stingy landlady

Chapter 17 Chinese New Year (2)

The sisters-in-law chatted and laughed as they made dumplings, inevitably exchanging a few sarcastic remarks.

"Sister-in-law, business was good before the New Year, wasn't it?" Qian, the third son's wife, asked with concern.

"Oh! Sister-in-law's business is booming! She's been working until the 28th before taking a break!" Before Li could even open her mouth, Zhao had already started chattering back to Qian.

Li thought for a moment, then lowered her head to wrap dumplings. "That's fine! Just keep busy and get by!"

"Oh! Sister-in-law, I think you've really struck it rich! Look, you've bought a cow, a car, and a house. Third sister-in-law, let me tell you, look at your sister-in-law and her whole family, they've all got new clothes and new quilts. They look so nice hanging out to dry in the yard!" Zhao felt uncomfortable again.

"Sister-in-law, you must be living a really good life!" Qian felt that although her third son gave her a monthly wage while she lived in town, she couldn't bear to spend too much money and buy all new clothes.

"Second sister-in-law, third sister-in-law, our eldest brother and sister-in-law are doing well. We're all family, we should be happy!" Sun, the fourth brother's wife, chimed in. She had just gotten married and felt that her eldest brother and sister-in-law treated them well, and the fourth brother often spoke well of them behind their backs.

"Da Ya, come here! Wash these copper coins clean and put them in your second aunt's dumplings." The old lady called to Da Ya from the kang (a heated brick bed).

Daya obediently washed the copper coins clean and placed them next to Zhao and Qian. "Second Aunt, Third Aunt! Grandma asked you to give her some lucky money."

Li had no sons, only daughters, and she didn't compete for the job, continuing to make dumplings. Zhao and Qian both had sons and daughters, and the old woman, for good luck, asked them to put five copper coins into each dumpling. Zhao even made a mark, hoping she could recognize them later.

It's said that some families even put wood ash in dumplings, meaning that whoever eats it will have bad luck. The old lady thought it was a waste of food, and the old man said that his children and grandchildren all hoped for good fortune and didn't want anyone to have bad luck, so on New Year's Eve, they only put out red envelopes (containing money).

The dumplings were all wrapped and ready to be cooked when Li called out to Dazhu, "Husband, go wake up Sanya and Siya for New Year's Eve dinner!"

Daya, Erya, and Dazhu walked home, with Li following behind, whispering, "When the firecrackers go off, hurry up and bring firewood to our house! Bring as much as you can!"

Guizhi and Siya were still half asleep and didn't want to get out of bed when the firecrackers went off. They instantly perked up. "Quick, quick! Quick, get the firewood! Everyone go! Let's all get as much as we can!" Dazhu hadn't gone to set off firecrackers tonight, but he led the children to quickly carry firewood into the house while the firecrackers were still going off. Once the firewood was in, the firecrackers stopped. "Come on, come on! Let's go eat dumplings!"

Li brought over a small bowl of dumplings, and everyone was puzzled: "Mother said that we have separated the family, and tonight we will offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God. She told me to put the dumplings on our stove."

Actually, Li secretly approached the old lady and said she wanted to offer dumplings to her family's Kitchen God. The old lady thought about it and agreed.

During the New Year's Eve dinner, the younger children, still unsteady on their feet, ate a few dumplings in a daze. The adults happily wished each other a Happy New Year! The old man, sipping his wine, said, "I wish my children and grandchildren a prosperous and peaceful New Year!" His children and grandchildren chimed in, "May the two elders enjoy health and longevity!"

The three sisters, Daya and her sister, followed suit, standing up to offer their blessings to their grandparents! They then wished their own parents good health and that they would earn more money in the new year!

The uncles and aunts were amused and praised him repeatedly! Zhao was even more envious: "Brother and sister-in-law! How did this child learn to talk so well! He must have learned it from selling boxed lunches! Take Taozhi with you to learn sometime!"

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, the child felt very sleepy, but Li was stubborn. "Get up early, it'll be embarrassing if people come to pay their respects and you're stuck in bed. Get up quickly, let's eat dumplings and go pay our respects!"

Dazhu and Li got up early to make dumplings, not wanting to wake any of the children. They only called the children out of bed after they started cooking the dumplings, just as firecrackers went off and the dumplings were served. A large fish from the afternoon of New Year's Eve was also kept warm on the table; whether or not they ate it every day of the New Year, it would be served, symbolizing abundance year after year!

There's been a lot of oily food lately, so I made a cold dish with cabbage and glass noodles. It was delicious and a favorite of Guizhi and Dazhu.

After dinner, the room was spotless, both inside and out. Dazhu had already gone out. Daya and Erya left first, while Guizhi walked slowly to Grandma's room alone.

"Grandpa, Grandma! Happy New Year!" Guizhi greeted the two elders.

"Sanya, Happy New Year! Come on, have some candy and melon seeds!" the old lady greeted happily.

"I'm not eating anymore! Thank you, Grandma! I'm going to wish my second uncle and aunt a Happy New Year!"

"Go ahead!" Without asking Dad and my two older sisters, they must have already come. Fifth Uncle isn't home; I wonder where he went to offer New Year's greetings.

Guizhi doesn't care about any of that! The older kids think she's too young, and she can't take care of the younger ones, hehe, she's happy all by herself!

When they arrived at their second uncle's house, only Zhao Shi and Er Bao were home.

"Happy New Year, Second Aunt!"

"Happy New Year! Sanya, did you come by yourself?" Zhao asked.

"Yes, I've come to wish my second uncle and aunt a Happy New Year! Has Sister Taozhi gone out to play?" Guizhi asked.

"Oh! Your sister Taozhi went to watch the Yangko dance!"

"Then I'll go too!" Guizhi said with a smile and ran out.

