Chapter 66 Chapter 66 It’s Chinese New Year~

Classes at the Shen Family School were suspended from the 22nd day of the twelfth lunar month.

The atmosphere of the Chinese New Year has become very strong. Although no one is rich these days, it is precisely because of this that the Chinese New Year is particularly important. People usually have to save a lot of money, and during the Chinese New Year, even the poorest families have to find ways to get some food that they usually don’t want to eat.

Families with better conditions have to buy things in addition to food, and even make one or two new clothes. It is impossible for everyone to make new clothes, but it is still possible to take turns making one or two every year.

The public grain had been handed in long ago, and the task pigs had also been handed in. The brigade accountant had calculated the money early in the morning. This year, their brigade had a good harvest, and the pigs were fat. One work point was worth 5.2 cents, which was much more than the 4.4 cents last year.

The brigade did not hesitate and distributed the money on the 23rd day of the 11th lunar month, and also distributed some food. In fact, the food had already been distributed once after the autumn harvest, but it was definitely different during the New Year. It was considered a little more joy to distribute more or less.

Shen Moer's family also received a share. After all, the original owner and his daughter had worked for more than half a year, Shen Shaoyuan had also worked for a while, and their family also had Fu Mingze who had worked for a full year. According to work points, they could have received more than 200 yuan. However, before building the house and marrying Shen Moer, Shen Shaoyuan had fought against famine with the brigade. After deducting all the money, their family finally received 89 yuan.

After working hard for a whole year, they only had 89 yuan left.

Even this was considered a lot in the entire Yangliu Brigade.

Even though some families have more laborers and earn more work points, such families usually have more children and more food expenses. In bad years, not only can they not get money from the production team, but they may even owe the production team ration money. This year is considered a good year, and they can get a few dozen yuan, which makes them very happy.

After the money was divided, people rushed to the commune one after another. It was said that the sparrow market was going to be closed, but later it seemed to be open because of the New Year. In the last few days of June, it was open every day. However, it is said that it will be officially closed after the New Year.

Shen Moer and Fu Mingze went to join in the fun again, and each bought some things secretly. Then it was the day of the brigade slaughtering the New Year pig on the 25th of the lunar month.

Shen Shaoyuan still had to go to work, and left after breakfast early in the morning. Shen Moer was about to take a broom to sweep the floor, and Maomao led a group of naughty children to the gate of the courtyard, shouting: "Sister Moer, my grandma asked you to take an enamel pot to collect pig blood. Each household can get a bowl of pig blood. Pig blood tofu is delicious and tender!"

Shen Moer put down the broom and went into the stove to get an enamel pot.

At times like this, their small family took advantage. There was only so much pig blood, and it was impossible to distribute it per person, so it could only be distributed per household. Some families in the village had several generations living together. Even if there were dozens of people in a family, they could only share one bowl. It was bitter enough for each person to take a bite. There were three people in their family, and they were given a bowl of pig blood, which was equivalent to adding a bowl of solid vegetables.

Fu Mingze was washing clothes by the well of the brigade headquarters. Shen Moer stood at the intersection and shouted, "Fu Zhiqing, do you want to go to the pig slaughter?"

Fu Mingze was wearing a sweater with a hole in it. He was pouring water into the enamel basin. In the sound of the water, he looked up at Shen Moer who was holding the enamel pot with an excited look on her face. He couldn't help laughing and said, "You go first. I'll finish washing and come later."

Shen Moer immediately said, "Okay, then I'll go with them first. You come quickly." She

walked away happily holding Maomao's hand.

A group of naughty kids shouted "Kill the pigs, kill the pigs" and ran forward happily. Shen Moer also smiled and quickened her pace. Fu

Mingze clicked his tongue. Seeing how happy she was, she didn't even look back at him.

He reached into the enamel basin's cold water and rubbed the clothes quickly. He quickly washed the clothes and took them back to the yard to hang them on bamboo poles.

Over there, Shen Moer followed a group of naughty kids to the grain-drying field. The pigs had been tied to the slaughter bench and were screaming. The bench was surrounded by people in three layers inside and outside. Shen Moer thought it was lively, but she was afraid of getting dirty if she got close, so she stood outside the crowd. Maomao volunteered to squeeze in with her enamel pot. Not long after, Shen Moer heard his loud voice that was no less loud than the pigs': "Grandma, grandma, this is Sister Moer's house!"

Zhou Zhaodi stood beside Shen Moer and muttered, "Maomao has a really loud voice."

Shen Moer laughed and touched his head . She looked up and asked, "Didn't Yang Da Niu ask you to do any work these two days?"

Zhou Zhaodi raised her head and smiled. She was not unhappy because Shen Moer asked her this. She knew that Teacher Shen cared about her. She said proudly, "I have done all the work I should do. She was afraid that I would cheat, so she didn't ask me to do the work in the closet, so I was free."

