"咻…嘭!"
The sound of countless firecrackers and fireworks completely shattered the quiet night sky.
At the same moment, the Shen family's fireworks and firecrackers were ignited precisely at 0:00.
Everything in sight was a dazzling display of colorful fireworks.
Although fireworks don't last long, they are breathtakingly stunning in the moment of their bloom.
"Happy New Year."
Shen Yao said to Mo Chen, though in the midst of the roaring din, this "Happy New Year" was barely audible.
Yet, Mo Chen still heard it, "Happy New Year."
He had never felt that celebrating the New Year could be so enjoyable. He wished that every year to come would be spent with Shen Yao.
As the fireworks finished, everyone else also wished each other a Happy New Year.
Similarly, the farmhouse next door was also filled with laughter and joy.
The guests who hadn't gone home for the New Year stayed at the farmhouse. The Shen family had specially prepared couplets for them.
They were told to paste the couplets on their doors, giving them a strong sense of participation.
Many fireworks were also shared with the neighbors. Now that the large fireworks were finished, some young people next door were playing with small sparklers and fairy wands.
Little Yuanzi was also, for once, kept awake by his mother to watch the New Year's Eve.
The little fellow, who had been very sleepy, became energetic the moment he saw the fireworks.
After watching the fireworks, he took out several boxes of small poppers from his little cloth bag and threw them on the ground, making loud "pa pa" sounds.
After playing enough, he happily played with the sparklers until all his small fireworks were finished. Only then, with sleepy eyes, did he let Shen Mama take him to bed.
Watching the New Year's Eve naturally called for eating dumplings.
However, as they were in the south, they didn't have the tradition of eating dumplings on New Year's Eve; they ate tangyuan (sweet glutinous rice balls).
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, early in the morning.
The first thing everyone did upon waking was to exchange New Year greetings.
Shen Mama and Shen Papa, as the elders of the family, naturally had to distribute red envelopes to the younger generation.
Then, Shen Ge and his siblings also gave red envelopes to the younger generation.
Thus, the ultimate beneficiary of the Shen family was Shen Yao.
Not only did she leverage her status as the youngest, but also the fact that she had twins, receiving double the red envelopes.
Seeing the bulging little bags of Tuanzi and Jiaoz, Shen Yao reached out her wicked hand.
"Be good, my babies. Mommy will keep your money for you. I'll return it to you when you grow up."
With that, she unhesitatingly stuffed all the red envelopes into her own pockets.
Shen Yao was ecstatic. So this was the joy of keeping red envelopes for others!
The Shen family: ...
Next, the Shen family got up to prepare the food for the ancestral worship on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
After everyone had eaten their first meal of the New Year, Shen Mama and Shen Papa kicked everyone out of the house.
Because in their tradition, everyone had to go out on the first day of the Lunar New Year. As long as it wasn't raining cats and dogs, you had to go out for a stroll, even if it was just a short walk.
The saying was to go out for a walk on the first day of the Lunar New Year and bring good fortune home.
Every year on the first day of the Lunar New Year, it would almost always rain lightly, and this year was no exception. So, the group walked along the road, holding umbrellas.
They walked all the way to the big bridge at the entrance of the village before slowly meandering back.
"Didn't they say we should bring good fortune home? Then how can we bring good fortune home if we're holding umbrellas?" Jiang Qingqing spoke up at this moment.
In her opinion, good fortune could be anything, so why couldn't this rainwater be consumed? To bring good fortune home, one naturally shouldn't hold an umbrella and shut them out!
Everyone: That makes so much sense!
So, everyone put away their umbrellas and walked back home in the misty drizzle.
(Ahem, let me mention here that this is the author's personal experience. Although the rain was light, it was COLD!)
Upon returning home, several mahjong tables had already been set up in the living room the previous night.
After all, if they just stayed up without doing anything, they might not be able to stay awake.
But with mahjong, it was different; they could play all night without getting tired!
So, after everyone returned from outside, they naturally formed several mahjong tables and started playing together.
Time flew by quickly, and soon it was the day of Shen Er Ge's wedding.
The Jiang family and Jiang Qingqing returned to G City after celebrating the second day of the Lunar New Year.
They had a custom where the bride and groom were not allowed to see each other for three days before the wedding.
Moreover, they had to return in advance to prepare for the wedding matters.
The wedding would still be held once by the bride's side and once by the groom's side.
Due to different customs, it was still possible to hold two banquets on the same day.
In G City, weddings were usually held in the morning, but it was different in their area, where weddings were generally held in the evening.
The wedding day was set for the eighth day of the Lunar New Year. The day before, the Shen family had already gone to G City and stayed in another small villa belonging to the Jiang family.
Also attending the wedding were some elders from the Shen family.
The wedding venue was a large hotel. The welcoming procession departed from this small villa and proceeded to the Jiang family's residence to pick up the bride and then proceed to the hotel for the wedding ceremony.
In their area, the welcoming party for a wedding, in addition to the groom, groomsmen, and elders, also had to find a "Quanfu Niangniang" (a woman of good fortune).
This "Quanfu Niangniang" also had specific requirements: she must have both parents alive, have children (a son is a must!), and lead a happy and prosperous life.
And Shen Yao was proudly chosen to be this "Quanfu Niangniang"!
Although, given Shen Yao's current situation, she wasn't the most suitable.
In comparison, Ning Min was more suited for this role, with both parents alive, a son, and a happy and prosperous marriage.
However, the unfortunate part was that Shen Yao had given birth to twins, and they were a boy and a girl!
This undoubtedly gave her an instant advantage over everyone else.
Shen Yao, as the "Quanfu Niangniang," had only one role: to accompany the bride the entire time after she was picked up.
When she stepped out, she had to hold a red umbrella over the bride's head.
This symbolized that she had parents to shield her in her maiden home, and after marriage, her in-laws would take over from her parents to shield her.
After the bride was successfully picked up, the wedding cars immediately drove to the hotel.
The hotel had already been beautifully decorated with flowers, balloons, and other decorations, representing every girl's dream wedding!
From the hotel entrance, a red carpet was laid all the way inside. On both sides of the carpet were channels enclosed by light gauze.