Not long after, all the members of the Liu family sat at the big round table. The Liu family rarely used this kind of big round table, but today's dishes were too rich.
All the dishes from Liu Ben's space were brought to the table, some even being used twice. In the center was the Miaoxian Mushroom and Chicken Hot Pot, bubbling with sweet potato vermicelli, a rich aroma that made one salivate. The refrigerator was stocked with pre-washed and cut ingredients, ready to be added later.
On the left and right sides of the hot pot are two large bowls of crispy round meatballs. These meatballs are made by beating flour and sweet potatoes into a paste, adding sesame oil and some other ingredients that are different for each household, and then rolling them into egg-sized balls and frying them in lard. The freshly fried crispy round meatballs are golden and crispy, and are sprinkled with plenty of white sugar when served. They taste fragrant and sweet, crispy on the outside and glutinous on the inside, making people unable to help but pick them up one after another.
Liu’s crispy balls are filled with some chopped dried tangerine peel to reduce the greasiness and give a refreshing taste. When you bite into them, the pale yellow interior is dotted with some fine orange morsels, which are loved by the whole family.
During Chinese New Year, the Liu family fries a massive amount of crispy balls, filling a whole basket. These balls can also be stored well into the winter. Freshly fried, they're crispy, but after a while, they absorb moisture from the air and become soft and sticky. Then, they're poured into a bowl, sprinkled with sugar, and steamed in a steamer. The soft, sweet balls are delicious too.
Of course, the Liu family doesn’t eat all of these crispy balls themselves. They will pack a few bags to give to others, and others will also give the ones they make at home to the Liu family.
Although they are all crispy, round balls, each household uses different ingredients. For example, the Liu family uses flour and sweet potatoes, while others use glutinous rice, pumpkin, eggs, and others like to add meat. Almost every household has its own unique recipe.
The flavor of each family is learned from their elders, and it is quite hereditary.
In addition to these, there are many home-cooked dishes on the table, such as stewed meat with tofu, braised fish, stir-fried meat, braised chicken feet, steamed chicken with barley, cold seaweed salad, blanched water shield, etc. Oh, and of course steamed bacon.
The Liu family's bacon has been hanging on the balcony for a long time, and it still looks the same as when it was just smoked.
Wang Fengjing cut the bacon into thin slices, each with five layers and three flowers, and arranged them into beautiful shapes in a bowl with dried beans. She added some fermented black beans, chili peppers, oil, salt, etc., and steamed it over water. After the pot boiled and the steam dissipated, she used tongs to carefully take out the hot bowl and serve it directly on the table.
This steamed bacon isn't too tough or salty, but rather fragrant and tender. The white fat is steamed until translucent, while the red lean meat is juicy and succulent. With just a sip, the fat melts into a pool of juice, while the lean meat spreads freely. In that instant, the aroma fills your mouth and nose. The dried beans steamed with the bacon are imbued with the flavor of the meat and soaked up the broth, making them an even more delicious dish to go with rice.
The only drawback is that it is fat but not greasy, which may make people who eat it deceive themselves into thinking that this dish is not high in calories. In the end, they eat too much and gain weight unknowingly.
"This bacon is delicious! Why isn't the bacon I usually eat this delicious?" Liu Lei ate the bacon bite by bite, unable to stop.
"Hey, that's what you're thinking now. When you eat too much steamed bacon, you'll feel that it's not as fragrant as fried ones." Liu Yibiao served himself a whole bowl of crispy dumplings and said with a smile.
"That's true, haha."
After eating a full meal early in the morning, you cannot sit idle in the morning. You have to take care of yourself and put on your latest clothes because the Liu family is going out to pay New Year's greetings.
Of course, the whole family cannot go out together. A few people have to stay at home to entertain people from other families who want to come and pay New Year's greetings.
