Chapter 96: Chapter 96: New Year’s Visits
After finishing breakfast, Li Xuemei didn’t let Gu Xiaoying and Gu Xiaoqing help clean up. It’s not customary for children to do chores during the New Year, lest they face hardships for life.
The cleanup was done.
Li Xuemei also took the opportunity to prepare lunch in advance.
That’s how it was last night as well.
It’s more reassuring to prepare the lunch at home. This way, when the kids come back with us, they’ll at least have a warm New Year’s meal to eat.
Four steamed dishes are a must, one braised fish, a large plate of cabbage and tofu, and two vegetarian dishes: century egg mixed with tofu and bean sprouts mixed with noodles.
These were all pre-prepared dishes. Li Xuemei just fiddled with them until they were almost done, so they could be finished quickly when they got back.
There were also leftover dumplings.
Then the whole family went out to visit Mr. Gu and Mrs. Gu’s old house, and along the way, they greeted familiar faces to wish them a happy New Year.
In the village, everyone is out visiting each other for New Year’s greetings at this time.
Gu Ruhai and Li Xuemei led the children to Grandma Zhang’s house first, where Gu Xiaojie was still staying.
Upon entering, Grandma Zhang and Aunt Zhang were sitting on the káng (bed-stove) at home, while Gu Xiaojie and Zhang Zijie were picking up firecrackers in the yard. Those that hadn’t fully detonated were highly sought after by the village kids, especially the boys.
They grouped together, trying to rummage around the firecracker debris in the village. Their little eyes sparkled, their pockets bulging, and they held short incense sticks for lighting firecrackers in their hands.
Li Xuemei and Gu Ruhai pushed open the door and walked right in. No one locks their door during the New Year, so for New Year’s visits, everyone just pushes it open and enters.
"Aunt Zhang, happy New Year!"
"Sister-in-law, happy New Year! Where’s Brother Zhang?"
The couple quickly wished New Year’s greetings. For the past few months in autumn, the Zhang Family had been helping to take care of Gu Xiaojie. Although, before the year-end, Li Xuemei had bought three jin of pork, two jin of peach cakes, and two jin of apples to specially thank the Zhang Family for taking care of Gu Xiaojie.
But Grandma Zhang had given them a good talking to, and if Li Xuemei hadn’t become good with words, she might not have been able to leave the goods there.
After all, during those months, Gu Xiaojie had eaten quite a lot at their place. At the very least, he definitely had lunch there. And whatever snacks their child had, they couldn’t leave out Gu Xiaojie. So he had quite a bit of shared meals with Zhang Zijie.
In those days, no family was exceedingly rich. The Zhang Family was large, and the eldest was living with Mrs. Zhang. The household also had two young men ready to marry and some young children too. Every mouth to feed was another bit of struggle.
So Li Xuemei knew her token of gratitude wasn’t much; it was really just a sentiment.
Grandma Zhang had a leg problem, an old cold leg issue. In winter, the pain flared up, making walking difficult, so she was sitting on the káng with a warm blanket on her lap.
Aunt Zhang quickly got down and greeted Li Xuemei and Gu Ruhai to sit, bringing the sugary treats, peanuts, and sunflower seeds from the table beside her to place in front of them.
"Happy New Year! Your big brother went out visiting too. Go ahead, have a sweet treat to sweeten your mouths."
She warmly grabbed a handful and stuffed it into Li Xuemei and Gu Ruhai’s hands.
Li Xuemei accepted with a smile. Rural people are sincere. If you don’t accept things over the New Year, it can be seen as an insult, as if looking down on them.
"Sister-in-law, don’t worry about it. We just came to see you. It’s New Year’s, after all, a time to spread joy!"
Sister-in-law Zhang was quite fond of Li Xuemei’s refreshing nature.
In those past years, Li Xuemei couldn’t seem to stand on her own, barely speaking much. Even if you had advice, it was useless if she ignored you.
But now, because the children were closer, and Li Xuemei was different from before, Sister-in-law Zhang felt quite at ease with her.
"Look at that sweet mouth of yours. Does my candy taste good, or have you had some sugar water?"
Li Xuemei laughed.
She called out to Zhang Zijie, who was still squatting on the ground: "Jiezi, come wish your aunt a happy New Year!"
Zhang Zijie awkwardly pulled Gu Xiaojie over, biting his lip, feeling a bit shy. He bowed to Gu Ruhai and Li Xuemei, saying, "Uncle, Aunt, happy New Year."
Then, shyly, he smiled, wanting to turn and leave.
But Li Xuemei caught him by the arm.
"Where are you going? Here’s your New Year’s gift, you’ve grown a year older!"
She handed over a one-yuan note, forcefully putting it into Zhang Zijie’s pocket.
Sister-in-law Zhang, feeling anxious, tried to pull it back, but Li Xuemei grabbed her wrist, "Sister-in-law, you can’t do that. During the New Year, don’t every elder give a New Year’s gift to the younger ones? This is for Jiezi, not for you. You can’t refuse. It’s my intent as an elder."
Sister-in-law Zhang opened her mouth but finally gave Li Xuemei a light pat, "Fine, fine, you’re the elder, I guess I have no say as his mom."
Zhang Zijie and Gu Xiaojie dashed off to the yard.
Gu Ruhai called after them, "Gu Xiaojie, don’t go too far. Later, we’re heading to your grandparents."
Gu Xiaojie replied, "Dad, I’ll just be playing in the yard, won’t go far."
Zhang Zijie and Gu Xiaojie, with grins, hid in the wind-shielded corner of the wall. Zhang Zijie took out the one-yuan note Li Xuemei had just stuffed in his pocket. In the tugging, the new note had already wrinkled.
Still, Zhang Zijie happily smoothed the wrinkles and said to Gu Xiaojie, "Your parents are really rich; they just gave me a whole yuan! My parents only gave me fifty cents."
Gu Xiaojie sneakily replied, "That’s because my mom sees us as good buddies. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have gotten that much."
Zhang Zijie nodded, indeed. Didn’t they share a special bond?
After a while, Li Xuemei and Gu Ruhai took their leave, bringing Gu Xiaojie with them.
Gu Xiaoying and Gu Xiaoqing didn’t leave with them.
Because these two were older, they had their own friends and needed to do New Year visits themselves.
So the sisters wanted to visit friends’ houses and wish them a happy New Year too.
As long as they got to their grandparents’ place for New Year greetings later, it would be fine.
When Gu Ruhai and Li Xuemei walked into the Gu Family’s gate with Gu Xiaojie, Gu Xiaoying and Gu Xiaoqing had already arrived.
The family of five solemnly bowed to wish Mr. Gu and Mrs. Gu a happy New Year.
Sitting tidily on the káng, Mr. Gu and Mrs. Gu handed each child a dime as New Year’s money.
Even if Gu Xiaojie didn’t recognize the value, he knew it felt different from the few pieces in his own pocket.
Gu Xiaoqing and Gu Xiaoying had gotten used to it. This year, perhaps due to Gu Ruhai’s significant changes, they were surprised to get a dime, as Mrs. Gu had been notoriously stingy in previous years.
Gu Xiaoqing glanced at the clothes Mr. Gu and Mrs. Gu were wearing; they were still the cotton-padded jackets her mother had sewn.