Chapter 308 New Year's Eve Dinner
On New Year's Eve, heavy snow began to fall from the sky again.
Every household in Shizi Village is busy cooking. Those with better financial resources can have meat and vegetables, and those with less financial resources can also fill their stomachs.
After all, this year's harvest is better than in previous years. As long as there is land, every household will have some surplus food.
However, there are not many families like the Yu family. Other families have uncles and aunts to help them, but the Yu family has no one to rely on.
Old Mrs. Wan asked Wan Ersao to invite the Yu family to celebrate the New Year at home, but Wan Ersao came back empty-handed.
"Mom, Sister Yu said they won't come and she's already cooking."
"It's fine if you don't come. I think today is Chinese New Year and they don't have much to eat, so it would be nice for us to have some fun together."
"Mom, there really isn't anything delicious at Sister Yu's house. I saw Er Gouzi cooking porridge with a lot of rice bran in it. It must be that the family's food supply has run out, but he didn't ask for anything from us."
After hearing this, Old Mrs. Wan couldn't help but recall her memories. Wasn't it the same in her family in the past?
"In that case, you can pick up some of the vegetables and some bread and send them to their house. It's the New Year, so we need to improve the food. We have a little extra money, so if we can help, it will be considered a good deed."
"Oh, okay, I'll do it right away."
Outside the gate, Big Boss Wan and several of his brothers were pasting Spring Festival couplets and replacing peach charms. Because the emperor passed away this year, every household was not allowed to set off firecrackers. However, the village did not strictly enforce the law, so the children would play with some scattered firecrackers just to hear the noise.
At this time, little Fubao had already started learning how to set off firecrackers.
At first she watched her brothers set off fireworks and thought it was fun, so she insisted on setting them off herself.
However, it was snowing, and her short legs couldn't allow her to run fast, so she slipped after a few steps. Firecrackers exploded behind her, and the snow fell all over her.
Xiao Fubao was also scared. She realized that this thing, which looked fun, was actually so dangerous. She was so scared that she never dared to play with it again.
Although Wan Laoer felt distressed when he saw this, he couldn't help but smile when he saw his daughter clumsily raising cricket pupae in the snow nest.
"Fubao, will you still set off firecrackers in the future?"
Wan Laoer's smiling voice came from the gate, and Wan Shuang had already pulled Xiao Fubao up.
Guihua was also startled and quickly ran over to help lift Xiao Fubao up.
Little Fubao’s face turned pale with fright, but he didn’t cry. He just felt his ears buzzing.
"Sister Osmanthus, there are bees singing in my ears. There are so many of them. It's so noisy."
Guihua smiled and covered Xiao Fubao's ears with her hands. She had experienced this feeling before, and most children in the village had this experience.
"Sister Fubao, it's okay, it will be fine in a while, I'll warm you up, this is caused by the firecrackers, will you still set off firecrackers in the future?"
Little Fubao quickly shook his head, "No, I'll let it go when I grow up."
Wan Shuang patted the snow foam off Xiao Fubao's body and asked with concern: "Sister, are you feeling uncomfortable in any other way?"
Little Fubao shook his head. At this time, Wan Ersao stood in the yard and shouted, "The New Year's Eve dinner is ready. Children, come back soon."
Wan Laoer finished his work and came over to pick up his daughter.
He stretched out his hand and pinched the rosy cheeks of Xiao Fubao, "Every failure makes you wiser. Daddy just told you not to play with firecrackers, but you didn't listen. Now you know how terrible it is, don't you?"
Little Fubao nodded aggrievedly, buried his little head in Wan Laoer's neck, and stopped talking.
Wan Laoer patted his daughter on the back and led the children into the house with a smile.
Before eating the New Year's Eve dinner, the Wan family would offer sacrifices to their ancestors. They would place an incense burner, paper candles, and a few offerings on the altar in the main hall.
Boss Wan led the Wan brothers and younger generations to burn paper and kowtow, and chant a few words to ask for the ancestors' blessings, which completed the ancestor worship.
The New Year’s Eve dinner officially begins after the ancestor worship.
After offering sacrifices to the ancestors, Wan Ersao brought some food to Yu and then returned.
The Wan family's New Year's Eve dinner tonight was divided into two tables. The men and boys ate at the Eight Immortals Table in the outer main room, while the women ate on the kang inside.
