Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 360: 360: Da Mao Starts Talking

She tightly held the one tael of silver in her hand, looking down at it from time to time, unable to believe it!

Her paper-cut window decorations and fortune children were originally lacking some amount to make one tael of silver, but Boss Nan saw the blisters on her cutting-hand and decided to give her a full tael of silver directly.

It’s actually one tael of silver!

Carefully thinking, when had she ever touched one tael of silver since childhood?

No matter how she looked at it, it just didn’t feel real!

Liu Zhi’er kept sneaking glances at the silver in her hand, how could Liu Sisi not notice it?

She couldn’t help but recall her own experience when she first arrived, when she hated not being able to split a copper coin in half to spend.

“Second Sister, since you have this skill, let us handle the cooking tonight, and you can focus on cutting paper. Keep the money you earn for Da Mao’s snacks, or save it up for emergencies, which is not bad either.”

Liu Zhi’er thought about it, and the desire to make money in her heart ultimately overcame her reason: “Alright, Little Sister, then I will have to trouble you all with tonight’s meal. I… ”

“Fine! Just focus on cutting the paper! Don’t we still have so many people here? But your hands are already blistering, you should wear gloves when cutting later.” Her blisters looked painful to see.

Liu Zhi’er picked up her hand and looked at it: “It’s fine! It’s just a few blisters, it’s nothing, don’t worry.” She even smiled as she spoke.

Liu Sisi looked at her second sister’s expression and found that Liu Zhi’er’s spirit today was extraordinarily full, possibly due to the sudden extra money, which made her whole person come alive all at once.

Looking back, she remembered her own sachet…

It’s Minor New Year today! There’s no hurry; she has plenty of time to slowly settle accounts with her!

When they got back home, Liu Zhi’er naturally went to cut paper, while Di Yelei began preparing for the Minor New Year rituals according to tradition.

First, he boiled the pork, which was a chunk of half-fat half-lean pork cut into squares, then cooked and placed on a plate.

Additionally, there was a freshly slaughtered young rooster, which was originally one of the many chickens they bought. Since it was well-fed and had enough food, it now weighed two to three catties, which was perfect for making soup and tender chicken meat!

Many farm families let the chickens roam freely and search for their own food, only giving them a little bit of feed. The advantage of this method is that it saves money and grain, but the disadvantage is that the chickens are small, thin, and lay fewer eggs. Naturally, they could not be compared to the plump and tender chickens in Di Family’s yard.

Seeing that the sky had already darkened, Elderly Mr. Di, who couldn’t stay idle any longer, urged Di Yelei to finish preparing rituals. So, Di Yelei placed Lord Stove, Granny God of Stove, and the children on either side of her up on the stove.

Liu Sisi busied herself by taking out the fruits they had bought today, which included tangerines, pomelos, and apples. She arranged them all on plates, laid out the altar with incense, candles, and paper money, preparing to worship the “God of Stove.”

According to local customs, there is a tradition of “men don’t worship the moon, and women don’t bid farewell to the stove.” After offering sacrifices to the God of Stove, New Year begins!

Various offerings were arranged on the table, with “stove sugar” at the front, which was actually maltose made and baked just yesterday. In addition to stove sugar, offerings in the middle included head-meat and a whole chicken, with fruits on both sides. There was also a bundle of grain straw, a plate of fried beans, and a bowl of clear water, said to be prepared for Lord Stove’s heavenly ride. A whole table was filled with these assorted offerings.

All the food at home was placed on the table, even the back of the altar was lined with horses and puppies made of sorghum stalks as preparation for Lord Stove’s heavenly journey.

Seeing this, the three children who had been playing in the courtyard gathered around, staring at the numerous offerings on the table, and couldn’t help but reach out their little hands…

“Go ahead and wait until the Stove God is worshipped before… you can eat!”

The children’s grandfather, who had been always keeping an eye on them, spoke first.

Everyone could not help but look back, seeing YingEr, who had her little hand slapped, pouting her mouth, and everyone laughed.

When everything was ready, Di Yelei handed the first three sticks of incense to Elderly Mr. Di: “Dad! You’re the most senior here, so you should be the first to worship the Stove God. Here!”

Elderly Mr. Di’s body trembled involuntarily, and after a quite a while, he took it with trembling hands: “This… okay! Okay, fine… ”

As Elderly Mr. Di bowed down, Di Yelei also held up three sticks of incense and bowed, before calling Di Xuan to come forward and bow.

Then, it was time to apply maltose to the mouths of Lord Stove and Granny God of Stove, symbolizing the sweet speech of Lord Stove.

After all the rituals were finished, the Stove God’s statue was taken down and burned along with dogs and horses outside, to “ascend to heaven”. Then firecrackers were hung and lit, a “send-off” for Lord Stove and his entourage.

As soon as the firecrackers’ sound began here, the entire Upper Village burst into jubilation, with firecrackers exploding everywhere!

With every firecracker sound heralding the end of the old year, Liu Sisi also experienced her first Minor New Year in this world.

“Firecrackers! Firecrackers… Mom, firecrackers!”

Da Mao, who always kept silent, unexpectedly caught Liu Zhi’er’s hand, shaking it and pointing at the exploding firecrackers with excitement.

Liu Zhi’er was instantly stunned!

“Da Mao! You… Da Mao, you spoke? Da Mao is talking! Da Mao is talking, that’s great! That’s great…”

Liu Zhi’er hugged Da Mao tightly and couldn’t help but cry and laugh, unable to say whether she was happy or sad.

Da Mao, this child, had never cried or made a fuss no matter what he encountered, which had really scared everyone. Now that he suddenly spoke, how could Liu Zhi’er not be excited?

“Second Sister, you should be happy when Da Mao speaks. Why are you crying?”

Liu Sisi’s eyes filled with a touch of bitterness as well, and she hurriedly comforted her.

“Yes! You’re right; this is something to be happy about! Aren’t I happy? Really… I’m so happy, Da Mao has finally spoken, I’m so overwhelmed with happiness… ”

Liu Zhi’er wiped her tears desperately, but no matter how she wiped, tears kept rolling down, making her cry and laugh at the same time. Finally, she hugged Da Mao and cried out loud.

Da Mao apparently didn’t understand why Liu Zhi’er was crying but instinctively knew she was upset.

He raised his thin, bony little hand and clumsily wiped Liu Zhi’er’s face. After hesitating for a long time, he said, “Don’t cry, hush… not painful… ”

These words made Liu Zhi’er cry even harder.

“Oh, my poor child!”