Rich or poor, get a haircut for the New Year.
At the time, few people in the countryside made a habit of going to a barber shop. Instead, every three to five households usually had a pair of manual clippers between them.
The Ordinary World had not yet been published, and Hu Delu of Shigejie Commune had not yet devised his fashionable hairstyles. Liang Yuemei cut everyone's hair in the Li family with clippers.
Li Juan and Li Qiang both had new clothes, too, waiting to put them on once New Year's Eve was over.
Back then, even families too poor to buy cloth and make new clothes would wash their children's clothes and try to dress them in the ones with fewer patches for the New Year.
As New Year's Eve approached, scattered bursts of firecrackers could already be heard now and then.
For the past couple of days, Li Qiang had been the most envied child on the team. Li Long had taken apart the hundred-shot string of Little Firecrackers he had bought in Wu City, letting him take a handful at a time, then lighting a stick of jasmine incense for him to carry outside and set them off.
Back then, boys and girls alike were utterly devoted to firecrackers. The Little Firecrackers in that hundred-shot string contained very little powder. Li Long even dared to set them off while holding them, so he was not worried about anyone getting hurt.
The Electric Firecrackers they would set off while cooking dumplings on New Year's morning were much louder, though, and called for care.
This New Year, quite a few families were grateful to the Li family. Thanks to Li Long, many households on the team could add one or two substantial meat dishes to their reunion dinner