Once the Little New Year has passed, the place is decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, creating a festive atmosphere.
In recent years, people's living standards have gradually improved, and they are more willing to spend money on food and clothing during the Spring Festival.
Every household was filled with the aroma of delicious food. Department stores, supply and marketing cooperatives, and even Zhao Qinglan's supermarket were all crowded with people shopping.
Coupons and ration coupons are almost useless now. Everything is readily available and can be bought as long as you have money. After a year of hard work, it's time to celebrate the end of the year with joy!
Zhao Qinglan also took the children out to experience the festive atmosphere of the New Year.
Buy couplets, paper-cut window decorations, snacks and candies. Nowadays, many people visit their home to offer New Year's greetings during the Spring Festival, so they can't be short of anything.
My aunt, my younger sister, and Zhang Yu all sent things to their family.
With clothes, food, and what she bought herself, her family had a very rich supply of New Year's goods.
Now, one refrigerator is no longer enough for their family, so they bought a new one to just barely make ends meet.
Even though she earns more and more money, Zhao Qinglan still enjoys cooking for herself.
There are some things that she always feels are best made at home.
She likes to eat homemade things like fried dough twists, fried dough sticks, fried meatballs, dried tofu, and fried ribbonfish.
The children in the family can now help with anything.
She spends her days busy preparing food with the children, making it a lively and fulfilling time.
When Li Huai was at home, he would join in to help, and their house was filled with laughter every day.
Madam Sun didn't want to spend the New Year with her wooden-headed son, so she spent all her time calling her brother Sun Guangming or her sister Sun Shi.
"Why don't we all celebrate the New Year together? Come to my place. I have a big place. I'll call all the kids and cover all their travel expenses. Come to my house and have a lively time."
The home she was referring to was that courtyard house in Beijing.
Madam Sun still fondly remembers the last time everyone gathered together to celebrate the New Year.
Sun Guangming is not good at traveling far, so spending the New Year in the capital is no problem for him. The Sun family is also relatively unemployed, so it's not a big issue for them either. It's just the Zhao Qinglan sisters and their family that are in trouble.
Zhao Qingju is alright; her family is now in the capital. Only the Zhao Qinglan and Zhao Qingzhu families remain.
Actually, the two sisters don't have any major problems, but the men in the family can't travel far for too long because of their work.
However, the two sisters were still tempted by the idea of the family gathering together for a lively time.
After Li Huai and Zhou Jingsheng had both arranged their work schedules, they finally set a time to get together before the New Year.
It was impossible for them to get together on New Year's Eve, as Li Huai was too busy to leave, and Zhao Qinglan couldn't bear to leave her husband alone for the New Year. So they decided to take the train to the capital with her sister's family after New Year's Day.
Although Madam Sun was somewhat disappointed, she believed that it was better to have a get-together than not.
On New Year's Eve, she spent the holiday with her son, Sun Guangming, and Mrs. Sun.
As for Zhao Qingju, since her two older sisters couldn't come for the time being, she continued to celebrate the New Year at her husband's family home. She would go to her aunt's house after her sisters arrived, which would also be considered as returning to her parents' home.
Early on the 30th, Zhao Qinglan got up to knead the dough and mix the dumpling filling.
This year she made two kinds of dumpling fillings: one with pork and scallions, and the other with chives and eggs.
After trying them all, these two fillings are still the most authentic and flavorful.
This isn't the first time the whole family has made dumplings together; now, their division of labor is very clear.
Once the dough had risen, Li Huai rolled it out and cut it, while Da Wa and Er Wa rolled out dumpling wrappers. Zhao Qinglan and Xiao Duo wrapped the dumplings together, and San Wa was responsible for running errands and other miscellaneous tasks.
The TV was on all the time, and they watched it while making dumplings. It started snowing outside, which made the bright red couplets and lanterns look especially festive.
Erwa always thought the filling of the chive and egg dumplings that his mother cooked smelled delicious, so he would scoop some out with a spoon to sneak a bite while he was working. Zhao Qinglan caught him and smacked his hand several times.
"Erwa, if you keep sneaking food like this, there won't be enough dumpling filling later."
"Mom, that's easy. Erwa has eaten his fill of dumpling filling. When the dumplings are cooked and served, we just won't let him have them," Dawa suggested.
“Brother is right,” Xiao Duo agreed, and Sanwa nodded in agreement.
"How could you do this to me?" Erwa protested.
"If you don't want to go without dumplings later, you'd better shut your mouth now." Li Huai glared at his son.
He's so old now, how come he still can't get rid of this gluttonous habit? I wonder who he took after. If you didn't know better, you'd think that Erwa had never had enough to eat growing up.
Honestly, they could hardly find a better family meal around the neighborhood.
Amidst laughter and chatter, they finished making the dumplings.
Zhao Qinglan held the lid of the pot while cooking dumplings, standing directly by the pot.
There's no way around it; you can't cook dumplings without someone watching, otherwise the water will boil over if you're not careful.
Seeing the dumplings float to the surface after the water boiled, she added cold water to the pot. Erwa, who was waiting for the dumplings to cook, then started asking her questions.
"Mom, why did you add cold water to the pot?"
"This?" Zhao Qinglan was completely dumbfounded. Yes, why?
Unable to understand, she could only reply, "Anyway, you need to add water three times when boiling dumplings, that is, add cold water three times. You don't need to add too much each time. Add more water after the water boils again, and the dumplings will be cooked through." Anyway, that's how everyone has been boiling dumplings since she can remember.
"Oh." Erwa nodded knowingly; he had remembered.
Once the dumplings were cooked and served, everyone happily began to eat.
Since dumplings were the main dish, Zhao Qinglan didn't cook any other dishes. She took out two kinds of side dishes that she had at home, mixed them with vinegar, minced garlic and sesame oil in a small dish, and dipped them in the dumplings.
Erwa had often sneaked bites of dumpling filling before, and he ate quite a lot this time as well, which just shows he has a big appetite.
However, he was indeed still growing, and his height increased dramatically as soon as he entered high school.
Journey to the West is on TV again.
Even if they've already seen it once, people still enjoy watching it again.
I get really excited every time I watch Sun Wukong fight the monsters for hundreds of rounds.
He gets incredibly nervous when he sees Wukong being misunderstood by his master or stumped by a demon's magic weapon.
After eating dumplings and resting for a while, Zhao Qinglan started preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner again.
Because they now have a telephone, the phone starts ringing as soon as it gets dark outside, with people calling to wish them a Happy New Year.
When their aunt called, all the children crowded around the phone to talk.
Mrs. Sun and her two siblings spent the New Year together, and they were all very content, but they were a little disappointed that the house wasn't lively enough without children.
Once the call connects, they have so much to talk about.
Zhao Qinglan was busy cooking and could only spare a moment to say a few words.
Although they didn't spend the Lunar New Year together, it didn't affect their joyful and festive mood.
The sounds of firecrackers and fireworks slowly began to rise outside. As soon as the phone call ended, the older kids ran to the yard to set off the kind of sparklers that children play with.
Hearing the laughter coming from the yard, Zhao Qinglan, even in the kitchen, had a big smile on her face.
It's Chinese New Year, how wonderful! She didn't have any novel wishes, only that the country be prosperous and the people live in peace and happiness, and that her family be safe and joyful.
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