On the morning of New Year's Eve, Lin Yan was rarely awakened by An An's crying. He leaned on Zhao Shiyun's arms and slept soundly. He had hardly had a good night's sleep since the birth of the child.
Although An An no longer drinks milk at night, it doesn't mean he sleeps well. Sometimes he babbles until midnight and doesn't fall asleep. Sometimes he learns skills from his dream grandma in the middle of the night, and if he doesn't learn well, he gets spanked on the palm, and then he cries loudly. Lin Yan has a headache and has to comfort him. Moreover, he won't drink milk at this time, no matter how much he feeds him, he won't drink.
Li Yuemei also kept complaining that the child was still young and needed to be fed in the middle of the night. Lin Yan explained it several times but she was still skeptical. But one time An An cried again in the middle of the night, Zhao Shiyun went to the kitchen to warm up the goat milk and called Amo over. She let her see with her own eyes that An An really refused to drink milk, and only then did she stop nagging.
Li Yuemei and Zhao Qiming were both light sleepers, but since they weren't making tofu today, they still slept until the morning. Having cleaned the house the past two days, they could just prepare the New Year's Eve dinner today.
They went to the backyard and caught two chickens. Two of them held one chicken and scraped the chicken's neck with a knife. After killing the chicken, they scalded its feathers with hot water and plucked the chicken's feathers in the yard.
Lin Yan yawned and walked out of the room, "Good morning, Dad."
"Brother Yan, get up. Where's An An?"
Speaking of An An, Lin Yan smiled: "He slept so soundly today, he hasn't woken up yet."
"Wow, I slept for so long today." Li Yuemei sighed without stopping.
"Getting more sleep is good for your health." After washing up, Lin Yan went into the kitchen to take a look. No breakfast was prepared, so he cleaned the pot and poured clean water into it. He put ten eggs in to boil, then put on the steamer and put a few steamed buns left over from yesterday in to heat them up.
The steamed buns didn't need to be heated for long before they softened. Lin Yan picked one up and started eating. As he was eating, Zhao Shiyun came over, holding An An, who had just woken up. Lin Yan swallowed the last bite of the bun and reached out to hold An An. "I'll feed him goat milk first. There are buns in the pot, and there are eggs at the bottom, but they're not cooked yet."
Zhao Shiyun nodded and called his father and mother to come in for breakfast.
"After you finish eating, take An An with you. I'll go help prepare the ingredients." Lin Yan said.
"good."
The chicken was quickly plucked. Li Yuemei remembered the pig stomach chicken that Lin Yan had mentioned that day and asked, "Brother Yan, how do you cook this chicken?"
Lin Yan went to ask Zhou Chunlan that day, but Zhou Chunlan was not very clear either. After thinking about it, Lin Yan simply cut the pork stomach and chicken into pieces and stewed them into the soup. He didn't know how long it would take to cook them, so he would try it again when he had time.
"Ah, stew one whole for worship, and chop the remaining one into small pieces and stew it with pig's stomach."
"Okay, got it."
Lin Yan took the pig's stomach he had bought that day and began to clean it. He scooped a basin of water and placed the pig's stomach in it to wash, carefully searching for any impurities inside. He first sprinkled a layer of flour on the pig's stomach and rubbed it vigorously. He then sprinkled a layer of salt and continued rubbing, removing the slime and impurities along with the salt. He then poured some white vinegar and continued rubbing. A pungent smell filled the air, but Lin Yan paid no attention.
Li Yuemei watched from the side and couldn't help but praise: "Brother Yan, you are really good at handling pig stomach." Lin Yan smiled and said: "I learned it from my mom before. I have to wash it several times to make it clean."
After rinsing the pig's stomach repeatedly, Lin Yan boiled another pot of hot water, added slices of ginger and white wine, and blanched the pig's stomach. Once the stomach shrank and changed color, he fished it out and scraped off the white film on the surface with a knife. The processed pig's stomach was now pristine white, exuding a light, meaty aroma.
Li Yuemei was chopping the chicken here. Lin Yan started the pot again, added a spoonful of water, ginger slices and white wine, and after Li Yuemei finished chopping the chicken, he threw it directly into the pot and started blanching it.
