As the dawn breaks, every household is filled with joy. Rich families hang lanterns and decorations, with lanterns hung under the eaves and door gods painted specially to ward off evil spirits and protect the home pasted on their doors.

The poorer people could only buy some red paper and ask the nearby scholar or judge to help write a couplet for them, which they could only paste on the door. On the door, they would also paste two upside-down Chinese characters for "Fu", which meant good fortune would come in the coming year.

When the Chinese New Year is approaching, many scholars and judges will help people write couplets for free.

A few days ago, the Pei family bought red paper and wrote several couplets, which were not only posted on the front door, but also on the kitchen, main hall, and west side of the courtyard.

There was even one pasted on the wooden shed next to the kitchen, with words like "a good harvest" and "a happy family" written on it, and there were also a lot of upside-down blessings written on it, and they were all pasted on the door.

The couplet was naturally written by Pei Weixuan. His handwriting was like the vigorous branches of pine trees. Even Xu Qinyu, who knew little about calligraphy, could see that his handwriting was very powerful and beautiful.

Xu Qinyu cooked some paste for pasting couplets, and when the paste was used up, all the couplets and the word "Fu" were pasted.

Pei Jianing exclaimed: "Fourth sister-in-law is really amazing."

The cooked paste is just enough to paste the couplets, neither too much nor too little.

Xu Qinyu smiled with her eyebrows raised slightly, of course, she was very good at controlling the amount, once she got something in her hands, she could tell how many pounds it was, to the exact degree.

After pasting the couplets and the word "Fu", Xu Qinyu simply cooked a breakfast.

For breakfast, she cooked Yangchun noodles with a poached egg on top. Since there were no green vegetables, she used Chinese cabbage and sprinkled some chopped green onions on top. It was light and refreshing. The soup was clear but tasted very fresh.

Of course, there was also a share for Shao Ge'er. It was Zhuzi who came. Zhuzi was also wearing new clothes today. When he saw the Pei family, he was very happy and said auspicious words for the New Year.

After Zhuzi left, Xu Qinyu also began to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner.

This is the first New Year here, which is of great significance to Xu Qinyu and the Pei family.

So for this New Year's Eve dinner, Xu Qinyu planned to make something richer.

It was still early, so she just prepared the ingredients and would start cooking the New Year's Eve dinner in the afternoon.

She prepared a lot of ingredients, including pork tripe, duck, and mandarin fish. She had specifically asked Uncle He to keep an eye out for the mandarin fish a few days ago. There were also mandarin fish here, but perhaps because of the water quality or something else, there were fewer of them. Herring and crucian carp were the most abundant, and there were also several other kinds of fish.

Mandarin fish has the least bones and the least fishy smell among all fish, so some large restaurants also cook mandarin fish. However, it seems that not many people like to eat it, or it may be because the taste is not right.

Therefore, mandarin fish is the most expensive among all fish. Black carp and crucian carp cost one cent per catty, while this one costs more than ten cents per catty.

In addition to these ingredients, there is also lamb.

There are six people in the family. Xu Qinyu doesn't cook too many dishes. If she cooks too much, she will have to eat leftovers for several days in a row. No matter how delicious the food is, its taste will be greatly reduced if it is not eaten for the same meal.

So she made a stewed duck and pork tripe soup, which was stewed early in the morning, placed in a clay pot and simmered slowly until dusk. The soup was fresh and the meat was tender, which nourished yin and reduced heat, and could be eaten with mutton.

There is also a squirrel mandarin fish dish, which is made from mandarin fish. The fish bones are separated, the fish meat is carved, seasoned and marinated, then coated with egg yolk and fried in a pan. Finally, it is served on a plate and poured with sweet and sour sauce. It tastes sweet and sour and is appetizing. Children prefer this sour and sweet dish, and it does not have fish bones, so they can eat it with confidence.

The mutton here is smelly. The mutton raised in grasslands is not so smelly. It can be steamed and eaten with chives or dipping sauce. The meat is tender and not smelly. It tastes original. The mutton here is best fried, stewed or roasted.

So Xu Qinyu stewed radish with lamb ribs. Stewing can better remove the mutton smell and it tastes delicious.

There are also several fried dishes that can be eaten after being heated in the pan, or you can add some soup to the mutton pot at the end, and put some fried meatballs, radish balls, some other side dishes such as bean sprouts and tofu.

In addition to several main dishes, Xu Qinyu also made a dish of eight-treasure glutinous rice.

