Chapter 41

The start of the school year means that the joyous New Year's holiday is over for Feng Yiping and his friends.

A few decades later, everyone feels the same way: the Spring Festival is becoming less and less interesting, even less lively than the imported Christmas. The joy of the Spring Festival in our childhood can no longer be felt.

After experiencing it once again, Feng Yiping truly realized that the Spring Festival now, even the air, is filled with the flavor of the New Year.

Why is that? Clearly, the food, clothing, and entertainment we have now cannot compare to what we had a few decades ago.

Now, during the New Year, the food is better than usual. Normally, we eat simple home-cooked meals, but during the New Year, we try to make it grand and abundant. After growing up, who still lacks good food? Many people are tired of meat and prefer lighter dishes. During the New Year, even if the dishes are varied, they still don't stimulate much appetite.

Now, we wear new clothes during the New Year, but later on, we buy clothes whenever we like them, and no one buys a special set just for the first day of the New Year.

Actually, these things are not important. Later on, our daily life is better than the New Year in our childhood in terms of food and clothing.

Our nostalgia for the Spring Festival in our childhood is perhaps mainly about the joy and satisfaction we felt back then, which is more spiritual. These things are hard to find or cannot be found later on.

It's like when Zhu Yuanzhang, while wandering, was given a soup made from leftover food by a family. At that time, he thought it was the most delicious thing, calling it "Pearl Jade White Jade Soup." After becoming emperor, he asked someone to make the soup again, but it tasted like slop, and he vomited it out immediately.

Actually, the soup hasn't changed; it's still the same soup. What has changed is him.

Rare delicacies, when eaten occasionally, are truly rare delicacies.

Now, in the countryside, and even in most urban households, it's only during the New Year that they can indulge in rich foods like chicken, duck, and fish. Therefore, in many villages, especially those with poorer conditions, quite a few people get overfed during the New Year.

Digestive aids like digestive tablets might be available in pharmacies at this time, but no one would spend the money on them. Perhaps this happens every year, so people have their own ways to deal with it. It's quite simple: when cooking, add a bit more fire, and the pot will have some burnt rice. Boil the burnt rice in water, drink a bowl, and it works.

This kind of memory is sweet yet bitter.

How many people will get overfed during the New Year a few decades later?

So Mei Qiuping later said, "Why is the New Year not as lively and grand as before? Because now, every day is as good as the New Year used to be."

Of course, this is just one aspect.

There's a saying, "What you can't get is always the best." Similarly, once you've experienced the best, it's hard to find anything as good. The things you once experienced but can no longer feel are the best.

The principle is somewhat similar.

One day, Feng Yiping saw a classmate's QQ signature: "In childhood, a single candy could make us feel satisfied." He felt quite nostalgic.

Everything is changing, but mainly for the better, whether it's food, clothing, housing, or daily necessities. The most important thing is that we ourselves have changed, and thus we feel that the New Year has changed.

In later Spring Festivals, we find them dull and uninteresting, but our children, when they grow up and start their own families, will miss these dull and uninteresting Spring Festivals, just as we miss the Spring Festivals of our childhood.

Yes, in childhood, a single candy could really make us feel satisfied. Later on, our demands keep rising, and we might need a whole chocolate factory to barely satisfy us.

In later Spring Festivals, we find them not lively, not joyful, and tiring, mostly in a spiritual sense.

With the progress of the times, we have grown up, and our demands have increased, as have our parents' demands.

Pressuring us to get married and have children is the norm, and we are often compared to others. Some of your elementary school classmates, who didn't even finish junior high, are now foremen with annual incomes in the millions. What about you?

That math student who did poorly, went to an average school, and was quite ordinary, Ma Yun, is now the richest man. What about you? You probably don't even have the chance to work for him.

Relatives chat, out of concern, and ask about money, houses, cars, and girlfriends, the issues that have always troubled and worried you.

You were hoping to relax and rest during the New Year, but it turns out that everywhere is full of pressure, and it's more comfortable to work overtime at the company.

...

This might seem a bit off-topic, but Feng Yiping is still very satisfied and fond of this New Year that is passing.

But he still has complaints about the winter break.

The winter break is less than a month long. A few days after the break starts, it's the New Year, and then, in the blink of an eye, it's time to go back to school. It can't compare to the long summer break, which lasts for two months.

Moreover, today is Saturday, which means he has to stay at school for a solid 7 days until the next Saturday, which happens to be the Lantern Festival, when he can take a break.

