Chapter 13: New Year’s Eve
Jiayan woke up to find his mother sewing socks and shoes for him. The winter sun shone warmly on Lu Mingyue, casting a serene and gentle glow. He couldn’t help but think that no woman in the world was more beautiful than his mother. The anger from the previous day dissipated by a third. Then, when he smelled a faintly sweet aroma of meat wafted through the air, his mother lifted the lid of the brazier to reveal two round, snow-white ceramic bowls. His eyes lit up, and joy filled his heart, leaving no trace of his earlier grievances. He heard his mother say, “Take them out to eat, but don’t overindulge.”
Lu Mingyue’s gaiwan1 braised pork was a southern delicacy. Bite-sized chunks of pork belly, cooked with sweet wine and autumn oil, were slowly simmered over a brazier. This rendered a crispy outside and the fragrant pork so tender that the fatty pieces couldn’t even be lifted with chopsticks. The skin and flesh was soft enough to break with a touch, and one bite of the dish would send the savory juices melting in your mouth, a taste so divine, it could make you swoon.
“Mother is the best to me.”
“Don’t overeat.” Lu Mingyue kept her head down, stitching each thread through the sole of the shoe. “If you eat too much now, you won’t have room for lunch.”
“Then I’ll take one bowl to Uncle Guang. He’s never had your gaiwan pork before.”
Lu Mingyue didn’t object, only saying, “Be careful not to burn your hands or drop it.”
As the New Year approached, the market bustled with people buying brightly painted calendars, large and small door gods, peach wood talismans of Zhong Kui2, and decorative items like lion heads of Suanni3 and gilded floral ornaments. Families stocked up on firecrackers, Tusu wine, sticky candies, melon seeds, fruits and other festive items for the celebrations, as well as decorating the entrance to their homes to invite prosperity and abundance for the coming year.
Madam Li joined the excitement with everyone for a few days, but caught a cough from the winter wind. Forced to rest in bed, and even though no one in the family wanted to see her toil, she nonetheless insisted on maintaining her dignity as the lady of the house, she had no choice but to push through and do everything.
On New Year’s Eve, the household rose early. The venison that had simmered in the pot overnight filled the air with its sweet aroma,the rising smoke from cooking wrapping around people’s hearts. Xianxian, dressed in a bright red jacket and with ribbons tied in her hair had been bustling around the stove all morning.
Meanwhile, Chun Tian and Changliu ventured out together to watch a wedding celebration in the neighborhood. On the second floor of the Mudu Pavilion, candy and sweets were being tossed to the crowd. Changliu led Chun Tian up the pavilion to enjoy the view.
Mudu Pavilion was built by a merchant who had moved from Wuxian to Ganzhou. From its heights, one could gaze upon the entirety of the city. Distant mountains stretched across the horizon, and icy rivers meandered on its borders, the most distant views blocked by ice and snow.
“What are you looking at, Chun Tian-jiejie?”
“There are so many mountains over there,” she raised her hand and pointed in a direction. “I came from beyond those.”
“That’s the Qilian Mountains,” Changliu explained. “Without the Qilian Mountains, the Hexi Corridor wouldn’t have its fertile lands.”
He then pointed southeast. “Jiejie you came from Chang’an, right? Chang’an is over there, does jiejie miss it?”
“I have no home,” Chun Tian replied, gazing into the distance.
It had been over half a year since she left, and she didn’t know what state her home was in now. Perhaps chaos had broken loose, or maybe the things had quietly passed. Perhaps everyone thought she was dead and harbored resentment or anger toward her.
She turned her eyes westward. There, there were endless yellow sands, and she knew that lay the place where her lost loved ones rested.
“Jiejie, you can treat my house as your own,” Changliu whispered, tugging at her sleeve.
Aunt Zhao’s husband, Wang Cheng, came with his mule cart to take his wife and daughter back to the countryside for the New Year. Li Wei prepared a small packet of silver as a gift for the couple and told Aunt Zhao to return after the fourth day of the New Year.
Once Aunt Zhao left, Li Wei rolled up his sleeves and headed into the kitchen. Years of traveling had honed his cooking skills. By the time the lanterns were lit, the city of Ganzhou, where thousands resided, glowed with a myriad of lights. Firecrackers are set off to drive away the evil spirits, and the door gods, stove gods, and the old year are replaced by the new year.
Li Wei took down the ancestral tablets of his late father and mother from their altar. The family cured meats, preserved fish soft candies, and crispy beans as part of the ritual offerings. After the three of them paid their respects to their ancestors, they noticed that Chun Tian was not in the room. Turning around, they saw a young girl sitting alone under the eaves, her slender figure silhouetted against the snowy night, listening to the crackle of firecrackers from the thousands of households around.
Madam Li, concerned that Chun Tian might feel lonely and melancholic in a foreign land with no family or acquaintances, sent Changliu to lift her spirits. In the side room, a table was laid out with snacks and treats—fruits, wine, tea, and pastries. Changliu pulled Chun Tian onto the kang bed, smiling. “Chun Tian-jiejie, let’s play together.
