The taste of childhood

Many years ago, I read Mr. Yu Guangzhong's Homesickness. At that time, I just felt very ordinary, and I didn't feel anything.

But now, with the growth of age, I seem to gradually understand the unspeakable secret in the old man's heart, and the life in it can only be understood, but it can't be described.

Homesickness is a simple New Year's Eve dinner for wanderers who leave their hometown and walk far away. I am here and my family is there.

The family get together, push a cup for a change, talk about home cooking and have a hot meal. This is the most delicious food in the world.

There is still one month before the Spring Festival. Are friends looking forward to the Spring Festival because the family can reunite or want to have a holiday?

I have to admit that with the material life getting better and better, the taste of the year seems to be getting weaker and weaker, and the excitement of looking forward to the New Year can only stay in my memory!

I remember when I was a child, as soon as I entered the twelfth lunar month, adults began to buy new year's goods, and the taste of the year came to my face!

At that time, there was a phrase:

These are the Chinese New Year customs handed down by hardworking, brave and wise ancestors.

At that time, most of the rural areas were poor, and the Chinese New Year was really happy. The village is full of joy, and everyone is beaming.

Killing pigs in the New Year is a traditional custom of farmers in the New Year, and it is also a major event at the end of the year.

Killing pigs at home, inviting friends and relatives to be guests, and making all kinds of delicious food with fresh and fat pork make people salivate.

Every winter after the solstice festival, adults will choose an auspicious day and invite a skilled pig killer to gut the big fat pig that has been carefully raised for a year.

Killing pigs is both technical and manual work. I am thin and afraid to see blood, so I can only watch from a distance.

The big pig was pushed down by the neighbor's guy on the stable table, and only the pig killer was heard to drink loudly. At that moment, the extremely sharp pig-killing knife was inserted obliquely into the pig's throat and reached the heart.

"The white knife goes in and the red knife comes out."

Suddenly blood gushed out from the pig's neck. When the blood was exhausted, the howling slowly disappeared and the pig died.

Then pour boiling water on the pig, and several people take turns to take off the pig hair. In half an hour, the pig was scraped clean and fat in vain. Congratulations.

Then, after a while, the butcher cut the whole pig into eight pieces, cut off its head and limbs, took out its internal organs and took it home for pickling.

At this time, it was noon, and the woman at home cooked the meal with fresh pork.

Everyone was busy all morning, and their stomachs were naturally empty, so they ate delicious food and dragged them home. Telling about this year's harvest and next year's plans, the words of various parents are short and endless.

At that time, there were guests at home, and we children were not allowed to eat at the table. We can only stand by and put vegetables in a bowl, and the taste of meat is still fresh in our memory.

The closer to the end of the year, the stronger the flavor of the year.

Going to the market is a very important thing. At that time, I liked to go shopping with adults, buy Spring Festival couplets, buy Chinese New Year paper, buy incense sticks and buy all kinds of new year's goods that I didn't have at home …

At the end of the year, the market was very lively, especially in the last few days, farmers' families took to the streets one after another, and the crowds were woven.

This time is also the peak time for thieves to steal, so we are all extra careful and hold our money bags tightly.

Children like to pester adults to buy firecrackers, candy, and all kinds of things that they can't usually eat. The Chinese New Year is coming, and adults are always responsive and will not refuse children's "excessive" demands.

All the new year's goods are ready On New Year's Eve, the family got up early to prepare for the New Year's Eve.

In the past, every household had to post Spring Festival couplets and stick a door god. Some of them were written by themselves, and some were bought and pasted.

Spring Festival couplets, also called couplets, couplets and peach symbols, are unique cultural customs in China. People use Spring Festival couplets to express their good wishes to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters and welcome good luck.

During the Spring Festival, every household should choose a pair of red Spring Festival couplets and stick them on the door to add festive atmosphere to the festival.

While pasting Spring Festival couplets, it is also popular to paste the word "Fu", which is a long-standing folk custom.