The cooking methods of Eight Treasure Glutinous Rice Rice are different in each place. The one she makes is sweet and is a traditional delicacy in Ningbo. It is made with glutinous rice, red bean paste, jujube paste, several other kinds of dried fruits and lard. It has beautiful color and tastes soft and sticky.

Finally, I stir-fried bean sprouts with scallions, which was crispy and refreshing.

When Xu Qinyu was cooking the New Year's Eve dinner, the Pei family members also stayed in the kitchen, either helping or watching the fire. The family was very warm and cozy.

Today is Chinese New Year, and the whole family specially changed into new clothes. Although they bought thin jackets, they wore other clothes underneath, so they were not cold.

In the past, the Pei family had worn all kinds of silks and satins, and even the most precious silk and brocade were worn out by them. But now the two children kept touching the new clothes from time to time, and Xu Qinyu couldn't help feeling a little sad.

When it is dusk, every household will start to light firecrackers.

Of course, there was no gunpowder or firecrackers here. During the Chinese New Year, firecrackers were burned with bamboo, which made crackling sounds when burned. The purpose of setting off firecrackers during the Chinese New Year was to scare away the "Nian Beast". The story of the Nian Beast has a long history, and even here there are legends about the Nian Beast.

The food was ready. The Pei family helped to bring the food to the main room, while Pei Weixuan went to the yard to roast bamboo.

The bamboos were sun-dried. I bought them a few days ago. Someone was selling them during the Chinese New Year. I paid one cent for two bamboos.

When Pei Weixuan lit the bamboo with a fire starter, the bamboo burned and made crackling sounds, which was really like setting off firecrackers.

Xu Qinyu pursed her lips and smiled, which reminded her of when she was in the orphanage. The director's mother would also set off firecrackers during the Chinese New Year. A group of children would hide in the dining room and chatter. When the firecrackers were set off, all the children covered their ears and looked at the director's mother outside setting off firecrackers with shining eyes.

In fact, although those kids always fought when they were young, as is the case with all kids, they became quite close when they grew up. Some of them kept in touch with each other frequently and they were her few friends.

After burning the bamboo, everyone went into the main room to eat.

All six people sat at the table, including Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er.

Xu Qinyu also made glutinous rice wine a few days ago. Glutinous rice wine is also called sweet wine. The glutinous rice is soaked for several hours, steamed and then placed in a wooden barrel. Some crushed koji and cold boiled water are added. The glutinous rice is pressed compactly, and the heart is dug out and waited to ferment into the sweet wine.

The most important thing about sweet wine is the fermentation temperature. The weather is too cold, so she ferments it on the kitchen stove.

There is also yeast here, but it is quite expensive.

The sweet wine tastes sour and sweet. The glutinous rice wine she fermented is particularly authentic, with almost no smell of alcohol, and can be drunk as a drink.

Drink thirst water is almost the same as drink.

Of course, after all, it is fermented with koji, so it can still be considered wine if it has a low alcohol content and tastes sour and sweet.

Children are not allowed to touch it at all.

Of course, they adults can drink a few bowls happily.

Sweet wine was poured into the bowls of several people. Xu Qinyu picked up the bowl and said with a smile: "Mother, Sister Ning, Fourth Brother, Brother Feng, Sister Yan, Happy New Year. I hope everyone will be healthy and everything will go well in the new year."

Several people raised the bowls in front of them. Wen and Ning'er both had red eyes. They said auspicious words and drank the sweet wine in the bowl.

Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er can't drink sweet wine, so Xu Qinyu made sugar water for them.

I didn’t find any cow’s milk or goat’s milk for sale, otherwise I could have made some milk tea for my two children.

A sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner, accompanied by sweet liqueur, was so delicious that everyone enjoyed it very much and there was not much left over from several dishes.

Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er's favorite dishes are squirrel mandarin fish and glutinous rice rice pudding.

Xu Qinyu didn't dare let them eat too much of the glutinous rice and eight-treasure rice pudding, so each person had only a small bowl, for fear of food accumulation.

After the New Year's Eve dinner, Wen went to the kitchen to wash the dishes and asked Yu Niang and the others to go out for a walk.

Wen did not go, she stayed at home to keep watch.

Xu Qinyu rarely had a chance to rest, and it was Chinese New Year, so naturally she wanted to go out for a walk. Besides, there was a night market in the town only during Chinese New Year, but not on weekdays.

