Reborn 92's Business Tycoon

Chapter 39: New Year's greetings I

On the morning of the first day of the New Year, the task of setting off the firecrackers was, of course, still Feng Zhenchang's. He got up first and set off a string of 2,000 firecrackers.

Feng Yiping put on the new clothes his parents had bought him: a blue checked jacket, dark green corduroy trousers and a pair of suede leather shoes. Mei Yiliang had helped him choose the clothes, taking into account both durability and fashion, so they were all quite good.

He couldn't remember the last time he had worn new clothes on New Year's Day, so he felt quite good about it. He particularly liked the suede leather shoes, which were lined with fur and kept his feet warm.

Unlike the north, where people eat dumplings, in his family they ate noodles in the morning, and they were cooked with fish, which means 'abundance year after year'.

A carp, after being prepared, was cut open, fried in a pan until both sides were golden brown, then boiled in water. After it was cooked, the noodles were added, and then a lot of poached eggs were added. The pan was brought to a boil again, green onions were added, and a little monosodium glutamate was added, and then it was ready to eat.

It's a very simple recipe, but it's delicious. Feng Yiping has made it many times since, but he just can't get the same taste.

Feng Yiping never gets tired of the noodles his family makes. His parents of course put a lot of fish and eggs on his plate, but the noodles are just a side dish.

Before he finishes his breakfast, the New Year greetings start.

On the first day of the Chinese New Year, no outsiders came to pay New Year's visits; only the younger members of the family went to the older members' homes to pay New Year's visits. Feng Weidong's youngest daughter was the first to arrive next door. Soon after, Feng Yiping's several cousins, including Wen Hua and Wen Hui, as well as the minor members of the same household, all arrived, wearing their new clothes.

You can't blame them for arriving early. The rule here is that New Year's greetings should be exchanged in the morning. Paying New Year's calls in the afternoon is considered rude.

Feng Yiping understands the feelings of these little ones very well, because he was once just like them. This is a once-a-year event, and they can get all kinds of food from each household. If they don't hurry and finish visiting before lunchtime, they will miss out on a big chunk of income.

To avoid having their pockets bulging and having to run back home to empty them, which would cause delays, many children come directly to the door with their schoolbags on.

At this time, their mouths are very sweet. They greet you as soon as they enter the door, and then say auspicious things that the adults in the family have taught them. Feng Zhenchang puts down his bowl and goes to set off firecrackers to welcome them. Mei Qiuping greets each one of them, and gives each person candies, apples, oranges, biscuits, buttered melon seeds, etc. As for things like peanuts, which are found in every household, they can take them or leave them.

They bought more this year, and Mei Qiuping was also more generous than in previous years. Knowing that there are many good things here, she gave more, and the children from other rooms also came. In terms of seniority, all the children in the village are Feng Zhenchang's juniors, and most of them are grandchildren and great-grandchildren, so it is only natural for them to come to pay their New Year's visit.

Although they gave out a lot of things, Feng Zhenchang and Mei Qiuping were still very happy. In previous years, they only gave out things like melon seeds, peanuts, deep-fried cloud-shaped fruit, and other things that every family had and were not very rare. Of course, the juniors in the same household would come, but very few other children in the village came. The fact that so many children from the neighbourhood came this year was actually a kind of affirmation for them, and this sense of achievement cannot be bought with money.

After finishing breakfast, Feng Yiping also went out to pay New Year's visits. Of course, he didn't go to pay New Year's visits for the food, but out of courtesy. It's not good for a young man to go to pay New Year's visits with empty hands, so he usually brings two bottles of wine. Fortunately, there were not many places to go, just three uncles' homes, the Feng Weidong and Feng Jiasheng families next door, and Feng Zhanchang's good friend Feng Mingzhi's family, a total of six.

Twelve bottles of wine in total for the six homes, but of course he did not buy that many. Because no matter how many bottles he gave out, he would get the same number back. For example, if he went to Feng Weidong's home to pay New Year's visits and brought two bottles of wine, Feng Hongbing would also come to his home with two bottles in return in a while. This was how people exchanged gifts.

At this time of year, there are lots of people in every household, and it's mainly those little New Year's visitors who come in waves. So he just sits for a while in each house, chats, and then leaves with the gifts. Of course, he's not allowed to go empty-handed, and he has to take cigarettes and grab something to stuff into his pockets from each household. So when he gets home, the bag with the wine is full, and so are his pockets.

Mei Qiuping laughs, 'Looks like it was a good trip, you got so much stuff. Should we go rob a few more houses?'

Feng Yiping also found it quite interesting. He picked out the cigarettes for Feng Zhenchang, emptied his pockets and put everything in a bag, which he gave to Mei Qiuping. 'Just in time. I was worried that there would be too many people coming to pay New Year's visits and that the things I bought wouldn't be enough.'

