Chapter 137: Celebrating the New Year (Part 1)
"Our class did very well on the final exam. Everyone passed. I'd like to especially commend Shi Qiushui and Zhao Ran. They both scored perfect scores again, tied for first place in the grade. Next on the list are Tao Ran and Cao Juan, who both received a perfect score in math."
"Of course, other students also performed very well. For example, Xiong Jie and Meng Pang made great progress in this exam. I hope other students can learn from them."
"Okay, I'll hand out the exam papers now. First, Shi Qiushui's, then Zhao Ran's..."
Teacher Cai was calling out the names of the students one by one on the podium, and the students sitting below were already making a lot of noise with excitement.
The fat kid sitting in the front turned around, leaning against the back of his chair and chattering, "Xiao Qiu, Xiao Qiu, did you hear what the teacher said? The teacher said I made a lot of progress this time, and she also told other students to learn from me!"
After receiving the test paper, Xiao Taozi returned to her seat and heard Xiao Pang showing off. She shook the test paper in her hand and said, "But you still didn't do as well as I did this time!"
Fatty wasn't upset by this. He raised his head and said, "So, if I didn't pass the test, then I didn't pass it. Anyway, my dad will definitely be satisfied with this result. He has no reason to withhold my New Year's money this time!"
Compared with whether Xiao Taozi can pass the exam, Xiaopang cares more about his New Year's money.
But then again, who doesn’t care about their New Year’s money?
Shi Qiu Shui couldn't even say that he didn't care about the New Year's money.
After receiving the test papers and listening to Teacher Cai's nagging about holiday safety instructions, Shi Qiu Shui ran out of the school gate.
The winter vacation for this group of elementary school students has officially begun.
Shi Qiu Shui's winter vacation was not much different from her school days. She had to go to the track and field team for training. The track and field team required players to arrive at the team at 8 o'clock every morning and train until 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
Of course, she didn't train from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. all the time. She also had some rest time after completing basic training, and she also had lunch and a nap at noon.
Apart from anything else, the canteen of the track and field team is really good. Shi Qiu Shui trained with the track and field team for half a month, and his face became rounder due to all the eating.
As Shi Qiu Shui's face grew rounder day by day, it was New Year's Eve.
On the morning of the 31st, Shi Yue and Shi Qiu Shui got up early.
Although Yue didn't have to go to work during the Spring Festival and Shi Qiu Shui didn't have to go to the track and field team for training, firecrackers were set off in the alley early in the morning. The crackling sound of firecrackers made it impossible for the father and son to sleep, so they crawled out of bed.
Shi Qiu Shui got out of bed wearing thermal underwear, walked to his wardrobe, and began to pick and choose. After rummaging through the wardrobe for a long time, he found a bright red cotton jacket.
It’s Chinese New Year, so we should wear something festive!
She fiddled with things in the house for quite a while, and when she came out she was wearing a red outfit: a bright red cotton-padded jacket with red striped pants and a pair of red snow boots. Even the hairband she used to tie her hair was red. She looked like a walking red envelope in all the red.
Shi Qiushui came out of the room, and when he saw Shi Yue, he asked, "Dad, when are we going to set off firecrackers?"
The little girl started to feel itchy when she heard the sound of firecrackers outside when she woke up in the morning. Her family bought a lot of firecrackers this year, and her father even bought her some small poppers and firecrackers for children to play with!
Shi Yue: "Set off firecrackers? Let's do it in the evening, at night."
Shi Qiushui uttered a small "ah" and said, "Then Dad, can you get me a box of firecrackers?"
Shi Yue: "Want to play? Okay, I'll get it for you."
Then he changed the subject and said, "But, don't you have to come over and wash your face first?"
Shi Yue poured hot water from the basin into a towel and smeared it on Shi Qiushui's face. He said, "You don't even wash your face or brush your teeth. As soon as you open your eyes, you just want to play. You are such a sloppy little dirty kid."
"Well, I'm not a dirty little kid!" Shi Qiushui struggled to grab the towel from Shi Yue's hand and said, "I'll wash it myself. I'll wash my face myself."
Shi Yue patted her head and said, "Okay, then you wash it yourself."
