Everyone has their own taste of the New Year.

What impressed me most about the flooding in my hometown was the activity of plowing and hoarding rice on New Year’s Eve.

I don’t know who invented the custom of plowing and hoarding rice, or when it was passed down, but it is a major event that must be done every Spring Festival.

In the Lixiahe area of ??northern Jiangsu Province, on New Year's Eve, in addition to posting Spring Festival couplets, steaming cakes, making glutinous rice balls, making New Year's dinner, setting off firecrackers, and wearing new clothes... there is another extremely important thing to do, which is to stock up on rice.

At night, white dots are printed on the doorways of many people's homes.

They are slightly larger than steamed buns, arranged in rows and rows, in an orderly manner, extending from the courtyard to the road outside the courtyard, really dressing the open space with new clothes with flowers.

On New Year's morning, when I wish to pay New Year greetings to others, everyone in the open space is dressed in new clothes with flowers.

When there are children playing around, adults always tell them not to step on the rows of white marks at the door and try to take advantage of the gaps. This custom has also given rise to a saying: plowing rice at night and stocking up on rice.

——Take advantage of the opportunity.

On the thirtieth night, after our house had been cleaned and the streets had been swept, my grandfather religiously lit a stick of incense and started the last activity of the year - paddy harvesting.

Grandpa usually does this himself, and it is inconvenient to go out after the beating.

The tool for threshing rice is made of pieces of reed, like a small cloth bag, and the overall shape is cylindrical, about the size of a milk powder can.

The top is tied with a red rope, and there are many holes on the bottom, which are filled with lime powder.

When he was using it, he held the red rope and paused it on the ground. When he lifted it up again, there was a round white mark on the ground.

From the inside to the outside of the yard, to the front and back of the house, the pig pens and chicken coops should also be painted, especially in front of the gate, white rice flowers should be painted.

There are quite a few things to pay attention to when harvesting rice.

Even if garbage such as fruit shells, firecrackers, paper, etc. falls on the ground where the rice is stored, it cannot be cleaned until the fifth day of the first lunar month.

Also, in addition to plowing rice on New Year's Eve, there is also a heavy plowing on the fourth night of the Lunar New Year, because the fifth day of the Lunar New Year is the birthday of the God of Wealth, and it has the intention of welcoming the God of Wealth.

In addition, you should not step on the rice dumplings, otherwise the lime marks will be broken, the rice dumplings will be unclear, and the lime stuck to the soles of the shoes will be everywhere, which is unsightly and unlucky.

Moreover, you are not allowed to talk nonsense when harvesting rice, for fear of offending the "God of Wealth" with a "slip of the tongue".

So why do we need to hoard rice?

This is about mentioning its origin and significance.

In the past, the utensils used by people to store grain were rice hoards, which were cylindrical and surrounded by reeds. The size mainly depended on the harvest of the year (this thing was not durable and had to be remade every year), but

The overall size is about the size of an Eight Immortals table.

Rice plowing has two main meanings: first, lime powder has a sterilizing effect and can keep the environment clean and tidy.

The second is that it means a good harvest of food, and also expresses people's expectations for a good harvest at that time.

Although the rapid development of science and technology has long proved that the custom of plowing and hoarding rice has no scientific basis; although now we no longer have to worry about food, clothing, and livelihood.

However, the unique custom of plowing and hoarding rice is still passed down because it entrusts people's good wishes.