Chapter 116 Year After Year
"It's so cold, it's snowing again." Little Feather finished washing the dishes, shook the water off his hands, and quickly jumped in from outside. He patted the snow off his clothes and exclaimed, "Snowing is so cold! When will it get warm?"
"Su Yun said it will get warmer after the New Year." Ye Feng picked up a stick and poked the fire a few times, then pulled out the roasted sweet potatoes.
When warming himself by the fire, Su Yun always liked to put a few sweet potatoes, potatoes, or taro next to the fire, using the heat of the charcoal to roast them. He could eat them as snacks whenever he was hungry.
These few have been roasting for a while now, so Ye Feng used a stick to move them aside.
Little Feather: "New Year?" He didn't quite understand the word, but he seemed to have heard humans mention it before.
Seeing that Little Feather didn't understand, Night Breeze slowly explained, "It's a day to say goodbye to the old days and welcome a new beginning. It's a festival worth celebrating because a new beginning is spring, and when spring comes, it will get warmer again."
Little Feather only half understood, and then asked, "Then... when is the New Year?"
This stumped Ye Feng, and he couldn't answer.
Just then, Su Yun came in from outside carrying a water cup. She had just made herself a cup of rose tea. The dried rose petals slowly unfurled in the hot water, and with one sip, her mouth was filled with the rich and fragrant aroma of roses.
Seeing her walk in, Little Feather asked, "When is Chinese New Year?"
Su Yun was slightly taken aback. "The New Year? Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"
Little Feather pointed at Night Breeze and said, "Night Breeze said it will get warmer after the New Year."
"Huh?" Su Yun didn't expect Ye Feng to still remember the New Year. It seemed that when he was shopping in the city, he had mentioned wanting to come back and celebrate the New Year properly, but then he encountered the mutated bear...
Counting the days, it seems that the New Year is around this time, but she can't quite remember. But—whether it's over or not, what does it matter, as long as they want to.
Su Yun smiled and said, "It might not get warmer immediately after the New Year, but it will probably start to warm up slowly..."
"Great! Let's hurry up and celebrate the New Year!" Little Feather said excitedly.
Su Yun smiled, "Sure, it feels like it's been ages since we celebrated Chinese New Year..."
It seems I haven't been back to that small mountain village since my grandmother passed away. Wherever I am, I'm alone—eating alone, living alone. In that concrete jungle, it's cold year after year...
It seemed no different from usual.
But now...
Looking at the dilapidated yet cozy little courtyard in front of them, and the two people with expectant eyes, Su Yun said, "Then let's celebrate the New Year together!"
So the next morning, Su Yun began preparing for the New Year.
"Let's sweep the snow out of the yard first, so we can have a fresh start for the new year!" Su Yun dragged the two children out of bed early in the morning.
Little Feather, half-asleep, clutched the broom. "Why do we have to clean during the New Year?"
Su Yun: "The New Year is about bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, and cleaning up to greet the new year!"
"Huh? We still have to work during the New Year?" Little Feather stood there, broom in hand, stunned. He never expected things to turn out this way.
Night Breeze had no objections and obediently replied, "Okay, then I'll go shovel the snow." Night Breeze gripped the shovel and broom and started working. Perhaps influenced by the atmosphere of everyone in the city preparing for the New Year, he was looking forward to the New Year and was much more enthusiastic than Little Feather.
I saw Little Feather holding a broom, looking like she was about to fall asleep.
Su Yun walked over and shoved his hand into the other person's neck: "Watch my freeze attack!"
The icy cold hand pressed against his neck, making him shiver and instantly sober. "Quick...take it away! It's so cold...!"
Little Feather, holding the broom, suddenly leaped very high.
"Wake up! We can't celebrate the New Year if we don't finish our work!" Su Yun raised his hand and continued to think of ways to launch a sneak attack.
Little Feather dodged left and right, but seeing that Su Yun was still holding his hand and wouldn't let him go, he hurriedly jumped behind Night Wind, clutching his neck and complaining, "I'll sweep, okay?"
Hearing the satisfactory answer, Su Yun smiled and stopped, saying, "That's more like it."
After saying that, she pointed to the corner by the door that connected to the drain and said, "You can pile the snow here. I'll go to the vegetable garden and pick a few cabbages to make dumplings tonight."
"Dumplings?" Ye Feng had never eaten dumplings before, and his face was full of doubt.
Little Feather's eyes lit up. "Ah! Dumplings! I know that. They smell so good! Is eating dumplings for Chinese New Year?"
