- Uncle And I-s New Year-s Cannonball... =link= | Yue Kelan

If you're thinking of taking a New Year's Cannonball, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

Those who believe the best family stories start with “You’ll never believe what Uncle did this time…” Yue Kelan - Uncle and I-s New Year-s Cannonball...

The story opens on New Year’s Eve. The snow is deep in a dongbei (northeast) village. The narrator’s father is absent—maybe dead, maybe working. The mother is busy frying mahua (dough twists) but her eyes are red. The New Year feels flat, like flat lao xue bi (old snow beer). The only hope is the arrival of Uncle. If you're thinking of taking a New Year's

"Kelan, my boy," Uncle boomed, patting a heavy, iron-shaped object wrapped in burlap. "The neighbors have their Roman candles and their sparklers. But we? We have the Cannonball." The mother is busy frying mahua (dough twists)

Critics might argue that a "cannonball" has no place at a family reunion. But Yue Kelan suggests that the two are intimately connected. The peace of the New Year is earned by the violence of the past. The uncle, perhaps a veteran, cannot fully remove his uniform. He brings the cannonball to the table not to start a war, but to remind the child that peace is fragile.