The old folks used to say, "Whether you're rich or poor, getting a wife is the best way to celebrate the New Year."
For the Sheng family, this year's Spring Festival brings new additions to the family, including not only their daughter-in-law and grandson Xinhua, but also their eldest grandson Chen Feng, so naturally they need to make good arrangements.
On the morning of New Year's Eve, Sheng Liancheng led his sons to tidy up the yard.
They cleared all the snow from the yard, then erected lantern poles, hung lanterns, and pasted couplets, window decorations, and the character "福" (fortune/blessing). They were busy with all sorts of things.
Zhang Shuzhen, however, didn't participate in these tasks; she had other duties to perform.
"Fourth brother, fifth brother, you two stay home and take good care of Xinhua. I'll take your sister-in-law to the bathhouse for a good bath. When I get back, we'll cook something."
Zhou Qinglan gave birth to Sheng Xinhua on the first day of the twelfth lunar month. Today, she is barely thirty days postpartum. According to the proper procedure, she should be out of confinement tomorrow, the first day of the first lunar month.
For the past month, without washing her hair or taking a shower, Zhou Qinglan felt like she was going to rot from the smell of sweat and milk. She couldn't possibly spend the New Year looking so dirty.
Logically speaking, Zhou Qinglan shouldn't have been allowed to go out to take a bath on such a cold day, mainly because she was afraid of catching a cold on the way there and back.
Although the temperature at home was okay, there were no suitable household items. The large basin for washing clothes was fine for bathing the child, but adults couldn't even sit comfortably in it, so it was impossible to wash themselves.
So Zhang Shuzhen suggested that Zhou Qinglan dress more conservatively and that she accompany her to the bathhouse.
As the year draws to a close, the staff bathhouse is always packed with people, and sometimes you can't even get a number.
So the bathhouse was open on the morning of New Year's Eve and only closed in the afternoon.
Zhang Shuzhen led her daughter-in-law to the women's room of the staff bathhouse. The two women hadn't taken a bath in a long time, so they soaked in the bath and scrubbed themselves.
Zhang Shuzhen also helped Zhou Qinglan wash her hair.
To make things easier during her postpartum period, Zhou Qinglan got her hair cut at the end of December, transforming her long braid into a slicked-back style.
So even though I didn't wash my hair during this postpartum period, it didn't get tangled and impossible to comb.
Short hair is easy to wash and comb, but it took the mother and daughter more than an hour to finally get it clean and tidy.
Zhang Shuzhen brought several dry towels and kept drying Zhou Qinglan's hair until it was almost completely dry. Only then did the two of them get dressed, cover themselves up, and go home.
"Daughter, go back to your room first. You don't need to do any of the housework today. Just take good care of the children."
After returning home, Zhang Shuzhen did not allow Zhou Qinglan to work in the fields, and instead made her rest in the house.
Zhou Qinglan originally wanted to help with the work; she had been lying in the house for a month and was almost going crazy from boredom.
But her mother-in-law insisted, and just then Xinhua started crying for milk, so Zhou Qinglan had no choice but to go back to the room to take care of the child.
Zhang Shuzhen, meanwhile, was busy in the kitchen with her daughter.
Although Sheng Xiping wasn't home that winter, thanks to Huahua, the family never ran out of meat, and quite a lot was stored in the large vat in the storeroom.
Zhang Shuzhen has been busy these past few days, preparing all sorts of dishes, both stewed and braised.
Last night I brought back some frozen meat to thaw, to use for stir-frying today.
Yesterday, Sheng Xi'an and Sheng Xikang, following their older brother's instructions, went to the river bend near Diaoyutai and caught several big fish by chiseling holes in the ice.
With a wide variety of ingredients at home, one can cook to their heart's content.
This is the first year since the Sheng family welcomed a new baby, so Zhang Shuzhen is paying special attention and insists on cooking several delicious dishes.
Braised pork hock, braised pork with vermicelli, stewed chicken with mushrooms, stewed rabbit with potatoes, braised pork with braised fern, stir-fried roe deer meat, braised deer tendon with scallions, honey-braised bear paw, braised fish, pickled cabbage and spare ribs, aspic, stir-fried pork slices, braised pork heart and liver, fried eggplant and fried mushrooms.
There are fourteen dishes in total.
Zhang Shuzhen still wasn't satisfied. Luckily, the Liu family had sent some mung bean sprouts, so she mixed them with some dried tofu and shredded carrots, along with sweet and sour seasonings.
The last dish was something Zhang Shuzhen learned from Chef Li: sausages made by stuffing meat filling into sausage casings.
On the day of Chen Weiguo's wedding, this dish was the most popular. Many people inquired about how it was made, and Zhang Shuzhen also paid attention.
Luckily, there was a string of cleaned pig intestines at home, so Zhang Shuzhen took them out in advance, gently opened them, cleaned them again, and scraped off the fat.
Following Master Li's method, the sausage casings were filled with the mixed meat filling, and before steaming them, holes were specially pricked in the casings to release air.
I must say, it turned out quite well. I sliced one and served it, making a total of sixteen dishes.
The kang table in the Sheng family's house was too small to fit, so they simply placed it to the side, filling the entire table with plates that were almost stacked up.
"The food is all ready. Hurry up, everyone go wash your hands and sit down. Let's eat."
Zhang Shuzhen, with her daughter, brought out the last dish, carefully counted it, and after confirming that there were sixteen dishes, she began to invite everyone to eat.
"Girl, come on, take the baby and let's go eat in the east room."
Zhang Shuzhen turned and went to the west room. She pushed open the door and saw that her grandson was sleeping soundly. So she came over, wrapped him up, and carried him to the east room.
Zhou Qinglan also got off the ground and came to the east room together.
The east room of the Sheng family house has two large kang beds facing north and south, with a passageway less than two meters wide in the middle.
The seats were placed right in the aisle, with Sheng Liancheng and Zhang Shuzhen sitting on the edge of the south kang (heated brick bed), and Sheng Xitai and Chen Feng sitting on the edge of the north kang.
The others sat on stools, forming a circle around the table.
As for Sheng Xinhua, who was just a month old, he couldn't eat anything yet, so he could only lie on the kang (a heated brick bed) and sleep soundly.
Sheng Xiping took a bottle of wine from the cabinet and poured a glass for Sheng Liancheng, Sheng Xi'an, and himself.
Sheng Xi'an is no longer a student and was sent to the countryside as an educated youth. He's an adult now, so he can have a drink.
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