"Hey, Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother, could you two move that big oil jar on the stove to the side? I think it's getting in the way."

"Xinhua, go to that cardboard box in the outer room and take out a few apples to wash."

With children at home, we couldn't stay up too late, so around 10:30, everyone reluctantly went to the kitchen to cook dumplings.

In winter, the temperature is low and people don't sweat much, so most people in Northeast China don't take a bath every day.

The whole family was laughing so hard at the crosstalk performance that even those making dumplings stopped what they were doing and focused on watching TV.

In the old days, if a family had a child who was getting old and still unmarried, the elders would have the child move oil jars on New Year's Eve.

It symbolizes that the child's marriage will be settled in the new year.

The Sheng sisters, Sheng Yunfang and Sheng Yunfei, were born in 1963 and will be 24 years old after the Lunar New Year.

In the past, if a girl was still unmarried at twenty-four, the neighbors would laugh at her.

Nowadays, people are much more tolerant of this, especially since the Sheng Yunfang and Sheng Yunfei sisters have just graduated and started working, so it's understandable that they got married late.

What was Zhang Shuzhen thinking? Twenty-five is her birth year, an unlucky year for marriage. If she wasn't married by twenty-four, she'd have to wait until twenty-six.

If it really comes to that, it will be too late.

Therefore, Zhang Shuzhen specifically instructed her two daughters to move the large oil jar.

They hope their two daughters can get married by the time they turn twenty-four, which would put their husbands at ease.

Sheng Yunfang and Sheng Yunfei were still young and didn't understand these things. When their mother told them to move the oil jars, the two of them actually went up to move them.

The Sheng family's oil jar is quite large, the kind that can hold thirty catties of oil. Just before the New Year, Aunt Li had rendered a full jar of oil, and they haven't eaten much of it yet.

Thirty catties of oil, plus the jar? It must weigh close to fifty catties in total, and it's a jar, round and bulky, so it's not easy to handle.

Sheng Yunfang went over and hugged someone briefly, but didn't lift them up; she just moved them a little.

When Sheng Yunfei saw this, she went over and tried to hug him, but she couldn't lift him up.

The two sisters thought for a moment and decided that they could lift it together. So they reached out to lift the jar.

"Alright, Fourth Sister, Fifth Sister, you two hurry up and put the oil jar down for me, don't break it."

Mom just wants you two to get married, as a good omen, but don't take it seriously.

When Zhou Qinglan saw this, she thought, "This is terrible! What if that heavy oil jar accidentally hurts my two sisters-in-law?"

Besides, there's still so much oil inside. If it gets smashed, we'll have to find a way to buy lard.

Don't cause any trouble during the Lunar New Year.

Upon hearing this, the Sheng sisters, Sheng Yunfang and Sheng Yunfei, finally understood, and their faces immediately turned red. "Mom, look at you, why didn't you say so earlier?"

Zhang Shuzhen smiled happily, "Can you tell me in advance? If you tell me, then it's not allowed."

Oh dear, you're already so old, it's time to find someone to marry, settle down, and have children soon.

Look at your sister-in-law, she's got all four kids now, so she has so much less to worry about!"

No matter what her mother-in-law said, Wu Yuhua and the others didn't interrupt, they just smiled with their lips pursed.

The Sheng sisters blushed deeply at their mother's words, quickly put down the oil jar, and went to tend the fire.

Before long, the water in both pots boiled, so the dumplings were put in and cooked.

Boil the water three times until the dumplings are cooked. Place the dumplings on a table inside the house, then take them out and bring them inside.

Just then, the firecrackers outside were finished, and the family happily sat around the table to eat dumplings.

This year's dumplings still contain money, dates, raw ingredients, and other similar items.

One minute someone shouts that they found money in their food, the next minute someone else says they found a date in their food; whatever they find, it's considered auspicious.

Amidst the laughter and chatter, the grand finale skit, "Lamb Skewers," came on TV.

The two men's humorous performance had the audience in the theater and in front of the television laughing uncontrollably.

"Wow, this show is great! The performance was really good!" everyone exclaimed in unison.

After this show is over, we'll all eat a few more dumplings, and that'll be it.

After clearing the table, another crosstalk performance was staged, and then the clock struck twelve.

Sheng Xiping led the group to offer New Year's greetings to Sheng Liancheng and his wife, as well as Aunt Li.

The four children, Sheng Xinhua, Sheng Xinyu, Sheng Xinyue, and Sheng Xinqi, even knelt on the ground and kowtowed to wish each other a Happy New Year.

"Grandpa, Grandma, and Grandma Li, Happy Chinese New Year! I wish you good health and peace."

The three elderly people were overjoyed and hurriedly called the children to get up. Then Zhang Shuzhen took out red envelopes and gave them not only to the four children, but also to Xinze and Xinyao.

The two little ones didn't understand what it was, but they held on tightly. Sheng Xinyao lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), waving her little hands and kicking her little legs, having a great time.

After midnight, there weren't many programs left, and since the kids were all really sleepy, everyone just went to rest.

Of the seven houses in the Sheng family's house, five are habitable. So even if there were more than a dozen people, they could still live comfortably.

In the east wing suite, Sheng Liancheng lived with his three sons and two grandsons, while Sheng Yunfang and her sister slept on the bed in the outer room.

On the kang (heated brick bed) in the outer room lived Sheng Xiping and his wife, along with their two daughters.

The kang (heated brick bed) in the west suite was large, and Zhang Shuzhen, Aunt Li, and Wu Yuhua and Feng Shuyan lived there together.

That way, if the child wakes up crying at night, the two of them can get up and help, allowing Wu Yuhua and the others to get some rest.

Everyone stayed up until midnight, and when they were all tired, they fell asleep shortly after lying down.

She slept until seven o'clock on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year. Aunt Li got up quietly to start a fire and heated up the leftover dumplings and rice from the night before.

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