Wang Fengjing had prepared a snack plate to entertain the guests early on. There were candies, melon seeds, various popular snacks, and fried candied pine nuts made by the Liu family using cinnamon-scented pine nuts. The large pine nuts were fried and then coated with a layer of sugar shell. Just thinking about it made people salivate with its delicious taste.
The snack tray for guests can't just be one, because there will be so many people coming to pay New Year's greetings, and among them are undoubtedly many children. According to local custom, children who come to pay New Year's greetings are a blessing. If a child says a lucky word of congratulations, the host will give him a large pile of snacks and take him away. Therefore, almost every child who comes to pay New Year's greetings will have a large plastic bag stuffed in his pocket.
Having celebrated the New Year for most of their lives, the Liu family is of course familiar with it. For each type of snack, the Liu family prepares a large sack to fill the gaps on the snack plates and to give to children who come to pay New Year's greetings.
Liu Lei and Liu Rui even sneaked a peek at (and secretly ate) the snacks their family had prepared for the children. Look, there was a large sack of candied pine nuts, a large sack of fresh green milk... and another large sack of spicy snacks, soda, and cakes they'd bought on the street. There was a wide variety, and when the children arrived, they'd pack plenty of each. This is also a local custom: the more money you make this year and the more you prepare at home, the better off you'll be next year.
Liu Ben was part of the group that went to pay New Year's greetings. Walking in the morning mist, he and his family started from the neighbors on the left, visited everyone in the village, and then returned from the neighbors on the right.
"Congratulations!"
“May your family be blessed in the New Year!”
"Yoyo, come in and sit down!"
Although it is still a bit cold today, every household's door is wide open, waiting for people to come in to pay New Year's greetings.
Of course, New Year's greetings don't last long at every home, as otherwise they wouldn't be able to return home until dark. Generally, they only visit the homes of their closest relatives, drink tea brewed by the host, eat some snacks, and chat for a few minutes before leaving. For other homes, they simply visit, offer a few words of congratulations, and then leave at the host's polite invitation.
Liu Ben had never lived in the village before, so naturally he had never experienced these customs. Today was his first time, and it felt very fresh. What embarrassed and amused him was that many families in the village treated unmarried people as children when they came to pay New Year's greetings, so -
This family: "Come on, Ben, bring these cookies!"
Liu Ben: "Ah, I'm already this old, this is not good..."
"Oh my, oh my, those who are not married are just children!"
Liu Ben: "Uh, I have no place to put it."
"Your pockets are large enough so I can stuff more for you."
Liu Ben: ...
Another family: "Hey, Ben is here. Here are some cakes. Take a few more!"
Liu Ben: "My pockets are full."
"It can still be stuffed in!"
Liu Ben: ...
As Liu Ben was visiting relatives and friends during the New Year, all his pockets were stuffed full, and even the hat on his clothes was filled with various snacks.
Liu Lei laughed: "I told you they would definitely give you snacks. You should have brought a bag!"
Even though Liu Lei, Liu Sen and Liu Rui are all 20 years old, they are still considered children when it comes to New Year's greetings, so they prepared large plastic bags for themselves early on. Now, halfway through the New Year's greetings, the bags are already filled with various snacks.
Liu Ben looked at their plastic bags and said, "Don't you have any more space to put them? There are still many people who want to visit us for the New Year."
The bags of the three brothers and sisters were full and looked like they couldn't hold any more. But they all tacitly searched their pockets and took out an empty large plastic bag, shook it, and it was full again.
Liu Ben: "...Put my snacks in there, and I'll help you carry it."
So Liu Ben took over the snack bags that Liu Lei and the others had already filled, and continued their New Year's greetings.
After visiting every household in the village, the Liu family returned home with several full bags of snacks, all of which were different.
If every family is not rich, it doesn't matter if they all buy the same biscuits, but as long as the family has a little money, they will definitely try to buy the best ones, the ones that the children like and the ones that are not duplicated with others. This is also a kind of unspoken and simple comparison in the village.
As soon as Liu Ben and his friends stepped into the house, they saw Liu Xiangsi and her elder brother Liu An's family paying New Year's greetings at home.
