When Yun Chu saw that Yun Ling had woken up, she helped her clean the house and put up new paper on the windows. The whole room became much brighter instantly. However, after opening the window, the sweet aroma of Laba porridge tantalized Yun Ling's taste buds. When Yun Ling learned that it was not yet time to eat, she ran out to watch her mother and the others put up peach charms and Spring Festival couplets.

But standing there was a good thing; as soon as she stood there, she felt the aroma of Laba porridge from the whole village rushing into her nose, making her stomach rumble.

Yunling couldn't hold back any longer, so she dragged Yunchu to the kitchen to find Zhang. Zhang looked at the pitiful one on the left and the pitiful one on the right, so she lifted the pot lid, scooped out some food and handed it to the two little ones respectively.

"Be careful, it's hot. Don't stir it randomly, the more you stir it, the hotter it will get. Just use a spoon to scoop it up along the edge, that way you can still eat the porridge even if it's hot."

Yunling scraped off the skin of the porridge, then took a bite with walnuts and pine nuts. It was fragrant, thick, and smooth, with the sweet aroma of walnuts and pine nuts—sweet but not cloying. Yunling secretly stirred the porridge and saw that it also contained ingredients like mushrooms, persimmons, and chestnuts.

This is different from the Job's tears, red dates, lotus seeds, peanuts, and longan she saw in her later books.

After finishing half a bowl, Yunling felt very satisfied. Seeing that it was still early, Zhang Shi didn't rush to cook noodles, so she ladled out some water from the pot, warmed it up a bit, and helped Yunling wash her hair.

Yunling has little hair, or rather, at her and Yunchu's age, most of them are bald, only wearing two small buns. At first, she couldn't stand it and secretly rubbed her hair with ginger. Later, she ate well and gained weight in her face, becoming chubby and quite cute, so she relaxed.

Zhang gently untied the rope, then soaked the soap pods in water and rubbed them to extract the soap liquid. She then placed Yunling on her lap and washed her hair with water.

Yunling felt her whole body warm up again. After Zhang finished washing, she rushed out, only to be caught red-handed by her mother.

She was picked up by Granny Yun again, who rubbed her head with a handkerchief, and Granny Yun's nagging voice could be heard from time to time: "You naughty child, if you don't dry your hair, you'll get lice, and if you get a bed full of lice, they'll scratch you and make you cry for your father and mother."

"Grandma, I'm not afraid."

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, the lice love to bite you disobedient little devils the most."

Yunling let her do whatever she wanted, but in no time, she was done and tied back up in her little bun. Then Yun Chu, who came out next, fell into the hands of Yun's mother. "Oh, you little brat, you want to get rheumatism if you don't dry your hair? Don't think you're too young to care. You'll suffer when you're old."

As Granny Yun murmured, Zhang smiled upon hearing this and, not daring to delay any longer, began preparing for the sacrificial ceremony.

After steaming the fish, she stir-fried the pre-marinated chicken, then added shiitake mushrooms for seasoning. The umami of the shiitake mushrooms nourished the chicken, and the aroma of the chicken broth permeated the shiitake mushrooms, complementing each other to create a delicious dish.

Zhang then divided the ten eggs in half, using one half to stir-fry the meat and the other half to add some dried shrimp and steam. Finally, she cooked the noodles. After making the Laba noodles, Liu and several of her daughters-in-law arrived with the dishes.

Watching them steam chicken, steam fish, boiled eggs, and blanched meat, Zhang recalled what Old Lady Yun had told her not to bother preparing the dishes. She had already tried to keep things simple today, but she hadn't expected others to be even more frugal. However, she couldn't say these things to outsiders, so she just smiled and accepted their words, exchanging pleasantries.

Behind Liu, Yun Da led the three strong men of the Yun family and six grandsons. The group quickly occupied the entire area. Yun Xiaoliu was still looking around when Yun Ling realized that they had dismantled the shed and were raising all the mushrooms in the mushroom house. She locked the door, figuring he wouldn't be able to see anything.

Old Man Yun and Yun Shenghua soon returned home, and the scene became lively again. With both heads of the family present, the sacrificial ceremony began.

Yunling didn't understand these things. She learned from Yun Chu when to kneel and when to cup her hands. After Yun's mother and Liu Shi burned all the gold and silver coins, everyone took their seats.

Because there were many people, they were divided into three tables: one for the men, one for the women, and another for the children. Yunling and Yun Chu naturally ended up at one table with the six precious children.

"Today is the 28th. We worship our ancestors with long incense sticks, paper money, and a blazing fire. May the coming year bring favorable weather and abundant harvests, and may the descendants of our clan achieve great things. These three cups are first offered to our ancestors."

After Yun Da toasted, Old Man Yun followed closely behind, followed by the eldest sons of each branch of the family.

"The sacrificial ceremony is complete, everyone please start eating."

As soon as he finished speaking, the six precious children rushed to grab food, stuffing it into their mouths and bowls as if they hadn't eaten in a long time.

Yunling was stunned. She picked up her chopsticks, and the Laba porridge she had just eaten came up in her throat with a burp. She felt a little full, but even if she didn't eat, her older sister would.

The moment Yunling put down her chopsticks, she activated her supernatural power, freezing the six of them in place. Their mouths bulged out, making them look like inflated toads.

"Lingniang, what's wrong with them?"

“Eating until you’re stuffed, even if there’s still food in your mouth and in your bowl, you still keep putting food out of your mouth. My mother says that’s wrong.”

Yun Chu nodded in agreement, but she still felt something was off.

"Sister, eat quickly! This is the mushroom and chicken dish that Mom made, and this steamed egg with dried shrimp. Eat quickly, or it will get cold."

Disturbed by Yun Ling, Yun Chu stopped thinking about it and focused on eating. The others occasionally glanced over, but only saw their mouths full and didn't suspect anything.

After Yun Chu finished eating, Yun Ling released them. These people couldn't understand why they had been frozen in place, but since they couldn't figure it out, they didn't force themselves to use their brains. So they quickly swept up the remaining food on the table.

After a satisfying meal, fruit is a must, but there's no such thing as fruit in the village, so Zhang wouldn't offer any snacks. Instead, she would serve Laba noodles and Laba garlic, which would be eaten with their Laba tofu.

After eating a clove of Laba garlic, Yun Da looked at Yun Shenghua and said, "Your cousin found a job in the city. He works as a porter at the dock. Since you travel to and from the county town every day, why don't you give your cousin a ride along the way?"

This was Yunling's first time meeting Yun Da. She initially thought it was understandable that he was a bit pretentious, after all, he was the head of the family and the eldest son of the Yun family. But now, comparing him to Liu Shi, Yunling truly felt that two kinds of people couldn't sleep in the same bed.