After An Ning’s hearing returned to normal, the family watched another round of firecrackers at Jiang Xia’s house. Once they were all finished, they returned to the An family’s ho.
When they got back, Lin Cuihua had finished cooking the dumplings. An Guoping took a bowl to the neighbors and brought back another bowl of dumplings, a customary exchange.
The steaming hot dumplings were eaten in less than half an hour.
They followed it with a bowl of hot dumpling broth, and drinking it left them feeling warm all over.
Full and satisfied, everyone stood up to move around a bit, waiting until after midnight to go to sleep.
An Ning took the small sparklers Jiang Xia had given her and lit one in the courtyard.
As she waved her arm, it was as if a brilliant, dazzling teor streaked across the courtyard. It was very beautiful.
"It’s twelve o’clock!"
At An Guoming’s shout, the siblings, as if on cue, knelt on the ground in unison and kowtowed to An Sancheng and Lin Cuihua.
"Dad, Mom, Happy New Year."
The THUD THUD THUD of their kowtows showed their sincerity.
After An Ning and the others got up, An Guoqing kowtowed a few more tis.
"Dad, Mom, these are on behalf of my wife."
Standing to the side, his wife smiled warmly and offered her New Year’s greetings to Lin Cuihua and An Sancheng.
"Dad, Mom, Happy New Year."
"Yes, yes, Happy New Year to you too."
"Alright, everyone get up. Ti for red envelopes."
An Sancheng took out the red envelopes he had been carrying in his pocket all day. They were simple red paper packets, each containing a ten-yuan bill. One for each person, not for the money, but for the festive spirit.
An Guoqing took his red envelope and said with a silly grin, "I get one too?"
"Just take it. No matter how old you get, you’re not going to be older than your father and ."
An Guoqing laughed and shook his head. "That’s true."
After receiving their red envelopes, the family mbers all returned to their rooms. Following Lin Cuihua’s instructions, they placed the envelopes under their pillows and went to sleep.
Next door at the Jiang family’s ho, Jiang Xia also knelt and kowtowed to Mr. Jiang Sr., offering his New Year’s greetings.
Grandpa Jiang happily told Jiang Xia to get up and gave him a red envelope.
But before the grandfather and grandson could get up, Da Huang knelt down too.
Its posture was perfect.
Not only did it kneel, but it had also learned to kowtow.
Jiang Xia stared at Da Huang, his eyes wide with amazent. He knew Da Huang was smart, but he never thought the dog was *this* smart.
"Our Da Huang is really sothing else! It was my mistake, Grandpa will get you a red envelope right now."
Grandpa Jiang, delighted by Da Huang, fumbled around, about to prepare another red envelope.
Jiang Xia reached for a large, aty bone and handed it to Grandpa Jiang. "You should probably give it this instead. It can’t spend money, you know."
Grandpa Jiang took the big bone and said, "Who says? Our Da Huang is a smart one."
In any case, Da Huang happily took the large bone, carried it back to his doghouse, and went to sleep using it as a pillow.
The night of New Year’s Eve gradually grew quiet.
Everyone had entered the new year.
On the first day of the new year, Lin Cuihua woke everyone up early.
"Get up early. It’s the very first day of the new year. If you’re diligent today, you’ll be diligent for the rest of the year."
The An family got up early. An Ning followed An Sancheng to Uncle An’s house first to pay their respects to his family for the New Year.
It was still the kowtowing ceremony, which Uncle An was used to.
They used to be a large clan, and when they paid New Year’s respects, there were far more people; when they knelt, it was a whole sea of them.
Uncle An had a red envelope prepared for every mber of the younger generation. Everyone exchanged auspicious words, and after finishing their greetings, they left.
As An Ning ca out, she thought they were heading ho, but she noticed many people from the village were also out, all walking in the sa direction. Uncle An’s family had co out as well.
She followed them and walked beside An Guoqing, asking, "Big Brother, where are we going?"