"Congratulations!" They congratulated each other again.
Liu Xiangsi's son, Haohao, sat obediently in a corner of the sofa, clutching a candied pine nut in his tiny hands and nibbling on it. Liu An's daughter, Zhizhi, was also eating the candied pine nuts, one at a time, much more skillfully than Haohao. After a while, Haohao finally finished a pine nut. Zhizhi, noting how sticky his hands were, wiped them with paper.
Liu Quanyou is not here. He must be staying at home to entertain guests.
The Bainian family couldn't stay long, so Liu Xiangsi and the others chatted for a while and then got up to say goodbye.
Wang Fengjing was as enthusiastic as the others, or even more enthusiastic. She filled half a bag of snacks for Haohao and Zhizhi each. Haohao was small and could hardly carry it, so Zhizhi helped him carry it.
After the Liu family finished their New Year's greetings, they rested at home for a while and then went to the mountain with firecrackers to pay New Year's greetings to their ancestors. The ancestors of the Liu family were all buried on the same mountain. After paying New Year's greetings, they could go home for lunch.
After paying New Year's greetings in the morning, there is nothing to do in the afternoon. I can play cards, watch TV, chat, etc. It's quite leisurely.
After lunch, Liu Ben took Avocado, and Avocado and its friends, to the Guixiang pine forest for inspection.
Now a net has been hung on each osmanthus pine tree. This season is very cold, but the osmanthus pine is more cold-resistant than other pine trees. Even when the cold wind is biting, it still blooms beautiful flowers.
Logically, no one would come to steal such a big tree, so Liu Ben was just strolling around casually and didn't inspect it carefully.
Normally there would be some villagers strolling around in the Guixiang pine forest, looking at the scenery or taking pictures, but today is the first day of the new year, and everyone is busy paying New Year's greetings or chatting and interacting with relatives they haven't seen for a long time, so they won't come up this mountain.
There is a thin layer of pine needles under your feet, which makes a "crunching" sound when you step on it. The fine sound is not noisy, but adds a touch of charm to this quiet environment.
Avocado was walking with a clattering sound. It had just taken a bath last night, and its fur was blown soft. It was combed again in the morning. Now, when the wind blew, its fur was blown up. Avocado, who had been eating well, looked even fatter.
The cats were either lying or squatting on the avocado's body or head, swaying their bodies with the avocado's steps, but they didn't seem to feel the bumps at all. Instead, they all squinted their eyes in enjoyment.
As they walked, Liu Ben, Avocado and Maomao arrived at the place where they had done the live broadcast last time.
All the pine cones here have been collected after the live broadcast. Of course, people were hired to collect them later. The way other villagers collected them was different from Liu Ben. They hung a safety rope and there were other people pulling the rope from behind. It was much safer than Liu Ben, but the collection speed was much slower than Liu Ben.
Liu Ben looked at the pine tree, then casually pulled a candied pine nut from his pocket and put it in his mouth to chew. Avocado came over eagerly, but didn't try to grab it. He just tilted his head and looked at Liu Ben with a small look.
How could Liu Ben have the nerve to eat all the food himself? He naturally had to give some to the avocado.
Suddenly, Liu Ben, who was feeding pine cones to Avocado, turned his head to look outside the mountain. The bushes there began to shake in a familiar way.
Liu Ben: ...No way?
However, the fact was just as he guessed. A big wild boar's face emerged from the bushes. It looked left and right cunningly at first, then stared at Liu Ben with its small black eyes without blinking.
Avocado noticed it too, and took a few steps back in fright. Luckily, he didn't fall down, otherwise his bath would have been in vain. The cats were also frightened and almost slipped and fell. Although they didn't run away this time, they all arched their backs and breathed at the wild boar.
Liu Ben, who had previously vowed that the wild boar would never come back, felt slapped in the face. Fortunately, only Avocado and the cat saw it at the scene at this time, and they would not and could not tell anyone else. Liu Ben just had to drive the wild boar away again.
