While Sheng Xiping was taking pictures of the children, Sheng Xitai took out several boxes of firecrackers and lit them outside.
This year, the family bought a lot of fireworks and firecrackers. Whenever he had free time, Sheng Xitai would take his little nephew outside to set off a couple.
Sheng Xinhua and Sheng Xinyu are now older and bolder, and they have absolutely no resistance to firecrackers.
He was just taking pictures obediently, but as soon as he heard the sound of firecrackers, he ran off to find Sheng Xitai.
"Uncle, I want one too, I want one too!" The two children surrounded Sheng Xitai, vying for the firecrackers.
Sheng Xitai grabbed two handfuls and gave them some, then lit the incense sticks and gave one to each of Sheng Xinhua and Sheng Xinyu. The three of them then played around at the gate.
The clanging of firecrackers, accompanied by the smell of gunpowder, is the true essence of Chinese New Year.
The two little girls, Sheng Xinyue and Sheng Xinqi, are quite brave. When their two older brothers set off firecrackers outside, they weren't scared at all. Instead, they clapped their hands and laughed.
Sheng Xiping couldn't resist taking a few more photos after seeing the scene before him.
"Alright, alright, come back and eat quickly. I made this for you. It's not even dark yet, and they've already started setting off firecrackers."
"It would be so much better to show it at night; it's not very interesting during the day." Just as they were having a great time, Zhang Shuzhen came out and invited them to eat.
"Mom, we'll be watching TV tonight, who's going to set off firecrackers?" Sheng Xitai poked the tip of the incense stick into the snow, extinguishing the sparks.
Then, he disposed of the incense sticks in the hands of Sheng Xinhua and Sheng Xinyu in the same way, and the three of them took the remaining firecrackers into the house.
In the center of the east room, a table was placed to the side. It was made by a carpenter a while ago, and the tabletop was specially made to be larger.
One steaming dish after another was served, filling the table to the brim.
"Go wash your hands quickly, or the food will get cold," Zhang Shuzhen urged the children to wash their hands, while she set out the bowls and chopsticks.
The younger children washed their hands and came back to sit around the table.
Sheng Xiping carried two bottles of wine and some soda and placed them on the kang (a heated brick bed).
"Dad, let's not drink baijiu today. This is a mountain wine that Jianshe and his team gave me. Let's drink some of this and taste it."
This mountain wine is not made from mountain grapes, but rather by soaking mountain grapes and rock sugar in white wine for an autumn and winter, and then filtering the wine.
Although it's still based on baijiu (Chinese white liquor), the addition of wild grape juice and rock sugar lowers the alcohol content.
These past few days, Sheng Xiping has been drinking quite a bit, and he really can't drink much baijiu anymore.
So today he brought out this mountain wine, just to show his appreciation and to mark the occasion.
The mountain wine has a vibrant purple color and a unique aroma when the bottle is opened.
Sheng Xiping poured wine for his father and younger brother, while Zhou Qinglan picked up a soda bottle and poured soda for her mother-in-law, two sisters-in-law, and four children.
The soda is orange-flavored and has an orange-yellow color.
Normally, the family doesn't allow the children to drink this stuff, especially Sheng Xinyue and Sheng Xinqi, who have never drunk it.
The two girls stared at the thing in the cup with wide, curious eyes.
Sheng Xinyue, being mischievous, took advantage of everyone's inattention and peeked over to secretly take a sip.
The sweet orange soda has a slightly pungent taste due to its carbonation, giving it a unique and refreshing flavor.
Especially for little kids who have never drunk soda before, they immediately love the feeling.
So, Xiao Xinyue secretly took another sip, squinted her eyes, covered her mouth, and secretly laughed.
Sheng Xinyue's little tricks were actually noticed by those around her a long time ago, but no one called her out on it.
"Come on, today is New Year's Eve, a time for family reunion. Let's all raise our glasses and have a drink together."
I hope our family will prosper even more next year, and I especially hope that everyone in our family will be safe and healthy.
As the head of the family, Sheng Liancheng was naturally the one who should offer the first toast.
The whole family picked up their cups. Sheng Xinyue and Sheng Xinqi were too young to hold the teacups with one hand, so they held them with both hands.
Thankfully, the soda wasn't filled to the brim, otherwise, with their wobbly gait, they would have spilled half of it before even drinking it.
"Yes, I hope we will have a prosperous and happy year ahead."
The Sheng brothers spoke loudly, clinked glasses with everyone, and each took a sip of wine.
The mountain wine has a sweet and sour taste with fruity aromas on the palate, but the true aroma of wine comes out with a closer sip. And I must say, it tastes really good.
"Hmm, this stuff is pretty good. We'll make some for our family next year." Sheng Liancheng took a sip and nodded.
Sheng Xinhua and Sheng Xinyu were still young, their arms were not long enough to reach the cups. Seeing that their father and uncles had finished drinking, the two of them cried out anxiously.
Upon seeing this, Sheng Xitai stretched out his arm and clinked glasses with his nephew, saying, "Come on, I also wish you both to become smarter and smarter, and to get 100 points on your exams."
"Thank you, Uncle." The two kids were overjoyed and took a big gulp from their cups.
"Oh dear, drink less soda. It's carbonated, and if you drink too much, your stomach will feel bloated and you won't be able to eat anything."
"If you want to drink for a while after you finish eating, feel free to drink as much as you like. Let's eat first; there's so much good food. Come on, try the ribs."
Zhang Shuzhen picked up a few pieces of sweet and sour pork ribs and put them in her granddaughter's bowl for them to eat.
Kids love meat, and these ribs are stewed until tender, with the sweet and sour sauce perfectly seasoned, and sprinkled with white sesame seeds.
The two little girls grabbed the ribs and started gnawing on them, eating with great relish. Seeing that her granddaughters enjoyed them, Zhang Shuzhen put a few more pieces into their bowls.
This year for Chinese New Year, we slaughtered two pigs at home, and we ate as much meat as we wanted. We had braised pork belly, red-braised pork, braised pork hock, stir-fried pork slices, braised pork chunks, sweet and sour pork ribs, pig's trotters, whatever we wanted.
Zhang Shuzhen kept urging the children to eat, and Sheng Xiping and the others, being young and strong, ate with great relish.
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