After slaughtering the pig for the New Year, the days pass even faster.
New Year's Eve arrived in the blink of an eye.
Li Weidong called Shen Xiaoyan early in the morning to invite her to his home for the Chinese New Year.
Shen Xiaoyan, however, couldn't leave.
The restaurant doesn't close during the Chinese New Year!
"Oh well!"
Li Weidong said with some regret, "Then I'll come over and wish you a Happy New Year."
Shen Xiaoyan chuckled: "Alright, then I'll have to give you a big red envelope."
After hanging up the phone, it's time to get busy putting up Spring Festival couplets and making dumplings.
All sorts of New Year's goods also need to be fried.
Li Weidong was in charge of putting up Spring Festival couplets, while Zhao Xiulian, Li Xiaoli, and Zhou Xiaoye made dumplings together. The whole family was enjoying themselves.
Once the dumplings are wrapped, you can set up the oil pan to fry the New Year's treats.
"Brother, come over and set off firecrackers!"
Li Xiaoli, dressed in her new clothes, started shouting loudly.
Li Weidong teased, "You're usually so brave, how come you don't dare to set off firecrackers?"
Li Xiaoli pouted: "What if it blows me up?"
As they were talking, Li Weidong had already taken out the firecrackers.
According to custom, firecrackers must be set off before the fried food is put into the pot, in order to drive away evil and welcome good fortune.
Amidst the sound of firecrackers, the prepared fried food was put into the oil, sizzling as it went.
Li Xiaoli was so scared that she kept going back.
Zhou Xiaoye stepped forward and said, "Auntie, let me fry them so you don't get burned by the oil."
Zhao Xiulian found it amusing: "Then you won't get burned?"
"Um!"
Zhou Xiaoye nodded, looking quite serious: "These are all things I'm used to doing at home. I know how to fry food without splashing oil!"
As he spoke, he reached for the fishing net in Zhao Xiulian's hand.
Zhao Xiulian immediately felt sorry for her: "I'll do it, I'll do it. Why do you, a young woman, need to do all the work?"
"Let's go inside with Lili and eat some sunflower seeds!"
She added, "You two have to eat a lot of the New Year's goods we bought this year!"
Li Weidong nodded in agreement: "Yes, let's go back inside!"
Zhou Xiaoye couldn't persuade them otherwise, so he had no choice but to go back to the house with Li Xiaoli.
Zhao Xiulian then sighed, "This child has suffered so much at home. You mustn't bully her in the future!"
When did I ever bully her?
Li Weidong was both amused and exasperated: "Mom, please stop thinking about these things, okay?"
As they spoke, she stepped forward to help, and the mother and son busied themselves together.
That year, Zhou Xiaoye had the happiest New Year's Eve dinner ever and received two big red envelopes.
So much so that lying in bed at night, I still feel a bit unreal.
Seeing her tossing and turning, Li Xiaoli couldn't help but say, "Go to sleep! We'll go wish your second grandfather and the others a Happy New Year first thing tomorrow morning, and you'll get red envelopes!"
Zhou Xiaoye laughed and nodded emphatically: "Mm!"
Life at the Li family's house was wonderful!
She liked it very much.
...
After New Year's Eve comes the New Year.
According to custom, people with the same surname in the whole village must go together to kowtow and pay New Year's greetings to their elders.
The order is also very important; you have to start with the largest backup and go through them one by one.
After paying respects to members of the same clan, it was the turn of other relatives.
This rule was passed down from our ancestors and has never changed.
But this year, on Lunar New Year's Eve, everyone in the village gathered at Li Baotian's house.
"Village Chief, I'm thinking, how about we go to Wei Dong's house first for the New Year's greetings this year?"
The speaker was Li Laifu from the east end of the village.
His family was one of the poorest in the village. His parents were old and sick, and he had two young sons to support. The burden of the whole family fell on his shoulders.
Unfortunately, his wife was frail and couldn't take care of the elderly and children, so he couldn't even go out to work and could only stay at home to farm and do odd jobs, leading a miserable life.
But this year is different.
He followed Li Weidong to grow mushrooms. He did the hard and tiring work himself, and left the easier work to his wife. The couple did nothing but take care of the mushrooms in the two greenhouses.
As a result, his family's mushrooms grew the best in the whole village. While other families only produced around 10,000 jin, his family managed to harvest 13,000 jin, earning them 5,200 yuan.
After paying off the previous debts, they still had more than three thousand in their hands. Not only did the whole family wear new clothes, but they also bought half a pig for the first time ever.
This year was arguably the most comfortable year for Li Laifu's family.
He said earnestly, "Village Chief, Wei Dong is a great benefactor to my family. Other people in the village have also benefited from his kindness. This year, every household is living comfortably. It's not too much to wish him a Happy New Year!"
Then he looked at the others and said, "You all agree, right?"
"I agree with Brother Laifu's suggestion!"
Aunt Chunlan from the west end of the village raised her hand without hesitation: "In previous years, my Xiaotian and his siblings went with you to pay New Year's visits, and I didn't have anything to say. You just let them go with you to whichever house you visit, according to the rules."
“But this year, my family must go to pay New Year’s respects to Weidong first. If you don’t go, I’ll have Xiaotian and his sister carry the gifts themselves.”
She was a widow; her husband had died of illness a few years ago, leaving behind two children. She never considered remarrying, and single-handedly supported the entire family.
Unfortunately, she was not well-educated and could only grit her teeth and do manual labor like those men.
He's not even thirty years old, but he looks like he's in his forties or fifties, and he always has a bitter face.
This year, however, she earned more money from growing mushrooms than she did doing manual labor all year!
Moreover, she had inquired and learned that she could grow mushrooms with Li Weidong every year from now on.
This means she no longer has to do hard labor, and her children no longer have to envy other children, as they can go to school with their schoolbags!
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
