Chapter 114 Chapter 114 New Year's Eve Reunion Night Have you heard of...
Madam Wu gave birth to a daughter, and both mother and daughter are safe. Because on the day the child was born, the apricot flowers in the street bloomed luxuriantly overnight, the child was named Wu Xinghua.
Wu Langjun cried for joy, and a tall man stuffed the air-dried ham hanging under the corridor into Aunt Duan's arms while crying.
After all, Aunt Duan put in a lot of effort during Madam Wu's delivery.
By the day of the full moon banquet, the chubby little girl of the Wu family had grown to be cuter than the apricot blossoms on the branches in February. She stared at people with her big, blinking eyes, and the neighbors all liked her very much.
She seemed to get along very well with the Duan family. When Duan Zhiwei and others came to the Wu family to attend the full moon banquet, Xiao Xinghua smiled when she saw them and even stretched out her two short hands to touch the Jinhua cat.
Jinhua was speechless as the baby rubbed his fur. He wanted to run, but Xiao Xinghua started crying when he ran. He could only helplessly let her rub his fur while he told Duan Zhiwei to cook and pack up the herring from the banquet.
As the Spring Festival is approaching, ingredients such as herring and pig's trotter are becoming popular again. People in Chang'an are busy sending New Year's plates and buying New Year's goods, and the whole Chang'an is very lively.
Duan Zhiwei also went to the market with Aunt Duan to buy New Year's goods last year: giant candles and gold ingots from the paper horse and incense shop; baskets, ladles, porcelain, and brooms from the grocery store; and distiller's grains and plague-preventing pills from the drugstore.
A donkey cart came back fully loaded with things.
The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is the day when the Kitchen God ascends to heaven to pay homage to the Jade Emperor and report on the good and evil deeds of the world. Aunt Duan also followed custom and pasted a kitchen horse on the stove and painted the stove door with wine dregs.
There was a tradition of offering yellow sheep to the kitchen god in the palace. Yuan Shenji also got a bowl, but he couldn't bear to eat it, so he brought it back with him. As a result, the yellow sheep had a strong smell and no one was willing to eat it. In the end, Yuan Shenji sat in front of the table and ate it all by himself.
By the twenty-seventh or twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the festive atmosphere is already strong.
Every household burned pine cones at the door, and restaurants were busy cleaning, replacing peach charms and window decorations. Duan Zhiwei specially bought a peony New Year painting from the painting studio and placed it in the center of the main hall, brightening the entire restaurant.
Chen Guifang brought the White Mushroom Shopkeeper to give a New Year gift, a basket of bright yellow tangerines.
Duan Zhiwei knew that she was the only one left in the Chen family, so she invited her to celebrate New Year's Eve together.
"We have an empty room here. You can stay here for one night before going back." Duan Zhiwei invited warmly.
Chen Guifang thought she would spend New Year's Eve alone again this year and was secretly sad, but when she heard her words, she was so moved that she kept wiping her eyes.
The White Mushroom Shopkeeper took the opportunity to walk to the stove and secretly took a piece of pancake and hid it in his gills.
Zhen Hui also shamelessly wanted to come to Duan's restaurant for the New Year's Eve dinner, and Duan Zhiwei of course agreed.
Pu Tao wanted to go home, but was reluctant to leave everyone in the restaurant, so Aunt Duan went to invite Pu Tao's grandparents to have New Year's Eve dinner together.
I don't know how Li Heng learned that Chen Guifang was going to spend New Year's Eve in a restaurant, so he discussed with Yuan Shenji that he could come as well.
Duan Zhiwei was a little embarrassed: "There are no empty rooms."
"He can live in the hotel next door." Yuan Shenji said.
This year the Chinese New Year is late, in February, and the Spring Examination is in March. It is not cheap to find an empty room in the Di Inn. Besides, the Li family is a big family, and Li Heng...
Duan Zhiwei began to feel curious.
Yuan Shenji took a freshly peeled orange and stuffed it into her mouth: "It's just what you think. I don't know anything else. I don't know even if you ask me."
Duan Zhiwei glared at him unsatisfactorily, then swallowed the orange.
It’s quite delicious.
With so many guests coming on New Year's Eve, everyone in the restaurant is as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood.
A Pan bought brightly colored embroidery threads to sew the most beautiful spring banners to hang at the entrance of the restaurant.
This banner is made of strips of cloth strung together on a bamboo pole to make a long flag, which is hung at the door to welcome the spring, but it actually has no practical use and only serves a decorative effect.
But A Pan didn't care about that. She had been up all night and had just finished embroidering the weeping willows by the Qujiang River on the cloth strips. She had not yet started on the colorful flowers. She felt a little irritable and no one dared to chat with her.