The night market is organized by the gentry and wealthy people on East Street and West Street. Some of them play lantern riddles, which are all free. As long as you can guess the riddle, you will get a lantern. With Pei Weixuan around, the riddles are always guessed correctly. Xu Qinyu, Ning Jie'er, Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er all hold a lantern in their hands.

There were also many small vendors, selling food, jewelry, and all kinds of small clay figurines and toys. There were too many to count. I originally wanted to buy some toys from Fengger and Yanjie, but the two children didn't want any, so in the end we just took a look around and went back.

Then on the first day of the new year, Xu Qinyu had a better relationship with the Xia family here, and the two families wished each other a happy new year.

In the next few days, Xu Qinyu had nothing to do and just rested at home.

…

While the Pei family has enjoyed a warm and cozy time this year, the Wen family is different.

It was also the first year that the Wen family celebrated the New Year in the border town. There were no servants or cooks in the house, so the New Year’s Eve dinner was prepared by the third wife and two old concubines.

The master of the third room is a bastard, born to Aunt Bai, and married to Meng. Meng is not of high status and was originally a girl from a poor family. In recent years, she has been in love with the master of the third room, Wen Zixiao, and has given birth to two sons and a daughter. The daughter, Wen Pingtao, is one year younger than Wen Pingling from the first room and is almost fifteen years old.

Therefore, only Mrs. Meng, Wen Pingtao and two old concubines from the third room cooked the New Year's Eve dinner. They had to prepare a New Year's Eve dinner for a family of more than 30 years, and they had no professional training in cooking, so you can imagine how it tasted.

There were more than 30 people in the Wen family, and they all had their New Year's Eve dinner in the living room, sitting at three large tables.

The three wives of Aunt Gui and Aunt Bai sat together. The New Year's Eve dinner did not taste very good and everyone ate it with no appetite.

The third master, Wen Zixiao, was not at home. After he came to the border town, he looked for work outside. Although he was in his thirties, he had some martial arts skills and could do all kinds of work. Occasionally, he would go to the mountains to hunt some prey to sell, but the money he brought home was not much, less than two taels of silver a month. Old Lady Wen always suspected that he had secretly earned money but did not hand it all over. But she could not search the illegitimate son, and she could not do such a thing.

Wen Zixiao was not at home during the New Year, and I don’t know what he was doing outside.

Mrs. Wen was in a bad mood as she ate the tasteless New Year's Eve dinner. Seeing that the third son was not there, she could not help but ask Mrs. Meng with a stern face, "Why hasn't the third son come back yet? It's New Year's Day, and you, as a wife, don't even take care of your husband."

Mrs. Meng said softly, "To answer mother's question, I don't know what grandpa does outside. He should be making money outside. There is no way to make a living at home. Grandpa is also worried that the family will run out of money. Although the money he brings home every month is not much, it is much better than ordinary families. We have to take it slow."

After hearing the old lady's words, she didn't want to talk to Meng anymore. No matter what you said to Meng, she was always gentle, but her gentle words always made people feel uncomfortable. You continued to scold her, and she bowed her head and admitted her mistakes and let you scold her.

Mrs. Wen originally wanted to discipline the two grandsons from the third room, Wen Shuncheng and Wen Shungong, because they abandoned Ling Jie'er on the road a few days ago. She finally caught them during the New Year, but Old Master Wen was around, and it was New Year's Day. If she wanted to touch these scoundrels to discipline their grandsons, Old Master Wen would not even give her a look.

Even though Old Master Wen doesn't say much on weekdays, Old Lady Wen is still quite afraid of him.

Mrs. Wen had no choice but to give up.

The whole family ate the New Year's Eve dinner in silence.

Wen Pingling didn't want to eat it after just two bites. It was too disgusting and not as good as the food bought from the street stalls.

Aunt Gui sat at the same table with the third wife.

Aunt Gui kept coughing while eating. She could only cough in a low voice for fear of being heard by others. But since everyone was eating in the same room, how could they not hear her? The old lady Wen was really annoyed and could not help but ask, "Aunt Gui, what's wrong with you? You keep coughing. Is it proper for you to cough like this? Can you let others eat?"

Aunt Gui whispered, "Maybe the window of the side room was a little drafty the past two days, and the wind blew in at night, making it a little cold. It should be fine in two days."

Mrs. Wen wanted to say something, but Old Lady Wen frowned and said, "Okay, it's New Year's Day, don't talk about it, let's eat quickly, after eating, the children can go out to the night market, remember to come back early."

