The Lunar New Year is just around the corner after the Laba Festival, probably because of the series of incidents that happened at the educated youth settlement.
Another reason is that after Chen Shuning and his group of new educated youth arrived, many of them lived separately from the older educated youth. As the person in charge of the educated youth settlement, Feng Baoguo clearly felt that the relationship between the new educated youth and the older educated youth was not so close.
He believes that the series of incidents involving the new educated youth who came to the area, and the fact that they all stayed in the old house, is related to this.
Therefore, Feng Baoguo believed that the problem stemmed from the lack of unity among this group of educated youth.
So we decided to celebrate the Lunar New Year together this year, to have some fun and strengthen our relationships.
So on the morning of the Little New Year, the siblings didn't need to prepare anything. They didn't know anything about worshipping the Kitchen God, and Chen Shuning didn't know how to make sugar melons.
So when Chen Shuning got up in the morning, she took out the red paper she had prepared in advance. After the siblings washed up, they sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) and studied how to cut paper flowers for the window.
Although the cut-out pattern was not clearly visible, the siblings still had a lot of fun. Chen Shuning complained that Chen Jiandang's cut-out was a mess, while Chen Jiandang said that Chen Shuning's cut-out looked like a fishing net, just an imperfect circle with several holes.
The siblings were teasing and joking with each other when Wang Chunni and Xu Laidi entered the room.
Looking at the table full of red paper scraps and the things that the siblings had carefully placed on the table—well, things with no discernible pattern—Wang Chunni smiled.
"What are you doing? I could hear you two laughing from far away."
Upon seeing the visitors, Chen Jiandang hurriedly spoke up first to complain: "Sister Chunni, Sister Laidi, you've come at the right time! Please help me persuade my sister. She's been cutting for so long and all she's managed to cut is a fishing net. Each piece of red paper costs two cents. Don't let my sister ruin things."
As he spoke, Chen Jiandang picked up the paper-cut window decoration that Chen Shuning had made and showed it to the two of them.
To be honest, Chen Jiandang's description was quite accurate, which made Wang Chunni and Xu Laidi burst out laughing.
In the end, Xu Laidi stopped laughing first and looked at Chen Shuning, saying, "Shuning, I do know how to cut a few patterns, or I can cut them for you!"
Looking at what he had cut out, Chen Shuning was a little disheartened. He sighed and handed the scissors to Xu Laidi, saying, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Laidi. I really don't have the talent for this. I'll just stick to making paste."
With Xu Laidi's help, Chen Jiandang didn't put down his scissors either.
The group watched as the scissors flew from Xu Laidi's hands, and in no time, a paper-cut window decoration of a magpie perched on a branch appeared before their eyes.
Next came the "May you have abundance every year," "May joy fill your eyes," and "May your heart be filled with happiness," and when Chen Shuning returned with the paste, she was greeted by a table full of exquisite paper-cut window decorations.
Chen Shuning was so fond of each one that she quickly pulled Chen Jiandang and Wang Chunni together to start figuring out how to stick them on.
The paper-cut window decorations in Chen Shuning's room had just been put up when they attracted a lot of people. When Gu Xinyi heard that these paper-cut window decorations were all cut by Xu Laidi, she hurriedly went back to get some red paper and waited eagerly for Xu Laidi to cut some for her too after she finished cutting the paper-cut window decorations for Chen Shuning.
Eventually, the entire educated youth settlement, including those who had bought red paper, came to ask Xu Laidi for help, and Xu Laidi spent the whole morning cutting paper without ever leaving the kang (a heated brick bed).
The educated youth had a meal together in the evening, so they ate separately at noon. However, since they were going to have a big meal in the evening, most of the educated youth had a simple lunch.
Of course, there are also those who don't care about the food at the gathering, such as Gu Xinyi. After instructing Gao Hongyuan and Wang Zhi to put up the window decorations, Gu Xinyi was in a great mood looking at the beautiful window.
At noon, I cooked several dishes to treat the two of them, and the aroma of the food filled the whole yard, which made the faces of the old educated youths who were preparing dinner in the front yard not very pleasant.
It felt like Gu Xinyi was slapping them in the face.
Chen Shuning didn't care about dinner that night, but he was really exhausted from cleaning these past two days, so for lunch he simply made a dish of pork ribs and green beans, steamed rice, and cooked it all in one pot.
In fact, Chen Shuning really likes to add some fresh glutinous corn to his braised pork ribs with green beans. This way, the pork ribs will have a light corn aroma, and the corn will have a strong meaty aroma.
Because Chen Jiandang was there, glutinous corn couldn't be added. The green beans were dried in the fall, which didn't taste as good as fresh green beans.
However, the combination of a wood-fired stove, a large iron pot, and this kind of all-natural, pollution-free meat and vegetables still makes the dish smell especially delicious when it comes out of the pot.
Although the aroma wasn't as overpowering as Gu Xinyi's, the siblings still ate until their bellies were round and full, feeling very satisfied.
Lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), Chen Jiandang rubbed his belly and said with a satisfied expression, "Sister, I'm a little envious of your life in the countryside. It's even more comfortable than living at home."
Otherwise, when I sign up for the rural service program next year, I'll sign up too. Then we'll ask our parents to figure out a way for me to come and stay with you, okay?
Chen Shuning was quite full after lunch and was now thinking about whether she should brew a pot of hawthorn and tangerine peel tea later.
Hearing Chen Jiandang's words out of the blue, she rolled her eyes and said irritably, "You only see how well I eat, you didn't see how exhausted your sister was during the busy farming season."
Every day after work, I don't even have the strength to lift my arms. I just want to lie down and not move at all. My stomach is growling with hunger, but I don't want to get up and cook.
But there was no other way. After a day's work, my body and face were covered in dirt. I couldn't get into bed without washing myself clean, and I couldn't go without eating either. I had to go to work the next day, which was all really hard physical labor. I wouldn't have the strength if I didn't eat.
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
