Before they had finished eating, snowflakes began to slowly fall from the sky. Upon seeing the snowflakes, which resembled willow catkins, Tang Cuiju shook her head and said...

"It looks like the snow won't be heavy anymore."

The larger the snowflakes, the less thick the snowfall.

Look, the ground hasn't turned white since yesterday.

After Xiaojiu finished eating, everyone cleaned up and started preparing to knead the dough and chop the filling.

The sisters chatted and laughed together, and time flew by.

In this awful weather, everyone prefers to stay home and not go out, unless they have relatives they absolutely must visit.

Tang Cuihua and her sisters not only have no contact with the old house, but they have also lost contact with their maternal grandmother's family.

I never thought of visiting them. The most important thing is that Cao Amei, as their mother, is too irresponsible. If it weren't for her, these sisters wouldn't have suffered so much.

The help the Tao family provided has made them feel like relatives and visit each other.

"Xiao Jiu, come here and sit by the stove to help us keep the fire going. We don't have a coal stove."

Water was still boiling on the stove. The kitchen was warm in winter, and the older sister was worried that she wouldn't be able to stand the cold in their house, so she specially arranged for her to stay in the kitchen.

But the kitchen wasn't very big to begin with, and with her older sisters busy inside, it felt even more cramped when she went in, so she shook her head.

"No, Sister, you guys are busy. I'll help Third Sister peel onions and garlic."

Dumplings dipped in garlic sauce taste delicious. There were many scallions in the cellar, and my third sister brought them up, ready to peel them.

"Sister, go help in the kitchen. I know how to do this, I'll do it."

Compared to the cold outside, the cellar was quite warm, especially the soil surrounding the scallions, which was still damp, making them look very fresh. However, due to the sunlight, they weren't as lush and green, but they were still quite firm to the touch.

Although they're called garlic, in the days before pesticides and fertilizers, these garlic cloves weren't very big. The larger ones were picked out to grow garlic sprouts, and the ones that remained were smaller than the nail of her little finger. They weren't easy to peel, but they were just the right size for her small hands.

The eldest sister was chopping cabbage and radishes, while the fifth and sixth sisters were discussing something, and snowflakes were falling gently as if to match the scene...

All of this tells her that the simplest happiness is nothing more than being well-fed and watered.

This year, the Tang sisters didn't have much of a budget for Chinese New Year. They only bought a piece of pork fat, and the pork cracklings after rendering the fat were their first choice for making dumplings.

If Tang Cuixiang hadn't brought back two boxes of meat and vegetables before the Lunar New Year, we probably wouldn't have been able to eat even sliced ​​meat this year.

That's why she felt that Tang Cuihong, though quiet and reserved, seemed to know everything. Seeing that the New Year's gifts she received were rather shabby, she added a dish without any explanation. Even though the sisters were incredibly curious, they ultimately chose to remain silent in the face of Tang Cuihong's refusal to speak.

Yesterday, they ate braised pork, fried ribbonfish, and boiled shrimp at a small restaurant. You probably can't find another restaurant like that in the whole village. They were already very satisfied.

Knowing they were short of money, and given that it was snowing when they left yesterday, Cuihua told them not to travel, so the Tao family didn't insist.

Today I made dumplings, and I felt a little bad for my little sister who's used to eating nice food. I was afraid she wouldn't like them, so I even made two different colors of dumplings for them to look nice.

The mixed-grain black dumplings and the white flour pumpkin orange-yellow dumplings, the two colors of dumplings, as soon as they hit the pot, drew praise from Xiaojiu.

"This color is so beautiful! No wonder Third Sister brought up a pumpkin earlier. Did she steam it and mix it into the dough?"

"Heh, Xiao Jiu is not bad, and you even know the tricks of cooking. Since you say the color looks nice, then eat more yellow dumplings later."

Although they are called yellow, they are actually white flour dumplings. The eldest sister specially brought them out to take care of her. Usually, the little white flour at home is only used to make a bowl of warm noodle soup when someone is not feeling well. But when she came, she was given the highest level of treatment. How could she not be moved?

Tang Cuihua couldn't bear to buy meat that cost seven or eight mao a pound, but she bought ten eggs that cost seven cents each. She also picked some garlic sprouts, stir-fried them with eggs, stewed tofu with cabbage, and made a cold salad of kelp and radish, making a total of four dishes.

There were seven people, yet they cooked a huge plate of dumplings, two hot dishes, and two cold dishes. These must have been the best dishes they could offer.

"Quickly, eat up, it'll get cold soon. Here, have some wine, eat eggs, eat dumplings. There's garlic sauce here, chili over here, and no chili over there. There's noodle soup to drink after you finish eating, the original soup is the best way to digest the food."

"These seaweed strips were made by your fourth sister. How are they? They're quite tender, aren't they? I cooked them a little longer on purpose."

After taking out the shrimp, then the seaweed. Who cares about that? Anyway, there's no need to ask where it came from; just eat it.

This kelp is really long and wide. When Sister Cuihong brought it over, they were all stunned because it was so big and the color was so beautiful. The kelp, which was more than two meters long, made a whole pot of it, and the whole yard smelled fresh kelp.

Cooked kelp can be served cold with vinegar, garlic, chili, sugar, and salt. Just a quick stir and it's a top-notch delicacy.