Duan Zhiwei himself also became very enthusiastic and excited. He went to the restaurant to buy all kinds of fish, meat, melons, tomato and fruit plates.
When it was time to go to bed at night, she sat on the bed calmly, still thinking about the menu for the New Year's Eve dinner and whether she had missed buying any New Year's goods.
It was not enough for her to think about it alone, she had to pull the sleepy Yuan Shenji to think about it together in the middle of the night. The latter yawned and resignedly took out paper and pen to help her record the menu for the New Year's Eve dinner.
"A Gun taught me a dish of spicy pork and fried kidney two days ago. I was afraid you couldn't eat spicy food, so I had to use less Sichuan pepper. He also gave me some sweet potato from Shu. How about I make a sweet potato lion's head?"
Yuan Shenji felt drowsy.
"How about a steamed eight-treasure pot for dessert? Put more red bean paste in the eight-treasure rice. Both the elderly and children love it. I heard there is a dish called sticky sugar lamb tail, but it sounds weird, so I didn't learn it."
Yuan Shenji closed his eyes.
"Hey, have I bought the New Year's Eve plate and candles? If not, I'll go to the warehouse to check..."
Duan Zhiwei put on his cloak and ran away. Yuan Shenji took the opportunity to put down his paper and pen, lay down, and fell asleep in a few moments.
When she came back and wanted to say something excitedly, she saw that her husband had already laid down and fallen asleep, and the sound of a clapper was heard outside.
It’s already three o’clock.
Duan Zhiwei also felt a little sleepy, so he lay down and fell asleep.
On the day before New Year's Eve, shops prepare to hang up spring banners and new peach charms, and then close for the holiday, only to reopen to welcome customers in the first month of the lunar year.
Duan Zhiwei exchanged gifts with the wine shops, meat shops and other businesses she usually cooperated with. She gave each of them a large box of rice cakes, and they gave back a jar of Tusu, a basket of cabbage, and some dried chicken and duck.
However, the usually bustling shops were all closed, and the market place was a bit deserted, with only the whistling north wind and the occasional falling dead leaves.
Duan Zhiwei looked at it and felt a little lonely.
The panda A-Gun, wearing his tattered bamboo hat and a black cape, came from a distance, towing a cart loaded with many seasonal vegetables and sauces.
"Happy New Year's Eve, Agun." Duan Zhiwei greeted it while leaning against the door.
Ah Gun was very polite. He parked the car, dusted off the dust on his body, and then came over to greet her and said, "Madam Duan, have a happy New Year's Eve."
"Where are you transporting this truckload of vegetables?" Duan Zhiwei asked with a little curiosity.
"I came to Chang'an from Shu, and I felt a little lonely spending the Spring Festival alone, so I invited the monsters living in Chang'an to spend New Year's Eve with me at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain."
It turned its head to look at the dishes, then nodded: "Axue Amo from the land temple at the foot of the mountain provided me with a venue. There is also a kitchen in the temple. I just need to bring the dishes and seasonings with me."
"It would be great to have someone to spend New Year's Eve with." Duan Zhiwei thought that this banquet for all the monsters sounded very heartwarming, so he generously sponsored a jar of pickled cabbage.
"This is good for cooking fish or stewing soup. If you only eat vegetarian food, stir-fried vermicelli with pickled cabbage is also very refreshing."
A Gun bowed deeply to Duan Zhiwei again, and then left dragging a cart of vegetables.
Its cloak fluttered vigorously in the north wind, and it really had some chivalrous flavor.
Duan Zhiwei watched until its round figure disappeared before returning to the restaurant.
After noon, all the invited guests arrived. Li Heng brought a jar of aged Ba Ling wine, which was said to be worth quite a bit of money.
He was very proud: "This wine has been around since the time of Emperor Taizong..."
Chen Guifang interrupted him: "Okay, okay, why don't you say that this wine has existed since the time of Yao and Shun?"
Li Heng was so angry that his face turned red: "How can you joke about the Holy Lord?"
"Then why are you using Taizong to promote your wine?"
Aunt Duan was chatting with Grandma Putao. It seemed that the old lady had not been in such a lively atmosphere for a while, and she was laughing so hard that she couldn't stop.
Duan Zhiwei was still sitting at the dining table worrying about the menu, and Ah Pan comforted him, "Let's have a hot pot and a few random dishes. Friends and family will gather together on New Year's Eve, and everyone can just have some fun and laugh. There's no need to be so particular about the food."
Duan Zhiwei suddenly felt that what A Pan said was quite philosophical.
Because of the Chinese New Year, there are more stalls selling beef on the market. In this dynasty, the sale of beef is sometimes strictly controlled and sometimes not strictly controlled.
The current saint is too lazy to care, after all, he himself loves roasted beef very much.