Liu Ben rolled up his sleeves as he walked towards the wild boar: "You haven't been beaten yet, have you?"
The big wild boar was obviously scared, but it just shrank its head and looked at Avocado and the cat on its back. A gleam of wisdom flashed in Heidou's eyes. He turned his head and hummed twice. The bushes beside him also moved, and a slightly smaller wild boar's face emerged.
Very good, both husband and wife are here.
Liu Ben continued to roll up his sleeves. He had no concept of "a sow cannot be beaten." Today, he was going to beat both wild boars so badly that they would never dare to appear in the osmanthus pine forest again. Liu Ben himself was not afraid of the wild boars, but there were often many villagers who came to the mountain to enjoy the scenery and stroll around, many of them elderly. If they were frightened by the wild boars, it would be bad if something happened.
However, just as Liu Ben walked about two meters in front of the two wild boars and before he raised his iron fist, the bushes shook again, and then a little wild boar staggered out from it.
It really rolled. The little wild boar with stripes on its body seemed to be pushed by its parents. It first fell headfirst into the mud, and then rolled in front of Liu Ben. When it stood up, it could not tell east from west, south from north, and could only hum softly.
Liu Ben stopped and hesitated, unsure whether he should beat the parents in front of such a young "child".
However, the wild boar couple did not stop. They hid in the bushes and fiddled with them, pushing out several little wild boars one after another. Each one was only the size of a puppy, and looked like it had just been born. Its fur looked golden in the sun, and did not look as hard as its parents.
Damn it, Liu Ben thought, this wild boar actually used a child to gain sympathy.
All he could hear were the grunting sounds of the little wild boars, and Liu Ben couldn't bring himself to beat their parents.
The little wild boar was pushed out, and the two big wild boars hid in the bushes, motionless, just staring at Liu Ben pitifully, their eyes seemed to be full of the meaning of "Kind people, please save my children, they haven't eaten for several days."
Liu Ben looked down suspiciously. The little wild boars obviously did not have the ability to sense whether the environment was dangerous as their parents did. As soon as they stood firm, they began to dig around on the ground, trying to find something edible among the dead branches and leaves.
Avocado was very afraid of big wild boars, but had no fear of small wild boars. When a small wild boar came to it, Avocado lowered its head and licked the small wild boar's head. Apparently, the taste was not good, and Avocado stuck out its tongue in disgust, but did not move away from the small wild boar. Instead, it lowered its head and sniffed the small wild boar, revealing a complicated expression.
Liu Ben: ...Avocado’s expression is so vivid.
These little wild boars often roll in the mud with their parents. The mud outside is full of all kinds of rotten things, so it naturally smells bad.
Of course, there was nothing edible on the ground here. No matter how the little wild boars dug, it was in vain. They couldn't eat anything and cried out in grievance.
Liu Ben could punch a big wild boar without mercy, but he couldn't bring himself to hit such a small and fragile cub, and he even felt a little distressed.
There was no one around, and Liu Ben saw that the little pigs seemed really hungry, so he took out a round vegetable from the space, broke off a piece, and threw it on the ground.
The little wild boars had a keen sense of smell and immediately smelled the fragrance of the round vegetables. They rushed towards the round vegetables while shouting and started competing with their brothers and sisters for them.
One piece of round vegetable was obviously not enough for so many little wild boars, so Liu Ben broke it off piece by piece and threw it on the ground. The little wild boars all had food and began to eat it happily. The crispy and sweet round vegetable made a "crunching" sound in their mouths, which was very delicious.
The avocado leaned its head over and Liu Ben broke off a piece for it.
"Hmph." At this time, the big wild boar made a cry that was neither light nor heavy.
Liu Ben didn't even look at it and continued feeding the little wild boar.
"Grunt, grunt." The sow wild boar also made a sound.
