November 1st was Shen Zixi's third birthday, and Shen Anning had prepared a birthday present for her early on.
In the countryside, celebrations are usually only held for one and tenth birthdays. Shen An Ning didn't plan to have a banquet, but she still had to celebrate in a small family. When Xixi was one or two years old, she was still ignorant, but this year she is a big girl, so some sense of ceremony should be given to her.
Two new sets of clothes, one is more suitable for the current weather, and the other is thicker and can be worn during the winter. Because Shen Zixi prefers sour and sweet dishes, Shen Anning made a portion of sweet and sour pork, a portion of fish-flavored shredded pork, tomato fish, stir-fried vegetables, and dried beans.
Six dishes plus seaweed, shrimp and egg soup. Looking at the table full of delicious food, Shen Zixi's eyes narrowed with joy, "Auntie, auntie, I love you so much." Children in the village would have a bowl of noodles at most for their birthdays. Those with better conditions might add an egg. Shen Zixi looked at the new clothes and the table full of delicious food and felt that she was the happiest child in the village.
Patting the little girl's head, Shen Anxuan smiled and said, "You are so sweet-mouthed. Xixi is the birthday girl today."
Shen Anyu and Shen Anxuan also prepared gifts for her - stationery and a school bag.
When Shen Zixi saw it, she was stunned at first. Although she still said sweetly thank you to her aunt and uncle, Shen Anning and her younger brothers and sisters could see that the little girl's smile was no longer in her eyes.
The cake was eaten with grandparents in the evening. The old couple hid all the things in their hands in their courtyard house, so they couldn’t prepare jade pendant bracelets for Xixi, so Grandma Shen personally knitted two cashmere hats for her and embroidered Shen Zixi’s zodiac sign - the pig.
Because it is embroidered with pink silk thread, it looks very cute. The pink and tender little pig looks very much like Shen Zixi who is lying on the kang and touching her belly after eating.
After the little girl had eaten her fill, she lay on Grandpa Shen and Grandma Shen's kang and refused to move. In the end, Shen Anyu carried her home on his back.
As soon as November arrived, the weather in Northeast China became visibly colder. When I woke up in the morning, the water in the water tank had begun to form a thick layer of ice.
Despite the harsh environment, Shen Anyu still insisted on getting up early in the morning to exercise. Although he did not explicitly state his future plans, Shen Anning could see what his brother was thinking and guessed that he was going to follow the same path of martial arts as his second brother.
So she tried her best to prepare nutritious food every day, striving to keep her younger brothers and sisters in good health. The one she was most proud of was little Xixi, because she ate a lot every day and didn't move much, so she really put on a thick layer of fat in the winter.
In the past, when the villagers saw the little girl, they mostly praised her for being cute. This year, they all praised her for looking like the fat baby in the New Year pictures. Shen Anning and her younger brothers and sisters couldn't stop laughing because of this. I don't know if it was a psychological factor, but Shen Anning always felt that it was more comfortable to hold the fat little girl at night. Children have hot bodies, and with the thick layer of soft flesh on their stomachs, Shen Anning always liked to pinch it before going to bed every night.
"aunt!"
It was pitch dark, and Shen Anxuan knew without a second thought that it was the eldest sister who had lost control of her hands and was caught by the hot-tempered little girl.
Shen Anning was a little embarrassed. She thought the little girl in her arms had fallen asleep, and she quickly said, "I'm sorry, Xixi. Auntie couldn't help it. Look at the fat on our Xixi's belly. You can tell at a glance that she is a blessed baby."
"Hmph, I, I won't eat so much tomorrow!"
Listening to the little girl's bold words, sisters Shen Anning and Shen Anxuan laughed very impolitely. Shen Anning's cooking skills are excellent. It is impossible for her to eat less!
"Oh, baby Xixi is still growing. When spring comes and the weather is no longer cold, we can move more during the day and exercise, and the fat will be gone. It's okay, we can eat normally, as long as we don't eat too much, baby."
Shen Zixi was a little uncertain, with some surprise, "Really? Aunt."
"Of course, when has my aunt ever lied to you?"
A small disturbance was resolved with Shen Anning's eloquent tongue.
Because of the mooncake business with the farm this year, Shen Anning went there before the New Year's Eve. She happened to come across an old dead ox on the farm, so she asked for 20 kilograms of hind leg meat and half a sheep.
The cattle and sheep in the space have been consumed quite a lot in recent years. There is already a lot of pork, and there is quite a lot left over. So if she has the opportunity to get beef and mutton, she will not miss it at all. After all, they are a family here.
This time, after buying meat, Shen An Ning put the things directly in the kitchen. Twenty kilograms of beef was a lot. She planned to make some beef sauce and roast some dried meat to share with her family so that they could supplement their nutrition.
Shen Anyu and Shen Anxuan are on vacation. They have always done a good job of dividing the work at home. Anyu and the boys in the village go up the mountain to collect firewood, and Anxuan stays at home to help.
Twenty pounds of beef, half is used to make meat sauce, and the other half is made into jerky with pork. The workload is still very heavy. After the autumn harvest, a lot of work was done in the mountains. Most of the hazel mushrooms were dried by Shen An Ning. After a simple soak, they were fried with beef cubes and spicy sauce. The aroma attracted several families around.
Looking at the half-filled pot of beef sauce, Shen Anning felt a little relieved. Fortunately, there were many cans at home, otherwise she really didn't know how to fill it up.
A can was filled with almost half a pound of sauce, which was left for the family to eat. Looking at the twenty cans, Shen An Ning quickly made arrangements in her mind. Two bottles were sent to her grandparents, one spicy and one non-spicy; four bottles were sent to her parents, eldest brother and sister-in-law, three non-spicy and one spicy; four bottles were sent to her second brother, half spicy and half non-spicy; the same was done for Cao Jingheng; two of the remaining six were kept as coming-of-age gifts, and four were sent to her uncle and aunt.
Because it was winter, she was not worried that the dried meat would be difficult to preserve, so together with Shen Anxuan, the two sisters really started working hard. They made several versions of beef jerky, pork jerky, sauce-flavored, sweet and spicy, and fragrant and spicy.
The Shen family's courtyard was filled with the aroma of meat all day long.
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