On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, everyone, rich or poor, was busy in the front and back yards.

The New Year's goods are prepared well in advance. In the backyard, everyone prepares their own goods, while in the front yard, according to the custom of previous years, everyone pools their money to buy the New Year's goods.

There was fish and meat in everything, and the whole yard smelled delicious.

Chen Shuning got up early and started cleaning the pork knuckles and trotters. He also picked out the pheasant that He Chaoyang had cleaned, and braised the chicken legs, gizzards, and necks in a big pot. He added the seasonings and asked Chen Jiandang to watch the fire and let it simmer slowly.

The other pot was used by He Chaoyang to fry things over a high flame. Staple foods like fried dough twists had already been fried, and today they only needed to fry the vegetables that needed to be fried for the New Year.

Fried dates, sesame balls, fried cakes, fried pork pieces for braised pork slices, and fish for tomorrow all need to be fried today.

We also need to cook the pork skin jelly today, so we can leave it outside to solidify overnight and eat it the next day.

On the 30th, before dawn, Chen Shuning was awakened by a series of firecrackers.

Last night, after He Chaoyang and Chen Jiandang went back to sleep, Chen Shuning made the remaining meat into jerky and dried meat, and kept busy in the space until late at night.

Chen Shuning was sleepy at the moment and was planning not to get up early today. However, Chen Shuning had brought breakfast for the other two people last night so they could just heat it up and eat it in the morning.

Chen Shuning really didn't expect that, with everyone barely able to eat their fill, so many people would still spend money to buy firecrackers.

After finally waiting for the firecrackers to stop, Chen Shuning turned over and planned to take another nap. She had to get up at noon to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner, so she needed to be well-rested.

Just as Chen Shuning turned over, another burst of firecrackers went off.

After that, the sound of firecrackers continued one after another without stopping, as if each household was competing to set them off, trying to see whose firecracker was the loudest and lasted the longest.

This was also because fireworks had been banned for many years during Chen Shuning's time. Although some cities later gradually relaxed their policies and allowed fireworks and firecrackers to be set off again.

People can no longer recapture that feeling from back then; setting off firecrackers is mostly just a formality now, so Chen Shuning really doesn't understand these things.

Although she bought a few strings of firecrackers when preparing for the New Year, she just threw them aside after bringing them home and didn't pay much attention to them.

Therefore, Chen Shuning found it hard to understand that even families who couldn't afford to eat would still buy two strings of firecrackers for the New Year. On New Year's Eve, people would compete to see who could set off the most firecrackers the longest, which meant they had bought a lot of firecrackers and were doing well.

Hearing the firecrackers outside that showed no sign of stopping, Chen Shuning couldn't help but let out a wail.

Well, forget about having a good sleep.

Chen Shuning, radiating resentment, angrily dressed and washed up. As soon as she opened the door, she saw He Chaoyang, Chen Jiandang, and other male educated youths sweeping snow in the yard and the backyard.

The snow was still falling gently from the sky. Although it is said that a timely snowfall promises a good harvest, this year's snow seems a bit too much.

As soon as Chen Shuning pushed open the door, he saw that the doors of the rooms next to him were also opening one after another.

Liu Shumei looked alright, as if she had gotten up early, but Zhong Lingling next to her looked sleepy.

Although Yang Wanqiu's door was open, no one came out. Gu Xinyi and Zhang Tingting came out at the same time, but they glared at each other and then turned away.

However, both of them looked sleepy.

Seeing that Chen Shuning also looked like he hadn't slept well, Gu Xinyi smiled and leaned closer, asking mischievously, "Look at those dark circles under your eyes, did you go thieving last night?"

Chen Shuning slapped away Gu Xinyi's hand from her shoulder, clearly in a bad mood from not getting enough sleep. She yawned and said lazily, "I have a family to take care of and a lot of things to prepare, so I was busy preparing today's meals until late at night."

It's nothing like you, where you're single and have no family to worry about, you don't need to prepare anything, and you even have time to go out and steal at night.

Gu Xinyi didn't care what Chen Shuning said; after all, she had never won an argument with Chen Shuning.

He put his hand, which Chen Shuning had slapped away, back on Chen Shuning's shoulder and said with a grin, "You can't talk nonsense. We're from good families, and we won't do things like stealing in the middle of the night."

"Oh, by the way, Shuning, could I borrow your younger brother for a bit later?"

As she spoke, Gu Xinyi pretended to be shy, lowered her head and twisted her hands, and whispered, "I bought firecrackers, but Hongyuan isn't here, so I don't dare to set them off."

Upon hearing that it was such a small matter, Chen Shuning was very generous. He waved his hand and said generously, "No problem. With our relationship, there's no need to borrow or not. You can take it and use it as you like."

However, Chen Shuning's words made Chen Jiandang, who was sweeping snow nearby, look miserable, feeling that his manly dignity had been attacked.

So she looked at Chen Shuning with resentment and questioned, "Sister, are you treating me like an object, letting me use you however you want?"

Chen Shuning was still upset about his younger brother saying his eyes were small yesterday, and he didn't expect this kid to dare challenge his authority. So he smiled and said, "You're my own brother, how could I treat you like an object? No, no, don't worry, in my heart you've never been an object."

Hearing his sister say that, Chen Jiandang felt a little better, but upon closer reflection, something about what his sister said seemed off, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Only when he saw everyone around him trying hard to suppress their laughter did Chen Jiandang realize what was happening. He stamped his foot in protest and said, "Sister, how am I not a good person? I..."

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