Chapter 393 Clan Gathering
The New Year's Eve dinner at Lao Liu's house is extremely sumptuous, with dishes like fried meatballs, fried tofu, fried fruits, fried couplets, fried eggplant boxes, fried hairtail, stewed goose, stewed pork elbows, stewed pig's trotters, stewed ribs, stewed chicken, stewed meat, steamed crabs, steamed conchs, stir-fried sea cucumber with green onions, salt-baked prawns, roasted lamb legs, roast duck, braised beef... There are twenty-four full dishes, and you wish you could satisfy them all in one night. Just ask whose New Year's Eve dinner would be so extravagant.

In fact, in Liujiazhuang, it was not only Liu Zhiye’s family that had such a good meal on New Year’s Eve, the food for other families was not bad either.

Even if the food is not as extravagant as that at Liu Zhiye's house, but simply eating six bowls and eight plates is also very common.

That evening, when it was time for dinner, the aroma of stewed meat and fried hairtail seemed to waft throughout the village.

This is more effective than mothers standing at the entrance of the alley and shouting to their children: "XXX, come home for dinner!" Then the children will immediately disperse and run home in a flock, and what they see is a table full of mouth-watering New Year's Eve dinner.

On New Year's Eve, fireworks are the loudest, ringing all night long until dawn, with an ancient connotation of expelling old illnesses and welcoming the new. This is the traditional meaning of celebrating the New Year.

After dinner on New Year’s Eve, Liu Zhiye and his two siblings took the children outside to set off firecrackers and fireworks.

At this time, some children in the village who could not sit still at home had already come out with all kinds of firecrackers and were setting off firecrackers all over the street.

Most of the children set off the small red firecrackers that cost 1 cent for 5. Although they were not very loud, when many children set them off, the sound of firecrackers in the village set off the atmosphere of the New Year.

If the atmosphere in the village becomes lively, it is thanks to some teenagers who come to add to the fun.

The older kids didn't set off the little red firecrackers. Some of them set off bigger firecrackers that cost two for one cent. People called these firecrackers "steel whips," and they were much louder than the small firecrackers.

A few older children set off double-kick firecrackers or maleizi, which were the loudest firecrackers at the time.

Some older children dared to pinch the upper part of the firecrackers with their hands to light the fuse. Before setting them off, they would first ask the younger children around them, "Do you think I dare to set them off?"

The younger children would shout, "You dare not!".

At this time, the pretentious older kids "bravely" pinched the twist on the top of the firecrackers. As the firecrackers slipped out of their hands and flew into the sky with two crisp bangs, the smaller kids around them began to cheer and jump, shouting, "Oh, you're awesome, awesome."

If they set off the thick red cylindrical bombs that cost 5 cents each, the older kids would tell the younger kids to stay away and repeatedly yell, "Be careful not to get hit!"

When the kids saw Liu Zhiye and his siblings carrying out piles of fireworks, they immediately became excited and said, "Hurry up, uncle's family is going to set off fireworks..."

At this time every year, Liu Zhiye would bring his younger brothers and sisters out to set off fireworks to his heart's content, perhaps to satisfy the regrets of his previous life.

When he saw a group of children gathered around him, he asked his younger brothers and sisters to give them some fireworks to set off together.

The Liu family bought a variety of fireworks, including small firecrackers, little human flowers, double-kick firecrackers, sky rockets, flower boxes... A string of small firecrackers could have one hundred, two hundred, five hundred or even more heads, hanging on long bamboo poles, lit with incense, making a crackling sound like frying beans, with petals falling all over the ground. It is a New Year picture that is most representative of the Chinese New Year.

"Little Man Flower" is a very small flower. When it is lit, sparks fly everywhere, but they disappear quickly.

"Ertijiao" is a firecracker that explodes once on the ground after it is lit, and then explodes once again in the air. Ertijiao comes in different sizes, with the largest one as thick as a child's arm, called "Ma Lei Zi", and only the brave dare to set it off.

In front of a crowd of people, a brave man deliberately took the "Ma Lei Zi" in his hand and lit the fuse with incense. The "Ma Lei Zi" suddenly jumped from the palm of his hand to the sky like a rabbit, and two thunders rang out in succession, "bang-bang", which shocked everyone and made them applaud.