Su Yun laughed, "That's right, it's not New Year's until we eat dumplings! Let's eat dumplings tonight!"
So the family started to divide the work. Su Yun picked three cabbages from the field. After thinking about it, considering that it was the New Year and it was the first time Ye Feng and Xiao Yu Mao had celebrated the New Year, she wanted to do her best to leave everyone with good memories. So Su Yun also took off an extra preserved chicken and a preserved duck.
There's nothing fancy at home, so let's eat more.
Su Yun first soaked the cut-off cured meats in hot water to remove excess salt.
Wash and chop the cabbage, mix it with the diced cured meat, add egg white, salt, and soy sauce, mix well, and set aside.
After thinking for a moment, Su Yun washed a few more sauerkraut, chopped them up, and mixed them with the cured meat.
There's still a small bag of flour left at home. Because she's not very good at growing wheat, her harvest is very small. Even after grinding it into flour, she only got this small bag, which she's been reluctant to eat. But now it's the Lunar New Year.
So she took everything out, poured it into a basin, and prepared to knead the dough.
Because it's homemade, this wheat flour is very different from the refined flour you usually find in supermarkets.
The yellowish flour with a bit of bran didn't look very appealing, but it had a unique wheat aroma.
Su Yun poured the flour into the iron basin, added warm water and kneaded it evenly. Then he handed the basin to Ye Feng, who was skilled at kneading dough due to his strong hands. "Ye Feng, you help me knead the dough."
"Okay~" Ye Feng had no objection to Su Yun's arrangement, took the basin and began to knead the dough carefully.
Little Feather was still in the yard, huffing and puffing as he swept the snow. They piled the snow in a corner. Su Yun looked at the pile of crystal-clear white snow and suddenly had an idea.
She crouched down and began to shape the pile of snow with a shovel.
"Huh? Su Yun, what are you doing?" Little Feather curiously peeked over to look.
"Let's build a snowman!" Su Yun swung his shovel with all his might, turning the snowdrift into a small, round mountain.
"Build a snowman?" Little Feather had never seen anything like it before. "How do you build one?"
Su Yun pointed to the small snowdrift next to her, "Help me roll a snowball."
"A ball? Is that how it is?" Little Feather put down the broom and started to help.
"Yes, yes, that's it. You need a little more here, make it rounder," Su Yun instructed.
......
The two of them fiddled around in the snow for a while, and a round-headed, chubby snowman was freshly made.
Little Feather examined it for a long time, and finally concluded: "It seems...not quite right?"
Su Yun sized up the white-headed, big-bellied snowman. "Uh, it's missing something." With that, Su Yun turned and went back to the kitchen, finding two small pieces of charcoal, two bird's eye chilies, and a small carrot. She added facial features to the snowman, and now it had eyes, a nose, and a mouth, instantly coming to life.
"Ta-da! How about it, does it look like the real thing this time?"
Little Feather didn't say anything, staring at the snowman for a long time. Finally, he turned around and ran back into the house, took out a little red hat, put it on the snowman's head, and examined it for a moment before clapping his hands in satisfaction: "That's more like it!"
Su Yun nodded in agreement, "Not bad, not bad."
......
Perhaps it was Su Yun who sparked Xiao Yumo's creative interest. After clearing the snow, Xiao Yumo squatted down in the snowdrift and started tinkering. "I can also make a little snowman, watch me!"
Seeing Ye Feng diligently kneading dough while constantly glancing at the snowman in the yard, Su Yun quietly walked up to Ye Feng. "Little Feather is building a snowman, do you want to go take a look?"
Night Breeze glanced at the kitchen piled high with ingredients and softly declined, "I'll stay here and help you..."
As expected, Su Yun smiled and said, "You're so kind! Then this is for you~"
As she spoke, Su Yun opened the "reward" in her palm. It was a little snowman she had just sculpted, with the same round body and round head, but with a pair of small cat ears.
Ye Feng's eyes brightened slightly as he looked at the smiling girl.
She was excitedly holding up the little cat figure in her hand, exclaiming, "Look, doesn't this look like you!"
Looking at the small and cute snowman, Ye Feng nodded and said happily, "Yes, it looks like one!"
Finally feeling the festive atmosphere of the Chinese New Year, Xiao Yumo became more enthusiastic and asked, "So what's next? What should I do? What are we supposed to do for the New Year?"
The dumpling wrappers have been kneaded, covered with a cloth, and placed near the fire to rise slightly. The filling has been mixed, and everything is ready.
