Chapter Twenty-Six New Year

  A large waterwheel isn't that simple model, nor is it those roof frames that don't have high dimensional requirements. Making this waterwheel requires considerable patience, and another thing is that my younger uncle isn't very familiar with these new carpentry tools, so naturally the work now is twice the effort for half the result. However, as my younger uncle becomes more skilled at using the tools, the speed has slowly picked up.

  But after all, it's a big project, and before the work is done, the New Year arrives. The New Year, this is the happiest time for children, but no, why didn't I notice any movement from the kids?

  There is a poem that says "A piece of colored clouds welcomes the dawn, and ten thousand red candles move in the spring sky." Ah, wrong! This was about the New Year's court ceremony during Emperor Taizong of Tang's reign, and now even his father, Emperor Gaozu of Tang, has not yet ascended to the throne.

  So in the countryside, "the new calendar has just opened half a paper, and the small courtyard is still gathering gunpowder ash." This is the festival of the common people, right? Gunpowder, this era doesn't have the firecrackers of later generations yet, explosives are still in the hands of Taoist priests at this time.

  Yang Heng only then realized that this Spring Festival, the New Year was really not exciting at all, even for children there were no exciting things to look forward to. At that time, there was no hongbao money, no pressure to give red envelopes, and no customary New Year's greetings. It is said that the custom of New Year's visits only emerged after Emperor Li Er proposed it, and from then on, the phrase "拜年" (to pay New Year's respects) came into being.

  So now, the old father and mother have prepared some bamboo poles and a fire basin. This Spring Festival is for adults to keep watch, that is, on New Year's Eve, they will keep watch all night, one night connects two years, five watches divide two years, children don't have this patience.

  This also reminded Yang Heng of his childhood experiences in his previous life. At that time, there was no TV or radio at home, and not even electricity. Every New Year's Eve, his grandmother would say, "This is the night when the heavens will give us gifts. Also, on the 15th day of the first month and the 15th day of the eighth month, during the hour of Zi, the heavenly gate will open. When the heavenly gate opens, if you shout three wishes to the sky, the heavens will grant your wishes." However, Yang Heng remembered that before there were TVs in the village, even before the Spring Festival Gala appeared, he had never fulfilled this wish. He would always fall asleep around 10 pm and wake up at 3 am to eat dumplings. Later, when the Spring Festival Gala started, he grew up and every New Year's Eve, he would watch TV with many people in the village office until the end of the gala, forgetting about the heavenly gate opening.

  "Grandpa, what are you doing with these bamboos?" Yang Heng's mind didn't turn around immediately. During the New Year, what's the point of holding some bamboos? "You've forgotten, you used to love burning bamboos during the New Year, these are the firecrackers we use to drive away evil spirits."

  Ah, right, firecrackers, that's what they are. I was just thinking that in this era there wasn't any gunpowder yet, so it must have been burning bamboo. Later generations calling firecrackers "exploding bamboo" originated from this.

  "Then, Dad, what else do we need to do for the New Year?" "What else, your mom and I will stay up till dawn, you just sleep, it's fine. Let you stay up, you don't have the energy, right? Every year you say you'll stay up with us till dawn, but every time you fall asleep before midnight. So, in recent years, we haven't asked you to stay up for New Year's."

  "Can Uncle and the others stay up with us at our home?" "That's alright, after all, I and your uncles are from the same ancestor, it doesn't matter whose house we are in."

  "That's good, let's invite all four uncles' families to come together and celebrate the New Year." Since Yang Heng's family returned, these four uncles seemed to have stolen the spotlight. Without mentioning other things, just looking at the food, everyone was beaming with joy. Naturally, their days in the village were not easy, with envy, jealousy, and resentment emerging, even among their own brothers and parents. This isn't about who's good or bad; it's human nature. Not all relationships are harmonious cooperation; some involve mutual sabotage. Yang Heng could clearly feel that his uncles were more subdued and depressed compared to when they first met, but their physical health had improved a lot. Who can say what's right or wrong in this trade-off?

  Since it was decided that the five families would gather together to celebrate the New Year, some snacks needed to be prepared. What about melon seeds? No, that won't do, sunflower seeds are still in America now. Candies? This old father really didn't buy any, and besides, he wouldn't spare them. So what should be prepared? At this time, the iron pot was also put into use. Since the iron pot was made, stir-frying dishes was no longer possible, because it was winter and there were no vegetables left, not even a single napa cabbage or radish that Yang Heng had often seen in his past life. So what could be done with the iron pot? Among the grains purchased by Old Father, there was some rice. After Yang Heng cooked a meal of plain rice, both Old Father and Old Mother liked it, as well as Uncle and the others. Therefore, Yang Heng accumulated many crispy rice crusts. The crispy rice crusts were yellow and thin, now they were cut into small squares, fried in bean oil in the pot, then sprinkled with finely ground salt on top, this was a delicious snack.

  Then what else, of course not just this one, suddenly, Yang Heng thought of Er Yue Er Chao Dou, that's good, let's get this snack ready in advance, actually it's just the most common stir-fried soybeans, now there are two.

  What else to do, it's been a while since we've accumulated quite a bit of meat, all in the form of cured meat. Now let's cut off a piece of cured meat and bring it over. At this time, due to the heavy snow blocking the mountain, there are hardly any prey to be seen, so we can only eat these cured meats. Slice some meat into thin pieces, then get a brazier, burn some charcoal, have Little Uncle prepare some bamboo skewers, and grind some star anise. This way, we can have a barbecue. To prevent someone from dozing off while eating the barbecue, the meat slices need to be constantly turned over the fire.

  Then it was time for drinks, and this was also due to Yang Heng's luck. Some time ago, when he went up the mountain, he had discovered a tea tree on the mountain and had even dug some old tea leaves from it. Although the leaves were old, they were still tea leaves, weren't they? At that time, Yang Heng had experimented for a long time and had wasted more than half of the leaves before finally roasting out about two taels of tea. This was naturally the drink for tonight. It was also because he felt that everything eaten tonight was too greasy and dry, so he thought of this tea. However, there wasn't a good teapot to brew it in, so they could only soak it in a large basin, and each person drank from a wooden bowl.

  Yang Heng suddenly discovered that his life as a time-traveler was quite miserable. During the New Year, he didn't even have any dishes to eat, no teapot or tea cups to use, not even wine or water, and not even dumplings. It was too sad.