"Sky Rocket" is a kind of firework, which is long. After being ignited, it flies out like a rocket. One or several colorful fireworks bloom in the night sky, one after another, like scattered and drooping chrysanthemums.

"Flower box" is a type of fireworks and firecrackers that are placed together. The two are combined, echoing each other, and their functions are integrated together. It can be considered an upgraded version of fireworks.

It looks like a multi-storey pagoda. When each layer is released, fireworks of various colors will appear, and a big happy character will fly out from it, such as New Year greetings such as "Fu Lu Shou Xi".

Liu Zhiye's biggest success was buying several 9-layer "big flower boxes". The flower boxes were painted with colorful paintings and contained mechanisms. The layers were not ordinary flower boxes that were just placed floating on the shelves for fun, and there was no necessary connection between them.

Its layers are like chains, tightly connected from front to back, forming a whole play with a script. After it is ignited, each layer rises up one after another, and each falling layer represents a scene in the play. This scene is intertwined with the next one, like peeling bamboo shoots layer by layer, like interlocking rings, like overlapping waves, and finally there are clusters of brilliant lights.

The scene was so stunning that not only the adults and children who were attracted to it were all stunned. Even if people in later generations saw it, just thinking about it would be extremely dazzling and desirable.

Sure enough, setting off fireworks and firecrackers was still very lively with many people. Liu Zhiye and his brothers also joined in the fun like little kids...

………………

Some people may ask: "What do you Beijingers do after eating the New Year's Eve dinner?"

The old Beijing people answered: "You can't sit idle, hurry up and prepare to mix the dough and stuffing. Get everything ready. The dumplings must be wrapped before twelve o'clock."

This doesn't mean that you can wrap all the fillings and dough in dumplings. No! You can't wrap them all.

Someone asked again: "What is this for?"

Old Beijingers would say, "This proves that our family has surplus."

In the days before television, we would not feel bored even if we listened to firecrackers or made dumplings all night long.

Liu Zhiye's family members take turns telling stories from the past and the present, and every time they do so, it becomes the stage for Liu Zhiye to perform his stand-up comedy.

Who is he? There are so many stories in later generations, and if you just adapt them, the whole family will be fascinated by them.

Even the old man seemed to be listening with great interest, and his spirits became more and more energetic.

The Liu family attaches great importance to staying up all night to celebrate the New Year. From the night of the 30th to the morning of the 1st, the old man will not go to bed until the last five o'clock in the morning is spent eating the dumplings.

Therefore, the whole family stayed up until dawn, and the younger generations were not allowed to go to bed.

When it's dawn, the family goes to wash up.

Liu Zhiye took the younger generations to clean up the place, and then they had to bow to the elders to wish them a happy new year and kowtow to send their blessings.

"Grandpa, your grandchildren kowtow to you and wish you a happy new year, may you be full of energy and vitality, may you have this day every year, may you have a happy new year every year..."

"Dad, Mom, wish you two good luck..."

"Uncle, aunt, wish you two good luck..."

Next to him were his two younger siblings, Liu Tielin and Liu Zhiruo, who also followed their big brother in saying the same words of blessing.

After their generation has finished paying respects, Liu Shuxian will come with Liu Wen and Liu Wu, both with hazy eyes.

"Okay... come on, give each of you a red envelope. Grandpa also wishes you good health and a prosperous career..." The old man was very happy today. Regardless of the size of the red envelope, he gave everyone a thick red envelope.

Without opening it, Liu Zhiye knew it by just pinching it with his hands, "Wow, this old man has invested a lot of money this year..."

From then on, every New Year's Day was Liu Shuxian's favorite moment. There were many adults in her Liu family, and after bowing and kowtowing, they could get red envelopes with New Year's money.

Liu Shuxian is going to primary school this year (enrolling in school early). She has been a smart kid since she was little. She knows that money is a good thing and can be used to buy delicious and fun things. Of course, she is very happy.

Children love Chinese New Year the most.

Of course, Liu Zhiye was like this in his previous life when he was a child. At that time, he would start looking forward to the Chinese New Year almost two months before it.