After the little girl finished washing up, Shi Yue also took out the firecrackers that the little girl wanted. He warned her, "Be careful when playing with them, don't hurt yourself!"
"I know! Dad, don't worry!"
Shi Qiu Shui responded, picked up the firecrackers and went out.
At that moment, the Guo twins, Li Xi, and several other children from nearby courtyards were all running around in the alley, playing. Shi Qiushui, firecrackers in hand, jumped up and joined them. Soon, Zhao Ran came out from the backyard. After setting off the firecrackers, the children started running around again. Kids are like that; when they get together, there's no quiet time.
Anyway, no matter how hard the kids ran, they couldn't get out of the alley. Everyone in the alley was familiar, and the adults didn't worry that anything would happen to them, so they just let them play by themselves.
After all, it’s New Year’s Eve, and every family has a lot of work to do.
For a large family like Ma Yulan's, it would take most of the day to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner. Shi Yue's family only had two people to eat with, so it was considered good. But even so, Shi Yue started preparing early.
In fact, before the Chinese New Year this year, Aunt Yang's family, Aunt Ma's family, and the Zhao family all invited Shi Yue and his father to come over to celebrate the New Year, but Shi Yue thought that it was the New Year after all, and it would be more comfortable to stay at home, so he refused.
Although it looks a bit lonely with only two people at home, it’s just two people. It’s not like two people can’t celebrate the New Year together. Isn’t Aunt Yang next door also a mother and son? Hasn’t she been living like this for many years?
Shi Yue put on an apron, rolled up his sleeves, and prepared to get to work.
Even though it was a New Year's Eve dinner for two people, he didn't intend to be perfunctory.
Shi Yue had planned the menu for the New Year's Eve dinner with Shi Qiu Shui a few days ago. Today he planned to follow the menu one by one. The first thing to make was fried meatballs.
If we talk about the most indispensable dish on the New Year’s Eve dinner table, it must be fried meatballs. Every family has to make this dish. Other families fry them a few days in advance, but Shi Yue was still at work, so he could only fry them on New Year’s Eve.
He brought in two pieces of meat from the windowsill outside.
Yes, on the windowsill outside.
It is cold in the city of Sijiu in winter, and the outside is like a natural refrigerator. Shi Yue hangs all the things that cannot be stored at home on the windowsill outside. Of course, he is not the only one who does this, everyone does it.
It snowed again two days ago, and it was very cold in the past two days when the snow melted. The meat that Shi Yue brought in from the windowsill outside was frozen hard. It was impossible to cut such meat, so he could only carry a basin out to get water to thaw the meat.
Shi Yue was collecting water at the edge of the pool when he saw Yang Zhiqiang coming over with a large basin.
He looked up and said, "Are you going to get some water? I'm almost out of water. Why don't you go first?"
Yang Zhiqiang quickly waved his hand to refuse.
"Okay, Shi Yue, I know you mean well, but I'm really not in a hurry. Just take the water, slowly. The slower the better."
Shi Yue didn't understand. Why was it better to get water as slowly as possible?
Yang Zhiqiang saw that Shi Yue didn't understand, so he pointed to his own house and explained, "I came out not only to get water, but also to hide from my mother."
He sighed and said, "Alas, my mother hasn't mentioned urging me to find a partner and get married in the past three months. I thought she had given up the idea, but she brought it up again today. She said she felt uncomfortable seeing the house lonely during the New Year and asked me to find her a daughter-in-law as soon as possible."
He looked at Shi Yue bitterly, clapped his hands and said, "It's New Year's Day now, where can I go to bring her a daughter-in-law?"
Shi Yue patted Yang Zhiqiang on the shoulder and felt very sympathetic towards him.
Yang Zhiqiang finally found a place to vent his frustrations. He put his arm around Shi Yue's shoulders and said, "Oh, no, I really don't understand. Why does my mom insist that I have to find a partner, get married, and have kids in order to live out my life? I'm living a good life on my own. I feed the whole family, and I can go wherever I want. It's so carefree. Why does she insist on having someone to control me?"
"That's right!"
Hey, don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t Shi Yue who said this, but Li Fangfang who came over at some point.