The Wan family’s New Year’s Eve dinner was particularly sumptuous.
This year, Shen had the reunion dinner with the Wan family as the new bride. Old Mrs. Wan specifically asked Sister-in-law Wan San to prepare a few more meat dishes.
The table was filled with a sumptuous meal, including braised pork, eight-treasure duck, braised chicken, stewed pork, braised pork elbow, braised lamb chops, four-joy meatballs, braised pork ribs, braised pork ribs with pickled cabbage, pickled cabbage, stir-fried shredded radish, stewed goose with radish...
At first, little Fubao thought the big goose was her Dabai and cried for a while. In the end, she found that her Dabai was safe in the chicken coop and she felt relieved.
Old Lady Wan said, "Let's eat. Let's start eating."
Little Fubao couldn't wait any longer, her eyes couldn't move anymore. This was the first time she had such a sumptuous meal at home. With so many delicious foods, she didn't know where to start.
Fortunately, Wan Er's wife picked up some food for her, and soon the small bowl in front of her was filled with various meat dishes.
Little Fubao didn't even use chopsticks. He just reached out and grabbed a big chicken leg and started chewing on it.
Guihua sat next to Xiao Fubao. She was no longer as timid as she was when she first arrived. She had now completely integrated into the Wan family and helped Wan Ersao with a lot of work. She was very considerate and hardworking.
Everyone in the Wan family likes her very much, and even little Fubao can't live without Osmanthus now.
Normally the little girl doesn’t have many friends to play with, but with Guihua, her life has become more exciting. Guihua is very caring and considerate of other people’s feelings. Xiao Fubao has a carefree personality and needs someone like Guihua who is careful and tolerant to take care of him, otherwise he will easily cause conflicts.
This is also the reason why Xiao Fubao loves to fight with others as soon as she goes out. She is a female bully who cannot stand any loss. If no one offends me, I will not offend anyone. If someone offends me, I will beat you to death.
This is also what Old Lady Wan taught her. To deal with those who always have bad intentions, you have to scare them at once. Next time she sees you, she will be scared and avoid you.
Xiao Fubao understood Old Lady Wan's words perfectly, so few people in the village dared to cause trouble for Xiao Fubao. Although she was young, the girls were all afraid of her.
Little Fubao was taken care of by Wan Ersao and Guihua during the meal, and he ate so much that he kept burping.
Mrs. Wan was afraid that she would have indigestion, so after dinner, she asked Guihua to accompany her for a walk in the yard. This girl couldn't sit still. If you didn't let her accompany Fubao, she would go to the kitchen to wash dishes and compete for work.
After eating the New Year’s Eve dinner, it’s time to stay up all night. At this time, Grandma Wan took out a bunch of red envelopes, all wrapped in red paper.
"Come, come, grandma is giving out red envelopes. I wish us a prosperous, peaceful and smooth new year."
Old Mrs. Wan placed a pile of red envelopes on the kang table, and the children immediately rushed over.
Wan Shuang had already received his wages, so he was not very interested in the red envelope. However, he was only eleven years old, and would be twelve after tonight. He was still a half-grown child, and at the age of playing and playing. In order to liven up the atmosphere, he did not spoil the fun. He lined up his brothers and sisters, and one by one they came forward to kowtow and say auspicious words. Old Mrs. Wan gave a red envelope to each of her grandchildren.
There was not much money in it, but it was the first time that Grandma Wan gave out red envelopes. Grandma Wan was happy, and the children were happy too.
Wan Hu couldn't wait to open the red envelope.
"Wow, I have sixty-six copper coins. Grandma is so kind. May you live a hundred years and give me red envelopes for another hundred years."
Although Wan Hu's words were childish, they amused everyone.
Finally, it was Xiao Fubao's turn to kowtow and receive the red envelope.
"Happy New Year, grandma. Fubao wishes grandma all the best of luck, just like Fubao. I hope grandma will always be with Fubao and be as happy as Fubao every day."
Although little Fubao's words were not as auspicious as those of his brothers, they were all from the heart, which made Grandma Wan very happy. She quickly picked up little Fubao, put him on her lap, and called him her darling.
No one expected that Xiao Fubao could say so many words. While everyone was surprised, they were also amused by his heartfelt words.
Old Mrs. Wan also gave Xiao Fubao a red envelope, which also contained sixty-six copper coins, meaning everything would go well in the coming year.
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