Mei Qiuping said, "A dozen more would be enough. I thought of that when I was buying them.'

Feng Zhenchang also laughed, "These are all the good things you got when you paid New Year's visits. You should keep them for yourself.'

The second day of the first lunar month was the day to go to his grandmother's house to pay New Year's visits.

Feng Hongbing's grandmother's house was also down there, a little further away than the Mei family's. He went with his sister, the three of them together.

It was their first long journey in the New Year, and both families let off long firecrackers. The parents of both families saw them off to the back of the hill, repeatedly telling them to be careful on the road, to have a smooth journey, and not to drop anything. Perhaps the emphasis was on the latter part of the sentence, because all three of them had their hands full, carrying sugar wine and tinned food.

Along the way, firecrackers went off one after the other, and every household was welcoming in the New Year. Gradually, they met up with other people on the road, all of them going to pay New Year's visits. They also met relatives going to pay New Year's visits, and Feng Yiping ran into his first and second aunts' cousins coming to pay New Year's visits. One cousin said, 'Hey Yiping, you really look good in this.'

His cousins felt that although it had only been a year, their formerly very shy, somewhat reserved and not very talkative cousin had become much more outgoing and talkative.

After hurrying back and forth, they arrived at their grandfather's house at just after 9 o'clock, but many people were not at home. Their uncle was not there, and their grandmother still had a younger brother. Of the four brothers, the one who had not yet started a family went to pay New Year's visits every year. The cousins were also not there, they had all gone to their respective grandmothers' homes. The second and third uncles and aunts were also not there, they had gone with their children.

Grandpa had prepared some candy and wine. The eldest uncle took Feng Yiping to the home of his paternal uncles in the village to pay New Year's visits. To be honest, Feng Yiping basically had no contact with these uncles, and he couldn't even tell who was who. There were about twenty households, and he had already He had already visited half of them. He would go in, greet them as 'uncle', wish them a happy new year, drink a cup of sweet soup, and the uncles would ask him a few questions about his family and his studies. He would leave his gift and go to the next house. Finally, before noon, he arrived at Wang Changning's house.

Wang Changning had also gone to his grandmother's house. His sister was at home, and she was just as simple and down-to-earth as he remembered. There were also other guests at the house, whom Feng Yiping didn't really know. It was also time for lunch, and Feng Yiping was strongly urged to stay for lunch.

He barely had a chance to eat before he was invited by Wang Changning's uncle's family. When they saw Feng Yiping, they said, 'Oh, this is Uncle Jianzhong's grandson, Changning's classmate, right? I hear he's very good at his studies. Then come and visit us at my house, so we can be inspired by your talent.'

This was too much praise, and Feng Yiping felt a little embarrassed.

Feng Yiping then followed a large group of people to another house to be a guest, and as usual, he didn't get to eat for long before the next family came calling. If it wasn't for Mei Jianzhong coming to call later, Feng Yiping wouldn't have known how many families he would have to visit for lunch.

By the time Grandpa came to call, he had already eaten at the fourth restaurant.

Back at Grandpa's house, he still couldn't settle down to eat, as there were constant invitations from his uncles' houses. Mei Jianzhong turned them all down, saying that Feng Yiping had already eaten at the next-door Wang family's.

It was the same at Grandpa's house, where they also had to entertain guests. Feng Yiping simply went to his third uncle's house.

His aunt went back to her parents' house with her three children, leaving Feng Yiping alone. There weren't as many guests as at his grandfather's house, so Feng Yiping just stayed in his room watching the Spring Festival Gala replay.

The Spring Festival Gala in 1992 was broadcast from a small studio, and the stage was of course no bigger. The decorations were very simple, just some coloured paper, some fake flowers and three big red lanterns.

In terms of hardware, it seems that even some of the later galas organised by township enterprises were better.

But the software was pretty good.

When the three hosts came out, Ni Ping and Zhao Zhongxiang Feng Yiping of course recognised them. He looked at the third girl with long hair for a long time before wondering if it was Yang Lan. Then he saw that it was indeed Yang Lan, but she looked so young and fresh.

Zhao Zhongxiang was fine, as if he had stayed the same for the past twenty years. Whether he looked old now or was just pretending to be young later was irrelevant.

Ni Ping also looked good, with no crow's feet visible around the eyes and a natural rosy glow all over her face, not the result of make-up. She looked like she was at the peak of her feminine charm.

Anyway, as there was nothing else to do, Feng Yiping decided to be a quiet and beautiful young man. He stayed there until it got dark and finished watching the replay.

To be objective, apart from the usual sensationalism of the two senior members of the show and some shocking make-up that made Feng Yiping unable to watch sometimes, it was generally quite good.