The child was timid at first, but she has become more and more outgoing in the past six months. I don't know if it's because the award in the painting competition gave her confidence, or because she has been following Maomao, who is like a monkey, all day long, and has become naughty. Maybe it's all of the above.

Yang Da Niu's belly is very big, and it is estimated that she will not have the energy to take care of her before the birth. But when Yang Da Niu gives birth to a child in the spring of next year, Zhou Xiaoshuan and his son will not be able to rely on them for housework. At that time, Zhou Zhaodi may have to take care of the two children.

Shen Moer frowned. This child is very talented in painting. She must find a way to let her continue to learn in the new year.

Suddenly, a chaotic scream broke out in the crowd, mixed with the sharp screams of pigs and the joyful cheers of people. Suddenly, it was as if something exploded.

After killing two pigs in a row, Mao Mao carefully came out of the crowd holding an enamel pot: "Sister Moer, Sister Moer, your pig's blood!"

The hot pig's blood was brought to Shen Moer, who said: "..."

Honestly, Shen Moer had never eaten pig's blood before. The original owner had the experience of eating pig's blood tofu, and in the original owner's memory, pig's blood tofu was even a rare delicacy that she longed for, so Shen Moer was also very curious and wanted to try the taste of pig's blood.

But this did not mean that she wanted to face such a large pot of steaming pig's blood.

"Give it to me."

A hand stretched out from behind, and the white and slender knuckles clasped the edge of the enamel pot. Shen Moer turned around to meet Fu Mingze's eyes. Fu Mingze saw that she looked like she couldn't bear to look directly at it, and couldn't help laughing: "Why don't you take the one with the lid?"

There are two enamel pots at home. One without a lid and the paint surface was scratched. It was the original one, and the new one with a lid was bought by Shen Moer later. She thought it was full of pig blood and blood, so she took the old one, but she didn't consider that without the lid, she would have to face the bloody thing in the pot.

It was indeed a mistake.

After all, it was full of blood and blood, and in fact, it could be washed later.

Fu Mingze curled his lips and said, "Okay, I'll take it, don't look at me."

Fortunately, each family only had one bowl of pig's blood, and they poured it into the enamel pot. In fact, there was not even half a pot left, so there was no need to worry about it pouring out.

After the pig's blood was distributed, they began to distribute the meat.

The workers were all experienced pig butchers in the village, and they were also very skilled at butchering pigs. They divided the two pigs into two large wooden basins with offal, hooves, ribs, etc., and then the most essential parts with the least bones, especially the thick layer of fat, the snow-white fat shone in the sun.

The pork was divided according to the number of work points each household had, and the advantage of families with a large population was obvious at this time. For example, Zhou Gencai's family, which had four generations living together, was ranked first in the distribution of meat because of its strong labor force and population far exceeding others. They happily took the fattest piece of meat.

The crowd immediately sighed with envy: "Oh, his family got a big piece of meat, wow, this meat is really fat!"

Shen Moer's family had the lowest work points, so they were naturally ranked at the back, but she and Fu Mingze were not in a hurry. Shen Moer had never seen the slaughter of New Year pigs and the distribution of pork, and Fu Mingze was actually the same. When he came here to work in the countryside last year, he was not familiar with the villagers. When the village slaughtered pigs, many people from the educated youth point went to watch, but he did not go, so it was actually his first time to see the slaughter of New Year pigs and the distribution of pork.

Both of them found it new and watched with great interest.

Among the brothers of the old Shen family, the Shen family had the largest population, and was the first to be allocated. They also picked a piece of fat meat. The third Shen family had the smallest population, including a son, a daughter-in-law, two grandsons, and the youngest daughter Shen Chunfen who had not yet married. Therefore, when they were allocated, there was not much fat meat left. Cao Mei could only pick a piece of half fat and half lean meat, with an expression that was both happy and dissatisfied.

However, when Cao Mei saw Shen Moer and Fu Mingze in the queue, she became inexplicably happy again. She deliberately walked to the side of the queue and said with a smile: "Oh, there is too little fat meat in my family. It's just this little bit. But think about it, it's still much better than the remaining bones. Even if we give a little more bones, it can't compare with the meat."

Without Shen Moer saying anything, the people in the queue in front and behind her had already started to complain.

"Cao Mei, get out of here. We have just separated, but if not, wouldn't we still be ahead of your family? Why are you so proud of your poverty? You are so proud of the meat you got."

"It's none of your business what we get. You are really meddling in other people's business. Bah, you are so mean to make trouble during the New Year." "You just

want to say that Shen Moer's family can't get any good meat. Cao Mei, have you forgotten that they have two workers in their family and can get a fixed amount of meat coupons every month? Oh, I am really impressed. While they are eating meat, you are still eating bran and vegetables."