Following the example of the boss, beef dishes have appeared in restaurants recently, so Duan Zhiwei boldly bought a portion of beef front leg meat and made beef rolls to prepare for hot pot.
Except for Pu Tao's grandparents, everyone else was sent to work in different places. Li Heng squatted by the well and washed vegetables while muttering, "Tell them I brought servants with me. The Dali Temple Shaoqing squatted here to wash vegetables and said so."
Chen Guifang came to get the washed vegetables and was unhappy to hear this: "The food you cook yourself is the most delicious, don't you understand? Besides, Captain Yuan is at the same level as you, and I haven't heard him complain, only you complain."
Li Heng quickly shut up.
Duan Zhiwei was busy in the kitchen stuffing mushrooms, glutinous rice, etc. into the chicken's stomach. Hearing the two of them bickering, he laughed so hard that his hands couldn't move steadily as he mixed the stuffing.
Yuan Shenji was chopping meat vigorously at the side. Seeing her smile, he also smiled: "Li Shaoqing comes from a famous family. It's rare for him to suffer a setback."
Duan Zhiwei glanced toward the window: "He's enjoying it."
The bone soup in the iron pot has been stewed until it turns milky white, and is served with cabbage, frozen tofu, bean sprouts, and beef and mutton rolls. These are the side dishes for the hot pot.
The stir-fried dishes include stir-fried kidney, braised fish, fish with pine nuts and salted duck, with a full range of chicken, duck and fish.
After being busy for the whole afternoon, everyone was already starving and could not wait to pick up their chopsticks to eat.
The charcoal fire in the copper pot is burning brightly, bubbles are coming out of the milky white soup base, and the rich aroma is overwhelming.
Take a piece of beef and it will be cooked after a few fryings. The beef selected by Duan Zhiwei is fat and lean, with fine fat in the middle, and it is very tender and smooth when chewed.
Eight Treasure Chicken is steamed in a pot and finally drizzled with hot oil. The chicken belly is soft and can be easily cut open with chopsticks, revealing the inside filled with glutinous rice, bamboo shoots, diced ham, and diced chestnuts. It is colorful and looks delicious.
This dish has a bright red color, the chicken is crispy, tender and glutinous, and the various vegetables in it have also absorbed the essence of the chicken and are all very fresh and delicious.
The other dishes include the stir-fried pork kidney which is crispy and tender, the salted duck which is firm but not greasy, and the fish with pine nuts which is fried very crispy, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. This dish is difficult to make, and Duan Zhiwei didn't want to make it at first, but it was the Jinhua cat that requested it. As a result, it secretly drank some wine in the afternoon and is now sleeping soundly by the stove, so he missed out on this dish.
After the meal, everyone gave Pu Tao and Little Wolf New Year's money strung together with red ropes. Duan Zhiwei placed a plate of mixed fruits and eight-treasure rice on the dining table, and everyone gathered around the fireplace to chat.
Aunt Duan traveled a lot in her youth. She had a lot of experiences and was talkative. Everyone loved to listen to her stories. Finally, she said, "Today is New Year's Eve. Do you know how to listen to the sound of divination?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"Some people pray to the stove and ask for directions, then go out with a mirror and listen to the casual words of the people in the market to predict the good or bad luck of the coming year. This is called listening to the sound of divination."
Simply put, on New Year's Eve, put a long spoon into a pot full of water, pray, and then move the spoon to make it rotate. Then, hold a mirror and go out to eavesdrop in the direction of the spoon handle. The first person you meet and his first unintentional words will determine whether the matter you are praying for is good or bad.
There happened to be water on the stove.
Duan Zhiwei originally wanted to make a wish and ask if he could get rich this year, but when he saw Yuan Shenji standing nearby, he pulled him to make a wish.
"I don't believe that," he said.
"No matter what!" Duan Zhiwei was determined.
Yuan Shenji had no choice but to fiddle with the long spoon in the pot. Soon the handle of the spoon turned a few circles in the hot water and stopped in the west direction.
"It's New Year's Eve and it's past curfew, why are there people on the streets?" He looked helpless.
Duan Zhiwei took his arm and walked west. She also felt that there would be no one on the road: "I know, I ate too much, so I took you out to help digest the food."
It was a dark night and the streets were empty, with only the red lanterns hanging from the shops on both sides of the road fluttering in the wind. The two walked west for one street, their hair messed up by the north wind. They were about to go back to warm themselves by the fire when they suddenly heard a noise.
The old man selling tofu on South Street went out for some reason and tripped over a pit due to his poor eyesight. Duan Zhiwei and the other man hurried to help him.
The old man cursed and was helped up by the two of them: "I have looked for Chang'an County so many times, but they never came to fill the pothole on this broken road. I think Chang'an City is doomed!"
Yuan Shenji's face suddenly darkened.
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