The center dish features a braised crucian carp, symbolizing abundance year after year. Next to it are steamed pork hock, followed by braised pork belly, fried meatballs, pickled cabbage stewed with blood sausage, braised pork belly with dried green beans, stir-fried wood ear mushrooms with eggs, stir-fried garlic sprouts with pork, pig's head meat, candied sweet potatoes, and sweet and sour pork ribs.
Having ten dishes in total symbolizes a perfect year ahead.
Not even half of the food on the table was finished.
After clearing the table, Li Guiying took out the basin and dumpling filling.
Wang Dashuan took Wang Baomin and Wang Baoshan out for a stroll.
Old Master Wang also went to spend time with his old friends.
Several women stayed home to make dumplings.
This time, Tao Ying didn't slack off; instead, she joined everyone in making dumplings.
I wrapped four trays of dumplings in total. After that, there wasn't much else to do.
A few people started playing poker, the simplest one being 50K.
At eight o'clock in the evening, Wang Dashuan and his friends returned.
The family busied themselves again, setting off firecrackers to welcome good fortune.
Then the family sat down together to eat dumplings.
After eating dumplings, Tao Ying didn't stay up to welcome the New Year and went straight to sleep.
The next day, Wang Baoshan brought his younger siblings over to wish everyone a Happy New Year as soon as he got up.
Tao Ying had prepared everything long ago, including Wang Dashuan and Li Guiying.
"Sister-in-law, why are you giving us red envelopes?" Wang Dashuan's face turned red.
"It's just for the festive atmosphere," Tao Ying said cheerfully.
Tao Ying always put five yuan in the red envelopes.
"Guiying, why don't you go back to your parents' home tomorrow?" Zhou Daya said to Li Guiying after breakfast.
"I'll go back on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year. I've already told my mom," Li Guiying quickly replied.
"Is it because I'm here? Guiying, you don't need to worry about us. I know where the food is, so we won't go hungry," Tao Ying quickly said.
Tao Ying would feel terrible if her presence during the New Year prevented Guiying from returning to her parents' home.
"No, sister-in-law, I always go back on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year," Li Guiying quickly explained, afraid that Tao Ying would misunderstand.
Tao Ying looked at the old lady's eyes, which were practically rolling to the sky, and instantly realized that something was wrong.
"Guiying, did someone from your family bully you? Otherwise, your sister-in-law will go back with you. I definitely won't let you be bullied. If not, we can bring Mom with us. Our mom is really fierce when she scolds people." Tao Ying felt that she had grasped the key to the problem.
"I've never heard of anyone going back to their parents' home with their mother-in-law, aunts, or other relatives," Zhou Daya finally couldn't hold back any longer.
“It’s my two good-for-nothing daughters. They come back every year complaining about being poor and making a scene. I tell them to kick them out, but they just try to smooth things over,” Zhou Daya said through gritted teeth.
"No way? Mom, you could raise a daughter like this?" Tao Ying looked at Zhou Daya in disbelief.
After spending so much time together, the old lady is quite understanding and righteous.
“I didn’t teach the eldest daughter. She’s her grandmother’s biological daughter, not mine. She just crawled out of my womb,” Zhou Daya said through gritted teeth.
If it weren't for discovering that her eldest daughter had been led astray by that old hag, Zhou Daya would never have had that fight with Old Master Wang's mother back then.
They never spoke to each other again until the old lady died. Even when the old lady died, Zhou Daya did not wear mourning clothes or come to pay her respects.
"The person has been dead for over twenty years, why are they still holding such a grudge?" Old Master Wang muttered quietly to himself.
"Why can't I hold a grudge? She raised my perfectly good daughter like an enemy, so how can I not hate her?" Zhou Daya, like a cat with its fur standing on end, started ranting at Old Master Wang.
"And who's the other one?" Tao Ying only knew that Wang Dazhu had an older sister and a younger sister, but she didn't have a strong impression of them, and even their appearances were vague.
It seems that neither of the two people who died at Wang Dazhu's place came.
“My younger sister married into a bad family. Her husband likes to drink, and when he’s drunk, he acts crazy and likes to hit people. Every year during the first month of the lunar calendar, he comes back and causes a scene,” Li Guiying sighed.
Tao Ying: "..." It seems that very few people get divorced these days.
"Go back to your parents' house right away. Ying'er and I will stay home tomorrow." Zhou Daya became even angrier when she heard Li Guiying's tone.
"Mom, do you want my little sister to get a divorce?" Tao Ying asked softly.
"She can take care of herself. I'm a dead man anyway, why should I care about her? Just don't come back for the New Year and annoy me." Zhou Daya felt angry just thinking about it.
"Mom, eldest sister, my younger sister has it tough too. We only see each other once a year," Li Guiying whispered, trying to comfort her.
That's my mother-in-law's daughter. Even though she says that, how could she not care about her? How could she really kick her out?
"Who has it easy? I'm about to die, and Wang Lan comes all the way over the New Year with just two jin of sweet potatoes. Does she think she can borrow my savings for my funeral? Her grandmother has been dead for so many years, is she reincarnated as her?" Zhou Daya's anger surged to the top of her head.
"And then there's Wang Mei. I never agreed to her marrying him in the first place, but she did it anyway. She secretly ran off with someone else, not wanting any dowry or anything. She's just giving birth to a whole bunch of bastards..." Zhou Daya said, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Mom..." Li Guiying whispered, trying to persuade her.
"Guiying, listen to your mother, go back to your parents' home tomorrow. Everything is still there." Tao Ying could also see that the old lady was feeling aggrieved; the old lady was a strong-willed person.
"Sister-in-law..." Li Guiying was really afraid that her mother-in-law and sister-in-law might do something together.
"Listen to me." Tao Ying's voice was a little harsher.
"Guiying, let's go back," Wang Dashuan whispered to Li Guiying.
The next morning, Li Guiying was chased away by Zhou Daya.
"Mom, what dishes are you preparing today?" Tao Ying asked Zhou Daya after Li Guiying left.
Tao Ying had changed her clothes in a flash and looked at Zhou Daya with a spirited expression.
I'm actually kind of looking forward to it, after all, I'm the eldest sister-in-law, and suddenly I feel like I'm standing on the moral high ground again.
"What are you preparing? Chunni, just stew the leftover meat from the New Year in sauerkraut, and steam some mixed flour buns and cornbread." Zhou Daya was in a bad mood from the start of the day.
"Oh, and hide the wine. We don't want it to drink itself to death in our house and we'll have to pay for it," Zhou Daya added.
"Isn't Wang Lan coming?" Tao Ying asked.
"She has to be a good sister-in-law and a good brother's wife today, how could she come to our house?" Zhou Daya's tone was undeniably sarcastic.
"Oh, by the way, lock all your rooms in a bit, just leave the one I'm staying in open," Zhou Daya added.
"Chuntao, you can cook for us later. Chunni, you take Yangyang to your third uncle's house for a day," Zhou Daya added, still worried.
"Mom, you've really got me all fired up. If I go too far later, you can't be angry, right?" Tao Ying looked at Zhou Daya with bright eyes.
"If you don't teach those bastards from the Feng family a lesson today, I'm not going to the city after the New Year." Zhou Daya also gave Tao Ying a boost of confidence.
"Got it!" Tao Ying gave Zhou Daya a knowing look.
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