opened his arms for Mama Yang to hug.

"Clingy." Yang's mother glared at her daughter and stretched out her arms to hug her. Looking at her son, she found that he was also very happy playing glass balls by himself. She turned around and went out with her daughter in her arms.

Hearing the sound of closing the door, Yang Dongxu stopped playing and lay on his back on the bed, staring at the gray strips hanging down from the roof, he became dazed. He didn't know exactly what he was thinking, his mind was blank.

Yang Dongxu, whose eyes were out of focus for a long time, began to regain his senses, got up and blew out the kerosene lamp, and the room fell into darkness. The scene after rebirth with eyes closed began to replay in his mind. After recalling the things after rebirth, Yang Dongxu couldn't help but think about his life before rebirth.

"It would be great if I had a computer, or even a little bully learning machine." Yang Dongxu muttered.

Thinking about messy things in his mind, he fell asleep unconsciously.

In the vagueness, Yang Dongxu felt that someone was calling him, and in a daze, he didn't know whether he responded or not. Then the clothes on his body were taken off, he turned over and tucked his mouth into the quilt comfortably, and got a slap on the buttocks, and Yang Ma covered the corner of the quilt for him.

When he was sleeping comfortably, Yang Dongxu was reluctantly woken up by his father. It was almost time to pick up the New Year, and the sound of firecrackers outside had already begun to crackle.

Brush your teeth, wash your face, burn the pot, then set off firecrackers, and pick up some unfried ones for your sister to play with. After eating two dumplings, Momo really didn't want to eat it, so she took a bite and put it down.

Then Yang Dongxu, who had been in a daze, refused several invitations to pick up firecrackers in front of other doors with lanterns, took off his clothes and got under the covers again.

If he was reborn or when he was born again, he would be full of energy, picking up firecrackers and running faster than anyone else. But I have experienced all kinds of things such as wiping and throwing cannons before rebirth, and even buying a set of firecrackers to dismantle them for fun. Going to pick up firecrackers now is obviously not as important as sleeping. Anyway, I just picked up some tasks that are enough for my sister to play for a while and continue to sleep.

When it was just dawn, Yang Dongxu was pulled up again. Mama Yang's older sister Hongying and younger sister Dandan can continue to sleep. He is going to visit Papa Yang for New Year's greetings.

Although Father Yang's seniority is not low, but Yang Dongxu's grandparents are still there, and there are other grandpas and grandmas above him, so it is not the turn of Yang Dongxu's family to pay New Year's greetings.

Yawning, he was led by his father into the house of his grandparents.

The grandma, who usually doesn't love him very much, grabbed peanuts and stuffed some candies into his pockets. Father Yang was beside him urging Yang Dongxu to kowtow to his grandparents to pay New Year's greetings.

"You haven't joined the army yet?" Seeing that Yang Dongxu was hugged by his mother after kowtowing, and Yang Dongxu's uncle still didn't show up, Father Yang looked into the back room and asked.

"I was called away by Yinshan and the others last night, and I haven't come back for the next year, saying that I went to play in the town." Grandma Yang Dongxu said, her tone was quite proud, as if someone came to ask her son to play. It's a glorious thing, even Yinshan is now a scrape.

"What's the point of running around town for the New Year's Eve?" Father Yang muttered.

He also talked about the conversation and received several waves of fellow villagers who came to Yang Dongxu's grandparents' house to pay New Year's greetings. Father Yang took his son and wandered around the four houses with the army of New Year's greetings.

Then go home and bring paper and firecrackers to continue to worship the ancestors. Compared with the previous night, this time is larger and more lively. The firecrackers were crackling, and the yellow paper in front of the grave could burn for a long time.

"If you burn your clothes, why don't you go back and wait to be beaten?" Seeing his son being dragged by his friends to the cemetery to pick up firecrackers, Father Yang shouted. Then hurriedly came to his father in a few steps: "Have you joined the army yet?"

"No, who knows where the wild has gone?" Compared to Grandma Yang Dongxu's doting on her youngest son, Grandpa Yang Dongxu was a little annoyed with her youngest son.

Especially a few thousand catties of Chinese cabbage a while ago was basically sold with the help of Father Yang. His youngest son was always lazy and kept asking for money, which made him even more dissatisfied.

"Has Yinshan come back?" Papa Yang asked.

"It seems not." Grandpa Yang Dongxu looked at the crowd and shook his head.

Just after leaving the cemetery, a person ran out of the house in a hurry, and he took a closer look to see who it wasn't Yinshan.

"Grandfather Qi, Dad Xuzi, go back quickly, I'm going to hit someone soon." Yin Shan who rushed over shouted.

"What hit someone, explain clearly?" Father Yang was taken aback for a moment.

The same village who went to the grave together heard that something might have happened in the village, so everyone hurried to the village.