On the road in front of the school, people carrying gifts to visit relatives pass by from time to time. Many of them have red faces, clearly having drunk a lot, with cigarettes in their mouths and ears, riding bicycles and whizzing past.

In the distance, the sound of firecrackers can be heard, either welcoming guests or seeing them off.

In short, most people are still celebrating the New Year.

It's not the start of a new school year, so everyone is familiar with the routine. Few parents come, and only a few parents carry rice with their children. Most students, in the last month of the previous year, sent extra rice to be exchanged for meal tickets.

Mainly because today is the eighth day of the first lunar month, still within the New Year, and carrying a load without any return is considered taboo.

The tuition and miscellaneous fees for this semester have increased to 52 yuan, but it's not a problem now, as there's no longer a worry about tuition. This is the first time in recent years that Feng Yiping has been able to pay the full tuition at the time of enrollment.

The classroom is still lively, with the early arrivals greeting each other, especially the girls, who gather in small groups, whispering and giggling.

Zhang Qiuling, who lives near the school, naturally arrived early and is tidying up her desk. The chubby Xiao Zhijie is eagerly wiping the table for her.

Seeing Feng Yiping, "Feng Yiping, you're here! Happy New Year!"

Feng Yiping walks over and says, "Happy New Year!"

He smiles and compliments him, "So diligent and friendly! Can you help me wipe my table too?"

Xiao Zhijie smiles and responds, "Sure, sure, no problem."

Zhang Qiuling, with a slightly red face, says to Feng Yiping, "Hey, everyone has greeted you, but you haven't shown any gratitude."

"Ha ha," Feng Yiping takes a few candies from his pocket and gives them to Xiao Zhijie, "Be a good boy, eat the candy. Call me uncle, and I'll give you a New Year's gift!"

Xiao Zhijie takes the candy and, with his cloth, tries to wipe Feng Yiping's face, "You've walked a long way, your face is dirty. Let me wipe it for you."

Oh no, this guy is serious. Feng Yiping quickly dodges.

Zhang Qiuling, while organizing her books, says to Feng Yiping, "Feng Yiping, call me auntie, and I'll give you candy too."

Unlike later, when girls are afraid of being called old. A 30-something girl, if a naive child calls her auntie, might get angry on the spot. Those with a more straightforward personality might scold the child, while those with more tact might smile and say, "Oh, what a cute child, so adorable!" while forcefully rubbing the child's cheeks, thinking, "You called me auntie, you called me auntie! I'm still young and beautiful, am I that old?"

But now, it's different. Girls, like boys, also like to be called older.

What's there to be shy about? Feng Yiping walks to Zhang Qiuling, bows, and loudly says, "Auntie, Happy New Year!"

Then he extends his hand, "Happy New Year, Happy New Year, where's my red envelope, auntie?"

The classroom bursts into laughter, and Zhang Qiuling is left speechless, so she takes out her book and throws it at Feng Yiping, "Feng Yiping, I thought you were a good boy, but now your true colors are showing!"

Feng Yiping is puzzled. What does this have to do with being a good boy? Well, being unreasonable is a woman's prerogative, so he won't argue with her.

He goes to his seat and greets Wen Hong, but can't help but glance at Huang Jingping. She is chatting happily with Wang Jinju and a few other girls. Sensing his gaze, she turns her head and meets Feng Yiping's eyes. He nods at her, and she blushes, quickly turning her head back.

Lin Hui's desk is clearly cleaned, but she is not there. Feng Yiping gives his quilt to Feng Wen to take to the dormitory. When he walks to Xiao Zhijie, Zhang Qiuling immediately glares at him. Feng Yiping pretends to be scared and bows to her, making her laugh.

Xiao Zhijie, lying on the table, grins at him, "I asked Feng Wen to take your luggage up. Can you help me tidy up the bed later?"

Xiao Zhijie immediately protests, "What are you going to do?"

Feng Yiping says, "I'm going to pay New Year's greetings."

Xiao Zhijie says with a smirk, "Oh, are you paying New Year's greetings, or visiting your future mother-in-law?"

Feng Yiping ignores this troublemaker, waves his hand, and quickly walks out of the school.

He has to hurry! According to tradition, Teacher Wang will arrive soon and will arrange for the students to clean. As a new class teacher, she will likely want to show her enthusiasm and ask the students to clean the school's public areas, like the playground. Better to leave quickly!

He starts jogging, and the two bottles of wine in his backpack start clinking. He has to hold them to stop the noise.

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