The whole family then continued to eat, not daring to speak anymore.

Aunt Gui was still coughing a little, and Aunt Bai looked at her with some concern.

After dinner, Old Master Wen, Old Madam Wen, and the people from the first and second rooms left first, leaving the third room behind to clean up.

Aunt Bai asked worriedly, "Aunt Gui, are you okay?"

Aunt Gui shook her head and said, "It's okay, don't worry, sister. It may be fine in two days." Aunt Bai is younger than her.

In this mansion, she had the best relationship with Aunt Bai, but she didn't dare tell Aunt Bai about this. After she left, Aunt Bai would still have the protection of the Third Brother. She knew that the Third Brother was not a weak person who could be manipulated by others. By then, the Wen family would definitely be divided.

After the family splits up, the third brother will definitely take Aunt Bai to live with him. However, it will definitely be difficult to take her away, and I'm afraid the third brother will have to pay a little price.

Besides, Old Lady Wen just wanted to control her and didn't want Aunt Bai to be around all the time, because Old Lady Wen doted on Aunt Bai when she was young, and Old Lady Wen couldn't wait for Aunt Bai to leave.

Aunt Bai nodded and whispered, "Why don't we find a doctor to see him tomorrow? I have some change here."

Needless to say, it must have been given secretly by the third brother.

Aunt Gui shook her head and said, "No, it will be fine in two days. If I really feel uncomfortable, I will ask the old lady for money to find a doctor."

The two old sisters talked for a while and then went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. Aunt Bai asked Aunt Gui to rest more and not to work so hard. However, Aunt Gui was reluctant and wanted to help finish the work early so that everyone could rest.

…

Xu Qinyu rested at home for several days and felt much better. On the sixth day of the New Year, she planned to rest for another day and go to the dock to take a look tomorrow and buy some ingredients to continue setting up her stall.

I went to the dock to take a look to see if the merchant ships were still there. It hadn't snowed during the New Year holidays and the weather was warmer than before. If the ice on the canal had melted, the merchant ships would definitely not stay and would have left.

However, without merchant ships, there should be other caravans coming and going, so the breakfast stall should still be able to operate. If there are not many people at the dock, she plans to close the breakfast stall for a while. She also cannot go to East Street and West Street to sell meat-stuffed steamed buns and glutinous rice intestines. It will take some time, at least until Aunt Gui is brought back home. Otherwise, she is afraid that something might go wrong. After all, the Wen family lives in East Street, and Aunt Gui has not been brought back yet, so it is better to be safe.

Just after breakfast in the morning, Xu Qinyu was sitting in the yard basking in the sun when she heard a knock on the door. She went to open the door and saw that it was Xu Kongmu.

She was surprised and asked, "Master Xu, why are you here?"

Xu Kongmu clasped his fists towards Xu Qinyu and said, "I am sorry to bother you again during the New Year. I am here today to invite you to prepare a banquet. Don't worry, I have all the ingredients. I will pay you 10 taels of silver when the banquet is ready. This banquet is also for the superiors."

His superior is naturally the county magistrate of Yuanbao Town. It is also an annual custom that he invites the county magistrate to his home for a banquet every New Year to entertain guests.

He used to buy food from Donglaiju, but he had tasted the food made by Miss Xu and was amazed by it, so he wanted to ask Miss Xu to come to his house to cook this year.

Ten taels of silver?

Xu Qinyu's eyes lit up. She had worked hard for ten days and could barely earn ten taels of silver from setting up the stall. But if she could earn ten taels of silver from preparing a banquet, she would naturally be willing to do so.

"Sir Xu, of course I am willing."

Xu Kongmu's expression also relaxed a bit, and he said with a smile: "Then young lady, please tell your family first."

Xu Qinyu went back to the house and told the Pei family.

The Pei family members also knew Xu Kong's purpose. Wen was worried, so she called Pei Weixuan to go with Yu Niang.

Pei Weixuan had nothing to do at home, so he followed Yu Niang.

Xu Kongmu also knew that it was not a good idea to let the young lady come with him alone, so he felt more relieved to see Pei Weixuan following him. The two of them nodded slightly when they met.

The three of them left Guihua Lane and got on the carriage directly towards West Street.

The Xu family had a horse-drawn carriage. Although it was not used very often, this time Xu Kongmu was driving the carriage himself.

