Zhou Qinglan was less than three months pregnant. Although she didn't have any symptoms this time, Zhang Shuzhen still didn't dare to be careless.
Therefore, Zhang Shuzhen refused to let Zhou Qinglan do any of the climbing, moving, or lifting work.
Of course, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were not idle either. They made steamed buns, dumplings, and bean buns, stewed pig's head, offal, pork belly, and ribs, and made aspic. They used whatever they had at home to cook.
I boiled a huge basin of various kinds of meat, and steamed several pots of steamed buns and dumplings as well.
Zhou Qinglan also learned from her mother-in-law how to make all kinds of jujube steamed buns and flower-shaped steamed buns.
As for Sheng Liancheng and his men, they weren't idle either; they spent their days chopping firewood outside.
It's not good to make any noise during the first month of the lunar year, so you have to chop more firewood in advance to avoid making things difficult for the cook.
The men weren't afraid to work; they sawed and chopped in the yard, and in just a few days, they filled the woodshed.
There were fine firewood specifically for starting fires and cooking, as well as thick firewood for burning in stoves; everything was neatly arranged and clearly laid out.
In the midst of all this busyness, Lunar New Year's Eve arrived.
As in previous years, after breakfast, Sheng Xiping led his younger brothers to erect lantern poles, hang lanterns, paste couplets, and paste paper-cut window decorations.
Zhang Shuzhen, along with her daughter and daughter-in-law, busied themselves in the kitchen, frying, stir-frying, and cooking, preparing for today's family reunion dinner.
Around 3 p.m., all the food was ready, and the family happily sat around the table for their reunion dinner.
Sheng Xinhua is older this year and can sit and eat by himself.
The little guy's mouth watered as soon as he saw the table full of delicious food. He wanted to try this and that too.
Seeing that the little boy was eating so heartily, everyone found it amusing and kept piling all sorts of delicious food onto Xinhua's plate. Before long, Xinhua's bowl was overflowing.
After having their reunion dinner, before seven o'clock, the family started making dumplings.
Just like last year, Zhang Shuzhen put money, peanuts, sugar, dates and other things inside the dumplings to amuse the children and bring good luck.
Making dumplings for Chinese New Year isn't about speed, but about quality. It's not just about eating them, but also about the ritual.
Therefore, Zhang Shuzhen arranged each dough ball neatly, and placed the wrapped dumplings in rows on the bamboo mat, making sure they were placed correctly.
Sheng Xinhua probably also noticed that today was different. The little guy, who should have been asleep around eight o'clock, was wide awake and not sleepy at all.
This kid wasn't sleepy at all; he was full of energy and kept causing trouble, insisting on grabbing something from the board.
Startled, Zhang Shuzhen quickly told Sheng Liancheng to take her grandson to the north kang (heated brick bed). "Quickly, find something to eat to appease the child, so he doesn't come over and cause trouble."
During the Chinese New Year, there was plenty of good food at home. We roasted several batches of nuts, including sunflower seeds, pine nuts, and hazelnuts, and put them in bags under the kang (heated brick bed).
But these things had to be peeled before Sheng Xinhua could eat them; he couldn't see them whole.
Otherwise, that little guy is so shrewd, he might just stuff a hazelnut, shell and all, into his mouth, and that would be terrible!
The key thing is, this little guy is incredibly quick with his hands now. He's not good at anything else, but he's guaranteed to be number one at causing trouble.
Sheng Liancheng was hesitant to hold the child while peeling nuts, fearing the boy might misbehave.
"Hey? Third brother, do you still have some of the jujubes I brought back before?"
Go find a small basin or two bowls or something, fill them up and wash them, then I'll coax Xinhua to eat some.
Sheng Liancheng thought about it and realized that this was the only thing he could give to his grandson.
Sheng Liancheng picked a lot of jujubes from the mountain. He used to grab a small handful every day, wash them, and give them to Sheng Xinhua to eat.
In the winter of Northeast China, what kind of fruit is there? Frozen pears and frozen persimmons are rare, and sometimes you can't buy them even if you have the money.
These jujubes are free; they were picked up from the mountain, and they taste pretty good.
Sheng Xinhua loved to eat, so no one else dared to touch a single bite; they saved it all for little Xinhua.
Upon hearing this, Sheng Xikang immediately went to the kitchen to find two bowls, and then went to the storeroom to find the bag containing the jujubes.
There wasn't much left in the bag, so I simply put it all in a bowl, took it back inside, washed it twice with clean water, and placed it in front of Sheng Xinhua.
Sheng Xinhua was clamoring to go make dumplings, but as soon as he saw something delicious, he immediately became quiet.
Then I saw the little guy sitting obediently on his grandfather's lap, his chubby little hands grabbing a jujube and stuffing it directly into his mouth.
"Is it delicious?" Sheng Liancheng smiled upon seeing it and deliberately asked his grandson.
With something in his mouth, Sheng Xinhua couldn't answer his grandfather's question. He just nodded and hummed twice in agreement.
Seeing that his grandson had calmed down, Sheng Liancheng finally breathed a sigh of relief and called Sheng Xitai over, asking him to eat some too.
The youngest son and eldest grandson are the most favored.
With delicious food and the coaxing of his grandfather and uncle, Sheng Xinhua finally stopped making a fuss about going to the south kang (heated brick bed) to cause trouble.
On the south side of the kang (heated brick bed), everyone took the opportunity to quickly make dumplings.
Around ten o'clock, after finishing wrapping the dumplings, Zhang Shuzhen checked the time and decided to boil water to cook them.
Before 11 o'clock, the water in the pot boiled, and Zhang Shuzhen called to Sheng Liancheng to lead her sons out to set off firecrackers.
Upon hearing the sound of firecrackers, Sheng Xinhua, who was already a little sleepy and dozing off, suddenly perked up.
He quickly got down from his grandfather's arms, rummaged through the kang (heated brick bed) and pulled out his coat and hat, then pointed outside and started shouting.
This child wants to go with them to set off firecrackers.
"How old are you? Why are you so wild? Didn't you see that your aunt and the others don't go out? The firecrackers are so loud, they'll scare you."
Zhou Qinglan was quite helpless. This brat was so young, yet he wanted to get involved in everything. What was so interesting about setting off firecrackers? What if he got scared by such a loud noise?
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