The store in the provincial capital remained open until the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, when all employees were given a holiday and the store closed.
Wu Meijia's daughter, Jiajia, had already started her winter vacation, but because her mother was still working in the provincial capital, she did not go home to her family's district.
As for Sun Wen, he is very career-oriented and thinks about how to shine and do his job well every day, so he is even less in a hurry to go home.
After the shop closed, Zhao Qinglan treated the mother and her two children to another meal at her home, and then packed them plenty of homemade food before seeing them off.
With the military and civilians working together to close down, the snack shop managed by the Sun family also shut down.
Zhao Qingzhu's daughter is still too young, and it's not suitable for her to travel far in this cold weather. So, the whole family didn't get together for the New Year this year.
Mrs. Sun stayed with her second daughter and her family in the military family quarters.
Zhao Qinglan's family spent the Spring Festival in their courtyard in the provincial capital.
Zhao Qingju is already married, so she will naturally spend the New Year at her husband's family home.
After several years of family reunion, this was the first time their family was separated for the New Year. To be honest, with fewer people, Zhao Qinglan was a little unaccustomed to it.
Fortunately, she has many children, so it's not too deserted.
Sun Guangming originally wanted to come and spend the Chinese New Year with his sister, but he was too busy with work, and as the New Year approached, he couldn't leave.
Back in the capital, Zhao Qingju was thinking about her uncle and extended an invitation to him to spend the New Year together.
However, Sun Guangming did not agree, since his niece was now married and everyone would feel uncomfortable if he went.
He plans to visit Grandpa Dou when he has time, and the two of them can spend the New Year together.
During the Chinese New Year, it's natural to make all sorts of delicious food.
Even as her career grows bigger and bigger, it can't stop Zhao Qinglan from loving food and cooking.
This year, their family has had a lot more ingredients than they had before, thanks to Zhang Yu.
Zhang Yu didn't want his two precious children to travel back and forth for the Spring Festival, so he didn't go back to Beijing this year.
Zhang's parents missed their child so much that they had to go to Shenzhen to look for him.
Zhang Yu went to great lengths to prepare good things for this, including many rare seafood and mountain delicacies.
Thinking of Li Huai and the others, he asked a truck driver he knew who drove in this direction to bring over some good stuff.
If it were anyone else, seeing the ingredients Zhang Yu brought, many probably wouldn't know how to eat them.
However, this was no challenge for Zhao Qinglan, who was knowledgeable and skilled in cooking.
Even if Zhang Yu gave her more money, it wouldn't be as exciting as giving her these good ingredients.
With her skillful preparation, she prepared a variety of seafood dishes, including garlic scallops, grilled oysters, stir-fried squid, and steamed abalone, ensuring that the family ate almost a different dish each time.
The second child, who loves to eat the most, thinks his mother is the best mother, without a doubt.
The rest of the family members were also overflowing with happiness.
Of the four basic necessities of life—food, clothing, shelter, and transportation—food always comes first in the process of human survival.
Zhao Qinglan won over the entire family's stomachs with her superb culinary skills.
Fortunately, his family now lives in a detached house, not in an apartment building.
Otherwise, the neighbors in the family building would be drooling just from the aroma every day.
Li Huai knew his wife's background, so he wasn't surprised when she made food he'd never seen before.
The children in the family, however, admired their mother, who always seemed to create miracles, to the point of complete awe.
Zhao Qinglan is very happy because she can eat her favorite delicious food at every meal.
On Lunar New Year's Eve, apart from Sanwa who was watching TV outside, the rest of the family squeezed into the kitchen.
There were people like Xiaoduo and Li Huai who helped out, and there were also people like Erwa who couldn't resist staying in the kitchen to smell the aroma, not even letting the smell of the dumpling filling go to waste.
Zhao Qinglan first directed her husband and children to make dumplings.
This year, it's just the six of them for Chinese New Year, so they don't need to make too many dumplings. Once the dough has risen, she'll start working.
Zhao Qinglan helped Xiao Duo wrap the dumplings, while Li Huai and Da Wa rolled out the dough. Er Wa helped by coating the wrapped dumplings with flour and placing them on the steamer rack.
If freshly made dumplings aren't coated with flour, they're likely to stick to the steamer lid.
The family worked together, and they wrapped the dumplings quite quickly.
Thinking that she would eat dumplings once she finished making them, and that she would eat them again early the next morning, Zhao Qinglan ended up making five trays of dumplings.
She took out three trays of dumplings and cooked them in batches, then froze the remaining two trays to cook and eat the next morning.
Because there was a lot of seafood this year, their dumpling fillings changed drastically, including shrimp dumplings and mackerel dumplings, which became very popular in later generations.
The mackerel dumplings were a hit with the whole family.
We had dumplings for lunch, and the New Year's Eve dinner was a real feast.
Zhao Qinglan used all the remaining miscellaneous seafood to make a big dish, a seafood platter.
Besides this main dish, there are also plenty of other meat dishes, vegetable dishes, and cold dishes.
The dining table in the new house is very large; it can comfortably seat ten people at a time.
Even though it was just the six of them having New Year's Eve dinner, Zhao Qinglan still prepared a huge table full of food.
With just a few minutes left before the Spring Festival Gala started, the family sat down at the table.
The sounds of firecrackers and fireworks could be heard from time to time outside, creating a festive atmosphere for the Chinese New Year.
While watching the Spring Festival Gala, they ate and drank while discussing the various programs.
Even though fewer people are celebrating the Lunar New Year this year, it doesn't diminish the joy and festivity of family reunions.
Zhao Qinglan also extended New Year's wishes to her children and husband in turn.
As for the eldest child, the natural wish is for him to do well in the high school entrance exam next year.
For her husband, it meant smooth sailing at work and peace and safety.
All she wanted for Xiaoduo and her children was for them to be healthy and happy.
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