The house is cleaned up, so what's left?
Su Yun rested his chin on his hand, thinking, "Chinese New Year, huh? It's probably about setting off firecrackers, eating dumplings, and putting up Spring Festival couplets, but... there's nothing here right now... But it seems like this could be..."
"Then let's put up the 'Fu' character!" Su Yun made the decision.
"What 'Fu' character?" Little Feather asked, puzzled.
"etc!"
Su Yun picked up the scrap fabric basket, which contained leftover fabric from mending clothes. Su Yun remembered that she had just cut a piece of red clothing a few days ago. She rummaged through the scraps and found the leftover piece, carefully cutting it into a square shape.
Then, Su Yun pulled out a pen that had been idle for a long time and wrote a large "福" (fortune) character in a crooked and messy manner.
Night Breeze and Little Feather looked on curiously. Little Feather asked, "What is this you drew?" Little Feather was illiterate and couldn't understand anything.
Ye Feng, under Su Yun's tutelage, had learned quite a few characters. He said softly, "This is the character '福' (fu, meaning good fortune)."
Su Yun was delighted that Ye Feng actually remembered what she had taught her, and said happily, "That's right, this is the 'Fu' character I wrote. We put up Spring Festival couplets during the New Year, but there are no red characters here, so let's put up this 'Fu' character instead!"
"Why?" Little Feather couldn't understand why they had to put up this strange "福" (good fortune) character.
Su Yun explained, "By putting it up, we can pray that next year will be better and better, and we will have more and more blessings."
Little Feather looked at the "福" (good fortune) character on the red cloth and volunteered, "Then I'll go and put it up!"
Finally, under the watchful eyes of Su Yun and Ye Feng, Xiao Yu Mao nailed the not-so-aesthetically-pleasing "Fu" character to the wall of the main room. There was no other way; the cloth wouldn't stick to the wall, so this was the only option.
Little Feather put down the hammer, examined the "Fu" character in the room, and expressed great satisfaction with her work. "Hehe, I hung it up, isn't it beautiful!"
The night breeze nodded in agreement.
Su Yun looked at the words she had written. The cloth was already difficult to dye, and the nails that had been hammered in made the fabric even uglier.
However, both of the people opposite were very satisfied with the "Fu" character pasted on the main room. Su Yun looked at the touch of red on the wall and gradually found it much more pleasing to the eye. With a little more red, the room seemed to have become more vibrant and had a festive atmosphere.
"Hey, there's still some red cloth here, Su Yun, can I take it?" Little Feather tugged at the red cloth inside the cloth frame.
"Take it!"
"Okay!" Little Feather received the red cloth and ran into the yard.
"Night Breeze, move the table over here and bring over the persimmon cakes and dried fruit!"
Night Breeze nodded, walked to the storage cabinet, and laid out all the snacks and dried fruits she had stockpiled.
In the blink of an eye, the table was piled high with dried mangoes, dried yellow peaches, dried sweet potatoes, persimmon cakes...
Little Feather's eyes widened. "Wow! Can I eat this much today?"
Su Yun smiled, "It's Chinese New Year today, so we can eat more. Here, we can eat for several days in a row during the New Year."
"This is so wonderful!" Little Feather exclaimed from the bottom of her heart, looking at the table full of food.
"Oh, by the way, what did you take the red cloth for?" Su Yun asked, fiddling with the vase.
"Hehe, I'm taking these to make scarves for the snowmen! Yefeng and Suyun, come and see!" Little Feather excitedly pulled the two of them to see his handiwork.
"I sculpted these based on you!" Little Feather pointed to the three smaller snowmen in front of the big snowman. "What do you think? Don't they look just like you?"
Su Yun stared strangely at the row of snowmen in front of him. One of them had two burrs on its head, another had an unidentified object on its back, and the last one had branches stuck all over its head... plus a red scarf draped over its shoulders, it was as strange as it could possibly be...
However, considering how "hard" the child was trying, Su Yun, clutching her conscience, said, "It looks very much like him..."
Night Breeze looked shocked, glancing at the snowman before him, then at the exquisite cat-eared snowman he treasured on his windowsill... He was speechless for a long time...
Fortunately, Xiao Yumo didn't dwell on these things. After seeing the snacks laid out, he happily ran over. Seeing the table full of snacks, Xiao Yumo felt like he was about to burst with happiness.
Just as he was about to reach out his hand, Su Yun slapped it away, "Don't move, it's not time yet, come and make dumplings first!"