Meanwhile, Li Wei was in the kitchen making mazhu4, a traditional New Year’s Eve soup noodle dish. The noodles, about two inches long and finger-width wide, were kneaded thin and smooth. While southern chefs favored a broth base made with eel or fish and garnished with tofu, mushrooms, ham, and mustard greens, since fish and eel were less commonly eaten in the Hexi region, Li Wei’s northern-style version used lamb bone broth as the base, enriched with venison tendon, fern root, and pickled cabbage. The aroma was rich and fragrant, giving it the flavors of the northern frontier.
After everyone enjoyed the mazhu, Li Wei brought out a deck of leaf cards, smiling as he said, “Let’s play a round to aid digestion.” The deck was themed after the Investiture of the Gods, featuring heroes and villains from King Wu’s campaign against King Zhou of Shang. The Heavenly card was King Wu Ji Fa, the Earth card was King Zhou Di Xin, and there were forty-six immortal generals from the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The four of them sat around the stove, taking turns drawing twelve cards.
“Although it is a card game, it is played with alcohol as the stakes,” Li Wei said with a smile, as he poured a cup of Nine Gods Tusu wine from the stove. “Drink this wine, and you will be healthy and live to a ripe old age.
Chun Tian had never played this card game before. Li Wei sat to her left and briefly explained, “There’s no need for strategy; just play it casually.”
Jiang Ziya defeating Bi Gan, Daji taking down Lei Zhenzi, and Nezha and Erlang Shen clashing with Zhao Gongming, with no one able to stop Shengmu. The Heavenly card was in Changliu’s hand, and the Earth card stayed under Chun Tian’s elbow. In the end, King Zhou managed to defeat Ji Fa and saved the great Zhou dynasty from destruction.
Although they played without much strategy, Chun Tian ended up holding the Earth card under her elbow, while Changliu had the Heaven card. In a surprising twist, King Zhou triumphed over King Wu, securing victory for the Shang dynasty.
The first cup of tusu wine, a traditional New Year’s herbal drink, was offered to Chun Tian despite her polite refusals. She accepted it, and Changliu grinned as he made a toast: “May flowers bloom every year, and may this year surpass the last!” Madam Li added, “May clouds part to reveal the moon, and relatives and friends reunite.” Li Wei, after some thought, smiled and said, “What the heart desires, may all trials turn to blessings.”
The Tusu wine was flavored with Sichuan peppercorns, and after one cup, Chun Tian felt the intense heat, The heat of the alcohol and spices spread through her throat, making her cough and blush, her eyes moist. She softly said, “Many thanks.”.
Everyone drank their tusu wine, but Madam Li Li, already weak, barely managed a sip before covering her mouth with a handkerchief and coughing violently into it.
Changliu immediately stood up from the kang, alarmed. “Mother.”
“I’m fine,” Madam Li panted and smiled, “I’m afraid I cannot hold on any longer, just feeling very tired and need to lie down for a while.”
Li Wei’s brows wrinkled as he helped his wife up, gently saying, “Let me take you back to drink your medicine. Afterward, rest well, we’ll stay up for you tonight.”
During this period, Li Wei had called Physician Hu to the house twice recently—once to check on Chun Tian’s recovery and another to examine Madam Li’s pulse and diagnose her worsening condition. However, the physician had merely shaken his head and remarked: That a person’s life was like a lamp, each burning with its own supply of oil until it fades. When the oil runs dry, even if a thousand gold ingots are spent to prolong life, it cannot defy fate.
Seeing his father and mother leave, Changliu grew anxious. Chun Tian poured him a small cup of tusu wine and handed it to him. “Drink this for your mother. Once you drink it, she will be blessed with health and longevity, free from illness.”
Changliu nodded and downed the wine in one gulp. “I’ll stay up for my mother.”
Li Wei returned much later. Seeing Changliu’s nervous expression, he smiled at his son. “Your mother drank her medicine and is now asleep. She’ll feel better after a good rest.”
The three of them laid out the late-night snacks again and brewed fresh tea. Changliu devoured a plate of spiral pastries, chickpeas, honey treats, and ginkgo nuts, filling his stomach. Meanwhile, Ah Huang enjoyed a bowl of meat and bones under the table, gnawing noisily under the kang.
Li Wei produced a few oranges from somewhere. He warmed them on the brazier, softening the peel, waiting for the charcoal fire to release the orange’s sweet aroma. Once they were ready, he handed the fragrant, warm oranges to Changliu and Chun Tian.
The fragrance of the glistening tangerines filled the air refreshingly. Chun Tian held one in her hands, her thoughts wandering. Changliu leaned against Li Wei, eating and eating, his eyelids drooping sleepily. Li Wei smiled, ruffled his hair, and brought a sip of tea to his lips. “Changliu, drink some water before you sleep.”
“I’m not sleeping.” The boy startled awake, “I need to stay up for Mother.”
But barely half an incense stick later, he leaned into Li Wei’s arms and fell into deep sleep.. The two people in the room exchanged a glance and shared a knowing smile. Chun Tian went to fetch a pillow and blanket from Changliu’’s room, and Li Wei gently laid him on the kang bed, tucking him in.
For a while, the room was silent.