Take out the blanched chicken, rinse off the foam on it, and set aside.
The processed pig stomach was cut into small pieces. Lin Yan was cutting when Zhao Shiyun came over holding An An. It turned out that An An hadn't seen his father for a while and didn't want to be with him. He kept babbling. There was no way, Zhao Shiyun could only hold him over.
As soon as An An saw Lin Yan, he grinned and wanted to reach out to grab Lin Yan's clothes. Lin Yan had a knife in his hand and dodged for a while. Seeing that he couldn't catch his father, An An held back his mouth and wanted to cry.
Just when she didn't know what to do, Yu Ge'er rushed over with a rattle, "An An, look here!" He shook the rattle, making a crisp sound. An An's attention was instantly attracted, and her little eyes stared at the rattle. She stopped crying and danced with excitement.
Yu Ge'er raised his face proudly and smiled at Lin Yan and Zhao Shiyun. He ran to An An and continued to tease him, raising the rattle high and then lowering it, making An An laugh.
Lin Yan breathed a sigh of relief and said to Yu Ge'er with a smile: "Yu Ge'er is really amazing. He made An An so happy." Yu Ge'er straightened his chest and said proudly: "Of course, I am An An's good uncle." Zhao Shiyun also joked: "From now on, the task of coaxing An An will be handed over to you." Yu Ge'er nodded vigorously: "No problem!"
Zhao Shiyun took the opportunity to carry An An away and teased An An with Yu Ge'er in the yard. Lin Yan breathed a sigh of relief and continued with the work in his hands.
After the pig's stomach was cut, Lin Yan scooped a spoonful of lard into the pot, added ginger slices and crushed white peppercorns and stir-fried them until fragrant. The peppercorns were recommended by the clerk when he went to the grocery store, saying that they would be more flavorful when used to make soup and steamed fish. Lin Yan added some to the soup last time and it was indeed delicious.
Lin Yan quickly poured in the pork tripe and stir-fried until the surface turned slightly yellow, then added warm water and simmered over high heat for a quarter of an hour. After the soup turned white, he added lotus seeds and red dates, covered it and simmered over medium heat for about two quarters of an hour.
The pork tripe was cooked, Lin Yan washed his hands and prepared to go out and hug An An.
An An was tired from playing and fell asleep in Zhao Shiyun's arms. Lin Yan felt relieved and took an egg, cracked the skin and started eating. He had only eaten a steamed bun this morning and was really hungry now.
Soon, the aroma of pig's stomach wafted out. Lin Yan estimated that the time was almost up, so he opened the lid, put in the chicken pieces and continued to simmer for about a quarter of an hour. Finally, he added wolfberry and appropriate amount of salt to season.
"It smells so good~" Li Yuemei was dazzled by the fragrance. Lin Yan smiled, brought a larger clay pot, scooped the cooked pork belly and chicken into the pot, and placed it on the clay stove to warm it.
After the whole chicken was washed and cooked, Li Yuemei put it on a plate and added eggs, sweet potato flour, and lean meat, which were essential for ancestor worship. She brought it to the main room and placed it on the altar.
Yu Ge'er had already laid out oranges, candies, snacks, and wine glasses.
The whole family stood in front of the altar, ready to worship their ancestors. Zhao Qiming lit the incense and candles and put them in the incense burner. He lit a few more incense sticks and distributed them to everyone, then led everyone in the worship with a solemn expression. Lin Yan did not take the incense sticks. He held An An in his arms. An An was awakened by the solemn atmosphere and looked around with blinking eyes. After the worship, Zhao Qiming put the incense in the incense burner and said, "Ancestors, this year we have a new member like An An, and our life is getting better and better. May the ancestors bless our family with peace and safety, and good weather in the coming year." Everyone followed and prayed silently.
After the ceremony, Lin Yan handed An An to Zhao Shiyun and went to the kitchen with Li Yuemei to prepare the remaining dishes. Zhao Qiming and Yu Ge'er cleaned up the main room. Soon, bursts of laughter and joy emanated from the kitchen. Everyone worked together, bringing one delicious dish after another to the table. The family sat together, enjoying their New Year's Eve dinner, a warm and happy scene.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