"Oh!" Little Feather sheepishly withdrew her hand and obediently sat at the table to help make dumplings. Su Yun first demonstrated and instructed her once, and then Ye Feng and Little Feather began to work by pinching dumpling wrappers.
Because of their thick fingers, orcs' hands are somewhat lacking when doing delicate work.
Little Feather pinched the dough, trying hard to close the dumpling wrapper, but unfortunately she used too much force and the filling spilled out again. "Why won't this dough work?"
Su Yun glanced at it twice, "You've put too little filling in your buns, too much will cause it to overflow..."
Little Feather let out a soft "Oh—" and continued to struggle with the dough in her hands.
Ye Feng pursed his lips, staring intently at Su Yun's hand, secretly trying to improve, but unfortunately, his hand wasn't nimble enough, and he accidentally poked another small hole. "This is so difficult—"
“Yes!” Little Feather gave up completely, directly shaping the dough into a ball, turning it into a small bun, and starting to knead it into various shapes. “Su Yun, I think it’s too difficult to wrap like this. Can I wrap a snowman instead?”
Ye Feng also looked up at Su Yun, and the two of them asked Su Yun for his opinion. Making neat dumplings was really too difficult for them.
Su Yun didn't even look up: "Okay, just wrap the filling up, but there's not much dough left, so use less..."
As he spoke, Su Yun deliberately scooped out a small ball of dough for the two of them to use as they pleased.
Night Breeze was still trying to match Su Yun's skills, but with little success, while Little Feather completely let loose.
Strange, monstrous forms began to appear among his men, muttering incantations: "This is the goddess, this is Su Yun, this is Ye Feng..."
Su Yun glanced at it; it looked like sticky dough, a mud monster, an alien...
Su Yun's hands were quick and skillful; she wrapped dumplings at lightning speed.
Finally, the cutting board was polarized: on one side were neatly arranged ingot-shaped dumplings, and on the other side were crooked, oddly shaped dumplings—snowmen, rabbits, stars, and all sorts of strange, unrecognizable things...
Su Yun scooped up the last bit of meat filling, wrapped a red date inside, and announced, "Whoever gets to eat the dumpling with the red date filling will be luckier in the new year."
Little Feather exclaimed, staring at the dumplings in Su Yun's hand with great confidence: "Then I must eat them."
Su Yun gently placed the dumplings on the cutting board, winked playfully, and said, "Then let's each rely on our own abilities."
Next, Su Yun chopped the cured chicken into pieces and put it on a small stove to simmer with potatoes and taro.
I soaked the dried bamboo shoots that I had sun-dried in the spring and stewed them with duck to make soup.
Finally, the water in the large pot was brought to a boil, and the frozen dumplings that had been placed outside were ready to be cooked.
Finally, once the water boiled and steam rose, the dumplings were put into the pot one by one.
As the dumplings rolled over one by one, Su Yun brought out bowls and chopsticks and called out towards the door, "Dinner's ready!"
Little Feather washed her hands, touched the porcelain bowl, squatted in front of the pot, and waited for dinner to be served.
Just as Su Yun was about to pick up a spoon to scoop up the dumplings, she suddenly realized that Ye Feng had disappeared. "Huh? Where did Ye Feng go? It's time to eat."
Little Feather, holding the bowl, said, "I don't know. I saw him go out just now. Should I go look for him?"
Although the dumplings smelled delicious and were very tempting, he still missed his friends.
"Okay! Let's go take a look together." Su Yun was worried about not being able to see anyone and was about to put out the fire and go out to check when the door creaked open and Ye Feng walked in, covered in snow and wind, carrying something in his hand.
Little Feather heard the noise and darted to the door. "Night Breeze, you're back! Where have you been?! Come and eat!"
Then he saw what Ye Feng was holding: a large bunch of brightly blooming red plum blossoms. "Wow, what beautiful flowers! Did you pick these? Let me see."
Night Breeze didn't speak. She took the flowers, avoided Little Feather, and went into the house. Only then did she hand the large bunch of blooming red plum blossoms to Su Yun. "You said that there should be more red for the New Year, so I went out and picked these... How about it, do you like it?"
Seeing the other person bypass him and run directly in front of Su Yun, Xiao Yu Mao was completely dumbfounded.
That's going too far!
It's Chinese New Year! Can't we single people have a good time?!
