Lanterns are a very common handicraft. There are workshops specializing in lanterns for sale on the market. It is not uncommon to see them everywhere.

As for Spring Festival couplets, ordinary people could not make them, especially the illiterate rural areas in the late Qing Dynasty.

Those who can post couplets at home are either rich or noble, or powerful.

Because ordinary people cannot afford to hire a gentleman who can write Spring Festival couplets on the eve of the New Year.

As for Spring Festival couplets, they are full of people's love and gratitude for life, as well as their desire and longing for a better future.

The booming Spring Festival couplets make people feel that the warm spring is approaching and the good days are coming soon.

If Chen Tianhua wants to write Spring Festival couplets, he must use big red paper, ink, and wolf hair.

He and Ah Hua braved the cold wind and rowed a boat to Shaoxing City to buy red paper, brushes and ink.

There was a special workshop for making ink in the city, and Chen Tianhua packed it in wooden barrels, which shocked everyone in the workshop.

This is not for eating.

After buying the red paper, I arranged for Sister Ting and Youjuan to cut it into the same size as the couplets.

The next day, Chen Tianhua and his friends opened their couplet stall next to the rice cake processing point.

I heard that a fishery store in Tugen set up shop in the temple to process rice cakes and write couplets for free.

I heard it doesn't cost any money.

Being greedy for petty gains is a common phenomenon among villagers nowadays. People in Xibutou Village spread the word from one person to another, and gradually the crowds become more and more crowded...

"Quine up! In first-come-first-served order, no jumping in line is allowed. Each family can have a maximum of two pairs of couplets, and a maximum of two steaming barrels per family of rice cake processing. Any excess will be doubled and the processing fee will be doubled!"

Chen Tianhua issued instructions in a timely manner to stabilize the situation with effective measures. The first priority was to take care of poor and small families.

Everyone slowly went to line up. There were many people queuing and the line was very long.

Mainly making rice cakes here, it's time limited and can't be done quickly.

Sometimes you have to queue from early morning until the afternoon, maybe the next day. There are many people making rice cakes, and the manual process is complicated and slow.

When it comes to writing couplets, Chen Tianhua's calligraphy in small regular letters is just so-so, but when it comes to writing couplets, it's still far from enough.

He had no choice but to invite his third uncle Fakang to help, and also hired a private school teacher. Each person was in charge of food and received two pieces of silver per day, and the treatment was generous.

Without saying a word, Fakang invited this private school teacher to take on the task of writing Spring Festival couplets. Youjuan and Tingjuan were doing service work nearby, and Chen Tianhua and Ahua were responsible for the reception.

The next step is a streamlined operation, allowing the gentlemen to choose one from several Spring Festival couplets they have written.

Spring flowers bring smiles and firecrackers add to the cheers. Horizontal comment: Joy fills the door.

Everything goes smoothly, the auspicious stars arrive, everything goes well, and blessings come to the door. Hengbiao: Prosperous wealth.

Wish you good luck all year round. Treasures from all directions come into your home. Horizontal comment: Everything will be prosperous at home and in peace.

Green bamboo separates its three-part scene, Red plum blossoms are reporting spring to all families, Horizontal comment: Spring returns to the earth

Prosperity every year brings prosperity, peace and longevity every year, horizontal comment: auspicious stars shine high

A year of good luck comes with spring, colorful clouds roll in all four seasons, and horizontal comment: all the best

Danfeng presents auspiciousness, dragon presents auspiciousness, red peach celebrates the New Year, and apricot welcomes spring. Horizontal comment: The world is filled with happiness.

…

Every household has two pairs of couplets, how many more?

After a while, there was a commotion in the crowd, and Mr. Liu Wenjie, the mayor of Xibutou Village and the old examiner, also came.

He was the top candidate in the Shaoxing Prefecture examination that year.

Mr. Liu Wenjie, accompanied by his eldest daughter Liu Yufang, also came to participate in the Spring Festival couplet writing activity and do good deeds for the people of the village.