Fu Lushou is the three immortals in Chinese folk beliefs, symbolizing happiness, auspiciousness and longevity.

The word "Fu" symbolizes good luck and good luck, and places people's longing for a happy life and wishes for a better society. Some people simply stick the word "Fu" upside down, which means "Fu is here" or "Fu is here".

In addition to Spring Festival couplets, people also like to stick various paper-cuts on the windows-window grilles.

Paper-cutting is also a folk art, which has been deeply loved by ordinary people for thousands of years. It cuts out all kinds of strange patterns on red paper, symbolizing the richness of life.

Chinese New Year is the most concentrated expression of China culture.

New Year's Eve is the most important part of China New Year.

A year later, the New Year's Eve dinner bears all expectations, surprises, disappointments, sadness, hesitation and gains. All emotions are integrated into this carefully prepared New Year's Eve dinner.

The New Year's Eve dinner in my hometown started at six or seven o'clock on New Year's Eve. It is customary to set off fireworks before dinner.

I remember Wang Anshi wrote a poem about firecrackers in the Northern Song Dynasty:

The meaning is simple and clear, sending away the old year in the lively and cheerful firecrackers and welcoming the new year in the festive atmosphere of bright fireworks.

As usual, the New Year's Eve dinner is very rich, and the meal cooked by my father is delicious. Basically, he takes care of all the meals, and there are more than 20 kinds of vegetarian dishes.

Slowly, after the improvement of living conditions, it became popular to go to restaurants to order New Year's Eve dinner.

But we are still used to cooking at home, and the family eats their own delicious meals around the table. This is the taste of Chinese New Year.

Some people say that China people believe in "food culture" and China cuisine is unique in the world, which is also a material and spiritual feast left by our ancestors.

New Year's Eve is the beginning and end of a year, the comfort after laughing and crying, the longing for reunion, the yearning for hometown and the melancholy of unfinished business. ...

These are all resolved by the phrase "Just go home", and the New Year's Eve dinner is called "the warmest ceremony of China people".

For children, the happiest thing in a year is to receive lucky money from their elders.

After the New Year's Eve, the family sat around the stove to chat about their family, watch the Spring Festival Evening, eat melons and fruits, and enjoy the rare family happiness.

The elders will personally give the prepared red envelopes to the children, encouraging their children and grandchildren to study hard and be good people in the new year.

Giving lucky money in the New Year not only reflects the care of the elders for the younger generation, but also maintains the family ethical relationship.

In this way, year after year, we grow up gradually and even start to get old.

However, with the development of the times, the taste of the year in memory seems to be getting weaker and weaker, and the desire to go home for the New Year is getting smaller and smaller.

When I was a child, I was looking forward to it, and it was full of laughter and laughter when I arrived in the New Year. Life is getting better and better now, but the happiness of Chinese New Year is getting less and less.

I cried and laughed when I was a child. Grown up, laughed and cried. It's really similar year after year, and the year after year is different!

In the intelligent age, every family can access the Internet, everyone has a mobile phone, and all kinds of WeChat blessings continue. When we sit together, there is less communication and less affection.

The most popular thing in Chinese New Year now is "grabbing red envelopes".

Wechat red envelopes and Alipay red envelopes are constantly filled with smoke, and the taste of the year is also reflected in the action of grabbing red envelopes, grabbing big or small red envelopes, affecting the mood or sadness or joy.

When we sigh that the taste of the New Year is getting weaker and weaker, everyone is actually changing the form of the New Year, gathering sand into towers, gathering soldiers into A Qiu, and finally becoming what it is today.

Time is changing, age is changing, and everyone's interpretation of the Spring Festival is different, but our pursuit of a happy life and yearning for a better society remain unchanged.

Fame and fortune are floating clouds, and family ties are the warmest, and family ties will not change. The Chinese New Year complex of China people has always been there!

Chinese New Year is a culture of blessing and gratitude. May we protect the people around us and accompany our families for the New Year!

# Yu X Hongsheng #

Yuxi X| the taste of childhood