Chapter 70: New Year's Eve Visit to the Shrine
On New Year's Eve, Gong Zhili, as the family chef, got up early.
The others in the family were only slightly later than her. Gong Zhili steamed some buns for them to use as a snack. As they ate, she said, "The dumplings we made yesterday are perfectly frozen. I've sorted out the order of cooking. We all have important tasks today, so we'll only have buns for lunch. Is that okay with that?"
The five children looked solemn: "No problem!"
Ieiri Naoko: "Oh, are we having steamed buns for lunch too?" Of course, steamed buns are delicious too...
Gong Zhili: "We must save room for dinner tonight!"
They had already done a lot of things yesterday. For example, the braised beef with soy sauce was braised and refrigerated, and it was only sliced and served before serving. The tiger skin eggs were also fried and braised, soaked in the marinade and refrigerated. The chestnuts were also cooked in advance and refrigerated. The braised beef brisket was also blanched and fried with sugar color, and spices were added to make the soup and boiled. After being refrigerated, it was taken out today and put into a casserole with vegetables to continue stewing.
There is also a family casserole. The egg dumplings and meatballs are all prepared in advance. It took a lot of effort to make the egg dumplings and pound the meatballs by hand yesterday. The vermicelli and dried mushrooms are soaked, and today I just need to tear the cabbage into pieces and put them in to cook.
There were so many things to do that they were busy until very late yesterday.
Even though they prepared a lot, they still went into the kitchen at eight o'clock this morning. They had to stew old duck soup in the morning and prepare ingredients for the slow-cooked dishes.
Megumi Fushiguro was assigned to the stew pot, responsible for stirring the soup pot every once in a while to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. He held a small timer in his hand, and he would stir it after each countdown, and then set the countdown himself.
Ieiri Naoko was in charge of chopping the scallions, ginger, garlic, and onions for all the dishes today. Facing the pile of ingredients, she gave a bleak smile: "Chiri, is there any way to get rid of the smell of these things?"
She will definitely be pickled!
Gong Zhili patted her shoulder: "It's okay, the hand sanitizer I just bought is very fragrant and has rich foam. Wash it for a few days..."
After she finished speaking, she went to cut vegetables.
She prepared food in the morning and made a cold dish platter in the afternoon. At five o'clock, she officially started preparing the New Year's Eve dinner!
The kitchen was bustling with activity. The chopping board made a clattering sound, the knife blade rose and fell quickly, steam gushed out from the edge of the casserole lid and the top of the steamer, gathering into a white mist under the ceiling. The light penetrated the steam, illuminating the busy people in the kitchen.
Time unknowingly came to half past six. The stir-fried dishes that were served first had been placed on the iron plate around the stove to keep warm. Finally, the freshly made fried shrimp tempura, candied sweet potato and taro cakes were served, followed by the already cooked casserole and dumplings.
Eighteen dishes, all filling and quite luxurious, were served on the table.
Yuji Yasuke, who was invited, was shocked: "So much... Can they finish it?"
Gong Zhili smiled and said, "If you can't finish it, you can just eat the leftovers for the rest of the New Year."
Yuji Itadori was very supportive: "Such a delicious dish is delicious even as leftovers!"
Ieiri Naoko clasped her hands together and asked, "When can I start eating?"
Everyone poured their favorite drinks and were about to toast when Gong Zhili thought, "Wait a minute, we should take a picture!"
Ieiri Naoko was extremely hungry, but she also agreed that it was indeed the time to take pictures, so she waited for Miya Chiri to set up the camera. After taking the group photo, everyone toasted and began to enjoy this luxurious New Year's Eve dinner.
Naoko Ieiri ate half a plate of candied sweet potatoes by herself. She obviously didn't like sweets, but she was fascinated by this dish.
The live broadcast of the Red and White Songs Festival has started on TV. It is foreseeable that the children will start watching TV with their bowls after filling their stomachs. Today, Gong Zhili simply pushed aside the partition between the stove and the sofa - this door was originally a horizontal sliding partition, so that they can watch to their heart's content.
The tempura and candied sweet potatoes were all eaten, and the taro cakes were also finished. Gong Zhili was relieved that all these fried foods were finished.
"Nano, what are you drinking?" Gong Zhili looked at Naoko and saw her take out another bottle without a label from under the table, and his eyebrows twitched.
Jialiu Xianzi remained calm and said, "I bought the rice wine from the village."
Gong Zhili didn't believe it at all, but didn't expose her. She just said, "Drink less. They said they're going to visit the shrine tomorrow morning, so you might have to get up early. Be careful of a headache."
Ieiri Naoko nodded and took out her phone: "Let's take a photo! I'll send it to them!"
Nanako was very interested in the phone. She leaned over to take a look and imitated Ieiri Shoko by making a V sign. After Ieiri Shoko took a photo with her, she put her arms around Miya Chiri's neck and said cheerfully, "Come on - strike a pose -"
Gong Zhili glanced at the camera and forced a smile to show her cooperation.
Alas...Nano is a little bit drunk today. Is it because she is in a good mood?
Thinking of this, Gong Zhili's smile became gentle.
After the children finished their meal, they didn't want to stay at the table. Itadori Yasuke finished his meal early and sat on the kotatsu to watch the Red and White Songs Festival. Itadori Yuji was probably tired and fell asleep on his grandfather's lap. Miya Chiri and Ieiri Shoko cleaned up the remaining dishes and snuggled up on the sofa to watch the Red and White Songs Festival attentively.