"Oh, sir, why are you here too? Haha..."

"Chen Tianhua, a promising young man in our village, voluntarily processes rice cakes and writes couplets for the villagers. This is a philanthropic act. As the head of the village, he should support it. It's time for everyone to do some good deeds." Liu Wenjie replied.

"Okay, thank you, Chief."

"..."

Liu Yufang later joined the ranks of writing couplets. She greatly appreciated the philanthropic behavior of her sworn brother.

There were four gentlemen who wrote the couplets at a very fast pace. It took more than 100 households in the village two full days to finish the couplets.

The processing of rice cakes is more troublesome. It has been done for three days, and there are still villagers waiting in line behind.

Wu Laosan and the others started working at dawn and continued working until dark, when they were almost out of sight.

Everyone was so tired that their backs ached, and everyone said they couldn't bear it any longer. Strong men like Lin Gen were shaking their heads. You can imagine the grim situation.

Chen Tianhua himself knew very well that although he did not participate in writing, his hands were not idle. He kept handing things to and taking things, and his arms were sore.

After two days together, the two sisters Tingjuan's fingers on their right hands were trembling a little, and they couldn't hold them with their chopsticks...

Why are there so many people?

The reason?

"It seems that Butcher Wang's family has been here several times. Yesterday it was his eldest son, and today it's his youngest son, and Wang Mazi's family too."

"We started seeing strange faces today, they should be from nearby villages."

"Some people from neighboring villages are crowding in. People in this village have strong opinions. There was a quarrel today, and it will probably be more serious tomorrow."

"I heard that some people are doing business by helping people in neighboring villages line up or jumping in line and charging processing fees."

"Someone was stealing rice cakes at the scene. They took it away because no one was paying attention."

"..."

Everyone talked about it, and most of them felt that it was a waste of money and effort to do such a good deed, and they felt a little aggrieved.

Mainly among Wu Laosan, Lin Gen and others, no one is literate, and there is no registration for those who come to process. It is noisy and hot to steam the rice whenever it comes. If there are duplicates, it is unclear.

After hearing this, Chen Tianhua's face turned cold, his lips were tightly closed, and there was a cold light in his deep and focused eyes.

The original intention of doing good things for the villagers is not wrong. Do something practical for those poor families and help them have a happy New Year.

But he is definitely not here to be taken advantage of by a few people.

But what people didn't expect is that some villagers have very low consciousness, and their behavior of taking advantage of others is so filthy.

There is no rule without rules. We must exchange sincerity for true feelings and use thunderbolt means to deal with evil. Take this as a warning and establish the authority of our business.

Thinking of this, Chen Tianhua made new arrangements for everyone on the last day of the original plan:

The formation of a picket team not only maintains order, but also punishes those who have taken advantage of others and violated the rules in the past few days.

For example, Butcher Wang, Wang Mazi's family, Widow Song's family, etc. are punished according to regulations and charged double processing fees. Especially the troublemakers who work as brokers to make profits will be severely punished and will never be lenient.

As for the poor households from neighboring villages, the small households will not refuse them and charge appropriate fees or goods to show that they are treated differently from the households in their own village.

As long as they do not meet the conditions of poor small households, we will definitely not accept processing, and we will not process them even if they are given the most money.

Everyone agreed.

The next day.

The number of people waiting in line at the rice cake processing station is increasing, and the people are starting to get a little commotion. Dissatisfaction is spreading as the rice cakes have not yet been processed in this village.

"Hi...Wu Laosan, we have been waiting in line for two days. We are all fellow villagers. Why do we always run errands for people from other villages?"

"People from other villages are here to take advantage, and we, the locals, are not looked down upon."

"Tell Tugen to come out. His family hasn't eaten anything in the past few years. I even gave him a basket of sweet potatoes. Now that he's rich, he has forgotten about the villagers."

"..."

Chen Tianhua felt that if things continued like this, the villagers' dissatisfaction would spread, which would have a negative impact on the business bank's charity event.
Chapter completed!