This year's New Year's Eve dinner was also quite unique, thanks in large part to the Zhang family's generous use of oil. The dishes included sweet and sour pine nut fish, fried pork ribs with dried tangerine peel, fried pork belly, and a clay-baked beggar's chicken.
Yunling seized the opportunity and ate a piece of pork belly. The crunching sound was enough to make her head spin, but it was really delicious. The meat was a perfect balance of fat and lean, with the fatty part in the middle glistening with oil, and it wasn't greasy at all when paired with the lean meat below.
Yunling was about to strike again when she noticed Yun Chu standing beside her. Yun Chu had a stern face, and without guessing, Yunling knew that she was being told she was wrong. So she picked up a piece and stuffed it into Yun Chu's mouth.
“My older sister ate it too, so she can’t say anything to me.”
Yun Chu swallowed the piece of pork belly as she finished speaking. To be honest, the pork belly was really delicious, and she wanted another piece.
Zhang rearranged the food, and then Granny Yun placed chopsticks and wine cups along the four sides of the table. In front of her was a large incense burner, and underneath it was a brazier to burn paper money to worship the ancestors.
Yunling thought that the sacrifice had just ended on the 28th, so why were they worshipping again now? It was a shame that the fried pork ribs she had been craving were about to go mushy.
"May our ancestors protect us, ensuring the health and well-being of our family and the safety of our home."
After a long, rapid-fire speech, burning all the joss paper and offering all the wine, Old Lady Yun finally said that everyone could take their seats and eat.
Without saying a word, Yunling picked up a piece of fried pork rib. The rib wasn't fried too dry, and the meat was still very tender. Combined with the slightly sour and sweet tangerine peel powder on the surface, Yunling couldn't wait to pick up another piece.
Seeing that the pine nut fish was far from Yunling, Zhang was afraid that Yunling wouldn't be able to reach it, so she picked up a large piece and put it in her bowl, carefully picking out all the small fish bones, before handing it to Yunling's bowl.
Yunling couldn't help but salivate just from the sweet and sour smell, and with the pine nut fish, she ate the whole bowl of rice.
Tonight is the night to stay up all night. The candles in the lanterns have been lit, illuminating the courtyard. Unlike wealthy families who can eat snacks to help them relax, they can only make the New Year's Eve dinner last longer. Yunling's bowl was filled with more rice.
Before long, the faint sound of firecrackers could be heard from the direction of the county town. Yun Ruochun took the lead in playing with firecrackers at the gate. The peddler sold firecrackers for two to five coins. Two coins were for one firecracker, which was not very loud, while five coins could be fired in succession. According to the peddler, it was very loud.
Yunling had never played with this kind of thing before. Although they celebrated the New Year in the apocalypse, it was nowhere near as lively as this New Year. Most of them were gathered in the basement, some sharing online novels, some playing short videos they had already saved, and there was an old geography professor who kept talking about what the Earth used to look like, in order to give hope to the children who were born with illnesses.
Just as Yunling's thoughts were pulled back, a five-coin firecracker was shoved into her hand.
"Ling-jie, quick, pull it open."
Yunling responded, raised the skyrocket, pulled the thin rope, and one after another, small flames shot into the sky with a whoosh, followed by a series of banging sounds.
Seeing this, the other three were happy to follow suit, and the continuous sound of firecrackers attracted the neighborhood children, including several grandsons of the eldest son.
Adults have their own calculations and concerns, but children don't have so many conflicts. They're fine when they're playing around. Yun Ruochun's firecrackers were all divided up, leaving everyone with smiles on their faces.
Yunling had never been so happy before, so she went wild, playing games like Eagle Catches Chicks, Hide and Seek, and Red Light, Red Light, Red Light, until she was covered in sweat before Zhang caught her and took her home.
"Mom, I'm really good at hide-and-seek."
As long as Yunling is the one looking for someone, her night vision is incredibly accurate. Just thinking about the expressions on the faces of those who thought they were well hidden but were eventually caught by her makes Yunling laugh.
As Zhang wiped her sweat, she watched her laugh and laughed along with her.
The braised beggar's chicken was reheated. Grandma Yun broke off two chicken legs and handed them to Yunling and Yunchu respectively. Yunling took a bite, and the tender, smooth chicken meat with its salty and fragrant flavor stimulated her taste buds. The bitten part was still steaming. Yunling hurriedly bit the piece of chicken skin that was about to fall off, but ended up with her mouth full of chicken oil.
"Look at you, eat slowly."
Zhang used a handkerchief to wipe the oil from Yunling's lips and then wiped the chicken oil off Yunchu's hands.
As the candles inside the lanterns gradually burned out, they told people that New Year's Eve had passed and New Year's Day had arrived.
Yunling received red paper from Zhang Shi and Yun Laoniang. She felt that the amount inside was about the same. After returning to her room, she opened it and found that each of them had seven copper coins, while Yun Chu had eight.
It turned out that the popular custom in this era was to give New Year's money based on age. Yunling didn't think much of it and put the red paper under her soft pillow, and slept soundly without any dreams.
Early on the first day of the Lunar New Year,
Yunling was awakened by the sound of firecrackers. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she looked through the window and saw that her mother was lighting incense in front of the incense burner again, and there was a large stack of gold and silver paper on the table.
Another prayer? Didn't you just do it last night?
Yunling yawned and prepared to lie back in bed, but little did she know that firecrackers were going off one after another in the village, and now she really couldn't fall asleep.
Yunling changed into new clothes and carried the small crossbody bag that Yun Chu had made for her, saying it was for carrying red paper. As soon as she stepped out of the room, the six precious children of the eldest son rushed in. They greeted Yun's mother and Zhang Shi with words of congratulations, stuffed the red paper they had collected into the bag, and left. Yun Xiaoliu even grabbed a handful of candy.
Yun Ruoxia quickly led Yun Ling and the others to the main house. It was Yun Ling's first time here. The main house wasn't small, but it felt crowded with so many people.
"Happy New Year to all my aunts and sisters-in-law! May each year be better than the last."
"Happy New Year, Grandma! May you be in good health. May all my aunts be healthy and young forever."
As Yunling secretly admired Yun Chu for speaking so eloquently, she also repeated her blessings.
"Oh, all the girls are here! Let's celebrate the New Year together!"
Liu didn't let them into the house. Only after the three daughters-in-law had been given red paper did she take out red paper from the house to distribute. As for snacks like winter melon strips, nuts, maltose, and red dates, they still hadn't had enough of them, so why would she let these ungrateful wretches have them?
Yun Ruoxia had no intention of staying long. She took the red paper and left with her people. Once outside, Yun Ling felt that the red paper Liu had given her was a bit strange. She touched it and it didn't feel like a copper coin. When she opened it, she found a copper coin and six melon seeds.
She pouted, thinking that Liu was just like that, so she didn't take it too seriously, but little did she know that Yun Chu beside her saw it clearly.
Yun Chu opened hers and saw that there were eight copper coins inside. Yun Ling's was just melon seeds to make up the number, which was not proper etiquette.
“Lingniang, let’s go back and reason with Grandma.”
"Ah? No need, I don't need these few copper coins." Whenever Yun Ling was worried that Yun Chu would suffer a loss, Yun Chu was always gentle, how could she possibly stand up to a fierce woman like Liu Shi?
Yun Chu grabbed Yun Ling's hand and charged back. She swept past the group of aunts and stood tall in front of Liu Shi, saying, "Grandma, you did something wrong this time."
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