CH 110

Just as Zhulan regained her composure, the children who came to pay their respects arrived. Zhulan and Zhou Shuren signaled to the eldest son to arrange the basket for the red envelopes. The children entered the hall, and the first group of kids was quite sizable. There were twenty of them, all from the families of Zhou clan elders and relatives.

After a child paid New Year’s greetings, Zhulan added a piece of candy to a red envelope, and the child touched the copper coin with his fingers. The children were so happy that they jumped and ran away to continue their New Year greetings.

Not only the children of the clan who came to pay New Year’s greetings in the morning but also many children from the village. Zhulan’s family gave out more than one hundred red envelopes, and quite a few children came.

Zhulan’s smiling face was stiff, and she had long forgotten what the little girl said, and her waist felt uncomfortable after sitting for a long time, and no one would come to pay New Year’s greetings after lunch, so she lay down and rested until night.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the married daughters go back to their natal home. Zhulan and Zhou Shuren took Zhou’s second child back to Yang’s house, and the eldest family returned to Li’s house. Luckily, there was Zhao Shi to cook lunch at Zhou’s house. Although the food was not as delicious as Li Shi’s, it was better than Xuemei whose cooking was too strong.

After the second day of the Lunar New Year, they began visiting each other to pay their respects. They visited the homes of several senior family members within the clan, and there was hardly any free time. After completing the rounds, they gained at least two kilograms of weight due to the abundant feasting.

There was a small unpleasant incident in the midst of it all. Zhulan’s family had given out red envelopes containing copper coins. Zhu Shi wanted to get her hands on Rong Chuan’s New Year money. However, she was wary of the clan leader’s warning, so didn’t come in person and sent her daughter instead. Zhulan knew that she couldn’t always intervene for Rong Chuan in every matter. The affairs of the Zhang family had to be handled by Rong Chuan himself.

Fortunately, Rong Chuan was not stupid and didn’t give it. Instead, he handed over all the New Year’s money to Xuehan. Zhu Lan and Zhou Shuren were happy, “I know how to hand in the money at such a young age, not bad, not bad.”

In the blink of an eye, it was already the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, the day when the Jiang family would separate. In the morning, Zhulan prepared noodles made from white flour. On the seventh day, it is customary to eat noodles, symbolizing longevity. After finishing the noodles, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren accompanied their daughter to return to the Jiang family, with the eldest son taking the reins of the carriage.

The children were not taken back home. The house had not been heated for a long time. On the first day of separation, they had to wait until everything was properly organized before bringing the children back. This was to prevent the children from suffering any inconvenience.

When Zhulan’s family arrived at Jiang’s house, Jiang Yong had invited the Village Head and the elders of Jiang’s family and was waiting for Jiang Sheng and his wife.

The Village Head didn’t want to be nosy, and the elders of Jiang’s family, who had some brain, didn’t bother to scold Jiang Sheng. The division of family property documents was written according to Zhou Shuren’s instructions, and Jiang Sheng had no objections. He signed the documents and left his handprint. Three copies of the division documents were prepared, and Zhou Shuren took one copy.

Zhulan thought that only Jiang Sheng himself would be separated, but she didn’t expect that the entire Jiang family would be divided. The elderly couple and the eldest son would stay together. Jiang Sheng had to contribute ten taels of silver from his calligraphy earnings. Over these days, Jiang Sheng had copied two books, so he immediately brought out the ten taels of silver. The silver was also divided among the Jiang family members.

Jiang’s family didn’t keep much food, most of it was exchanged for money. Jiang Sheng didn’t get fine grains, but a hundred catties of cornmeal. The other foods were shared among the family of four. Because they did not have any land, there was no need to share farm tools. Well, the poultry was not given to Jiang Sheng. To put it bluntly, Jiang Sheng got a thatched hut to live in and a hundred catties of grain.

There was no separate banquet for the division of the Jiang family. Jiang’s mother was completely resentful towards Jiang Sheng. Even though Jiang’s mother was a kind-hearted person, she enjoyed the feeling of being in charge. Now that she couldn’t be the head of the household anymore, she didn’t even spare a glance at Jiang Sheng after the division. Jiang Yong, on the other hand, was more affectionate towards Jiang Sheng. He still held onto the hope that Jiang Sheng would pass the provincial examination and exempt the family from land taxes. He didn’t cut off all ties with him.

Zhulan took her daughter back to the house. “We have a cooking stove in the room, but what we lack is firewood. I’ll have your eldest brother buy a cartload of firewood later. We also need to stock up on grains. Your village is close to the county town, so I’ll accompany you to the county to buy everything we need.”

Xuemei smiled dryly, “Well, Mother.”

Zhulan asked, “Tell Mother if there is something difficult to say.”

T/N We also have a somewhat similar custom during our New Year which falls around 14th or 15th of April. And another one after the Durga Puja festival which is held around September/October. In both custom, younger generation visit their elders with sweets. The one after the Durga Puja called Vijaya Dashami was my favorite. Because children were supposed to visit every house in the neighborhood, and have food there. It was fun to go around and eat from all the houses of your neighbors. Some had just sweets, some had sweet and savory. Though there was no money given, it was fun to eat like this!! Sadly, in major metropolitan cities, this culture among Bengalis are slowly going away.