At the Qin family's side, Qin Wei was responsible for looking after the children, Qin Zhiheng was responsible for chopping meat and vegetables, Qin Zhidong and Qin Zhiya were responsible for handling firewood and lighting the fire respectively.

Zhang Shuying, Wang Yuerong, Qin Zhichu and Yu You prepared pots of steamed buns, flower rolls, meat buns, vegetable buns, bean buns and sugar triangles.

At the Yu family's side, grandparents helped wash the meat and vegetables, Yu Weimin chopped the meat filling, and Yu Yuan lit the fire.

Cao Xiu took Yu Rou to cook, smoke, and braise pork offal, and fried meatballs, radish meatballs, sweet fried dough sticks, and sweet twisted dough sticks with lard. She also fried a lot of sugar-coated cakes.

The two families were busy in the kitchen for a whole day before they finished the work.

Divide the prepared food into two parts, and now both sides have everything.

The three little ones, An An, Ning Ning and Yan Yan, were all overjoyed when they saw the one-meter-long basket filled with sweet sesame seeds, sweet twisted dough sticks and sugar-coated oil cakes.

Everyone's eyes widened.

An An asked happily: "Mom, there are so many delicious foods, can we eat them?"

Yu You smiled and said, "Wash your hands clean and eat as much as you want."

"Oh, oh, that's great!"

The three children rushed out like the wind to wash their hands, and their little world was filled with happiness.

The adults were impressed by Cao Xiu's craftsmanship.

After the food was ready, Yu You cut a large plate of pig offal, stewed radish and bone soup, and heated up steamed buns and meat dumplings for dinner that night.

Wang Youqi, who was called to have dinner, had his mouth full and did not forget to talk to Yu You.

"Let's not talk about anything else. Auntie, your pig offal is really delicious. Is there anything more delicious than pig offal in the world? Auntie, do you still need a son? Otherwise, I will recognize you as my godmother."

After hearing this, everyone at the table laughed so hard that they were out of breath.

On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, Yu Rou cut a handful of each vegetable from her private plot, filled a backpack with them, and also put in some braised pork offal.

They took the finished shirts and delivered them to Feng Xudong. What they didn't know was that the Feng family was hosting a banquet for the leaders of the commune on New Year's Eve.

"Why are there so many vegetables?"

Feng Xudong explained, "This is what a family in the first production team grew on their private plot. They sent some over for the New Year."

"This is incredible! There are such talented people in Xiangyang Commune."

Everyone’s private plot is idle in winter. If you can grow vegetables there, you are a talented person.

"The men in that family are good at growing vegetables, and the women are also good at cooking. Please try this plate of pig offal. I heard that you uncles were coming, so I couldn't bear to eat it, so I saved it for you."

These things are all rare.

Not only did the Feng family's New Year's Eve dinner become very exciting, but it also made the leaders of the commune curious about Wei Min's family.

On New Year’s Eve, the New Year’s Eve dinner was served lazily, and there was even a pot of beef stewed with potatoes.

Even back in Kyoto, the supply was limited and we never made these delicious dishes.

Everyone in the Qin family was smiling happily.

Grandma Qin, Zhang Shuying, held Yu You's hand and said, "Over the past few months, thanks to Xiaoyou, our family has been supported. All of us in the Qin family have to be grateful to Xiaoyou."

"You can't take it for granted just because she's our daughter-in-law."

Qin Wei said, "That's right. Today, the first bite of our food will be given to Xiaoyou. Zhiheng, especially you, such a good wife, you must cherish and care for your whole life."

Yu You thought about the box of small yellow croakers and the box of old pit glass fish in the space, and thought to himself, everyone is so polite.

He happily ate all the dishes that everyone brought.

"Eat slowly, don't burn yourself!"

Zhang Ju picked up some meat for her son while giving him some instructions.

Today she made white flour buns and pork, cabbage and vermicelli stew. This was the first time she and her mother had eaten meat in years since her husband passed away.

Seeing his son Xiaozhuang stuffing his mouth with food and laughing while eating, he also started laughing.

Not only her family, but also every household in the First Production Brigade received three or four yuan thanks to the income from kimchi, so they lived a more affluent life this year than in previous years.

Especially when you feel like you can’t get through some days, you feel like you have a purpose in life again.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, almost everyone in the village brought their children to Yu Weimin's home to pay New Year's greetings.

Those who could afford it also brought home-cooked food. Everyone was truly grateful to Village Chief Yu.

Cao Xiu had made preparations. There weren't enough Sazi Mahua to go around, and they had to be eaten by the family first, so she put them away early.

After rummaging through the space several times, he got out a few bags of rock sugar and gave a few pieces to each of the children.

The children tasted the sweetness and were so happy that they couldn't stop smiling. They even said New Year's greetings more fluently.

During the first month of the Lunar New Year, Yu Weimin and Yu You toured the First Production Brigade. Three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang; their daughter was more knowledgeable and had more ideas than both of them.

"Youyou, what do you think?"

"Dad, our team's location is perfect, nestled in the mountains and next to water. We can build farms, pastures, and even ponds. The problem is, how can we do it legally these days?"

Yu Weimin looked at Yu You with eyes full of pride. He had brought up his daughter well and she could always grasp the essence of things.

"That's the point. We need to do all of this, but a lot of it will have to wait until after the reform and opening up. Now let's figure out how to make sure everyone has enough to eat."

"Dad, do you have an idea?" She remembered that her father wanted to do something big.

Yu Weimin explained to his daughter, "Farmers generally don't multiply their crops these days. We're already making enough money selling mung bean cakes and vegetables to the supply and marketing cooperative. I don't think we can expand any further."

Yu You agreed with this. Due to the limitations of the times, if you don't want to take risks, you have to abide by them.

Where can one go to seek justice after being arrested?

Otherwise, his chemical skills would be of no use.

In response to her father, she said, "As a rural person, we have to go the route of planting and breeding to be safe."

But everyone knows that no matter how much you raise a fish, you still have to rely on planting. Otherwise, you won’t have anything to feed it. Planting must be solved first.

Yu Weimin guided his daughter, saying, "People can't get enough to eat with collective land. So we have to rely on individual land. Farmers grow and harvest their own crops, and don't have to pay public grain. What do they get with land?"

"I know that. It's a private plot." His family had the most private plots, mainly because of the large homestead land passed down from ancient times.

During this period, Yu Weimin worked with other village leaders and the commune to learn in detail about the policy on paying public grain.

I taught my daughter: "In addition to private plots, there are also marginal lands and wastelands, which people have not utilized."

"Dad, I know about wasteland, but what is four-sided land?"

"These are small plots of land beside roadsides, ditches, fields, and trees. These are not included in the scope of paying public grain."

Yu You said, "The land around the village can be used to mobilize villagers to grow food, but the vast majority of the wasteland in this village is on the hillside. It has a slope, and most importantly, it can't hold water. Otherwise, it would have been used by the villagers long ago."

Their area is a hilly terrain, and the surrounding barren mountains are larger than their arable land.

"It's up to your dad now. I plan to lead the villagers to build mountain stone terraces!"