Liu Ben gave the two wild boars a cold look. They didn't store food for themselves in the autumn, but instead brought their children out to beg for food in the winter.
However, after Liu Ben fed the little wild boar, he still got some vegetables from the space and left them beside the bushes.
Liu Ben warned the wild boar: "Don't come out and scare the other villagers."
Liu Ben had no ability to communicate with the wild boar, nor did he think the wild boar could understand what he meant, but he still said it.
The big wild boar grunted while digging into the vegetables, and I didn't know if it was saying that it understood.
Liu Ben watched the wild boars pushing the vegetables deeper into the forest before continuing his inspection of the Guixiang pine forest.
Fortunately, no such accidents occurred in the remaining places. Liu Ben completed the inspection smoothly and went to the dairy farm again.
Several employees came to clean the dairy farm in the morning. The dairy farm was much cleaner and the milk had been processed. Liu Ben put all the milk into the system space.
Although the mischievous System cat often complains, "System space isn't your personal space, you can't put anything in it," it's easily appeased with a little gift. This morning, Liu Ben gave the System cat a large bag of candied pine nuts, which the System actually enjoyed. Now, while Liu Ben is loading things into the space, the System remains silent.
Liu Ben even took out a bottle to drink himself and was surprised to find that the milk tasted surprisingly good, with a hint of sweetness. Thinking about it again, he understood. He had given the cows a good meal last night, so it was normal that the milk produced today tasted better.
The other factories had also closed, and Liu Ben had already made an agreement with the nearby villagers to ask them to pay more attention, so the machinery in the factory was still very safe. Liu Ben did not go on an inspection and went straight home.
Some people came to pay New Year's greetings in the afternoon. The Liu family had the most people who wanted to stay, especially the children. The snacks prepared by the Liu family were so popular with the children that they were reluctant to leave and forced the adults who brought them to stay for a while. From this point of view, the Liu family might be bustling all day long.
Liu Ben greeted the guests, left the living room and returned to his room.
He first opened his Youyu space. Although the notice of the online store being closed during the Chinese New Year was still hanging at the top, there were still many people chatting lively inside.
"Wow, I bought that Aben's #1 delicious Miaoxian Mushroom Powder (what a long name) and immediately recommended it to my mom. She didn't think much of it at first, but after I pestered her and persuaded her to try it once, she became even more obsessed with it than I am. We add Miaoxian Mushroom Powder to our New Year's Eve dinner. Wow, Mom's ordinary cooking skills instantly became chef-level! It's so delicious!"
"+1 to the New Year's Eve dinner with Miaoxian Mushroom Powder. My grandma's cooking skills are really average, but after sprinkling it with the magical Miaoxian Mushroom Powder, it was like a delicious magic. It smelled so good that the kids next door cried with greed. Our whole family became gluttons, gobbling up all the food and lying on the sofa all morning, unable to move."
"I was recommended to this dish by the dark cuisine blogger Haiyu's videos. He made a dark cuisine dish called raw egg and yam grate. Wow, the texture was just like snot. Haiyu vomited after eating it, and I almost vomited just looking at it. But then he sprinkled some Miaoxian mushroom powder on it as a last resort, and he actually ate it all."
"Fellow enthusiasts! I also came here after watching that dark cuisine video! At the time, I was wondering how such dark cuisine could be eaten. Haiyu is really working too hard for advertising. I have to support it no matter what. I didn't expect that this Miaoxian Mushroom powder is really awesome. The glutinous rice balls stewed with mushrooms and beef balls I made are so delicious. I recommend you try it!"
"Steamed glutinous rice balls with mushrooms and beef balls? How dare you call it a dark dish?"
"My sweet and sour dragon fruit rice tastes even better after adding Miaoxian Mushroom Powder. It's great news for those who are not good at cooking!"
"Why are you guys not Fatty?"
"I regret this! I only bought one bottle and it's all gone, and the store doesn't open for another 15 days!"