Neither of them spoke, the quiet only interrupted by the faint crackle of the brazier which made the room comfortably warm, which burned fragrant, dried herbs meant to ward off illness. The slightly bitter aroma rose in lazy tendrils. Nearby, Ah Huang lazed by the fire, turning over to reveal its singed fur. Li Wei tossed a handful of chestnuts into the brazier. Chun Tian gazed absentmindedly at the intricate paper cutouts decorating the window frames.
Time seemed to stretch. After a while, Chun Tian turned her head, blinked and whispered. “It’s snowing outside.”
Li Wei tilted his head to carefully listen. Between the intermittent silence, the rustling snowflakes could be heard, landing gently on the windows, fine and fragmented, boundless and unknowable, a distant, ethereal sha-sha-sha.
“This is the thirty-seventh snowfall this winter,” she sighed softly. “In Hexi, it snows so much during winter.”
Li Wei finished his cup of wine and said, almost cheerfully, “And it’ll be the last one.”
How long and endless the night was! This was probably the liveliest night of the year, when everyone was celebrating, awake and joyful. After waiting a few more hours, the new year arrived once again, marking the passage of time. Time pressed forward like a relentless river. The cycles of life continued, seamless and eternal, ever-repeating, never ceasing. Yellow dust, clear waters, and the mountains bore witness to the changes across the centuries passing like a fleeting horse. Time was swift, people minuscule.
Chun Tian seemed tired, her expression a little dazed. She looked at Changliu’s peaceful sleeping face and leaned slightly against the corner of the table table, but soon straightened her posture.
Li Wei sat cross-legged on the kang bed, with a cup of Tusu wine in front of him, absentmindedly sipping tusu wine, drinking silently,
“The two, lost in thought, were startled by the soft popping sounds from the brazier. A few chestnuts had roasted and split open in the brazier. They stared at the brazier, and Li Wei bent down to retrieve the roasted chestnuts from the fire. After letting them cool, he peeled them open. One by one, the golden yellow and fragrant chestnut was revealed. He held them out to Chun Tian and slowly asked, “Do you miss home?”
Her eyes lowered to the chestnut in front of her, and her lashes drooped. She pursed her lips, saying nothing, and nodded.
He glanced at her. A fleeting thought stirred in his heart and he let out a quiet sigh, almost imperceptible. “At this moment, your family must be thinking of you too.”
The faint sound of clappers drifted from afar, accompanied by the chaotic clamor of cymbals and firecrackers ringing in unison, the stillness of the snowy night shattered.
Midnight passed. The old year faded, the new year arrived.
Li Wei stood and said, “Let’s set off some firecrackers.”
The snow outside fell densely. He wrapped a red cloak around him and stepped into the pristine snow-covered courtyard. Turning back to Chun Tian, who was leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed, he smiled. “Bring me some incense.”
She went back into the house and fetched a stick of incense, lit it over a candle, and shielded it from the snow using her arms as she carried it out to him.
“Stand back. Be careful not to get splashed on,” Li Wei ushered her under the eaves. He lit the fuse, and the firecrackers exploded with deafening booms like thunder, cracking and popping in the wind and snow. The air was filled with the deafening sound of firecrackers from near and far, vibrating so loudly it almost pierced the ears. Chun Tian covered her ears, the booming resonating in her chest like a drumbeat, loud and full.
Li Wei, standing nearby with arms crossed, turned to look at her with a faint smile. He said something and she leaned in to listen, but his words were swallowed by the thunderous sound of the firecrackers.
Once the firecrackers were spent, he moved to the hall to pay respects to the ancestral tablets. He then took the incense and stepped into the snowy and windy yard, kneeling toward the southeast to offer prayers.
He prayed to his unknown parents, whose faces and names he would never know, for the heavens to protect the souls of those who died unjustly and guide them to eternal rest.
The snow blurred Chun Tian’s vision. When he handed the incense to her, he said, “You should also make your offering.”
Springtime hesitated, holding the incense. She planted it in the snow and turned toward the northwest, kneeling to offer her own prayers.
Li Wei’s gaze lingered on her frail figure kneeling in the snow. His thoughts wandered to the letter he had received just days earlier from an old comrade in the military.
Footnotes:
- Gaiwan meat: refers to a dish served in a lidded bowl, often associated with flavorful braised or stewed meat. ↩︎
- Peachwood charms of Zhong Kui: Traditionally, peachwood charms are used for warding off evil spirits, often associated with Chinese New Year. Zhong Kui is a mythological figure known as the “Demon Queller,” often depicted in art and used for protection. ↩︎
- Suanni: A mythical lion-like creature, one of the dragon’s nine sons in Chinese mythology., tiger heads, and patterns of golden floral threads ↩︎
- Mazhu: A traditional Chinese noodle dish, also called “noodle soup” or “miàn piàn tāng” in some regions. It refers to thin pieces of dough that are boiled in a flavorful broth ↩︎
TN: Hope everyone is doing well! Love the chapter! It was so cozy and heartwarming. I feel for Chun Tian especially as I’m a grad student living in another state away from loved ones, so it can get really hard around the holiday season~
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