However, the two people in front of her didn't care about the feelings of a single person at all. Su Yun smiled and accepted the plum blossom. Looking at the red plum blossoms blooming with white snow, she was happy. She smiled and said, "Hmm, thank you. I like it very much. But more than this, I like you even more~" As she spoke, she pulled down the other person's collar and generously rewarded him with a kiss.
Watching the couple in front of him completely ignore him and flaunt their affection, Xiao Yu Mao felt envious and secretly thought to himself, "Next year, I will definitely bring my partner to celebrate the New Year with me!"
Everyone had arrived.
Everyone sat together at the table to celebrate their first New Year, their first New Year's Eve dinner together.
Steaming hot dumplings, fresh out of the pot.
The chicken was braised to perfection, the duck soup was simmered, the raspberry wine was brewed, and there were all kinds of dried fruit snacks.
Little Feather couldn't wait to grab a dumpling, stuff it into her mouth, and her eyes immediately lit up.
The dumplings with cured pork and cabbage filling have a dough that perfectly preserves the aroma of the ingredients. With each bite, the meat juices and cabbage juices blend together, creating a delicious and fragrant experience.
The sauerkraut filling is refreshing and appetizing, and when combined with the soup, it's very warming.
Little Feather ate them one after another, exclaiming repeatedly, "These dumplings are so delicious!"
Su Yun served him a bowl of duck and bamboo shoot soup. "Don't worry, there's plenty more delicious food here!"
A pot of duck soup was bubbling in the stove next to it, and a pot of chicken was placed on the fire.
There are still dumplings in the bowl...
The table was covered with various delicious dried fruits...
Little Feather exclaimed, "Chinese New Year is truly such a wonderful time!"
Su Yun smiled, "Of course!"
Little Feather was greedy, saying, "I wish every day was New Year's Day."
Su Yun: "Dream on, there's no such thing as a free lunch."
Little Feather: "I'm just thinking, what if? Maybe in the future we can plant lots of wheat, raise lots of chickens, ducks, and fish... then we can celebrate New Year's every day..."
Su Yun: "That's not impossible... it's just that the workload is quite large, and we urgently need to supplement our staff..."
Night Breeze: "I think it wouldn't be so bad if we could celebrate the New Year at home every year. Like this, everyone's together, eating dumplings, putting up 'Fu' characters..."
This was his first time celebrating the Lunar New Year... In previous winters, he would hide in a cave deep in the mountains, enduring the cold and hunger.
He never dared to hope for too much. He felt that if he could live here forever, and stay with Su Yun forever... that would be wonderful...
“That is…” Su Yun suddenly spoke up. Ye Feng’s wish was actually very simple and easy to understand. As long as she had a home like this, that would be enough.
She thought the same thing.
May every year be like every year.
"What do you mean?" Little Feather, who was illiterate, couldn't understand the profound words.
Su Yun remained silent, gazing at the night wind.
Ye Feng's eyes flickered, and he turned to look at her: "You mean it would be great if we could spend the New Year together every year..."
Yes, we have too many desires.
The world is too chaotic, people are in a hurry, struggling to survive. But suddenly everything becomes simple in this world. We don't know when an accident will happen, or when we will face separation. May every year be like every year, the simplest and the most difficult.
but......
Looking at the warm-hearted person in front of her, Su Yun felt confident, "We definitely will. There will be next year after this year. We can celebrate the New Year together every year."
Su Yun secretly took Ye Feng's hand under the table.
Night Breeze felt the other's touch and gripped it tightly in return, "Yes, we'll spend every New Year together."
Looking at the two people in front of her, Little Feather blinked and said, "Then can I celebrate the New Year with you every year?"
Su Yun: "Weren't you going to settle down on Coconut Island?"
Little Feather: "I think this place is actually quite nice. I can bring my goddess here to live..."
Su Yun thought of a certain fake goddess and asked doubtfully, "Are you sure?"
Little Feather: "Hehe, I definitely will! With my charm, I'm sure I can win back my goddess! Believe me... then..."
......
The dinner table became lively again. Meanwhile, Ye Feng quietly slipped a slightly reddish dumpling into Su Yun's bowl and whispered, "Things will get better and better."
Su Yun noticed his subtle actions but didn't expose him. She smiled and looked at her lover, saying softly, "It will definitely happen."
It started snowing again outside the window, but the house was warm and cozy.
The old year will always pass, and the new year will always arrive.
No matter how time changes, they remain by each other's side.
—End of text—
Author's Note:
I'm finally finished writing! I'm so happy! There will probably be a little bit of a bonus chapter around New Year's Day. Happy New Year everyone!
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