Chapter 481 Wu Yucheng is here

"Oh, oh, is that so? I really didn't know that." Zhou Mingyuan nodded upon hearing this.

"Well, if we can't keep dogs, we can bring up the power grid or something, anyway, our bureau's power supply is not a problem right now."

In recent years, the bureau has built several small hydropower stations, which have solved the power supply problem for various forest farms. Power can be supplied all day long, and there is no longer a power outage at nine o'clock at night as before.

Zhou Mingyuan chatted with Sheng Xiping for a few minutes, and just then the food was served, so they quickly ate.

"Xiping, let's not drink at noon today. I have a lot of things to do at work."

A few days ago, a professor from the Finnish Forest Research Institute, along with an official from their national forestry board and the development manager of Roma Ripul, formed a three-person inspection team to visit our bureau.

The bureau has been busy for quite some time preparing to receive them. I need to hurry back to the bureau after lunch.

If Wang Chunxiu hadn't called to say that Zhang Shuzhen and Sheng Xiping had arrived, Zhou Mingyuan wouldn't have been able to go home for lunch at all.

He's busy with a ton of things at work, how could he possibly have time to drink with Sheng Xiping?

"Dad, I have to drive back to the forest farm this afternoon, so it's fine if I don't drink. Mom made a whole table of dishes, let's just eat."

Zhou Mingyuan hung up the phone without even finishing his meal, not knowing what was said on the other end.

Before 11 o'clock, the dumplings were ready, and the firecrackers and fireworks outside had all been set off. Zhang Shuzhen called everyone to come inside and eat dumplings.

"The ones with the lace trim are filled with fish. Everyone, try these fish dumplings! This is the first time we've ever made them, so we don't know if they'll taste good."

So he ran outside with a lantern and set off firecrackers with a group of friends.

Sheng Xiping hadn't originally planned to drink. Although there are no drunk driving laws these days, he still had to be careful.

Especially now, in the dead of winter, with snow and ice covering everything and not a single patch of green in sight, a bowl of meatball soup with cilantro is truly a rare treat.

Sheng Xinhua and Sheng Xinyu are both grown up, and they can't stay at home idle, so there's nothing on TV that can attract their attention.

"Forget it, let's hurry up and cook the dumplings. I'm getting too anxious watching this gala."

Wash the chives and set them aside. Just before making dumplings, chop the chives and mix them into the meat filling. Then start making dumplings.

Sheng Xiping quickly took the bowl, picked up a meatball and ate it, then took a sip of the soup. "Mmm, these meatballs are delicious, so fresh."

Kids have so much energy they don't feel the cold at all. Their little faces are all red from the cold outside, but they don't seem to mind and are having a great time.

This isn't just flattering my mother-in-law; the cilantro added to the meatball soup helps to mask the greasiness and fishy smell of the meat, making the soup more delicious.

To entertain Zhang Shuzhen and her son, Wang Chunxiu prepared six dishes and a soup.

However, this year's Spring Festival Gala was held at the Capital Workers' Stadium, and due to various limitations, there were many problems during the live broadcast.

Wang Chunxiu ladled a bowl of soup for Sheng Xiping and brought it to him.

"Xiping, try this meatball soup."

Ever since television became available, the Spring Festival Gala on New Year's Eve has become a must-watch program for the Sheng family.

Take another piece of pork fat, chop it up, mix it with the fish, and add seasonings.

Because an elderly family member passed away, the Sheng family will not put up couplets or hang red lanterns this year.

Before nine o'clock, the Sheng family had finished making dumplings, so they could finally relax and watch the Spring Festival Gala.

It was only 10:30, but Zhang Shuzhen couldn't resist any longer and went down to boil water to cook dumplings.

As Zhou Mingyuan spoke, he put on his coat and hat and hurriedly left.

Sheng Xiping brought back a lot of big fish from Heilongjiang Province. In the afternoon, the family reunion dinner included steamed seven-fish flounder and braised sturgeon slices. These were the two most delicious dishes at the reunion dinner, and everyone said the fish was delicious.

Just then, the Yu family sent over a bunch of chives they had grown themselves. They were especially tender, but Zhang Shuzhen couldn't bear to cook them. Instead, she paired them with fish filling to make dumplings.

To watch the Spring Festival Gala, Zhang Shuzhen started preparing to chop filling and knead dough right after finishing her afternoon meal. The sooner she made dumplings, the more focused she could be on watching the Gala.

The Sheng family members watched the program on TV and kept shaking their heads and sighing. The Spring Festival Gala, which should have been a good show, had been ruined like this. They really didn't know what to say.

"Eat more if you like it, there's plenty left in the bowl." Wang Chunxiu looked at her son-in-law with a smile, as if she was ready to serve him another bowl of soup at any time.

This year there was a leap month in October, so the Lunar New Year will be on February 19th.

The audience at the scene were shivering from the cold, while those watching on television were anxiously scratching their heads, and some with short tempers were even cursing.

Therefore, this year's Lunar New Year's Eve dumplings, in addition to the traditional radish, cabbage and pork filling, also include fish and chive filling.

The fish were quite large, and they couldn't be eaten in a short time, so Zhang Shuzhen thought she might as well get some fish meat and make dumplings.

So Zhang Shuzhen directed her daughter and daughter-in-law to remove the bones from the large pieces of fish and then chop them into minced meat.

The chives in the fish filling are tender and tend to release water, making them difficult to wrap, so they are specially shaped into decorative dumplings.

These mischievous kids weren't afraid at all; they didn't even cover their ears and were clapping their hands with joy.

And so, neither the father-in-law nor the son-in-law drank any alcohol; they simply ate in silence.

While they were eating, the phone on the table suddenly rang. Upon hearing this, Zhou Mingyuan quickly put on his shoes and got out of bed to answer the phone.

"My dear in-laws, Xiping, you two enjoy your meal. I need to head back to the bureau. That three-person team is back from their inspection of Baixi Forest Farm; we should arrange lunch for them, shouldn't we?"

After Zhou Mingyuan left, Sheng Xiping and the others finished their meal, chatted with Wang Chunxiu for a while, and seeing that it was getting late, they also said goodbye and headed back.

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