Hearing Li Fangfang's words, Shi Yue and Yang Zhiqiang turned their heads at the same time. Yang Zhiqiang said, "No, Li Fangfang, when did you come here? You didn't say a word, I didn't even notice you."
Li Fangfang: "I came here earlier, but you were so serious about complaining to Shi Yue that you didn't notice me."
Yang Zhiqiang: "Hey, you little girl, you eavesdropped on me talking to your brother Yue, and you still think you're right, don't you?"
He tapped Li Fangfang's forehead and said, "Tell me, little girl, were you laughing at me in your heart just now?"
Li Fangfang: "Why am I laughing at you?"
Yang Zhiqiang: "Of course you're making fun of me, an old bachelor, being urged by your Aunt Yang to find a partner."
Li Fangfang sighed and said, "What's so funny about this? My mom is also urging me to find a partner."
Shi Yue: "Auntie Li is urging you to find a partner? You haven't even graduated from college yet, right? Why is Auntie Li so anxious?"
"Everyone says that!" Li Fangfang shrugged helplessly. "I don't know what my mom is so anxious about. Ever since she mistook my roommate for a man and thought I was in a relationship, she's been trying to find a way to tell me that I'm not young anymore and can start looking for a partner. Today, she even said she was going to ask Aunt Yao to introduce me to a blind date."
Shi Yue: "Auntie Li is going to arrange a blind date for you right now? She's a bit too impatient."
Yang Zhiqiang agreed, "Yeah, you're only 22 this year, right? When I was 22, my mom didn't even rush me."
Li Fangfang: "Well, I don't know what my mother thinks. Anyway, I haven't thought about it yet. I just want to study hard with my mentor."
Yang Zhiqiang: "I don't want to think about it right now. I just want to do my business well first."
Li Fangfang and Yang Zhiqiang looked at each other, and they almost wanted to hug each other and say that they were close friends!
Looking at the two people who were almost driven crazy by the pressure of getting married, Shi Yue shook his head: "I'll go back after I get the water."
As soon as he left the pool with the basin in his hand, Li Fangfang and Yang Zhiqiang began to show courtesy to each other.
"Well, Brother Zhiqiang, you take it. You who came first take it first. I'm not in a hurry and I'll take my time."
"No, no, no, sister Fangfang, you come first. Ladies first."
"Hey, Brother Zhiqiang, we all grew up in the same courtyard, there's no need to be so polite, just follow the first-come, first-served basis."
"No, no, no, you should go first. You are my sister after all. It will be okay if I give in."
"Yang Zhiqiang, don't think I don't know that you just want to hide outside for a while!"
"Li Fangfang, don't you think so too?!"
When the two were about to fight over who should get the water later, Old Lady Yang roared: "Yang Zhiqiang, I asked you to get the water, where is your water? Why haven't you brought it back for me yet? Are you going to dig a well for me now?"
Hearing this, Li Fangfang chuckled, nudged Yang Zhiqiang with her elbow and said, "Brother Zhiqiang, hurry up and get some water. Aunt Yang is urging us to get some."
Yang Zhiqiang: “…”
He stared at Li Fangfang with dead fish eyes, and could only carry the basin to fetch water.
Shi Yue, who was busy in the kitchen, happened to see Yang Zhiqiang reluctantly carrying the basin of water home. He couldn't help but chuckle.
Yang Zhiqiang's bitter and resentful face is so funny.
After making fun of Yang Zhiqiang, Shi Yue officially started preparing for the New Year’s Eve dinner.
The pork wasn't softened yet, so I started chopping the chicken. The chicken I'd bought at the suburban market with Gao Cuifen and the others was already gone, so Shi Yue went back to the market to buy more after the Little New Year. It's true that things get more expensive the closer it gets to the New Year. It was a large rooster, but this time it cost several yuan more than last time. Chicken was a must for Chinese New Year, so Shi Yue bought some anyway.
Chop the whole rooster into pieces, add onions, ginger, garlic and cooking wine, put it into the pot, put it on the stove and stew it.
Shi Yue wiped the knife and chopping board and began to clean the fish.
Chicken is indispensable on the Chinese New Year dinner table, and fish is even more indispensable, as it means there will be surplus every year, which is a good omen.