"Happy Chinese New Year, Uncle and Aunt!"

"Happy New Year! Sanya! Come on, have some candy!" Qian Shi greeted them warmly! The third son, Wang Yifei, was chatting with several men of similar age.

Guizhi offered her New Year's greetings and turned to leave. She thought that as a child, it was enough that she had shown proper manners, and it didn't matter whether the adults paid her any attention or not.

I arrived at the fourth brother's house again, and as soon as I opened the door, I called out, "Happy New Year! Fourth Aunt!"

"Happy New Year! Sanya! Come and have some candy! I was just about to go to the old house!" Sun greeted Guizhi warmly.

"Fourth Aunt, go ahead! I'm going to wish you a Happy New Year and then go play with my friends!" Guizhi understood; Sun Shi had just gotten married, and there weren't many younger relatives coming to pay their respects, so she was going to visit other relatives.

Guizhi didn't go anywhere; she went back home. The house was clean and tidy, clearly cleaned again by Li Shi.

"Come here, Sanya! Let me show you something!" Li Shi climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), took out several colorful candy wrappers from the cabinet, and watched as she folded them a few times, making them resemble folded paper fans. She then tied them together in the middle with string, making them open like a fan. Wow, a beautiful candy flower appeared in Guizhi's hand!

Immediately afterwards, Li took the wax that had been lit the night before, melted it over a fire, and then pinched it onto a small stick with a fork in her hand. She was very skillful and finished pinching it in just a few strokes!

“These are wintersweet flowers!” Li said proudly, looking at Sanya and Siya.

"Mother's hands are so skillful!" Guizhi exclaimed! It's just a pity that Mother was born in this poor mountain village. If she were born into a wealthy family, she would be a talented and refined young lady.

"Auntie, Happy New Year!" A clear child's voice rang out; it was Yang Hongli.

"Didn't you go to pay your respects for the New Year?" Guizhi asked curiously.

“I don’t have many relatives. My sister has already gone to play with your two older sisters. My brother doesn’t take me with him! I came to play with you!” Yang Hongli explained.

"Wow! How beautiful! Did your mother make this? Your mother is so skillful!" Yang Hongli exclaimed in amazement when she saw the candy wrapper flowers in Guizhi's hand and the winter plum blossoms stuck in the wine bottle filled with water.

"Sanya, let's go collect candy wrappers! We'll make lots and lots of flowers!" Yang Hongli suggested.

"Well, this..." Guizhi was afraid people would laugh at her; she wasn't a child at heart.

"Let's go! Let's watch the Yangko dance! Anyway, no one's going to show us how to do it!" said the pitiful little girl.

"Go! Go have fun! It's the New Year, don't stay cooped up at home all the time," Mrs. Li advised. Her daughters were all like little adults; they should relax and have fun during the New Year. They'd be busy again afterward.

Guizhi glanced at Li Shi, who nodded in agreement. Then she looked at Yang Hongli, who was eagerly anticipating her arrival: "Alright! Just so you know I'll come back if it gets too cold!"

The two little girls ran hand in hand along the street, looking around and picking up any candy wrappers that had been carelessly thrown away. Later, they would only pick up candy wrappers that looked different from those at home or that they thought were pretty, intending to make candy flowers with them when they got home.

I saw the Yangko dance troupe going door-to-door offering New Year's greetings, and I followed them for a while. The Yangko troupe got candy and cigarettes when they went to offer greetings, while the onlookers only got nothing. Hahaha!

The two laughed and joked as they parted ways and went their separate ways home.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Guizhi returned to her parents' home, this being her first time going back with Li Shi. Da Ya and Er Ya had been back before, but their impressions were so-so. The preference for sons over daughters wasn't limited to the husband's family; it was the same in her own family. Her two daughters weren't valued when they went back to their parents' home, and after giving birth to San Ya and Si Ya, Li Shi always found excuses not to go back.

After separating from her family this year, Li thought about it for a long time before finally deciding to go back to her parents' home.

No need to prepare special gifts. We still have the canned goods, pastries, and wine we bought before the New Year. These are already quite good for a rural area!

Li's family had many sisters; two of her older sisters married as second wives. Her third sister married a man of good means, reportedly the son of a village head. After her brother married, he disliked his younger sister. The family lived in a small house, and it was inconvenient for such a large family to be squeezed together. Her sister-in-law repeatedly emphasized that Wang Dazhu was a good and honest man, so she hastily married him.

Li's younger sister, unwilling to be controlled, stayed in the suburbs of the county town during a visit to relatives and married a worker. Her husband worked in a coal mine as a foreman.

When Li's younger brother went to work in the county town, he caught the eye of his employer. The employer only had one daughter, who was beautiful and had a fiery temper! It was said that he was marrying into the family, but he would only come back to stay for a couple of days during holidays, otherwise living with his in-laws in the county town. Some people said it was a case of marrying into the wife's family, but everyone just smiled and said nothing.

Going back to his wife's parents' home, not only was Li Shi apprehensive, but Dazhu also lacked the excitement of visiting his father-in-law's. This was simply because his brother-in-law was a nag, and every time they went, he would say, "Dazhu is either incapable of making money or just lazy. Look at this one, and then look at that one, everyone's doing better than you!"

And Li's sister-in-law would grumble, "You're such a wimp, you can't control your man, you can't earn any money. You can't save any money on your own, you can't have a son, you have to resort to folk remedies, you want to have a son..."

Both husband and wife had their own unspeakable difficulties, and they selectively chose not to tell their children.

The second, third, and fourth sons all went back to their wives' and children's parents' homes, and Dazhu and Li Shi secretly gritted their teeth and cheered each other on.

Dazhu went to hitch up the carriage, while Li packed the gifts and helped the children change clothes to prepare.