"My dear, this pattern is so difficult to cut, but I really want it. How about..." Qiu Manzhi acted coquettishly towards Qiu Yantang, "How about my dear, give me the one you have cut! I'll exchange it for mine."
Qiu Yantang was immediately amused when he heard this. "You! Okay, I'll give it to you. Do you want it?"
She could see that they had really tried their best for the more difficult ones, and it was not something that could be learned overnight.
"Think about it! I want the one with the word 'Fu'! Tangtang, write a few more couplets!"
Hearing this, Qiu Yantang nodded, folded several pieces of paper together and cut out a dragon and a phoenix for each person. Qiu Manyi learned how to cut the word "Fu" and kept cutting it for everyone.
Lu Jinnian and Qiu Yantang took out red paper, cut it into long strips or squares, and began to write the word "Fu" and couplets.
There has always been a custom of pasting couplets in the Northeast. Couplets must be pasted on every door in the house. In addition, the word "Fu" will be pasted on every wall, inside and outside the house.
Generally, there are hanging coins placed below the word "Fu" and on the horizontal scroll of the couplet. They are of different colors, some are for attracting wealth, and some are paper-cut and carved. They are engraved with the word "Fu" and auspicious words, and they may have patterns of large coins, gold ingots, etc.
For Qiu Yantang, these are completely simple.
Another thing is the color of the hanging money, which is divided into bright red, pink, yellow, green and blue. In the past, the colors were in order, but now Qiu Yantang just does whatever color combination looks good.
After they finished cutting, everyone started to divide the hair. Lu Jinnian and the others deliberately kept the better ones for Qiu Yantang.
There were also couplets by Qiu Yantang and Lu Jinnian, which everyone was scrambling for. Unexpectedly, both of their handwritings were quite good.
Qiu Guangming is the village accountant, so he helps write most of the couplets in the village. He said he would give them to Qiu Yantang before, but she didn't want them.
It was done quickly, and they each took their own things back. They also cleaned Qiu Yantang's house.
Qiu Yantang put away everything he would need for tomorrow. Not bad, more than enough!
There are a few extra characters for "Fu" (blessings), so I can just stick them on the chicken rack and the well when the time comes.
On the morning of the 30th, Qiuhua got up early to make paste using a handful of flour.
Brush paste on the back of the couplet and stick it on both sides of the door. New God of Wealth stickers are also pasted in the house.
Qiu Yantang was sleeping in the house, and Qiuhua and Zhang Shouquan finished pasting the stickers in the whole morning. They didn't have enough glue, so they used rice grains to stick the last character "Fu" on.
When Qiu Yantang woke up, she saw that the house was full of the festive atmosphere of the New Year. She also took out the big red lantern and hung it directly at the door.
At this time, the children who got up early had already come to Qiu Yantang's house to pay New Year's greetings.
"Little Ancestor, Happy New Year!"
Seeing a group of children coming over, Qiu Yantang quickly took out peanuts, melon seeds and candies. Seeing that they were afraid to grab them, Qiu Yantang specially grabbed some for them, giving each person a handful and five pieces of candy.
"Thank you, little ancestor!"
The children said a lot of auspicious words to Qiu Yantang and then left. They spent the whole day paying New Year's greetings, each carrying a small bag, and gained a lot in the day.
After that, two more groups of children came. Qiu Yantang gave them some candy, melon seeds and peanuts, and then went to the village office.
The village office is growing mushrooms and bean sprouts.
"Hello, little ancestor!" Everyone greeted Qiu Yantang happily.
Qiu Yantang responded one by one, and after getting the mushrooms and bean sprouts, she went straight home.
Time is short and the task is heavy.
After returning home, Qiuhua and Qiu Yantang got busy.
They plan to cook eight dishes to make them rich.
Zhang Shouquan was responsible for lighting the fire and helping out.
Qiu Yantang and Qiu Hua first made pig's trotters, using only the front trotters. Pig's front trotters are made during the Chinese New Year and are called money-raking rakes.
It has been boiled before. Zhang Shouquan chopped the pig's trotters into pieces, and then braised Qiu Yantang and Qiuhua. It is soft and sticky when eaten hot, and chewy when eaten cold.
Because there were more people, ghosts and beasts among them, Qiu Yantang took out four front hooves and eight large front hooves from the space, cut them into small pieces, and made a large basin.
After that came the braised fish, which is also an indispensable dish during the Chinese New Year. It symbolizes abundance every year. In order to avoid not having enough, they cooked two big fish.
This time, no other side dishes were added.
The meat dishes also include sweet and sour pork ribs and four-happiness meatballs. Ten four-happiness meatballs are heated up, which symbolizes perfection.
Then there were two stir-fried dishes, one was stir-fried meat with bean sprouts, and the other was stir-fried meat with mushrooms.
Two cold dishes, cabbage mixed with dried tofu and cucumber, and one with jelly.
The jelly was made earlier, and the meat skin was from wild boar. After being cleaned by Qiu Yantang and Qiu Hua, all the grease was removed.
Then I cut it into shreds, washed it eight or nine times with warm water, and then washed it many times with cold water.
Then put a bowl of pork skin and a bowl of water in a basin and steam it directly in a large pot for about forty minutes. When you touch the water with your hand and it feels a little thick and stringy, it is done.
Then let it cool and it will become frozen.
It is eaten with garlic sauce, but Qiu Yantang and his family do not eat garlic on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Eve. Forget it, it has a bad meaning.
So you can just pair it with soy sauce and vinegar.
This steamed jelly is very clear, has no strange smell, and tastes good.
By the time Qiu Yantang and Qiu Hua were done, Huang Ling came with Huang Xiaohuang and Liu Yue, but none of the eggs in her clutch had hatched.
Snakes are really cold-blooded, she didn't feel sad at all.
"Tangtang, are you home?" Feng Sipo came over as soon as the dishes were served.
Qiu Yantang asked, "Feng Sipo, why are you here?"
Seeing that she had no interest, Feng Sipo said, "I'm bored, but since you're alone, I decided to spend the New Year with you."
Upon hearing this, Qiu Yantang welcomed Feng Sipo directly into the house.
Feng Sipo instantly made eye contact with Huang Ling and the others.
"Won't you introduce her to me?" Feng Sipo said to Qiu Yantang.
Qiu Yantang spread his hands and said, "Okay, this is Liu Yue, you know, this is Huang Ling and his son Huang Xiaohuang, and this is Frog."
Feng Sipo signaled with his eyes that Qiuhua and Zhang Shouquan had not been introduced yet.
"This is Qiuhua, and Zhang Shouquan."
After he finished speaking, he realized, "So you saw Qiuhua when you were picking mushrooms that day?"
Qiu Yantang was a little annoyed. He saw Qiu Hua bullying others!
"Uh..." Feng Sipo felt a little embarrassed and sat down next to Qiu Yantang.
Frog looked at Feng Sipo squeezing between him and Tangtang, and didn't say anything.
"Why are you standing there? Eat." Qiu Yantang said, and picked up a big pig's trotter for Feng Sipo.
It is true that all men are pigs.
Feng Sipo was very happy. Tangtang was not angry with him and even picked up a big pig's trotter for him.
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