What does Yuanxiao mean by stealing vegetables?

Stealing vegetables on Lantern Festival is a popular traditional custom in some parts of China, also known as Stealing Vegetables Festival and Stealing Vegetables Day.

In ancient China, Han people had the custom of stealing food for their children and husbands during the Lantern Festival. Until now, the Miao people in Ping Huang still have the custom of stealing vegetables to express their feelings. On this day, girls will go to non-local houses of the opposite sex to steal vegetables, hoping to "steal" a good marriage.

"Stealing vegetables" is also the happiest festival for children. On the night of "Stealing Vegetables Festival", children steal fresh vegetables in the wild vegetable fields in droves, and friends play and sing in the moonlight. It was not until mid-June that I began to steal cabbage moss and garlic sprouts from other people's vegetable fields and take them home. Then I cooked the stolen food myself and invited my family and neighbors to eat it.