"I believe it too, so let's wait for that day together."
…………
Since the matter was brought up, their relationship has become even better.
With his worries gone, Zhong Songbai relaxed a bit and wasn't as tense as before.
Although Xia Ning couldn't go home with Xia Ning, Xia Ning couldn't tell the Xia family that she had a boyfriend named Zhong Songbai.
But Zhong Songbai did everything he was supposed to do.
Because Xia Ning would be taking the train home after the first day of the Lunar New Year, Zhong Songbai had already roasted hazelnuts, walnuts, chestnuts, and pine nuts in advance. Each type weighed ten jin (approximately 5 kg) and was packed in flour sacks.
They then asked Aunt Wei for help and traded four dried pheasants and four wild rabbits with Aunt Wei and her daughter.
I bought a lot of dried tofu and vermicelli from Aunt Zheng.
They also used 25 jin of meat from their own roe deer, which they processed into spiced roasted jerky.
The 20-pound bag was for Xia Ning's family, and the pound was wrapped in paper for Xia Ning to eat on the road.
With only 4 jin left, Zhong Songbai looked helplessly at Zhong Wanwan and Xiao Baiyang, who had been secretly eating. He decided to leave the rest for the two gluttons at home to satisfy their cravings.
Before we knew it, the Spring Festival was here.
The first New Year for the three siblings in their first year working in the countryside was something they took very seriously.
We finalized the menu for the Chinese New Year three days in advance.
There was sweet and sour fish, steamed chicken with soy sauce, braised pork ribs, braised pig's trotters, stir-fried pork slices, fried meatballs, cold cabbage and vermicelli salad, and canned sweet and cool hawthorn and jujubes that had been prepared in advance and left on the windowsill overnight.
This was added at the strong insistence of Zhong Wanwan and Xiao Baiyang, who insisted that the New Year's dishes were too greasy and that there had to be something cold, sweet and sour to whet their appetites.
There were a total of eight dishes. Even by today's standards, that would be considered quite lavish, let alone in this era.
Of course, apart from those prepared in advance, all of these dishes were cooked by Zhong Songbai.
Zhong Wanwan had originally suggested that since there were four people in her family, each person should prepare two dishes and everyone should participate.
Xia Ning was eager to try, but the two of them were ruthlessly suppressed by Zhong Songbai.
What kind of skills do you have? Don't you have any self-awareness?
They have the nerve to waste such good ingredients; I absolutely cannot agree to that.
Xiao Baiyang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his brother persuade his sister and Xia Ning.
Luckily, his brother is reliable, otherwise he would have smashed four dishes today.
He's confident he won't smash his own two; he's quite confident in himself.
His cooking isn't as good as his brother's, but it's not bad either. Plus, with his brother there to give him some pointers, it's bound to be decent.
It's mainly his sister and Xia Ning's sister who are truly hard to describe.
You can't believe how different people are! Even cooking bad food can have different results.
He originally thought that there was a kind of unpalatable taste called "sister's watery drink," which was bland and tasteless.
Later, I realized that my perspective was too narrow, and there were also Sister Xia Ning's whimsical and creative dishes!
It was truly a diverse and complex mix of things; there was nothing Xia Ning couldn't do, only things you couldn't imagine.
Zhong Songbai cooked very quickly. Just after 11 o'clock, all the dishes were on the table. After setting off firecrackers, the four of them couldn't wait to go back inside and eat.
Using tea instead of wine, Zhong Wanwan, as the eldest sister in the family, raised her glass and said:
"Happy New Year! I hope we can have many more happy years to come, and that we can celebrate the New Year together every year from now on. Let's eat!"
With so many delicious dishes, the four of them ate very happily. After the meal, each of them ate a bowl of chilled canned hawthorn and jujube.
Just as the dishes were put away, children from the farm began to come to the Zhong family to wish them a Happy New Year.
Zhong Wanwan didn't let these children come for nothing; she gave each of them, whether she knew them or not, two pieces of candy to put in their pockets.
Of course, Zhong Wanwan gave 50 cents each of Xiao Youliang and his sister Youmai, who were particularly close to her.
Xiao Youliang was overjoyed to receive his New Year's money, and he showered Zhong Wanwan with sweet words.
The originally cheerful atmosphere was ruined by two children.
The two children were a boy and a girl, whom Zhong Wanwan didn't recognize. They looked to be 1-2 years older than Youliang.
Logically speaking, children this age shouldn't be allowed to come out and offer New Year's greetings.
But since they were already there, and it was the Lunar New Year, Zhong Wanwan, adhering to the principle of treating everyone equally, also gave each of them two pieces of candy.
Who would have thought that these two pieces of candy would tempt these two children to come and offer New Year's greetings with the next group of people every half hour or so.
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