"Tell you something in secret: if you're too lazy to cook, buy the largest-sized Miaoxian Mushroom Powder. You can eat it directly as a snack. It's super delicious."
“…”
Liu Ben found it very funny. Many people were begging for the door to be opened quickly, but that was impossible. Even if he opened the door, the express would not be delivered, so he could only sympathize with them.
Liu Ben posted photos of his Miaoxian mushrooms and his signature dish, Yinhe Miaoxian Mushroom Soup, on his social media account, leaving a comment: "Fresh Miaoxian mushrooms and a soup made with them look delicious, don't they?"
As soon as it was posted, it received a lot of comments.
"sofa"
"Check-in"
"??? What the hell?"
"Did the anchor lie to us that this dark cuisine-like thing is actually the raw material for Miaoxian Mushroom Powder?"
"Host, stop making trouble! This is obviously poisonous, don't eat it!"
"Oh, I saw a red umbrella with a white pole inside."
Liu Ben: "Delicious!"
After posting, Liu Ben didn't read the numerous question marks in the comments, but happily closed the software and returned to his space to farm.
Since opening the online store, or rather, since starting the live broadcast, there have been more and more customers in Aben’s agricultural product store, and the demand has also been increasing. Liu Ben can farm for a long time every day, and if he can’t sell it in one day, he can store it in the warehouse. After all, there is no limit to the warehouse.
But unlike before, Liu Ben no longer has to worry about having too many things in the warehouse and not being able to sell them.
That night, Liu Lei got a bunch of fireworks from a friend. One of them was called Fire Tree and Silver Flower. It was a cone placed on the ground, lit, and pushed open. From the top, countless tiny fireworks burst out, rising higher and higher. From a distance, it looked like a tree transformed from Mars, just as the name suggested. The others were mostly small toys you could hold in your hands, nothing special; any child would have played with them.
Liu Ben watched for a while, took some videos and sent them to You Ying.
You Ying: "Interesting, I've never played it before."
Liu Ben: "How come? Didn't you play with fireworks when you were a kid?"
You Ying: "No, the adults didn't buy me any. When I was little, I only saw those big fireworks from afar. Later, after You Guoguo was born, she pestered her family to buy some, but I was older by then and didn't join in the fun."
Liu Ben: "Such a childhood is incomplete!"
You Ying: "I also feel that the Chinese New Year seems to be just an excuse to get together. It's boring to always go back and forth to meet various relatives."
Liu Ben: "At least there's a delicious New Year's Eve dinner!"
You Ying: "Well, it's quite delicious, but no one here buys your food yet. Sigh, after eating too much of your food, the food here seems just average."
Liu Ben: "Hey, then I'll pack some for you and send it over."
You Ying: "Haha, no need."
Liu Ben didn't think so. At this moment, he suddenly made up his mind to deliver a long-distance takeaway to You Ying as a New Year's gift!
This idea came suddenly and inexplicably, and it sounded a bit unreasonable. After all, You Ying would be back in a few days after the New Year, and there was no need for Liu Ben to run all the way over there. But Liu Ben just couldn't wait, he wanted to see You Ying as soon as possible!
The author has something to say:
Wild boar: begging for food with cubs during Chinese New Year
When I was a kid, many families only gave me snow cakes when visiting relatives and friends during the New Year (snow cakes are delicious too). But now many people give me spicy noodle cakes, milk tea, milk soda, etc. However, I am an adult now, and many families don’t give me any =3=
Thank you to the little angel who irrigated the nutrient solution for me~
My enchantment, you can't compare to irrigating 40 bottles of sweet wine≧▽≦
Fish ball noodles irrigated with 20 bottles of red wine
Autumn Rain Night Talk Yu Lingyu irrigates 10 bottles of white wine ∩ω∩
I don't often buy a bottle of fruit wine from the North and South irrigation.
Haimi irrigate with 1 bottle of rice wine ^o^
Jinjiang, reader of this article, awesome, 666 to me, baby!
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