"If you have brains, you won't be instigated to steal other people's food. Let's go, let's go now that the meat has been distributed."

Ever since Shen Moer took Maomao and the others to the provincial capital and won the award, the villagers felt that Shen Moer had brought honor to their Yangliu Brigade, and their favorability towards Shen Moer increased sharply. In addition, with the matter of the embroidery factory, the team leader said that Shen Moer had secured the most quotas for their brigade, not to mention that she also taught everyone hand in hand, which was equivalent to securing more than a dozen opportunities to become workers for their brigade. The villagers now felt that Shen Moer was the lucky star of their brigade.

Isn't she a lucky star?

With the prizes in the competition and the embroidery factory, their brigade is now well-known in the surrounding area. Before the New Year, the young men and women in the village were much more popular when they were looking for partners. Many people thought that marrying into their brigade might give them the opportunity to become workers in the future.

So don't say that Cao Mei offended a lot of people with her words. Even those who had already divided the meat couldn't help but speak for Shen Moer when they passed by and heard it.

Cao Mei was so angry: "What did I say? Did I name someone? I just said casually that my meat is not good enough. Why can't I say anything?"

"If your meat is not good enough, then throw it away. Hahaha."

"Oh my god, Uncle Ding, Cao Mei complained that the meat you gave her was not good enough!"

"Damn it, do you think I'm sick? I gave her the meat and threw it away. Why don't you throw away your meat?" Cao Mei said this and quickly turned around and left with the meat. If she continued to talk, she would really annoy Uncle Ding, who was distributing the meat. Maybe he would give her a worse piece of meat next year.

Not far away, Tian Fang, holding the meat she was given, curled her lips as she watched Cao Mei flee in panic.

I don't know if Cao Mei is a fool. Considering how popular Shen Moer is in the village, she dares to be so sarcastic to Shen Moer in public. Isn't she waiting to be scolded?

Even if these people don't like Shen Moer in their hearts, they have to flatter her on the surface. To be a worker in the provincial capital's embroidery factory, this is not much different from rising to the top overnight.

Tian Fang's expression was gloomy. She didn't know what good luck this father and daughter had. Why didn't her Shen Lingling win the prize in this competition? Why didn't the embroidery factory choose her Shen Lingling? If it was Lingling, wouldn't her son, daughter-in-law and grandson all be workers?

Tian Fang's eyes flashed, revealing some calculations.

Shen Moer didn't notice Tian Fang. She had been waiting in line for a long time and it was finally her turn. The one who distributed the pork was Ding Dewang, the brother of the accountant Ding Shouchang. People of the same generation called him Old Ding, while people of Shen Moer's generation called him Uncle Ding.

Uncle Ding pointed to the remaining meat and said with a smile: "The remaining ones have some bones. Pig's trotters are good, with more fat. Spare ribs are also okay. There is less meat but it is still very fragrant when it is cooked."

Shen Moer thought about it and asked for some pig's trotters and spare ribs, and then asked for a leg bone to prepare for making soup during the New Year. There were not many people in their family anyway, so they had a little of each and could taste them all.

Uncle Ding quickly cut it up, tied it with a straw rope and threw it aside. Zhou Peijun weighed it, Ding Shouchang kept the account, and then Zhou Peijun handed the meat over.

Shen Moer thanked him, Fu Mingze reached out and picked up the straw rope, and the two went home happily.

After dividing the New Year pig, it felt like the New Year had entered a countdown, and it was almost New Year's Eve in the blink of an eye.

The family of three worked together to prepare a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner, with fish, meat, and plump, fragrant dumplings.

Shen Shaoyuan brought out a glass bottle from his room: "Let's all drink some wine on New Year's Eve."

Fu Mingze took a look. The bottle was made of white wine sold by a local winery in Jiangbei County. It was not a good wine, but farmers usually drank loose wine from their own bottles, so this bottled wine was considered very good. This is what he drank on the day he and Shen Moer got married, but Fu Mingze remembered that they seemed to have finished all the wine they bought that time, and it seemed that he had never seen Shen Shaoyuan buy any more after that.

After Shen Shaoyuan poured the wine and handed it to him, Fu Mingze sniffed it gently. The wine smelled refreshing and sweet, and it was indeed different from the white wine sold locally. He took a sip and felt that it was soft and mellow, with a long aftertaste. Fu Mingze was slightly stunned.

At the previous engagement banquet, he tasted that the wine prepared by his father-in-law was good, but the wine that day was not comparable to the wine today. Today's wine felt as good as the best wine on the market.

"What kind of wine is this?" Fu Mingze couldn't help asking.

Shen Shaoyuan paused for a moment while holding the wine cup, then said calmly: "This is the wine I brewed myself."

Fu Mingze: "???"