Ieiri Nishiko yawned, edited the email and photos and sent them to a group of people.
The songs on TV were either gentle or passionate, and her eyelids gradually became heavy, falling into a half-asleep state. She vaguely felt Itadori Yasuke getting up to say goodbye, the children running around the house, and she could vaguely hear Chiri calling her name softly.
Maybe the "rice wine" today was a bit too strong, so my eyelids were so heavy that I couldn't lift them up.
Her consciousness could feel Gong Zhili bringing a quilt to cover her. This heavy warmth directly covered all her struggles and made her completely fall into a dark and sweet state of having nothing.
Gong Zhili added more firewood to the heater to ensure that the temperature in the living room would not drop too quickly, and then urged the children to go to bed.
On the first day of the new year, Gong Zhili got up very early. She took out a few dishes, heated them up for breakfast, and checked her mobile phone at the same time.
Last night, because Nozomi went to bed early, they didn't insist on waiting until the New Year's Eve. Everyone followed a good schedule, but the others seemed to have stayed up late at night and sent her messages on New Year's Eve. After Gojo Satoru sent a brief "Happy New Year", he asked them to clear their schedules for January 2nd as he had plans.
Since there wasn't much to do that day anyway, Gong Zhili replied, "Okay."
Breakfast was heated up, her messages were replied to, and the children all got up and rushed to the kitchen to wish her a happy new year.
"Okay, Happy New Year, everyone! Let's go to the living room. I've prepared some lucky money for you."
Ieiri Naoko also woke up, rubbing her eyes, and said, "I'm prepared too."
The children then received two red envelopes in order from shortest to tallest, and ran around the house happily holding the red envelopes.
After breakfast, Itadori Wosuke came over and gave another red envelope to the children at home.
Gong Zhili did not refuse, and the children were also very sensible and happily accepted it.
"It's just right, Mr. Itadori, why don't you come with us to pay your respects? It's the first day of the new year," Miya Chiri invited him. "Everyone is going to the shrine to burn incense and ring bells."
Itadori Wosuke went with them to the shrine. The snow in the village was still very thick, so they walked slowly. Itadori Wosuke asked, "I heard that you are the village shrine maiden. Do you need to preside over the ceremony at the shrine today?"
Gong Zhili smiled and said, "No, this village is covered by my barrier. It's too cold, so I'm too lazy to go through with the ritual."
Itadori Yasuke: "What kind of thing is a barrier?"
Gong Zhili continued to smile: "It's probably the kind of barrier that everyone is familiar with."
Her barrier has so many uses that there is no point in describing it in too much detail, as it might scare the old man.
Itadori Wosuke has rich life experience, so he stopped asking questions in this regard and instead took care of the children.
On the first day of the new year, many people wore winter kimonos, mainly the female villagers. Miya Chiri hadn't prepared kimonos for the children yet. Seeing this, she lowered her head and discussed with Tsu Miki and the others, "Would you like to wear kimonos?"
Tsumeki shook her head: "I'll want to wear it when Shichigosan arrives." Fushiguro Megumi: "Shichigosan doesn't want to wear a kimono either."
Miyajiri: "Then when does Hui want to wear a kimono?"
Fushiguro Megumi hesitated for a moment and said, "Coming of Age Ceremony...right?"
Yuji Itadori raised his hand: "I also want to wear a kimono at the coming-of-age ceremony!"
Nanako had already returned from talking to the other children and said, "It's uncomfortable to wear a kimono. It's hard to walk and my legs are cold."
Mimiko drank the hot red date soup distributed by the villagers and said, "Then I will wait until the Coming of Age Ceremony to wear a kimono."
Nanako: "They say kimonos are warm in the summer and cold in the winter."
Gong Zhili: It’s clearly the country’s traditional costume?
Ieiri Glass: "Anyway, I'll just wear school uniform or casual clothes for my coming-of-age ceremony, but Chiri, if you have the chance, you can try it. I think it would look great on you."
It seems like everyone is enduring this for some kind of aesthetic reason.
Tsumiki hesitated, she wasn't sure whether she should wear a kimono during the Shichigosan.
So she also went to socialize with her friends in her village.
Everyone who socializes during the New Year at the shrine has their own small circle. Itadori Yasuke exchanged names with the elderly people of similar age in the village, which meant that he was about to integrate into the village life. When he came back after a walk around, he found that there was a line in front of Miya Chiri. The villagers brought their children to greet her, and after a few simple words of "Happy New Year", they left contentedly, giving their seats to the next family.
Gong Zhili was wearing a long black down jacket, a milky white cashmere beret on her head, and holding a cup of red date soup in her hand. She looked like a typical junior high school kid when she said Happy New Year to others.
Perhaps we can only get a glimpse of it from other people's cautious social attitude.
No matter what, she doesn't look like a shrine maiden...
After everyone had made their wishes, socialized with each other, and said "Happy New Year" to Lord Miyabi, Tsu Miki returned with the results of her own investigation. She said that it was still in time to wear a kimono at the Coming of Age Ceremony.
Gong Zhili smiled and said, "If you change your mind, you can always tell me."
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The author has something to say: I'll post this chapter first, because I have one more day off since I took leave, so I have to write it quickly. Maybe it's because my period is coming soon. I'm so tired this week. Today I was so sleepy that I lay on the sofa and fell asleep for more than two hours without any warning. I couldn't wake up at all. I felt numb. After posting this chapter, I will write the next chapter without stopping!
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