Every time it's the Lunar New Year, the happiest thing for kids is eating and wearing new clothes. No matter what, every family has to buy their kids a new outfit and a pair of new shoes for the holiday.

  The Zhou family has many siblings, and the younger ones all wear hand-me-downs from their older siblings. Er Ya wears Zhou Xiao Yun's old padded jacket, while Zhou Xiao Yun wears Zhou Xiao Xia's old clothes. The padded jacket she is wearing now was left over from what Zhou Xiao Xia wore last year, and it's already a bit small for her this year since she's taller than others of the same age.

  Zhao Yuzhen bought some flower cloth and weighed a few pounds of cotton back, preparing to make clothes for the children.

  In the village, there was a tailor's shop that made clothes for adults. As for children's cotton-padded jackets, every family relied on their mothers to make them by hand. Zhao Yuzhen was quite skilled at sewing and in one afternoon, she cut and sewed a new set of cotton-padded jacket and pants for Dabao. By evening, she had made another set for Zhou Xiaoyun.

  Originally, Zhou Xiaoyun had very few new clothes in her childhood. However, the current Zhou Xiaoyun is considerate and obedient, which delights her parents. So, Zhao Yuzhen took advantage of having some money on hand to make a new set of clothes for Zhou Xiaoyun as well.

  Zhou Xiaoyun's cotton-padded jacket and pants were made of pink flowered fabric stuffed with cotton, the bright color was very attractive, Zhou Xiaoyun was delighted to see it, who doesn't love wearing new clothes? Unfortunately, this new outfit can only be worn on New Year's Day, now it can only be looked at and has to wait a few more days.

  Dabao's cotton-padded jacket is made of blue flowered cloth. Dabao likes it and insists on wearing it now.

  Zhao Yuzhen strongly disagreed: "New cotton-padded jackets are for New Year's, who wears them at this time? You look like a monkey wearing it on your body, and it will get dirty in two days. On the first day of the new year, you won't have any new clothes to wear. When others' children go to pay their respects, they're all dressed in new clothes, but you'll be wearing dirty clothes, how embarrassing!"

  After finishing speaking, all clothes were picked up.

  Zhou Xiaoyun comforted Dabao: "Dabao, there are only three or four days left before the New Year, it's almost here."

  Dabao thought about it and didn't make a fuss.

  Xiaobao and Er Ya didn't have new clothes, but each got a pair of new cotton shoes and new socks.

  The footsteps of the year are getting closer and closer, and the market is crowded with people. Zhao Yu Zhen goes to squeeze every morning, and when she comes back, her hands are full. It's worth noting that after the New Year, it doesn't start until the 15th of the first month! All the food and drink for this half-month need to be prepared now, which is enough to keep her busy.

  Zhou's father caught two roosters and two ducks that had been raised at home for more than half a year, preparing to slaughter them for the New Year to entertain relatives.

  The duck was relatively tame, and it only took one catch. However, those two half-grown roosters ran around the entire yard, taking a lot of effort to finally catch them. The hen was kept for laying eggs and would not be killed for food, but the two roosters were not so lucky. After their necks were slit with a sharp knife, they struggled for a while before finally closing their eyes.

  Zhou Xiaoyun had never dared to watch the scene of killing chickens, and only when the chickens were dead and motionless did she dare to approach. Taking advantage of Zhou's father being busy plucking the chicken feathers and disemboweling the chicken, Zhou Xiaoyun carefully searched for the beautiful feathers on the rooster's body and collected a large handful.

  "What are you doing with the chicken feathers?" asked Dabao in surprise.

  Zhou Xiaoyun pretended to be mysterious and didn't tell Dabao. When Zhou Xiaoyun brought back the shuttlecock head and copper ring, Dabao finally understood that they were going to make a shuttlecock!

  First, wrap the copper ring with a small piece of cloth and sew it up. Then, select five or six long, dark red rooster feathers and sew them onto the cloth. Sewing the feathers is a technical task, if not done well, the center of gravity will be skewed to one side.

  Zhou Xiaoyun's deft hands moved quickly, leaving Dabao stunned. Before long, a beautiful feather duster was made.

  Dabao took out the shuttlecock made by Zhou Xiaoyun and went to show it off.

  Zhou Xiaoyun thought for a moment and made a few more, using a long piece of yarn to tie one up, letting Xiao Bao hold it in his hand and kick it with his foot. Xiao Bao got a new toy and was very happy playing with it.

  Er Ya didn't know how to play with it at all, but she still got one and held it in her hand, fiddling with the rooster feathers on top, let alone how happy she was.

  Before long, Zhou Xiaoxia came over. She saw that Dabao loved the shuttlecock in his hand and asked for it, but unfortunately, no matter how much she begged Dabao, he wouldn't give it to her. After hearing from Dabao that it was made by Zhou Xiaoyun, she ran over to ask for one.

  Zhou Xiaoyun was dumbfounded and couldn't help but laugh when she saw that the shuttlecock she had casually made had become so popular. She then quickly made another one for Zhou Xiaoxia.

  Zhou Xiaoxia's shuttlecock has a brownish tint to its feathers, and the fluffy underside is also very pretty. With her goal achieved, Zhou Xiaoxia was overjoyed and started playing with the shuttlecock in the courtyard with Zhou Xiaoyun.

  Zhou Xiaoxia was tall and had long legs, she kicked a dozen or so with one breath, feeling very pleased with herself.

  Zhou Xiaoyun became determined to win, and steadily kicked thirty times before stopping. Xiao Bao and Er Ya watched from the side as the shuttlecock flew up and down, their eyes dazzled by the speed, and seeing their sister kick with such stability and skill, they applauded and cheered her on.

  Zhou Xiaoyun was stimulated by her brother and sister to perform, alternating left and right feet kicking with the toe, occasionally swinging her left foot behind her back to jump over the shuttlecock, which was then caught with her right foot. The varied movements made the shuttlecock fly up and down in a dazzling display.

  Zhou Xiaoxia watched with her eyes wide open and couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration, applauding enthusiastically from the side.

  When Wang Jingjing and Pangniu, Xiaobudian and others came to Zhou Xiaoyun's home to play, they all rushed to kick the shuttlecock.

  Helpless, Zhou Xiaoyun had to go find some more rooster feathers to make a shuttlecock. Unfortunately, the beautiful feathers on the tails of the two slaughtered roosters had all been used up, and there were no good ones left. Dabao volunteered to catch a live rooster and pluck its feathers, but the rooster ran wildly around the yard. The children watching from the sidelines couldn't bear it anymore and rushed down to help.

  For a time, a group of children ran east and west to catch the lively and jumping rooster. When the rooster was finally caught after running tired, everyone was panting and couldn't speak.

  Zhou Xiaoyun watched with a smile on one side, nodding her head in approval.

  The little buddies took the shuttlecocks home and showed them off in a pile of kids, with many adults being pestered by children to pluck the feathers from the big rooster at home to make shuttlecocks. This year, kicking shuttlecocks became the most popular game among children in the village this year.