Bu Yi was on holiday and came to the county hospital's house from the family compound. However, Bu Ling's house was full, so he and Sang Zi stayed at Xie Dong's house.
"Brother, where is Brother Liang? Are he and his wife spending the New Year alone?" Sangshen asked while packing the things Bu Yi had brought.
Wearing an apron, Buyi was being directed by his sister to kill a chicken. "Old Liang and Comrade Lin are going to Harbin for the New Year."
“Of course.” Bu Ling nodded after hearing this. “Brother, don’t waste that chicken blood. We’re having a pig-killing feast later. Xie Dong said he can get a pig’s head and pig’s blood.”
"I know, brother." Bu Yi got up and went to the kitchen to get a bowl. Then, he grabbed a chicken with one hand and a knife with the other, placed the chicken's neck across the bowl, and without blinking, he chopped down, immediately opening a gash in the chicken's neck, and the chicken blood gushed out.
The chicken felt the pain and struggled with a sharp cry, but Bu Yi remained unmoved, his hand holding the chicken firmly in place.
Gradually, the chicken's struggles weakened until it stopped moving altogether.
The chicken got cold, so Buling stepped forward, took it, put it in boiling water, and plucked its feathers, while Buyi then reached for the next chicken.
One, two, three, four, a total of five chickens, all lost to Buyi.
Bu Yi was quick and efficient. In less than half an hour, he had collected two large bowls of chicken blood and brought them to the kitchen to hand to Aunt Fang. He then brought out several fish.
He gutted the baby, scraped off the scales and gills, all in one swift motion.
On the other side, after Sangshen finished packing, she took over the task of plucking the chickens from Buling, while Buling went to the kitchen to help Aunt Fang tend the fire.
Today is the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, only two days away from the Lunar New Year. Bu Ling and his group are all busy, killing chickens and fish, frying meatballs, and steaming buns.
A short while later, Xie Dong returned carrying a bamboo basket. "Sister Fang, Brother Bu, look what I brought back!"
Fang Sao responded and quickly walked towards Xie Dong. Xie Dong cooperated by putting down the bamboo basket, lifting the blue cloth on top, and revealing a hideous pig's head inside. Fang Sao immediately beamed with joy: "Oh my, Dongzi is really amazing! Fang Sao will braise some pig's head for you!"
Xie Dong picked up the bamboo basket and walked to Bu Yi's side: "Sister Fang, let me take care of this first. Oh, right, there's a bucket of pig's blood here, it's still warm. Sister Fang, you can take care of it." He then took out a bucket of pig's blood from the bamboo basket.
Sure enough, the pig's blood was still steaming.
Aunt Fang quickly took it: "Perfect timing, I'll get some blood sausage. Lingling wants to eat pork stew, and this dish doesn't taste good without blood sausage."
Xie Dong nodded, indicating he had no objection.
Aunt Fang took the pig's blood away, and Xie Dong went into the house to get firewood to keep the fire burning. He squatted down next to Bu Yi and began to singe the pig's hair.
While the courtyard was bustling with activity, Grandpa Sang returned from outside, leaning on his cane. Behind him, Uncle Lin and Sang Zi carried four large packages, one on each side. "Xiao Si, Xiao Lin, take these things inside and tidy them up. Take out the food and let Xiao Fang and Lingling arrange it."
Uncle Lin and Sang Zi did as instructed. The four packages they carried were all sent by the Sang family. They knew that Grandpa Sang was coming to Gu County for the New Year, so they sent all the New Year's gifts to Gu County.
Grandpa Sang sat in a chair in the living room, looking at the scene outside the yard, his eyes and brows softening.
In the past, during the New Year in Kyoto, it was usually just Kobayashi and Kokata who accompanied him. Occasionally, a few children would come back, but they would only come and go quickly.
But Gu County is different. Here, in front of the children, he is happy every day.
Just then, the old man suddenly saw Buling come out of the kitchen with a bowl in her hand, and hurriedly called out, "Granddaughter-in-law, don't bother with this, take a rest, let them do the work."
"I understand, Grandpa!" Buling readily agreed, but still busied herself with a bowl.
She really enjoyed the atmosphere of everyone working together to celebrate the New Year. "Brother, have some hot water to warm yourself up."
Bu Yi's hands smelled strongly of fish, so Bu Ling held a bowl and fed him the water. After he finished drinking, Bu Yi said, "Lingling, don't tire yourself out."
Bu Ling nodded: "I know what I'm doing, don't worry, brother."
Then, she brought bowls of hot water to Sangshen and Xie Dong. "Oh, right, Sangshen, Aunt Fang said to ask you to buy two pieces of tofu. We've used up all the tofu we bought for fried balls."
Without looking up, Mulberry said, "Wait until I finish picking this last one."
"Xiao Qi, I'll do it. You go buy the tofu." Sang Zi came out of the house and rolled up her sleeves.
Seeing this, Sangshen stood up, wiped her hands on her apron, and asked loudly, "Sister Fang, do you want anything else besides tofu?"
Aunt Fang came out of the kitchen with a spatula in her hand: "Buy some more soybeans, I'll sprout some bean sprouts. Didn't Lingling say she wanted to eat hot pot? That way we can have an extra dish."
Sangshen replied, "I understand." Then she looked at Sangzi and said, "Brother, give me the money!"
Sang Zi glanced at him, looking rather pained, but in front of so many people, he just rolled his eyes at Sang Shen and said, "It's in my bag." Then he added, "Leave some for me."
"Okay!" Sangshen replied cheerfully, and dashed into the house. A moment later, she came out with a big smile on her face, her expression clearly showing that she had made a great harvest.
“Scarf! Don’t get cold!” Bling reminded him, looking at his bare neck.
Sang Shen was an obedient man. He stopped his bicycle, went back into the house to get a scarf, wrapped it tightly around his neck with only his eyes showing, and after Bu Ling checked it, he rode his bicycle out of the yard.
"Lingling, come and light the fire for me!" Aunt Fang called out as she saw Buling standing in the yard.
Bling turned and went back to the kitchen: "Coming!"
The group was busy all morning, and it wasn't until around one o'clock that Aunt Fang said, "Grandpa, Lingling, your brother-in-law is ready for lunch!"
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