What's the reason? Meat? New clothes? Candy? New Year's money?
Now thinking back, he still has a deep memory of the New Year's money back then. If he had received a five-yuan note, he would have been so happy that he would have bought so many firecrackers with that money.

The New Year begins from this day. When children open the red envelopes, they also usher in a prosperous year.

After eating dumplings on the first day of the New Year, the New Year greetings ceremony quietly begins.

Liu Zhiye, as always, led the younger generation of the family to shuttle between the neighbors, visiting each household to wish them a happy new year, following the long-standing custom. On this special day, no matter what position you hold or whether you are prominent or not, once you step into the house, you will become a humble younger generation in the family, follow the tradition, and visit the elders in the family one by one to show respect and blessings. Every household, with the door opened, smiles and talks, talking about the new year, a warm and harmonious scene.

No matter how Liujiazhuang changes, the festive atmosphere remains strong and permeates the simple neighborhoods.

During the New Year celebrations in the village, regardless of whether they were the original Liu family or the newly relocated Zhang, Li, or Wang families, there was no distinction between the rich and the poor, and they all got along harmoniously like one family. When they met, they would greet each other warmly: "Happy New Year!"

Of course, the highlight of Liujiazhuang is the scene where the Liu family comes to pay New Year's greetings to the old man.

Waves of people came to pay New Year's greetings continuously until noon.

At noon on the first day of the Chinese New Year, the Liu family was busy. Today was the Liu family's annual grand reunion day. No matter how busy they were, the heads of each branch would gather here and share a meaningful lunch.

This is not only a feast for the taste buds, but also a warm custom passed down from generation to generation in the Liu family, which aims to strengthen the inseparable blood ties between family members and make family affection deeper and longer in laughter.

All major events for the Liu family and Liujiazhuang in the next year or many years are discussed and finalized at this special moment.

Some people say that this is the "highest authority" of the people of Liujiazhuang, and there is some truth to this.

This is the annual grand gathering of the whole clan, where clan members gather together to express their accumulated conflicts and disagreements, personal dissatisfaction and needs at this moment.

No matter who you are, what dissatisfaction you have, or what demands you have, you can speak freely here. Many disputes and problems are often solved harmoniously here, paving the way for the harmony and development of the clan.

As mentioned above, Liujiazhuang is no longer what it used to be. This small town with a registered population of less than 40,000 and a floating population of more than 100,000 has miraculously achieved an annual GDP of nearly 800 million yuan. The close unity and concerted efforts among the clans are indispensable.

Liujiazhuang is now a place with prosperous economy. Households with an annual income of 10,000 yuan have become commonplace, and every household is wealthy.

Here, the wind of change is sweeping every corner, jobs are stable, food is plentiful, medical care and retirement are guaranteed, and there is hope for children's education.

Moreover, the people are simple and honest, respecting the old and loving the young has become a fashion, neighbors live in harmony, the light of morality shines brightly, and the importance of education is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

“When the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they have enough food and clothing, they know honor and disgrace.” Only when the people live a prosperous life will they be civilized and abide by morals.

Today's luncheon can be regarded as the Liu family's grandest celebration of the year. The banquet alone stretches out continuously, with more than ten tables.

All those invited to the banquet were Liu family members and close friends, who gathered together to celebrate the event.

The chef is still our third uncle Liu Hongshen, who is accompanied by many of his disciples, and assisted by the capable female members of the Liu family.

Despite the large number of diners, the scene was orderly, without any panic, and everything was arranged in an orderly manner.

As soon as noon arrived, everyone sat around and shared the feast.

There are rules for seating, with the oldest person in terms of age and seniority sitting in the main seat, followed by others in order.

If you are entertaining guests, the guests can sit on the left and right of the host, and there will also be guests specially invited by the host.

When hosting a dinner, the arrangement of seats is more particular. To arrange the seats, the first thing to do is to determine the main seat. The main seat usually faces north and south, and no matter whether the table is square or round, the main seat is in the middle.

However, in many occasions, it is not easy to tell whether the table faces north or east. How to determine the main seat? The door is the symbol, and the main seat is facing the door.

After the main seat is determined, the seats are arranged in order according to the old etiquette of "Shangyou" or "right is superior". Why is the right superior?