We soon arrived at the Xu family. They lived in Yangfeng Lane, West Street. The house had two entrances, which was just enough for the whole family.

After entering the Xu family, Xu Kongmu stopped the carriage and took the two of them directly to the kitchen.

The Xu family's kitchen was very spacious. They bought a lot of ingredients, including chicken, duck, fish, mutton, pork, and even a piece of beef. In terms of vegetables, in addition to the common radish, cabbage, bean sprouts, and tofu, there were also lotus roots, yam, and even a small basket of water chestnuts. These were precious ingredients, more expensive than pork. They could also be considered fruits, and were not unique to the southwest. They had to be transported from other places, and were only available in Raozhou City. Xu Kongmu must have asked someone to buy them from the city specifically. The beef should have also been bought from Raozhou City. She had never seen it sold in the town.

In ancient times, beef was really hard to buy. Cows were used for farming and were very valuable. The government also did not allow private individuals to kill cows. Cows would only be killed and sold for beef if they died of illness or an accident. The government would also send a coroner to investigate how the cow died, for fear that someone would intentionally kill a cow. Anyone who slaughtered a cow casually would be beaten with a stick and thrown into prison.

In addition to these, there are some dried goods and a small basket of river shrimps.

People eat shrimps here, and only river shrimps are eaten. However, river shrimps are not very big, so most people just cook them in a pot and eat them by pinching the tail, which has only a tiny bit of meat. Some people find it troublesome and just chew and eat the head together. If you don't know how to cook it, the taste will not be very good, so most people don't like to buy them to eat. They think it is better to cut off two taels of meat and eat it instead of eating these dry ones.

The price of small river shrimps is not expensive, only a few cents per pound, but it is different for large river shrimps, which can be sold for twenty cents per pound.

But even so, most people who have the twenty cents would rather buy pork, especially the fattier pork, because they think it is oily. River shrimps do not taste oily at all.

But big river shrimps are hard to catch. The river shrimps in this small basket are quite big, and they are delicious even if you peel them out.

In addition to these ingredients, there are also seasonings, and there are even quite a few spices.

Seeing these ingredients, Xu Qinyu said to Xu Kongmu, "Master Xu, don't worry, I'll take care of it. May I ask if your Excellency has any dietary restrictions?"

Xu Kongmu thought about it and felt that his superiors were easy to get along with and there was no dietary restriction.

"There's nothing to avoid."

Xu Qinyu nodded, "Okay."

Xu Kongmu should have entertained his superiors at dusk, and it was only 9 o'clock now, so there were still a few hours left, which was plenty of time.

Xu Kongmu looked at it for a while and couldn't help but say, "Miss Xu, can you make the fish with intestines again?"

He had eaten it once and could not forget it. It was especially to his liking, so he even bought some offal for his family.

Xu Qinyu laughed, "Okay, don't worry, sir. I'll wash out the fat intestines and brines them first."

She planned to prepare the ingredients first.

Seeing that Miss Xu started to get busy, Xu Kongmu stopped disturbing her and left the kitchen.

He went to the front yard, and his wife Xiang saw him and asked hurriedly, "Have you invited people?"

Xu Kongmu nodded. "Yes, they are here. They are already busy in the kitchen."

Xiang couldn't help but feel a little worried, "Will it really work?"

She had not eaten other food cooked by Miss Xu like Xu Kongmu, but she had eaten fish cooked by Miss Xu. The braised fish, fish balls and fish head were really delicious. But she couldn't help but feel a little skeptical. After all, Miss Xu was only fifteen, the same age as Yunlan in her family. Could she really cook? Could she really cook other dishes better than the chef in Donglaiju?

Although she had suggested asking Miss Xu to cook last time, she was still a little worried in the end.

Xu Kongmu comforted his wife, "Don't worry, my lady. Miss Xu won't let us down."

He had eaten dishes cooked by Miss Xu, otherwise he would not have believed that a teenage girl had such cooking skills.

Xu Yunlan, who was standing next to her, listened to her parents' words and couldn't help but become interested in this young lady who was about the same age as her but had such outstanding craftsmanship.

She peeked at her parents and found that they were not paying attention to her, so she snuck into the back kitchen holding her little nephew Xiger.

When she arrived at the kitchen, Xu Yunlan saw a thin but pretty young lady busying herself in the kitchen.

Xu Qinyu also discovered the girl who was secretly looking at her while holding a child at the kitchen door.

She smiled at the girl and went back to her work.