Fish is easy to cook. My wife bought this fish at the vegetable market yesterday. When she bought it, she asked the stall owner to gut and prepare it for her. He made a few cuts on the fish, put some green onions, ginger and garlic in it and marinated it. When it was marinated enough, she could just steam it in a pot.
After cleaning the fish, the meat is almost done. Take out one piece of meat and chop it up. The chopped meat is also divided into two parts. One part is mixed with stuffing and saved for making dumplings in the evening, and the other part is mixed with seasoning and stirred to make meatballs.
Wipe off the remaining piece of meat and prepare to fry it in a pan as a whole. This will be used to steam the braised pork.
Shi Yue was busy in the kitchen, sweating profusely. At this moment, Shi Qiu Shui came running in from outside.
She blinked and asked, "Dad, is there anything I can do to help you?"
Shi Yue waved his hand: "No, I don't need your help here, go out and play."
Shi Qiushui shook his head: "I've had enough fun and want to come and help you."
Shi Yue looked up at Shi Qiu Shui, and a relieved smile appeared on his face as he saw the little girl eagerly wanting to come up and help him.
He said, "If you really want to help me, peel some garlic for me."
"good."
Shi Qiu Shui agreed sweetly, moved a small stool to the kitchen door, and started peeling garlic.
Shi Yue was cooking in the kitchen, and Shi Qiu Shui was peeling garlic at the kitchen door. For a moment, the house was quiet, and the warm winter sun shone in, making the house cozy.
Suddenly, a sharp female voice broke the warm atmosphere.
"Get out, get out, you little bastard, get out of here right now! From today on, don't treat me as your biological mother. I'll pretend I never gave birth to a son like you. Get out of here right now! Take your wife and your bastard and get out of my house!"
Shi Qiu Shui's eyes widened, and she immediately leaned against the window to look out.
Shi Yue also put down the work in his hands and went to the window to check the situation.
Gao Cuifen was seen standing at the door of her house, flapping her hands and trying to chase people out.
Shi Yue took a closer look and found that the people she was chasing out were none other than Gao Cuifen's third son, daughter-in-law and their two children.
Shi Yue: "What's going on?"
Shi Qiushui shook his head: "I don't know."
She only came to the window after hearing some noise outside and had no idea what had happened before.
Shi Yue and Shi Qiushui, father and daughter, looked at the situation in the courtyard with bewildered faces. Fortunately, Ma Yulan opened the door and came out. She stepped forward and grabbed Gao Cuifen, saying, "Lao Gao, Lao Gao, what are you doing? It's New Year's Day, and the child came back to see you safely. Why are you mad at the child?"
While pulling Gao Cuifen, she said to Zhang Laosan, "Laosan, you too, you finally come back, why are you making your mother angry? It's New Year's Day now, you should talk to your mother and don't make her angry."
Gao Cuifen pushed Ma Yulan away and said, "Old Ma, don't ask him to apologize to me. I don't need this little bastard to apologize to me!"
Ma Yulan was almost pushed to the ground by Gao Cuifen. Although she finally stood firm, her face had obviously darkened.
After all, it was New Year's Day and she came out with good intentions to mediate, but she almost got pushed down. Who could be in a good mood like that?
Ma Yulan wanted to just walk away, but at this moment Li Xiuying pushed the door open and came out, crossing her arms and saying something objective.
"Gao Cuifen, if you're angry, go take it out on your son and daughter-in-law, not Old Ma. Old Ma came to you with good intentions to try to persuade you, but you almost pushed him to the ground, and you didn't even offer an apology. Do you think that's the right thing to do?"
Although she didn't push the door open just now, she could see clearly what happened in the yard.
Gao Cuifen felt a little embarrassed after hearing what Li Xiuying said, but she quickly apologized to Ma Yulan: "Well, I'm sorry, Old Ma, I just wasn't paying attention, and..."
"Okay, it's okay. I know you didn't mean it."
After hearing Gao Cuifen's apology, Ma Yulan's expression improved a lot.
She didn't feel any pain because of the apology, but mainly because she knew that her kindness was seen, which made her feel much better.
Besides, after living in the same courtyard with Gao Cuifen for so many years, how could she not know who Gao Cuifen was? This is just a scoundrel!
It is not easy to hear Gao Cuifen's apology.
