New Year's Eve, frosty white moon, red lanterns and colorful couplets, laughter and reunion.
The sound of firecrackers brings not only the joy of family reunion, saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, but also the sadness and loneliness of being a stranger in a foreign land, missing family members even more during the festive season.
Looking at the twinkling lights outside the window and the gorgeous fireworks over the city, Wu Hao's eyes couldn't help but feel moist.
A gust of cold wind finally brought him back to his senses. With a lonely look on his face, he looked at Li Wenming who was concentrating on driving in front of him and asked: "This is the New Year, can't we let you go home to reunite? Are you homesick?"
Li Wenming smiled and shook his head while driving the car and said: "I have been in the army for seven or eight years, and I have long been used to it. It is true that I miss home, but I don't think about it as much as I did during the Chinese New Year in my first year as a soldier.<
/p>
We were still in the recruit company at that time, and as soon as the familiar melody of the Spring Festival Gala played, we all burst into tears. Fortunately, the instructors and squad leaders were with us, and while everyone was playing with each other, the longing was alleviated a lot.
It got much better in the second year. Although I missed home, I had learned to control myself. In the third year, I and a group of veterans started to comfort the recruits."
Haha, Wu Hao smiled when he heard this and said: "When you have free time after the new year, you can also take time to take a vacation and go back to see your parents, or directly invite them over, and the company will reimburse the round-trip air tickets, food and accommodation."
"Thank you, Mr. Wu." Li Wenming said excitedly: "Speaking of which, my parents also want to thank you in person."
‘Thank me?’ Wu Hao asked curiously.
Li Wenming nodded and smiled: "Yes, thank you. When I first returned, there was nothing to do. I spent a lot of money to find several jobs through my family's support, but none of them were ideal.
Now that I am here with you, I am really happy to be with a group of comrades. It feels like I have returned to the days when we were in the army. We all train together, go on duty together, and play together. It feels so good.
Moreover, the work is relatively easy and stable, the living conditions are excellent, and the salary is generous. It is much better than our small county town."
"I should thank them. They understand the righteousness of sending their children to the military camp to defend the country. And they are still willing to let you come to me after you are discharged from the army. If I don't treat you better,
How can I be worthy of them?" Wu Hao shook his head and smiled.
Comparatively speaking, with the continuous improvement of material life nowadays, how many parents are willing to send their children to the military camp. And they can support their children to work until they are sergeants. They will be separated from each other in the next seven or eight years. The parents' longing can be
Just imagine.
Serving as a soldier is everyone's obligation and responsibility, but how many people have fulfilled this obligation and responsibility? The stable life that we ordinary people enjoy does not have such a group of people working silently behind the scenes.
The years are peaceful, just because someone carries the burden for you.
Speaking of which, he felt that he was quite cruel. After all, his children had retired honorably and were about to enjoy family happiness. But he dragged these people away from their parents because they were not allowed to go home during the Chinese New Year. p>
"Mr. Wu, we're here!" Li Wenming interrupted his thoughts.
"Okay, let's go up and pick up the things." Wu Hao came to his senses.
Then the two of them took the things in the trunk and entered the elevator. Today was New Year's Eve, and he definitely couldn't spend it alone, so he took Li Wenming to buy some things, and then went to spend the New Year with Wei Bing and the others.
.
"Mr. Wu, why are you here? Please come in!" A veteran who was opening the door saw Wu Hao and greeted him excitedly: "Mr. Wu is here to see everyone!"
"Mr. Wu!" After everyone who was still playing in the living room saw him, they all stood up and shouted.
Wu Hao handed the things in his hands to the veterans who came to pick them up, and then smiled at everyone: "It's the Chinese New Year today. I know it's a pity that you can't go home, so I came over to see everyone. Let's celebrate the New Year together."<
/p>
"Thank you, Mr. Wu!" Everyone applauded.
Wu Hao pressed his hands and said with a smile: "Actually, the main reason is that I have nowhere to go today, so I came here to have a meal with you."
Hahahaha...
After laughing for a while, Wu Hao looked at everyone and asked, "No one is here."
Wei Bing smiled and said: "Zhao Jiaping and the others are not here, they are on duty in the company. After twelve o'clock, we will go to change shifts, and they can come back to rest."
Wu Hao nodded when he heard this and said: "This is the Chinese New Year, everyone has to work hard on duty!"
"Mr. Wu, this is what we should do." Wei Jun said with a smile.
"Okay, then I won't say anything." Wu Hao looked at the dough and fillings on the table and said with a smile: "What's wrong, you are making dumplings."
"Haha, you can ignore the New Year's Eve dinner for thirty people, but you must eat the reunion dumplings, otherwise it will not be counted as the New Year. This is also the tradition of our army." Wei Jun said with a smile.
"That's right, this Chinese New Year can be celebrated without big fish and meat, but it cannot be celebrated without dumplings."
"That's right, although living standards are pretty good now and everyone can eat dumplings on a regular basis, the significance of this dumpling meal at Thirty'er's night is different."
"You'll get tired of other things if you eat too much of them, but you'll never get tired of dumplings, especially the ones stuffed with green onions made by my mother."
"What's the big deal with green onions? The ones stuffed with leeks made by my mother are delicious."
"Eating radish in winter and ginger in summer, if you ask me, it must be the benefit of the large meat of radish, which is both nourishing and ventilating."
……
Hearing everyone's heated debate, the corners of Wu Hao's mouth slowly turned up. Yes, compared to them, his little thing is nothing.
Dumplings are very common. As long as you want to eat them, it is very easy to make them yourself or go to a restaurant to eat them.
But who knows, in the north, for many people, dumplings often represent the Chinese New Year.
Just like glutinous rice balls in the South, although they are no longer scarce, no matter how sumptuous your New Year’s Eve dinner is, this bowl of delicious glutinous glutinous rice balls is still indispensable.
Without it, the New Year is not complete.
Even though the styles of New Year's Eve dinners are constantly changing, only these two remain unchanged, because thousands of years of continuation have made people attach too much emotion to these two.
They are no longer just a kind of food, but more of people's emotional sustenance for a better life.
We are all strangers in this foreign land, so we can only use this method to get rid of the longing in our hearts.
During the fight, Wu Hao also joined everyone in the process of making dumplings. At this moment, he was just like these veterans, they were all wanderers in a foreign land.
It has to be said that different people make different kinds of dumplings. They are all big men, so the dumplings they make are also big and thick. But fortunately, the skin is thin, the fillings are abundant, and when paired with white wine, they have a unique taste in this special festival.