"Okay, that's a reasonable arrangement. When your brother gets married, our whole family will go to the wedding banquet."
Zhang Shuzhen smiled and nodded. The Sheng and Zhou families were related by marriage, and Zhou Qingyang's wedding was a great joy for the Zhou family. The Sheng family would definitely go and join in the fun and help out.
As the mother and daughter talked, they took off Sheng Xinhua's and Sheng Xinyu's shoes and coats, and the two children went to play on the kang (a heated brick bed).
Zhang Shuzhen also gathered up and put away all the things her daughter-in-law had brought back.
Just as they were tidying up, they heard footsteps outside again, and then Sheng Liancheng and Sheng Xiping, father and son, returned carrying their belongings.
This year's winter operations went very smoothly, with output exceeding expectations. After discussion, the farm leaders decided that the frontline work teams would take a holiday starting from the Lunar New Year's Eve and could return to the mountain on the tenth day of the Lunar New Year.
"Perfect timing, you're all back now. Let's make dumplings this afternoon and celebrate the Little New Year."
Zhang Shuzhen took the things from Sheng Liancheng's hands and said with a smile.
"After you finish eating, hurry up and tidy yourself up. Look at you, all scruffy and unshaven."
Since the start of the Winter Games, Sheng Liancheng has only gone down the mountain once to celebrate Sheng Xinhua's birthday, and then went back up the mountain the next day. He simply didn't have time to tidy himself up.
That's because he has long hair and a stubble beard.
Sheng Liancheng didn't care about any of that. He handed his things to his wife, took off his shoes, got on the kang (a heated brick bed), and went to play with his grandson.
Zhang Shuzhen shook her head when she saw this, too lazy to care anymore, and was more focused on cooking.
Celebrating the Little New Year and making dumplings are traditional activities for the Sheng family.
After lunch, without Zhang Shuzhen's instructions, Sheng Yunfang and her sister, along with Zhou Qinglan, spontaneously went to knead the dough and chop the filling. Around three o'clock in the afternoon, everyone worked together to make dumplings.
This year, Lunar New Year's Eve falls on the 29th of the twelfth lunar month. Although it's only one day shorter, there are still a lot of things to do. It feels much busier than celebrating the Lunar New Year on the 30th.
Fortunately, Zhang Shuzhen had already washed and prepared all the bedding in advance, and new clothes for the whole family were also ready.
The remaining tasks, such as sweeping the house and painting the walls, can be left to Sheng Xiping and his brothers.
Zhang Shuzhen, along with her daughter-in-law and daughter, hurriedly prepared dough to steam buns, twisted rolls, dumplings, and bean buns—basically, they were busy making all sorts of delicious things.
Of course, there is one more important thing: the Sheng family is going to slaughter a pig for the Chinese New Year this year.
In early spring, Zhang Shuzhen took the initiative to buy two piglets. After raising them for almost a year, they still weighed less than 200 jin (100 kg).
Zhang Shuzhen and Sheng Liancheng discussed that they would kill one during the New Year, and keep the other one to kill either next spring or next New Year.
Slaughtering a pig for the New Year was something Sheng Liancheng had longed for and dreamed of for many years.
Don't be fooled by the fact that Sheng Xiping manages to bring back several wild boars for the New Year every year. How can wild boars compare to domestic pigs? Besides, there's no atmosphere of slaughtering pigs for the New Year.
The point of celebrating the Chinese New Year is to have a lively atmosphere.
So, early on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, Sheng Liancheng led his three sons to catch and tie up the slightly larger pig in the pigsty.
This pig wasn't fed yesterday; its belly was completely empty. We tied it up, carried it out, and placed it on a long bench.
Sheng Xiping swiftly swung his knife, ending the pig's life in one stroke. The pig squealed a few times, then fell silent.
Zhang Shuzhen had prepared a basin in advance and came over to collect more than half a basin of pig's blood.
"Old man, come and get to work. Use this sorghum stalk to mix the pig's blood. Mix it for a while, don't let the blood coagulate."
Zhang Shuzhen called her youngest son over and casually handed Sheng Xitai a sorghum stalk.
The sorghum stalks were split in half lengthwise, then folded back into a triangle.
Sheng Xitai held the long part of the sorghum stalk and inserted it into the pig's blood basin, stirring it clockwise.
As you stir, a layer of red, thread-like substance appears on the sorghum stalks; this is the substance released by platelet aggregation.
The purpose of mixing the pig's blood is this: as long as it is mixed well, the pig's blood can be left for a period of time without coagulating.
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