Tian Tian obediently found a basin and poured all the soup from the big pot of pig skin into the basin. It was all pig skin jelly. Even though it looks as watery as water now, if you put it in a cool place overnight, it will become crystal clear jelly the next day.
The skill of making pig skin jelly depends on the method. All the pork on the pig skin must be shaved off, leaving no fat at all, otherwise the pig skin jelly will not be clear.
Tian Tian scooped out all the jelly and placed it on the windowsill. She wanted to get some water from the vat to clean the pot, but when she lifted the lid of the vat, she found that there was only some water left in the vat.
She took a look and saw that Grandma Tian and Lin Meiyu were busy cutting vegetables, and even Tian Lisong was pasting window paper in the house. Only the two little ones, Tian Baobao and Tian Zhuo, were left with nothing to do.
So Tian Tian unceremoniously ordered her two younger brothers, "Tian Baobao! Tian Zhuo! Can we go outside and get a bucket of water? There's no water in the water tank at home."
Tian Baobao and Tian Zhuo were not lazy kids. When they heard Tian Tian's instructions, they picked up their buckets and prepared to fetch water.
The dry well has been pumping water all day long, so it hasn't frozen yet. There is no need for the two of them to melt it with hot water, they can just pump out a lot of water by pumping it out.
The two of them quickly pumped a bucket of water and came in to call Tian Tian, "Sister! The water is ready!"
"You two are really capable. You are worthy of being the little men of our family." Tian Tian was generous in praising them. She wanted to go out to fetch water, but was held down by Lin Meiyu.
"Tiantian, help me scrape these pig's trotters clean. I'll go get some water." Lin Meiyu was worried that Tiantian couldn't carry it, so she gave Tiantian another task.
The pig's trotters were covered with hair. Lin Meiyu just put the trotters in the brazier and burned them, and the hairs were all cleaned off. There was a layer of charred stuff on the trotters, which needed to be scraped clean with a knife.
Tian Tian was a little scared when she looked at the pig's trotter. In fact, she was a little afraid to touch the meat. The wet and slippery touch of the meat was disgusting. However, she still overcame the psychological barrier and took the pig's trotter and started scraping it with a knife.
Fortunately, Lin Meiyu had already shaved half of it, and Tian Tian only had to shave the remaining half.
"Mom! The walls are pasted, but there are still some newspapers left. Look, what are you going to keep the newspapers for? I'll take the red paper and go out to write couplets." Tian Lisong came over after pasting the walls, and when he saw Lin Meiyu carrying a bucket, he carried the bucket into the house.
Old Mrs. Tian turned her head and glanced at the newspaper in Tian Lilin's hand and the basin of glue. "Have you used up all the glue? Is it enough?"
"That's perfect. Let me use all the remaining glue." Tian Lisong used his hat to brush off the dust on his body, then turned around to get the red paper that Old Lady Tian had just bought today.
"Second brother! Wash the basin, then go outside and fetch a bundle of firewood. We will make paste of pig's trotters tonight, and then cut these shredded radishes and put them in the water.
Tian Lilin started working silently, took over the job of fetching water, and let Lin Meiyu enter the house.
Seeing Lin Meiyu coming back, Tian Tian finally didn't have to deal with the pig's trotters anymore. She breathed a sigh of relief and quickly went to pour water and wash the pot.
Tian Lisong soon came back with the red paper with the words written on it.
"Dad! You're back!" Tian Tian ran out with a smile and took the red paper in her hand, "Who wrote the couplets this year?"
Before the Chinese New Year, they would go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy red paper and then have someone in the team who could write calligraphy write the couplets for their family.
Tian Tian unfolded the red paper and found that except for the word "Fu", all the other contents were words from the quotations. She folded the couplet without any interest.
"This year, your master wrote these couplets. You put them in the cabinet in your grandma's room. Dad will go to the kitchen to help!"
Tian Tian put all the couplets inside the house, then stood at the door of the kitchen and looked inside. She found that the small kitchen was full of people.
Seeing that Lin Meiyu and Chen Guihua's work had been done by Tian Lisong and Tian Lilin, Tian Tian knew that there was nothing she could do to help, so she took the two naughty kids who had been hanging around in the kitchen away and went to tell them stories.
After telling the story, she had to give them a few words of advice, asking them not to tell others about Tian Tian's stories casually, because if they did, Tian Tian would never tell them again.
Sometimes Tian Baobao and Tian Zhuo were quite tight-lipped. Plus, Old Lady Tian had taught them many times not to tell anyone about family matters. When they heard what Tian Tian said, they raised their hands and swore skillfully that they would never tell anyone.
Tian Tian then told them a few fables, such as the tortoise and the hare, the crow drinking water, and the farmer and the snake.
Tian Tian read these fables when she was a child. She can’t remember many more of them, so she only remembers these more famous ones.
Tian Baobao and Tian Zhuo had never heard such a story since they were little. They listened to it with great interest at first, but they had not slept all day. They helped Tian Tian run around, and soon they could not control their sleepiness. They lay on the small kang in Tian Tian's room with their mouths drooling and slept soundly.
Tian Tian had a very fulfilling day. She arranged their positions, put Tian Zhuo next to her, and fell asleep under the small quilt.
After the adults in the family finished their work, they found that the children were missing. They called out several times but no one responded. It was then that Lin Meiyu went into Tiantian's room and saw the three siblings sleeping soundly. She smiled with relief, covered Tian Baobao and Tian Zhuo with small quilts, added some firewood into the stove, then closed the door quietly and told Old Lady Tian and Chen Guihua that the children were with Tiantian.
Normally the Tian family has two meals a day, but today everyone has done a lot of work and is very tired, so Old Mrs. Tian added an extra meal at around four o'clock in the evening. She originally wanted to invite Tiantian and the others to come and eat together.
But seeing that Tiantian and her two siblings were sleeping so soundly, Lin Meiyu didn't want to wake them up, so she ate first.
Tian Tian originally dreamed that she was eating a luxurious meal in a five-star hotel. Looking at the delicious dishes in front of her, she was about to put a big pork elbow into her mouth, but the scene in front of her suddenly changed.
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