Chapter 200 New Year
Dipping the dumplings in garlic sauce and vinegar, Sheng Liancheng ate more than ten dumplings before finally putting down his chopsticks.
"Oh dear, it seems I still have to listen to you guys. I really can't eat any more of this soup," Sheng Liancheng said, rubbing his stomach.
If it weren't for the garlic sauce and vinegar, he probably would have only eaten about ten of them.
"Then let's do as you said and change these rules from now on."
By the way, when we make dumplings again next Chinese New Year, let's put some sugar, money, dates, or something in them.
"I've heard other people do this, but our family has never done it before." Sheng Liancheng was now convinced.
People have to adapt to the times. When life gets better, you can't stick to the old rules like before.
Over the years, because Sheng Liancheng has always adhered to the customs of his hometown, Zhang Shuzhen has become too lazy to put money, sugar, dates, or other such things into the dumplings.
On New Year's Eve of their first year of marriage, Zhang Shuzhen enthusiastically prepared a special feast.
To their surprise, after searching for a long time, the couple only managed to eat a few dates, without tasting a single piece of candy, and in the end, they discovered that all the coins had fallen to the bottom of the bowl.
The key issue is that dumplings are inherently not resistant to boiling, and if you soak them in dumpling soup for so long, the dumpling wrappers will break long ago, and then what can you eat?
The point of wrapping these things is to bring good luck and auspiciousness. If you can't eat anything, what's the point?
So after that incident, Zhang Shuzhen never made any more packages.
"Okay, as long as you don't make us eat dumplings with soup anymore, I'll make whatever you want to put inside."
"That's easy," Zhang Shuzhen readily agreed.
Sheng Liancheng was full, and the others had almost finished eating as well. In the end, there were two plates of dumplings left over.
It's normal; it's always good to have leftovers from the New Year's meals, so Zhang Shuzhen always prepares extra when kneading dough and making fillings.
We cooked dumplings early this year, and it was only a little past 11 o'clock when we finished eating. We had just eaten a lot of dumplings, so it wasn't good to let the kids go straight to sleep.
But there were no entertainment options back then. Forget about watching TV or the Spring Festival Gala, there wasn't even a radio.
Left with no other choice, Sheng Liancheng led the children to play cards and chess to help them digest their food.
As the clock on the wall chimed, Sheng Xiping led his younger siblings to wish their parents a Happy New Year.
"Happy Chinese New Year, Dad and Mom."
"Okay, okay, all good, all good." Sheng Liancheng and his wife were overjoyed and hurriedly took out money from their pockets, giving two mao to each child.
"Keep your money safe and don't spend it recklessly."
"Oh, I understand." The children happily took the money and quickly stuffed it into their pockets.
Don't underestimate these two cents; they can buy quite a lot of things.
The children rarely see money, so two cents is a huge sum of money in their eyes.
Sheng Xiping is already twenty-one years old, how could he possibly accept two cents? He has several tens of dollars in his pocket.
So, Sheng Xiping gave his share to the sixth brother, Sheng Xitai.
"Then, don't waste money. Buy a pen or an eraser later and study hard."
This really upset Sheng Xitai, who immediately wrapped her arms around her older brother's neck.
"My eldest brother is still the best to me. Thank you, my dear eldest brother."
Sheng Xitai's obsequious behavior disgusted the Sheng Yunfang and Sheng Yunfei sisters.
"Tch, all you do is flatter and fawn, you never actually do anything."
The two girls were speaking quite loudly, and everyone heard them, which made the whole family laugh.
Sheng Xitai was ridiculed and mocked by his sister, but he was not annoyed. He just snorted and said, "Hmph, you want to flatter me? You'll have to know how first."
"Alright, every day, the three of you together are like two black-eyed chickens, always fighting."
Zhang Shuzhen, fearing that the two girls would continue arguing with Lao Liu, quickly spoke up.
"It's getting late, hurry up and get ready for bed. We have to visit relatives and friends for the New Year tomorrow morning, so don't get up too late and have people blocking your bed."
It's really late. Sheng Xitai's eyelids have been drooping for a while now; he was just forcing himself to stay awake.
Mother spoke up, and everyone quickly went to sleep.
On New Year's Eve, you're not allowed to lay out bedding or take off your clothes. You just pull out a pillow, throw on a blanket or coat, and make do for one night.
I stayed up until midnight, and then I slept exceptionally well.
It wasn't until after 7:30 in the morning that Zhang Shuzhen got up to start a fire, then called Sheng Liancheng and the others to get up, set off firecrackers, and eat dumplings.
They had just finished eating when Wang Jianshe brought his younger siblings to offer New Year's greetings.
"Uncle, Aunt, Happy New Year."
These days, most families have quite a few children. In Wang Jianshe's family, there are five siblings. The youngest sister is in the same class as Sheng Xitai.
In ordinary families, regardless of whether they are doing well or poorly, they will always get their children new clothes to wear during the New Year.
It would be best to buy fabric to make new clothes. If there are many children in the family, it is not possible to make new clothes for each one. So, the older children can have new clothes made, and the younger children can pick out their older siblings' clothes or make alterations from adult clothes.
Anyway, no matter what, you have to make the kids happy during the Chinese New Year.
Wang Jianshe's father was originally a chainsaw operator, a level six worker, earning seventy or eighty yuan a month to support a family of seven, which wasn't exactly a comfortable life.
Thanks to Wang Jianshe, the family was able to make a lot of money each year from the agricultural team, the mountain work team, and other side businesses, which made their lives a little better.
This autumn and winter, Wang Jianshe went hunting with Sheng Xiping and made a lot of money, so all the children in the Wang family got new clothes.
Especially those two girls, wearing brand-new red cotton-padded jackets and red ribbons tied in their hair, looked incredibly beautiful.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