The old rule of "respecting the right" has existed since the Shang and Zhou dynasties, that is, the position on the right is respected, the west is right in the room, and when entertaining distinguished guests, one should sit west facing east.

At the dinner table, once you sit down, do not move and stay there until the meal is over.

Old Beijingers believe that although seating at dinner parties is arranged according to age and seniority, as soon as you sit down, you are positioned according to the Eight Trigrams of the Book of Changes.

These positions are neither good nor bad for one's fortune, but the old rules tell you: do not move them after they are positioned. If you move them randomly, it will mess up your fortune and bad luck will follow.

Putting aside the so-called fortune, from the perspective of etiquette, moving seats around at the dinner table is also disrespectful to others.

Because there is already a set of tableware occupying the original seat, after moving, the tableware may be mixed up, causing trouble to others.

Even if the seat was originally empty or someone left early and left a vacant seat, you cannot just sit in the vacant seat, because you will affect the dining atmosphere of other people at the table and it will be impolite to others.

When there are no guests, parents should also set the following rules for their children: eat alone and finish their meals honestly. Those who run around with bowls in their hands were considered beggars in the past.

The banquet officially began only after the old man sat down in the main seat. Although the old man was not the oldest in the village, he looked down on everyone with his distinguished seniority.

Looking back into the past, the Liu family he represents is the authentic and direct lineage that has survived three hundred years of ups and downs. The glory of the family is evident.

What is more worth mentioning is that the old man once held clan power and served as the clan leader. His prestige was unmatched and he was admired by all the villagers.

Liu Zhiye is the old man's successor, and he has long been elected as the "boss" by the Liu family members.

In such an occasion, Liu Zhiye sat on the right side of the old man. He did not shirk his responsibility and stood up first, holding a wine glass in his hand, and said loudly: "Come, let us raise our glasses together and offer our most sincere blessings to our elders for the New Year!"

With a loud "bang", more than a hundred clan members and guests stood up in unison, raised their wine glasses, and shouted in unison: "To uncle, uncle..." The sound resounded throughout the space, filled with a strong festive atmosphere.

One can imagine how shocked "Yangshi Lei" who was fortunate enough to be invited as one of their own, as well as some scholars, medical experts and professors who visited the village, were by this scene.

I knew that the Liu family was united, but I didn't expect that their unity would be so strong.

Then, after they were seated, the young people who had been waiting began to serve the dishes one after another.

The Liu family's family banquet was very sumptuous. It was not a standard "28-table banquet". Some dishes were slightly modified and a lot of good things were added, including things flying in the sky and swimming in the water.

The "Erba Xi" consists of eight bowls and eight plates of dishes, which used to have fixed dishes.

For example, the meat used is all pork belly, and it is all boiled in water and then fried (commonly known as deep-fried meat) before making dishes.

The eight dishes include four cold dishes and four stir-fried dishes, mostly seasonal vegetables. There are no strict restrictions on the dishes, which can be adjusted accordingly with the changes of seasons.

The preparation of Erba Xi is quite time-consuming and often requires the preparation of ingredients starting the day before. The tedious steps of boiling, stewing, steaming and frying not only give Erba Xi a special taste, but also a different meaning.

In the past, "Erbaxi" was a banquet used to entertain guests at weddings and funerals.

Nowadays, the "Er Ba Xi" is no longer limited to wedding banquets in the Liu family. It has been used in more places such as weddings, meeting friends, birthday banquets, etc.

As soon as the old man saw the dishes were served, he took the initiative to pick up the chopsticks and picked up a piece of chicken and said: "Everyone eat the dishes first, and we will drink the wine slowly..." Then, the others sitting there started to pick up the dishes with their chopsticks.

This is because, no matter whether you are attending a banquet or eating at home, there are still rules about who picks up the chopsticks first.

Generally, if there are elderly people around, they should start eating first before other younger generations can start eating. It would be impolite if you start eating first.

The old Beijing people are very particular about the dinner table. If the adults don't move their chopsticks, children are not allowed to do so.

If you are hosting a banquet, the host usually suggests that the guests start eating first. If it is an official banquet, the person with the highest rank at the table usually makes the first move.

(End of this chapter)