On the morning of New Year's Eve, An Moxue and Chu Dongmei got up early. An Moxue performed a set of punches, which made Chu Dongmei drool.
"Mo Xue, has anyone ever told you that your boxing is so beautiful? It's not like boxing, it's like dancing, like a fairy."
Chu Dongmei's expression amused An Moxue, and she said, "I see that your military boxing has improved. You haven't been bullied in the village this year, have you? That Huang family hasn't tried to cause you any more trouble, have they?"
Speaking of this, Chu Dongmei couldn't help but laugh. She said, "Mo Xue, you don't know, that family is simply bullying the weak and fearing the strong. Ever since that accountant Huang fell from power, the entire Huang family has become incredibly docile."
"That's good. Come inside for dinner, and then we'll get to work. I'm going to prepare a big table of delicious food." An Moxue had a premonition, based on what she'd seen of the three men who spoke Mongolian, that she might not be able to enjoy the New Year as easily as she did now for the next few years. She was determined to make the most of this year's holiday and celebrate it properly.
"Really? What's included?" Chu Dongmei asked expectantly.
An Moxue smiled mysteriously and said, "You will definitely find this trip worthwhile. Years from now on, when you look back on this year, you will say, 'Wow! So many delicious things!'"
This completely piqued Chu Dongmei's curiosity.
An Moxue kept everyone in suspense for a moment, then said, "Let's eat breakfast first."
When Chu Dongmei saw that breakfast consisted of rice with stewed wild chicken and mushrooms, as well as boiled salted duck eggs, she was overjoyed and felt that the trip had been worthwhile.
After finishing her meal, An Moxue took out a piece of pork and began assigning tasks to Chu Dongmei.
"Dongmei, just chop all of this pork into minced meat."
"Mo Xue, isn't this a bit too much? This piece of meat must weigh five or six pounds." Chu Dongmei hesitated to take a bite of the meat.
An Moxue didn't even look up, and said, "Not much, just chop it all up. By the way, is there any dumpling filling you'd like to eat?"
"Pure meat," Chu Dongmei blurted out.
"Okay, then let's have one with scallions and pork, and one with cabbage and pork."
After An Moxue finished speaking, she went out of the house. A little while later, she came back with a large basin of meat: pork, pork ribs, pig's trotters, roe deer meat, venison, two whole rabbits, and two pheasants. An Moxue washed all of these and put them into the largest pot. She then went into the house to get a spice packet, put it in the pot, covered it with the lid, and started a fire.
At this moment, Chu Dongmei finally found her voice and asked uncertainly, "Mo Xue, are some of these from other people's homes? They're not all yours, are they?"
"No! We don't have any from other places. The pot is a bit small, so we can only braise a little. Otherwise, we could have braised more, but unfortunately, it doesn't fit." An Moxue thought to herself, Wu Sicheng is still the best. He can accept whatever I offer without hesitation, and sometimes he even prepares some for me. On this point, the two of us don't have any disagreements; our views on spending are quite similar.
"Mo Xue, did I come all this way for you? Did I go to too much trouble?" Chu Dongmei was genuinely embarrassed. These days, who cooks meat by the pot for the New Year?
An Moxue comforted her, saying, "Don't worry! This was prepared before you came. Last year, it was even more lavish than this! This year, I really didn't have time, so I prepared much less. I almost spent the New Year in the middle of nowhere. I thought I would spend the New Year alone this year, but I didn't expect you to come. It's so wonderful."
Chu Dongmei chopped the meat, while An Moxue tended the fire and peeled garlic and scallions.
After An Moxue finished lighting the fire, she went outside again and brought back a cabbage and a carp.
Upon seeing the fish, Chu Dongmei exclaimed in surprise, "Mo Xue, this fish is huge! How many pounds must it weigh?"
"Not very big! Only about twenty pounds." An Moxue thought that Chu Dongmei had come all this way, so she couldn't just take a small fish. She picked a relatively small one. Back then, the smallest fish she caught in the lake was about fifteen or sixteen pounds, and the biggest ones were about a hundred pounds. She didn't dare to take any of them.
Chu Dongmei had only known that An Moxue's family was well-off in the compound, and she assumed it was because her parents were of high rank and she was an only child, so their expenses were low.
Back then, we only occasionally ate at state-run restaurants together. We never ate at her house. The only person who ate at her house was Li Aidang, that glutton, and that was when Mo Xue's parents weren't home.
Therefore, these people didn't really feel that An Moxue's family was well-off; they only felt that An Moxue had more clothes, hats, shoes, and socks.
But today, when An Moxue said that she had prepared even more things last year, she truly felt the gap between herself and An Moxue.
She suppressed her disappointment and said to An Moxue, "Moxue, I now truly understand why Ai Dang is so attached to you! Wow! I want to be attached to you too."
"Welcome! If you can come again next year, I'd love to. Otherwise, it'll be so boring for me to come alone, even with all this delicious food."
Chu Dongmei was about to ask, "So how did you spend the New Year alone last year?"
The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back, feeling that saying them would hurt An Moxue.
"Dongmei, how would you like to eat this fish?" An Moxue asked.
The truth is, she wanted to do multiple things with one fish, but she didn't know what Chu Dongmei thought about it.
Chu Dongmei shook her head and said, "You know, my mother's cooking is so-so, and so is mine. I don't know much about food. I'll listen to you. You can't go wrong with your arrangements."
"Okay, then let's make a steamed fish head with chopped chili, a fish with pickled cabbage, a pan-fried fish, and a fish ball soup."
"Wow! Mo Xue, I've never eaten any of these dishes you mentioned."
"It's okay, we'll have eaten everything after today."
And so, Chu Dongmei witnessed An Moxue's arrogance.
At noon, An Moxue had prepared the meal and was just thinking of sending some to Old Ma when Old Ma came into the house carrying a food box.
"Uncle Ma, what delicious food did you bring me?"
"See for yourself!" Old Ma handed her the food box and asked, "You have friends here, what delicious food have you prepared to entertain them?"
An Moxue said, "Meat!" Then she called over Chu Dongmei and said, "Dongmei, this is my Uncle Ma. You can call him Uncle Ma like I do. Uncle Ma, this is Chu Dongmei, a friend from our compound."
Chu Dongmei quickly greeted him, "Hello, Uncle Ma!"
"Hello, have fun now that you're here. If you need anything, just ask Mo Xue to come find me. Just make yourself at home." Old Ma saw that An Mo Xue's friend had clear eyes and knew she was a good kid, so he took a liking to her.
"The goods have been delivered. Is there any wine?" Old Ma asked An Moxue.
"No way! You have your own wine, why are you thinking about mine?"
"Oh! I'm an old man, what's wrong with asking you for some wine? Just give me a jar of that blueberry wine."
"Okay, okay, okay, you wait here, I'll go dig it from the cellar." An Moxue smiled helplessly, then left the house.
When he came back, he was carrying two jars of wine. He handed one jar to Chu Dongmei and put the other on the ground, saying, "Uncle Ma, wait a moment. I'll go pack some food and take you back in a bit."
He opened the food box that Old Ma had brought, took out the food inside, and then went to the kitchen to open the pot of braised meat. He took some of each kind of braised food and filled the food box to the brim.
With a bottle of wine in one hand and a food box in the other, An Moxue said, "Dongmei, wait a moment. I'll take Uncle Ma home, and then we'll have dinner when I get back."
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