It was the first time he knew that Yang Liping had appeared on the Spring Festival Gala at this time. She was very youthful, natural, and mellow, pure and original. It was completely different from what he saw on the outdoor advertisements on the streets when he went to Kunming later, which made people afraid to look directly at it. Later, her chin suddenly grew so sharp that it could definitely become a weapon, and her fingernails grew so long that they were even longer than those of the old empress, and they even grew curly, which was a bit disgusting.

Female singers like Li Guyi and Mao Amin were of course indispensable.

Li Guyi was still very important, as she was the first to come on and the last to go off.

Dong Wenhua was also still a People's Artist at the time, and sang a song called 'Happy Tonight'.

Yang Yuying is very popular now, and her sweet song 'The Wind Carries Love, the Water Carries a Smile' has been sung all over the country, but she didn't perform on the Spring Festival Gala this year.

Mao Ning was not as notorious as he would later become, and sang a song called 'Happiness in Ten Thousand Homes' with Chen Hong and others, but the song was not very good.

Feng Yiping was surprised that Hong Kong actress Wu Huizhong also sang, and the dress she wore, the makeup she wore, and the dance steps she took were really hard to watch, but the song 'City Backpack' was not bad.

The cross talk of Jiang Kun, Tang Jiezhong, Feng Gong, Niu Qun and others can only be described as so-so. At the time, I laughed when I heard it, but afterwards, it didn't leave a deep impression. At this time, Feng Gong also did not have the mantra 'I miss you guys!'

However, several sketches were quite good and relatively classic, and can still be seen more than twenty years later.

Zhao Lirong and Gong Hanlin's 'Mom's Today': Teacher Zhao Lirong's definition of tango has a strong national flavour, and the work is also very close to life, not contrived for the sake of a laugh. Teacher Zhao's interpretation of such a role is absolutely effortless and natural, and you can't see a trace of acting. Gong Hanlin is also a good supporting actor, but without Teacher Zhao as the main character, his supporting role is just one of many, and he hasn't done anything outstanding since.

Zhu Shimao and Chen Peisi were also not having any problems with CCTV at this time, and they collaborated on 'Brother-in-Law and Brother-in-Law'. Their teamwork was really seamless, and the two of them were a perfect match. If things had continued like this, the title of 'king of sketch comedy' would definitely not have gone to Uncle Zhao Benshan.

Zhao Benshan and Huang Xiaojuan's 'I Want a Home' is also very good. Unlike the previous two, this sketch is a little further away from the lives of ordinary people, but there are also many laugh points. Uncle Zhao is still in his prime at this time, with a paunchy face and a shiny, oily complexion. Huang Xiaojuan is also young at this time, and at least playing a girl, she doesn't make people sick.

It seems that she later worked with Pan Changjiang on a few productions. Even though she is in her forties, she still feels very good about herself and pretends to be a young girl.

Oh, Pan Changjiang is also there, performing in a sketch, 'Grass Stage Troupe'. The actress is unknown, but the other actor seems to be the second brother in a GD TV self-produced show, 'Foreign Daughter-in-Law, Local Son', and also the actor who did the Want Want commercial.

What Feng Yiping found most unbelievable and incredible was that on a stage like the Spring Festival Gala, there were people who could not even show up in person, but instead played a video!

For example, Mao Amin sang a duet with Andy Lau and Jimmy Lin, 'Forever Young' (芳华), but the song was just so-so. The point is, Mao Amin was the only one there in person, and the other two were videos played on the screen!

And the song 'Happy New Year' was sung by a large group of young boys and girls. Feng Yiping only recognised the Little Tigers, and he wasn't quite sure about one girl, who seemed to be his favourite. But the most incredible thing was that this song was all video, and no one was there in person! How could this be?

This is the Spring Festival Gala, and how many people burn incense and kowtow, looking for connections and trying to get in, just to show their faces and get a shot on camera! And they actually went so far as to not even have people there, just a video!

It's really unbelievable!

You have to understand that at this time, there were few TV programmes, and the internet was even more out of reach.

Last year, the University of Minnesota in the United States developed the world's first user-friendly interface for connecting to the Internet, but it would be many years before the Internet became a global network. At this time, other satellite TV stations did not organise their own evening shows to compete with CCTV, so the influence of the Spring Festival Gala at that time was incomparable to later years.

Feng Yiping later thought that it was probably not because these celebrities were so great, but because at this time the mainland economy was underdeveloped, and the opportunities for celebrities to make money in the mainland market were few, so they didn't pay much attention to it, and therefore no one bothered to go to the show.

Overall, this year's Spring Festival Gala was above average. It was much better than the Spring Festival Galas of later years, which were packed with flashy stages, huge screens, dazzling lights, big names and extravagant costumes.

The same was true of the evening meal, which was eaten in three different households in a hurry, and finished with a small bowl of rice in soup at my grandparents' house.

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