Chapter 33 New Year's Eve Dinner
"This piece of meat is tender, don't take it carelessly. I saved this piece for Grandma Sun because she has bad teeth." Lu Qin's mother said.
She asked Erya to deliver a piece of mutton to Grandma Sun.
Lu Qinniang took care of the headman's family, Doctor Hu, the head of the Zhang family... as well as the families she had daily relationships with, or the particularly poor families.
Although the meat was only half a catty and eight ounces, it was her gift after all.
"I won't go. Let San Ya go." Er Ya said, "I'm going to Doctor Hu's house to talk to Du Juan."
After saying that, she picked up the meat and ran out.
"What's wrong with you going to Grandma Sun's house, kid?"
"I don't want to go!" Erya's voice came from outside.
She doesn't like miserable people.
Whenever Grandma Sun meets someone, she will definitely pull them aside and cry about her own affairs. It's New Year's Day, who would be willing to listen to her nagging?
Daya said, "Mom, I'll go and see if the old lady needs any help."
"Okay, go ahead."
At the New Year’s Eve dinner in the evening, there was a large plate of stir-fried lamb with green onions and a large bowl of lamb soup on the table.
Lu Qi Niang waited for her medicine to cool down and said with a smile, "You don't have to wait for me. Eat quickly while it's hot. I can't eat until I drink the medicine, and I can't eat mutton."
But everyone was still waiting for her and no one picked up their chopsticks.
Lu Qiniang was anxious, so she picked up the bowl of medicine and drank it all in one gulp. It was so hot that she stuck out her tongue and said, "It's scalding me to death."
"Mom, isn't it hard?" Erya said.
She remembered that when she was sick, the medicine she took was extremely bitter. It was so bitter that even now, when she thought about it, she could still taste the medicine in her mouth.
"It's not bitter, eat quickly." Lu Qiniang picked up the chopsticks, "Oh, my memory is so bad, I forgot to tell Daya to leave some vegetables."
You have to drink it, no matter how bitter it is, so just lie to yourself and think it's not bitter and drink it anyway.
"Mom, I'll keep some." Daya said softly, "Don't worry, I'll serve the vegetables and dumplings and put them on the table for Dad."
Xiao Yan was stunned, then quickly realized that this "father" was not him, but the deceased Zhang Heyao.
They were paying tribute to Zhang Heyao.
"That's good, that's good. Let's eat! After dinner, I'll go burn some paper for your father and have a good chat with him, asking him to bless you with health and safety, and to marry a good husband. You can't just call him dad in vain, right? He has to bless you..."
Lu Qiniang kept chattering while picking up food for her daughters.
"Eat, eat your fill, have a good meal of meat today."
It’s the New Year, so we must be happy.
The big bowl of pork dumplings with just a little bit of green onion that Daya had specially prepared for her was also divided among Xiao Yan and her three daughters. She only ate six herself.
"That's enough! Doctor Hu told me not to eat too much. I won't feel hungry even if I drink this medicine. He also said that I'll be thin again in three or four months if I'm fast, or half a year if I'm slow! I can finally get rid of this fat, but it's too expensive..."
"After the New Year, mother will have good luck and make a fortune!" Erya said.
San Ya also repeated it, and the whole house was filled with joy.
After dinner, Lu Qiniang mysteriously opened the box and, like magic, took out a plate of red bean cakes, a plate of melon seeds, and... a small string of firecrackers.
"The red bean cake was given to me by someone else, but I bought the melon seeds and firecrackers a long time ago and kept them hidden until the Chinese New Year."
Erya and Sanya became excited again.
"Wait, what did you forget?" Lu Qiniang called out to her two daughters who were about to go out to set off firecrackers.
"What, mother, what else is there?"
"And the sand apples!" Lu Qiniang said with a beaming smile, "We haven't eaten the sand apples Songyan sent us yet, and you little greedy cats actually forgot about it. If I had known, I wouldn't have told anyone and would have eaten them secretly."
"Mother, mother——"
"Okay, okay, don't hug me. I'm going to cut some crab apples. Tsk tsk, they're really precious."
"Why is pine smoke so good?" Erya asked as she watched Lu Qiniang place the sand apples on the table and gesture with a knife. "That's not right. I remember last year during the Spring Festival, didn't he go to Zhili and give something to the Fifth Young Master?"
Last year was the first time that the Fifth Young Master went to Zhili to study under a teacher, and he also spent the New Year there and did not come back.
Nanny Wei was thoughtful and specially sent Songyan to deliver the gift.
In fact, Songyan should have gone with them, but for some reason, the Fifth Young Master left him in the mansion.
"Maybe I didn't go this year." Lu Qiniang said, "Oh, this precious thing, I don't know how to cut it. Will it ooze out juice? I hope I don't damage it."
"It's okay, just cut it." Xiao Yan, who had been silent all this time, said.
"Okay, okay, how could I forget about you. You must have eaten this thing." Lu Qinniang raised her knife and cut the sand apple into four pieces.
After giving each daughter a piece, she cut the last piece into two and stuffed one of them directly into Xiao Yan's mouth.
Xiao Yan: "...I've eaten it."
"You've eaten it, but now there's nothing left to eat." Lu Qiniang stuffed the remaining food into her mouth. "You know what, it's actually quite delicious, so sweet. New Year's Eve should be sweet, and every day of the year should be sweet."
Xiao Yan felt that this sand apple was sweeter than the ones he had eaten before.
After eating, Lu Qiniang slapped her thigh again.
"How could I forget to save some for your dad so he can taste it before I eat it!"
Xiao Yan suddenly felt that the sand apple in his mouth was not as sweet anymore.
It seemed like he ate someone else's portion.
It doesn't belong to him.
Erya kept praising the sand apples for being delicious.
San Ya also licked her fingers, and said with satisfaction: "It's delicious. Wait until mom has money to buy it for us."
"If I sell you, I can buy one." Erya said unhappily, "This thing might cost several taels, or even more than ten or even dozens of taels each!"
"It tastes good, but it can't be that expensive. Second sister is lying!" San Ya didn't believe it.
"Why not? Selling things to rich people at a low price would make them feel embarrassed!" Erya said, "It's the feeling of being superior that makes us happy. Oh, it's so good to be rich. Even someone like Songyan, who serves by the master's side, can get a share."
"They have money, but they won't give it to you." Lu Qiniang glared at her, "Don't expect to get something for nothing. I see you and Tiezhu next door are getting along well, why don't I get you two settled down later?"
"Mom, I don't want it!" Erya resisted, "It's New Year's Day, please say something to make me happy."
Lu Qiniang was too lazy to pay attention to her.
When Erya saw Xiao Yan's eyes on her, she took out her anger on him: "What's wrong with climbing up the social ladder? Who doesn't want to climb up the social ladder? He even turned me away when I tried to do that!"
Lu Qiniang pretended to kick her, "Go, go, go set off your firecrackers."
Erya stuck out her tongue and pulled Sanya out.
"You leave it there, don't clean it up. Go out and set off firecrackers with your sisters. I'll finish burning paper for your father and then I'll clean it up."
Daya smiled and said nothing, but after Lu Qiniang left, she quietly started to pack up.
After being busy for nearly half an hour, the family finally calmed down and gathered together to celebrate the New Year.
Cracking melon seeds, eating snacks, and talking about the past and the future.
"Mom, where is our New Year's money?" Erya asked with a smile.
"It's been prepared for a long time. It's not much, but we can't be without it. We have to follow the rules!"
Lu Qiniang went to the fields to look for them, and gave each of them two coins wrapped in red paper.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door.
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