Ma Yulan waved her hand, not wanting to argue with Gao Cuifen about how she was almost pushed and fell. She cleared her throat and said, "Ahem, well, Lao Gao, let's talk about your family. Tell me, what was it about today? Why did you get into a fight with your third child?"
Although Gao Cuifen had long been dissatisfied with her third son who married into her family, it was the New Year and if nothing happened, she would definitely not make a fuss.
Gao Cuifen: "Why? What else could it be? Because I gave birth to an ungrateful child! Blame it on me for not opening my third eye when I gave birth. If I had known that after all the hardship, blood, and tears I'd go through to give birth to such a heartless creature, I should have thrown him into the toilet and drowned him the moment he was born!"
"No, Mom, do you really need to?"
Zhang Laosan, who had been silent since Ma Yulan left, finally spoke. He put his hands in his pockets and said nonchalantly, "Isn't it just that when we were making the New Year's Eve dinner, my family didn't lend a hand to help you? Do you have to make such a big deal out of it? You're making it sound like I've broken some heavenly law."
Gao Cuifen was so angry that her face turned red: "Is it because of this?!"
Zhang Laosan: "Why not? Isn't that why you're unhappy?"
He looked at Gao Cuifen as if he were looking at an ignorant child and said, "I'm not saying anything, Mom, but you're being a bit unreasonable. Isn't it normal that no one helps with cooking at my house? I'm different from my older brothers. I'm a son-in-law, so you shouldn't treat my wife as your daughter-in-law. You should treat her as your son-in-law. Have you ever seen a son-in-law come over to help with cooking during the New Year?"
Gao Cuifen panted heavily: "What about you, as a wife, aren't you just sitting on the sofa and chatting?"
She emphasized the word "daughter-in-law" and said it with gritted teeth.
Zhang Laosan: "Ah? Me? I'm a grown man, how could I possibly go into the kitchen? Aren't those things in the kitchen something you women do?"
He looked at Gao Cuifen innocently and said, "Mom, didn't you always tell me before that men shouldn't be busy with kitchen chores? It's useless!"
Shi Yue, who was busy in the kitchen just now: ...
Shi Qiushui also turned around to look at Shi Yue and shouted, "Dad..."
Shi Yue rubbed Shi Qiushui's head and said, "Be good, don't listen to Zhang Laosan's farts."
Shi Qiushui: "Okay."
Not only Shi Yue thought that Zhang Laosan was talking nonsense, but everyone in the courtyard who heard what Zhang Laosan said thought so too.
Ma Yulan scratched her ears, looking confused. "No, Zhang Laosan, if you say so, your wife won't help, and you won't help with the cooking either, then your family will be waiting to eat empty-handed this year?"
Zhang Laosan nodded confidently: "Yes!"
Seeing Zhang Laosan like this, Li Xiuying and Ma Yulan started to itch their hands, not to mention Gao Cuifen, but Gao Cuifen's eldest son stood up before her.
"Bullshit, Third Brother, you've been cunning and treacherous since you were little. When you were little, you relied on your sweet mouth to act cute in front of your parents every day. Now that you've grown up, you haven't improved at all! It's the sons who come home for the New Year, and your second brother's family and I have people helping Mom with the work. Why shouldn't your family have to contribute anyone to the work?"
Zhang Laoer also nodded: "That's right! Lao San, why should your family just wait to eat?"
Zhang Laosan shrugged: "Hey, why are you asking me what to do? It's not like I asked your two families to send people to work. You can also do the same as me and not do it. Anyway, Mom can still work, so let Mom do it."
Gao Cuifen was already holding her breath, and after hearing this, she couldn't help herself and rushed forward to slap Zhang Laosan in the face.
"You are such a good fellow, Zhang Laosan. You treat me as a slave, don't you? I let you treat me as a slave. I let you tell me to work, and I let you, a little bastard, not work..."
Gao Cuifen was beating the child, and her remaining son and daughter-in-law stood by and watched with their hands folded, and occasionally cheered for Gao Cuifen.
Ma Yulan and Li Xiuying looked at each other and quietly withdrew from the battlefield.
Zhang Laosan really deserves a beating.
Let Gao Cuifen beat him a few times.
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