After nearly three months of staying on the mountain, Sheng Liancheng and his two children finally returned home for a holiday. It just so happened to be the Little New Year, so they were definitely going to cook something delicious.

Zhang Shuzhen had already planned to make sauerkraut and pork dumplings today.

So last night she brought back a few pieces of meat from outside to rest, and this morning she had Sheng Xikang chop them up.

"Daughter, the child is asleep, you should get some sleep too. Don't worry about things at home, I'll take care of everything."

"I'll come and call you for dinner when the dumplings are ready."

Zhang Shuzhen changed Sheng Xinhua's diaper, coaxed the baby to sleep, and then carefully placed him next to Zhou Qinglan so that the mother and son could sleep together for a while.

Zhang Shuzhen came out of the west room, quickly opened the sauerkraut jar, and scooped out two stalks of sauerkraut from it.

Sauerkraut is put into a vat for pickling in October, and it is usually not ready to eat until a month has passed.

By now, several months have passed, and the outermost part of the sauerkraut is starting to rot.

So you have to peel off the outermost layer, leaving the good stuff inside, and wash it twice in a basin.

After washing the pickled cabbage, place it on a cutting board and shred it. Once all the cabbage is shredded, rinse it twice, squeeze out the excess water, and then chop it finely.

Take out some of the oil residue left from the previous frying, chop it up, and put it into the minced meat.

The key to making delicious sauerkraut and pork dumplings is to add a little oil inside.

Wild boar meat is lean and doesn't have much fat, so without the oil, it's not fragrant at all.

Mince the meat and oil, then add chopped green onions, salt, MSG, soy sauce and other seasonings. Add two spoonfuls of the broth from yesterday's meat stew, stir well, and finally pour in the sauerkraut filling and stir evenly.

The dough has risen, and the dumpling filling has been prepared. The whole family pitches in.

Sheng Xiping kneaded the dough and cut it into pieces, Sheng Liancheng and Sheng Xi'an rolled out the wrappers, Zhang Shuzhen led the two girls to wrap the dumplings, and Sheng Xitai and Chen Feng acted as dumpling legs to arrange the dumplings.

Sheng Xikang was busy peeling garlic, making garlic sauce, carrying dumplings to the outer room, lighting the fire, washing pots, and boiling water. No one was idle; everyone had something to do.

With the whole family pitching in, how could they not make dumplings quickly? By three o'clock, the dumplings were all wrapped.

In the kitchen, Sheng Xikang had boiled a pot of water, which was now boiling.

Zhang Shuzhen came out, carrying a lid, and quickly dropped all the dumplings into the pot.

"Old Sheng, go set off the firecrackers. We'll eat when the dumplings are cooked."

Sheng Liancheng came down the mountain early this year, and his whole family was there, so there was no need to wait until five or six o'clock to eat. It would be better to quickly get ready to eat and rest early.

"Okay, I'll go right now." Sheng Liancheng replied, taking a string of two hundred firecrackers and walking out.

"Boss, don't come out. Go to the west room and cover your son's ears. The firecrackers are loud, don't disturb him."

Sheng Liancheng was, after all, a father of six, so he had plenty of experience. When he saw his eldest son wanting to come out, he quickly said something.

"Oh, you're right! I didn't even think of that."

Sheng Xiping slapped his forehead; he had completely forgotten about it. He quickly turned and went to the west room.

On the kang (heated brick bed) in the west room, Zhou Qinglan was sleeping with her son in her arms when she woke up at the sound of someone entering. "What's wrong?"

“It’s alright, Dad’s going to set off firecrackers, so he asked me to cover Xinhua’s ears,” Sheng Xiping said, covering his son’s ears with his hands.

Just then, Sheng Liancheng lit firecrackers in the courtyard.

The firecrackers were bought by Sheng Liancheng at the forest farm store at noon. They weren't as loud as the ones he bought in advance and put under the kang (a heated brick bed) to warm up; the sound seemed a bit muffled.

Even so, Sheng Xitai and Chen Feng were overjoyed, clapping and jumping around in the yard.

In the west wing, Sheng Xinhua seemed to have heard nothing at all and continued to sleep soundly.

"This little guy cries when the dogs bark outside, but he's sleeping soundly now that the firecrackers are going off."

Once the noise outside stopped, Sheng Xiping moved his hand away and looked at his son's still-sleeping face. He carefully leaned over and kissed his son's forehead.

"Son, grow up quickly. When you grow up, Dad will take you out to set off firecrackers."

"Well, you don't need to tell me. When Xinhua grows up, he'll definitely follow you around like a puppy to set off firecrackers."

"That brat, all he loves are firecrackers and fireworks, he's not as quiet as a girl."

Zhou Qinglan laughed. One could imagine that the Sheng family would have another troublesome kid in the future.

"With his uncle taking care of him, he'll definitely be a master at climbing on roofs and causing mischief in the future."

Thinking about this made Zhou Qinglan's head buzz. It would be easier to have a daughter.

"Boys are boys, it's normal for them to be a little mischievous."

Look at Xiaofeng when he first came! Look at him now, how well Lao Liu is taking care of him! A little mischievous is a good thing, he's healthy and smart.

Men and women think differently. Zhou Qinglan was worried about how to raise her child in the future, but Sheng Xiping felt that boys are naturally lively and unrestrained.

So what if he's naughty? What boy doesn't get into trouble? He was even more mischievous when he was little.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qinglan rolled her eyes at Sheng Xiping. Just as she was about to speak, someone knocked on the west door. "Brother, sister-in-law, the dumplings are ready."

As soon as she finished speaking, Sheng Yunfang pushed open the door and came in, carrying a plate of steaming dumplings.

“Sister-in-law, Mom said you’re still in your postpartum period and can’t eat garlic sauce. Just have some dumplings.”

Sheng Yunfang placed the plate and chopsticks on the kang (a heated brick bed) before turning to leave.

"The dumplings are ready. Hurry up and go out to eat. It's so late, aren't you hungry?"

Zhou Qinglan picked up her chopsticks and took a dumpling. Just as she was about to eat it, she saw Sheng Xiping sitting there motionless, so she asked him a question.

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