Xiao Jiu was extremely supportive, saying, "Sister, what you made is really delicious, especially this seaweed strips, the sour and spicy taste is so refreshing."

She felt a little embarrassed when her older sisters put yellow dumplings on her plate.

"It's okay, I can eat the dark noodles, you guys eat the yellow dumplings too, don't just keep shoveling food at me,"

This was Xiaojiu's first time sitting around a table with her six older sisters for a meal. There were dumplings, eggs, and seaweed, which she thought was a great meal. But her sisters seemed worried that she wouldn't like the food, so they only picked out the best dishes for her.

"Sister, you don't think we only eat the best food, do you? Or do you think I've become too picky? Let me tell you, we don't usually eat meat, and we don't even eat eggs or duck eggs every day. But I drink goat milk every day. I think goat milk is nutritious enough, so don't think I'm picky. I'm not picky at all, really. I usually eat multigrain steamed buns, wild vegetable buns, sweet potato buns, sweet potatoes, and potatoes. I eat all of them."

She doesn't like being the center of attention. Even though they're eating at the same table, they have to create a polarization. How can she feel good about that?

Her grandparents were willing to give her eggs every day, but she was too embarrassed to supplement her diet. Besides, she drank goat milk every day and didn't lack any nutrition, so why would she want to take advantage of the situation and eat eggs? She didn't need the eggs, so it would be better to leave them for the old folks to sell for money!

So after I turned five, we saved up all the chicken, duck, and goose eggs in the house to sell for money to buy firewood, rice, oil, and salt.

The elderly people in the countryside nowadays rely on the eggs of their chickens, ducks, and geese to earn a meager living on oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar; it's not easy for them.

So, at Xiaojiu's insistence, everyone got a few yellow dumplings, and only then was she satisfied enough to pick up her bowl.

After dinner, the snow stopped, but the ground was still wet. However, there was news that a movie was being shown in town, and Sister Cuilian ran home breathlessly to tell them.

Unexpectedly, the eldest sister shook her head, the second sister also said she wouldn't go, the fourth sister was still sleeping inside, and the fifth and sixth sisters were studying hard. No one wanted to delay them. In the end, they didn't even offer to drink.

"Third sister, it's so cold outside. Walking so far will only leave our shoes covered in mud, and we might not even get a good spot. I don't want to go. We'd rather stay in the yard, warming ourselves by the fire and chatting."

After asking around, no one responded, so even though the third sister was still very enthusiastic, she had to give up.

But to everyone's surprise, their cousins ​​from the old house came over and invited them to go to the movies together.

The older sister narrowed her eyes and refused outright: "You guys go ahead, we're not going, we have things to do at home!"

"What could possibly happen during the New Year? Let's go,"

The eldest sister remained unmoved, and even if Sister Cuilian wanted to go, she dared not utter a word.

"Sister Yuan, you guys go ahead, we really have something to do."

Seeing that even Cuilian, the only person she was interested in, wasn't going, Tang Yuanyuan was a little disappointed, but noticing that Tang Cuihua's expression wasn't very good, she didn't insist.

As soon as they left, the eldest sister asked Tang Cuimei, "Fifth sister, what's that saying again? 'A weasel paying New Year's greetings to a chicken'?"

Cui Mei chuckled, and Xiao Jiu chimed in from the side, "Exactly, they don't seem to have any good intentions. There's not a single good person in their family. We can't fall for their tricks."

"There's a saying that goes, 'If someone offers you kindness for no reason, they're either up to no good.' Just now, I noticed that Tang Yuanyuan's eyes were darting around, and she didn't seem like a good person either."

"Never mind them, Third Brother. You remember this: cut off all ties with them from now on. We've severed all ties. Who knows what they're up to? Especially since they know you have a job and are of marriageable age, they'd love to ruin our reputation. It's always better to be careful. I don't want the family I've worked so hard to build to be destroyed by someone's stupidity."

After saying that, he gave Tang Cuilian a deep look. Cuilian was startled awake and quickly said, "I know, sister, it was my oversight."

The third day of the Lunar New Year passed peacefully. It snowed all night on the third day, and this time the snow was heavy. When we woke up in the morning, the outside world had turned into a silver-white world. Cuihua knew that Xiaojiu was playful, so she pulled her out of bed.

"Look, the snow outside is really thick. You girls go build a snowman, I'll go cook."

Xiao Jiu was incredibly excited when she heard this. She got dressed, ran outside to take a look, and started yelling excitedly.

"If only we had a camera at home, we could capture all this beautiful scenery and take group photos to remember it!"

Upon hearing this, Tang Cuimei seemed to have been reminded, "You know what, I actually do have one!"

Tang Cuimei traveled back to the year 2000, when digital cameras already existed. Just by looking at their size, you can tell they were quite valuable.

At the Tang family home, she took it out without any concealment. When Xiao Jiu saw the camera, she guessed that the era she had traveled to was probably around two thousand years ago.

For her, it was nothing special, because her parents had collected all the cameras they used, a dozen or so of various models. One of them was the one that Fifth Sister had, which was worth at least five thousand yuan. It seems that Fifth Sister's family was quite well-off before she time-traveled!

Apart from Xiaojiu and Cuixiang, everyone else at the scene curiously gathered around.

Because they discovered that this camera seemed different from the ones used in photo studios!