"To Third Grandfather’s house. He’s the eldest in the An family."
An Ning nodded in understanding. ’Of course, they should go.’
There were many people in the village with the An surna, and everyone followed the tradition of paying New Year’s respects to the most senior elder of the An family.
When they arrived at Third Grandfather’s house, the old man was already sitting in the middle of the courtyard, dressed in formal attire, waiting for them.
The old man was one hundred and thirteen years old and had lost all his teeth, but today he was full of vigor, his face glowing with health.
Seventy or eighty people, led by Uncle An, perford the ancient ritual, kowtowing to Third Grandfather.
For a mont, An Ning was deeply moved.
’This must be what heritage is all about.’
After the New Year’s greetings were over, people returned to their own hos in twos and threes. The three words "Happy New Year" were the most frequently spoken phrase along the way.
Upon returning to the An family’s ho, An Sancheng had the siblings each carry a bundle of firewood inside. The tradition was called "carrying in wealth," a pun on the word for firewood.
An Guoming, being the most energetic, eagerly stepped forward and said, "I’ve got to pick a huge bundle, for lots and lots of wealth!"
Spurred on by him, the siblings all started picking through the firewood stack.
"Third Brother, I picked this one!"
"Second Brother, when it’s about getting rich, there’s no brotherhood!"
An Guoping grabbed a bundle of firewood and ran off.
An Guoming was so exasperated he started to laugh. "That’s my little brother, alright," he said, still laughing. "Always got money on his mind."
An Ning got completely into it as well. Taking advantage of her physical prowess, she climbed directly onto the highest part of the firewood stack and took her ti choosing.
After An Ning had picked hers, she also grabbed a bundle of firewood for An Guoming.
"Second Brother, this one’s big."
"See? My little sister is the best! I was destined to have my little sister’s help."
The four siblings finally carried their "wealth" into the house. Four large bundles of firewood piled up, filling the kitchen.
Lin Cuihua didn’t scold them at all. Instead, she praised them, saying, "You did a good job. Those are all nice and thick bundles."
Lin Cuihua called everyone to eat dumplings. As expected, they would be eating dumplings for many days to co.
On the first day of the New Year, everyone did nothing but eat, drink, and laze around at ho—lying down, leaning back, lounging about—and the day passed just like that.
The next day was the second day of the New Year, when daughters-in-law from out of town would return to their own parents’ hos, laden with gifts.
In the An family, the eldest brother’s wife was the only daughter-in-law. She was pregnant and looked ready to give birth any day now.
More importantly, she had never once gone back to her parents’ ho, the Gao family, ever since she married into the An family.
The An family also had no married daughters who had left ho, so things were unusually quiet.
But soone always cos along to break such tranquility.
Around ten in the morning, soone started banging on the An family’s main gate.
The large rooster flapped its wings, SQUAWKING nonstop.
Even Da Huang from next door ca out to see the commotion, staring intently at the person banging on the gate from behind, as if on guard against any malicious moves.
Jiang Xia was at his own gate gathering firewood, but he was taking a long ti to bring it inside.
At the gate, Gao Guangzong impatiently continued to pound on it.
"Open the gate! Sis—Gao Guifen, Gao Guifen, open up!"
The door to the house opened. An Guoqing took one look out from the doorway, then turned right around to find a club.
He went to open the gate carrying the club, scaring Gao Guangzong so much that he hid behind his mother.
’He wasn’t stupid. Coming here alone would be like serving himself up on a platter for An Guoqing to beat.’
"Mom, look at An Guoqing!"
"Shut up and listen to . Do you still want to marry An Ning or not?"
An Guoqing, who was just coming out, didn’t hear what Gao Guangzong’s mother said, but Jiang Xia, who was outside gathering firewood, heard it loud and clear.
An inexplicable rage suddenly flared up inside him. One corner of his mouth curved up as he shot Da Huang a look.
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