The Narcissus Flower

I still remember those days my mom and I walked all over the Macau market searching for the best narcissus bulb.  I was only in elementary school, but my holy duty as her daughter was to help her to carry her groceries whenever I went to the market with her.  To prepare for the Chinese New Year, her holy duty as a Chinese housewife was to buy the best flowers and plants to celebrate the New Years. 
 
Flowers and plants are part of the traditional decoration of New Years.  The amount of fruits and flowers, and the taste of the fruits have a strong bearing of how the family does in the coming year.  Therefore, it is a very important task for my mom.
 
She will start her search for the best bulbs 3 weeks ahead of the Chinese New Year so that she would have a big pool to choose from.  She has to select the bulbs that would bloom right before or at Chinese New Year.  Seeking advice from experienced housewives in the market is one technique.  She hardly get advice from the flowers seller unless she thinks they can be trusted. I remember in one year, there was only 3 flowers that bloomed from the bulbs.  My parents was kind of upset at that time.  In certain years, my mom had to do something to control the growth of the flowers so that the flowers will not bloom too earlier as she did not want the flower to wither during the Chinese New Year.  That is not a good sign either. Unfortunately, I never learned that technique to teach others.  My mom, through her years of experience in selecting Narcissus flower, she has become the advisor for the younger housewives in the market.   Most importantly, to my father, the flowers and plants she bought for the Chinese New Years have bloomed beautifully and the fruits have tasted delicious.

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