I am 43 years old, my partner and I are both officials of the county finance bureau, and we have a 15-year-old son who is currently in his third year of junior high school.
My partner also has an older sister who lives in the same neighborhood as us, and our two families have a very good relationship, and often have dinner together, no matter who makes dumplings, they will invite each other to come over and enjoy them together.
My father-in-law and mother-in-law are almost 70 years old, and they usually live in their rural hometown. In the past, every Spring Festival, our family of three would go back to accompany them for the New Year, and it was not until the third day of the new year that the eldest sister's family would return to the city, and we would usually wait until noon to entertain their family, and then return to the city together in the afternoon.
Last year, my mother-in-law had a small stroke, although the condition was not serious, but because it was too cold at home, my partner and eldest sister wanted to take the two elderly people to their home for the winter, but they firmly disagreed, and still wanted to stay in their own home for convenience.
However, we were worried that there would be too many troubles for the Chinese New Year in our rural hometown, and we were worried that my mother-in-law would not be able to stand the noise there and affect her health. Therefore, we discussed and decided to take them to our home during the Chinese New Year and send them back when the weather is warmer after the Chinese New Year.
But what I didn't expect was that during the week of the Chinese New Year at my house, our family of three was almost driven crazy, and the two old people couldn't hold on, and they wanted to go home ...... on the fifth day of the new year
All of this stems from the peculiar New Year's habits and lifestyles of the two old people!
On the morning of Chinese New Year's Eve, I accompanied my family to drive back to my hometown for the New Year. After arriving, we first pasted the Spring Festival couplets and blessing characters, then packed up our luggage and Chinese New Year essentials and moved them into our home.
In addition to the luggage and food, the old man also brought a roll of bamboo mats and a painting scroll, which I didn't know at first was. My subject whispered to me, "That's our family's genealogy axis." When you hear the word "bamboo", many people may feel unfamiliar. In fact, this is another name for the genealogical axis in the local vernacular, because the people in the hometown pronounce the "axis" as "bamboo", and the substrate of the genealogy axis is often made of bamboo, so it is called bamboo.
During the Chinese New Year, hanging bamboo is a traditional ritual in local rural families, especially in homes with elderly people. They believe that only by hanging bamboo can they welcome the blessings of their ancestors and allow them to spend the New Year with peace of mind.
However, in the city, especially among the people who live in apartments, few people hang bamboo. Families like ours have never had the experience of hanging bamboo. However, since the old man brought this thing, we can only hang it up.
In order to match this new custom, we had to hang bamboo in the north window of the living room, and the whole room became dark in an instant. Those colorful character patterns give people an eerie feeling. My father-in-law moved the table in front of the bamboo and placed various offerings.
From the day the bamboo was hung up and the offerings were placed, my son never watched TV in the living room again.
In addition to bamboo, my father-in-law also spent two hours a day burning incense and making offerings. This fills our house with a strong scent that my son and I don't really like. I had to hide in the bedroom, turn on the air conditioner, and try to ventilate the room. And it happened to be cold on those days, and we all caught a cold.
What's even more troublesome is that my father-in-law insisted that my partner and son join him in incense and kowtow. My partner was barely acceptable, but my son was struggling. However, under the signal of my eyes, he had no choice but to make a show, and finally did not make the old man angry.
On Chinese New Year's Eve, my aunt and wife came to visit us with gifts. Unfortunately, at that time, my father-in-law was busy directing my husband to hang bamboo and arrange New Year's goods.
As soon as he heard that my aunt was coming, my father-in-law didn't even let her in, and pushed her out. This made my aunt and his wife feel embarrassed, their faces were flushed, and they had to leave gloomily.
Later, I realized that there was a traditional custom in my in-laws' hometown that a married daughter could not return to her mother's house from Chinese New Year's Eve to the second year of junior high school, so as not to bring bad luck to her mother's family. Therefore, during the Chinese New Year at my house, my aunt's visit was actually equivalent to entering their door.
Since Chinese New Year's Eve, my father-in-law has been reminding us that until the second day of the first lunar month, we must abide by tradition and never do anything disrespectful. In particular, it is absolutely not allowed to take a bath, not even to wash the feet.
Although my husband and son are a bit fat, and our family is used to bathing every day, we can only endure it in order to respect the wishes of the elderly. That night, I secretly prepared a basin of hot water for my son and asked him to secretly wash his feet before falling asleep. But even so, we still feel sick in our hearts and have a hard time sleeping.
Until the evening of the first day of the first lunar month, we couldn't stand the oiliness on our bodies, so we went to my aunt's house to take a pleasant bath under the pretense of going out to pay New Year's greetings. I stayed at her house until late and didn't return home.
In addition, since Chinese New Year's Eve, my in-laws have forbidden us to throw garbage outside, but to put the garbage in the kitchen in bags at the door. Doing so, they believe, will make the family more prosperous.
However, as time goes by, the garbage in the house piles up, especially some garbage such as fish heads and chicken feet, which soon begins to emit an unpleasant smell. Since our home is centrally heated and the temperature is high, the smell is even more unbearable, with a peculiar smell mixed with cigarette smoke and rancid odor.
In addition to prohibiting littering, my mother-in-law also forbade me to sweep the floor with a broom, believing that doing so would invite bad luck. Therefore, in those days, the ground of our house and living room was full of thick melon seed skins, which made people feel upset when they saw it.
When the in-laws are not at home, we usually cook on demand and leave no leftovers, especially leftovers, which we never save for the next meal.
However, when my in-laws came to the house, they always asked us to make more and insisted on saving some for the next meal, which they said was to symbolize the surplus every year.
We are concerned that such eating habits will affect their health. Once, while they were back in their rooms to rest, I quietly threw out the food that had been heated many times. As a result, when the next meal was made, my father-in-law found out and went crazy on the spot, which made everyone unhappy. February** Dynamic Incentive Program
In addition, we try to guide them not to eat out-of-season fruits and vegetables. Once, I bought some fruits that are not usually common, thinking that they would taste fresh. However, my father-in-law scoffed at it, thinking that it was just a spring fruit preserved with medicine, and resolutely refused to eat it. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, they even threw the fruits in the trash.
My in-laws stayed at home for almost a week, which was a pain for us. They also seemed uncomfortable, and began to argue for going back to their hometown at night. Eventually, my partner and I decided to send them back to their hometown.
After my in-laws left, I thoroughly cleaned the whole house and felt relieved. At night, our family slept soundly.
Looking back on this experience, I said to my children, if we are old in the future, we will be like my in-laws, you can take out this article I wrote and read it to us. If you still can't change it, then send us directly to a nursing home.