Chapter 247 New Year

The Lunar New Year of 1977 came relatively late, in mid-to-late February of the Gregorian calendar. This was also the first year for Shang Ruoting, an outsider, in this other world.

Although Yang Mei's injury made people upset for a few days, it did not affect the New Year atmosphere in Tan Chen's family.

Early in the morning, Mrs. Shang went into the kitchen to prepare ingredients.

Tan Chen took Gao Ming and Li Jiasheng to the backyard to kill chickens and ducks.

When Li Jiasheng saw so many chickens and ducks in Tan Chen's house, the image of Yang Mei's family appeared in his mind.

It was so difficult for that weak yet strong woman to support a family after her parents passed away.

"Boss, can I buy two chickens and ducks from you?"

Tan Chen was in a good mood today and jokingly said, "Are you feeling embarrassed to spend the New Year eating and drinking for free at my house?"

"Planning to give some New Year gifts?"

Li Jiasheng's face flushed instantly after hearing what he said. He scratched his head and said a little embarrassedly, "I... I was thinking about Yang Mei's family. They don't seem to have many chickens and ducks at home. I'm afraid they can't bear to kill them for meat..."

Not to mention Tan Chen, even Gao Ming, who was always straightforward, could see something was going on with his behavior.

"Wow! Li Jiasheng, you're amazing! You even care about female comrades?"

"You're not interested in..."

"Don't talk nonsense. I just feel sorry for their family." Li Jiasheng saw that Gao Ming was getting more and more outrageous, so he quickly interrupted him.

Tan Chen was much more reserved. Although he thought the same thing as Gao Ming, he did not say it out loud.

"Your sister-in-law has a good relationship with the Yang family. She has already said that she would send them some chickens and ducks to eat."

Seeing that he didn't have to spend money to buy them, Li Jiasheng smiled awkwardly and said, "Then I'll just pack the chickens and ducks here and send them to her house."

Gao Ming saw Li Jiasheng was going to help the Yang family kill the chicken, so he quickly came over and said, "I'll help too. I'll accompany you there later."

Tan Chen looked at the two people's attentiveness, shook his head helplessly, and continued with the work in his hands.

Shang Ruoting helped Old Lady Shang in the kitchen. At around two o'clock in the afternoon, a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner was ready.

The dining table was placed in the living room of the east room, and the men and women sat around the table.

Shang Ruoting helped Old Lady Shang cook and had already known today's dishes. Tan Chen and others who had just sat down at the table were amazed when they saw the dishes on the table.

There were twelve dishes on the table, and each one was very exquisite. Not to mention whether the dishes were delicious, even the plating skills were something they had never seen before.

Old Mrs. Shang was also quite satisfied with her work. Seeing that several people were stunned there, she pointed at the dishes and began to introduce them.

"This dish is called 'Fish Leaping Over the Dragon Gate,' 'Flowers in Bloom,' 'Good Luck,' 'Step by Step to Success…"

Several people's eyes followed Mrs. Shang's fingers back and forth. Both the names and the dishes were things they had never seen before.

Moreover, every dish makes people feel hungry just by looking at it.

Mrs. Shang saw that everyone had finished looking at it, so she said, "Stop looking and try it."

Although Li Jiasheng and Gao Ming were very envious of the dishes, they were still well-mannered and looked at Tan Chen at the same time.

Tan Chen stood up and poured a glass of wine for each of Old Lady Shang and Shang Ruoting, and a glass of white wine for Gao Ming, Li Jiasheng and himself.

He raised his glass and said seriously, "This year is the happiest year for me, Tan Chen. I have a gentle and virtuous wife by my side, an elder like my grandmother who cares about me, and two good brothers with me."

"I won't say anything nice, but I wish everyone good luck and continuous success in the new year, just like the names of these dishes. Everything is in the wine. I'll drink first."

"Okay, taking the boss's words, I wish us a prosperous new year..." Gao Ming also raised his glass and said.

There were no outsiders here, so there was no need for anyone to act pretentiously. They all smiled and drank from their glasses.

Old Mrs. Shang felt a sense of satisfaction she had never felt before. Now, thanks to her granddaughter and grandson-in-law, her hard work had finally paid off.

Although there were few people, they ate a lot of dishes on the table. Most of them were eaten during the meal.

Everyone patted their round bellies, with satisfied smiles on their faces.

When it was almost midnight, we ate dumplings to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year. When making dumplings, the whole family joined in. Everyone listened to the festive music playing on the radio and gathered around the table to make dumplings.

Shang Ruoting even wrapped a penny in her dumpling, just to be fair. She was the luckiest person, as it hit her tooth...

There were no entertainment activities in this era, and people would just sit there and do nothing to celebrate the New Year. No one was superstitious, so after eating dumplings, they would go back to rest.