After the meal, Su Yan took the children back to her parents' home and asked her parents, brother and sister-in-law to come to her new home for a new family dinner on the 26th day of the lunar year.
Lu Yiming gave the roast duck he packed from Quanjude at noon to his grandmother. He originally planned to take it back for his father to try, but then he thought that his grandmother was old and had never eaten Quanjude's roast duck, so he let them try it.
After staying at her mother's house for more than an hour, they went back. In the next few days, Su Yan was busy making new clothes for her children for the New Year.
Lu Yiming donated her red tweed coat this year. Su Yan originally planned to buy herself a piece of tweed fabric, but she found that there was black and white plaid fabric on the market.
So she took out a long houndstooth wool coat from her space villa to wear during the New Year. There were so many clothes in the villa's cloakroom that it would be a shame not to wear any of them.
The big movement has ended. On the 24th day of the lunar year, every household begins to clean up and prepare fruits, sugar melons, and eggs for offering to the Kitchen God...
Su Yan handed the task of offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God to Lu Ting and his son Lu Yiming, while she took the triplets to clean the house inside and out, even cleaning the cobwebs on the ceiling.
Before I finished cleaning, Lu Yilan came over with a bag of fried broad beans.
"Aunt, grandma asked me to tell you that when you come over for dinner tonight, these are the broad beans that grandma just fried. I've put them on the table."
"Okay, I understand. We'll be there later."
"Then I'll go back and help. You guys go ahead and do your work. I'm leaving now."
As soon as Lu Yilan left, Lu Yining grabbed a handful of broad beans without washing his hands and started eating them with a crunch.
"Mom, the broad beans that grandma fried are too hard, not crispy at all."
"It doesn't taste good, but you still eat it. Be careful not to break your teeth."
"My mom's fried fish skin peanuts and fried dough twists are still the best,"
"It's delicious, eat more."
"My brother wouldn't let me take more, saying that a person can only eat two fried dough twists a day. Eating too much will cause internal heat."
"Your eldest brother is right. Eat less fried food and more fruits. I'll bring some of the New Year's goods to your grandma later."
This year they invited the Lu family to celebrate the New Year in their courtyard house. They could send less New Year's dishes to their parents-in-law. This year, the most they could send was two chickens, a large grass carp, five pounds of pork belly, half a rack of spareribs, and six pounds of beef.
The weather is cold now. It has been snowing lightly for the past two days. Maybe it will snow heavily in two days. We can send the New Year's dishes to them tonight. The chickens can be raised in cages, and the fish and meat can be placed in small water tanks and buried in snow for refrigeration.
Wait until the fifth or sixth day of the New Year when my mother-in-law and her family come to pay New Year's greetings, then you can take it out and eat it.
At half past five, Lu Ting returned with his wife and children carrying New Year's dishes and goods. Lu Fengnian hurriedly added two large pieces of wood into the brazier.
"Today we went to the tofu workshop and bought five pounds of fried tofu, four pounds of dried tofu, and twenty pieces of boiled tofu. Did you buy any tofu?"
"No, I'll buy some tomorrow. Dad, let my younger brother and sister-in-law all come to my house to celebrate the New Year this year!"
"How can you fit everyone in your small living room?"
"I'm talking about going to the Siheyuan for the New Year."
Lu Fengnian took a cigarette from behind his ear, pointed it at the brazier, lit it, took a deep drag, and asked, "Have all the tenants of the courtyard left?"
"We moved out at the end of last year and have been renovating all year. Yanyan and I have agreed to move in on the 26th of the lunar year."
"Then you have to carry a fire from here tomorrow night, and you need firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea. Who will help you carry the fire in the new house?"
"Let Yiming take his younger brother and sister there tomorrow. My mother-in-law and her family will also go tomorrow."
"I'll go there with your mother tomorrow night. Should we leave at 11pm?"
"Well, twelve-eighteen is the auspicious time. We just need to get there before the auspicious time."
After Su Yan took her son to hand over the New Year's goods and dishes to her mother-in-law, Chen Yuhe was surprised to hear that they were moving.
"Sister-in-law, it turns out your family really bought a courtyard house. My sister-in-law was right. Is your courtyard house big?"
“It’s bigger than the ancestral home.”
Chen Yuhe asked again: "Since you have bought a house, do you no longer want the Lu family's ancestral home?"
Only a fool would complain about having too many houses. The ancestral home is the ancestral home. It was promised to her son, so it must belong to her son. Now the deeds of the house are in their hands, and they have no right to object.
"The ancestral home is for your eldest brother and Yiming. I have no objection if they want to give it up. Now this courtyard is mine, and it's registered in my name."
Chen Yuhe was a little depressed. She didn't know where her elder brother and sister-in-law got so much money to buy a courtyard house.
"I'm just asking. My Lu Jin has already been lined up. The hospital will build a new family housing complex next year, and we'll be allocated one. I heard that future family housing complexes will all be five stories high. I wonder which floor we'll be allocated."
"I heard that the foundation work will begin after the New Year, and it will take at least a year and a half to complete. My dad has made great contributions to the disaster relief efforts this time, so he will also be given a new house when the time comes. The old house may have to be demolished and rebuilt."
"I was wondering why our Lu Jin got the call so quickly. It turns out he participated in the earthquake relief efforts. Sister-in-law, if you hadn't left the hospital, you should have been able to get a house too."
What's the point of getting a house? She only has the right to live in it, and the house doesn't belong to her. If she leaves her job early, she will have to move out eventually. Besides, Lu Ting has allocated a house in the army, so he may not necessarily give her one if she really returns to work in the hospital.
After dinner, Su Yan took the children away first. Lu Fengnian stared at Lu Ting and said, "Call Xiaoyu and Xiaochen tomorrow and tell them that you will be celebrating the New Year in your new home this year."
"Okay, I'll tell them and see if they're free to come back."
"They called a couple of days ago and said they would be back with their kids and wife to celebrate the New Year on the 28th. Since they're going to your house for the New Year this year, you should invite them."
"Okay, I get it. It's cold, so go to bed early."
"Your grandparents are not in good health. You haven't visited them to wish them a happy new year in many years. This year, bring Yiming and the others to visit them."
"Okay, on the second day of the New Year, I'll take Yanyan to visit my parents-in-law and pay New Year's greetings. After lunch, we'll drive to the countryside to visit my grandparents and be back before five o'clock."
"Your mother and I will go there after breakfast and return at noon. I'll ask your sister and brother-in-law to come over in the afternoon to pay New Year's greetings."
"Okay, I understand."
The next day, Su Yan asked the children to carry their clothes and shoes and take a bus back to the courtyard first, while she prepared the items for moving in at home.
Firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea all need to be prepared, as well as a new stove, two bottles of wine, two new buckets, new pots and pans, and two new quilts...
There were a lot of miscellaneous things to prepare, but fortunately Su Yan had prepared them in advance. All she had to do was replace the new charcoal in the new stove in the middle of the night and move it to the Jiefang truck.
The new furniture didn't need to be moved. The master delivered it not long after the courtyard house was renovated.
Because they had to move, Su Yan didn't sleep much. At half past ten, they took out everything from the space one by one, and the two of them moved out of the house one by one. When they were halfway, Lu Fengnian came over with Hua Min.
"Lu Ting, I'll help you carry the stove, and your mom will help you move the quilt. Everyone, make two more trips. After you're done, lock the door and set off some firecrackers before leaving."
"Yeah, okay."
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