The ingredients in Laba porridge are different in every household, and there is no regulation on which ones must be used. It doesn’t matter if you put more of what your family members like to eat.
As long as the five kinds of ingredients are filled in it, it is enough. The main ingredient is red beans. Ordinary Laba porridge can also be made by adding red dates, peanuts, longans and mung beans to make a rich and fragrant Laba porridge.
But Zhu Cuilan had her own clever idea. She harvested lotus seeds in the summer, removed the bitter lotus seed core, and left the lotus seed kernel that exuded a fresh fragrance. She dried it in good weather and preserved it for use when making Laba porridge.
When Zhao Luochuan came back from town, Yang Donghu and Zhao Fangchu had already peeled the garlic and were sitting around the stove flipping the softened sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes are durable and easy to store, so they don't need to be dumped in the cellar. In front of the kitchen stove, there's firewood piled up, and softer wheat straw is spread underneath. Then, the sweet potatoes are poured in and covered with a layer of straw.
This way, you don’t have to go through the trouble of climbing up and down the cellar, and the sweet potatoes won’t go bad, so you can eat them until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
Put a wire mesh on the stove, wait for the sweet potato skin to be slightly charred and blackened, and steam will come out from the inside. Break one open to reveal the golden and slightly sweet filling. A bite will make you feel sweet from your mouth to your heart.
"It's snowing outside, you two really know how to enjoy yourself." Zhao Luochuan handed the ingredients he bought to Zhu Cuilan. Seeing that they were roasting sweet potatoes, he took two oranges and put them on the net.
Yang Donghu gave him half of the sweet potato and said with a smile, "Warm up quickly."
The charcoal fire quickly dispelled the chill from his body. The snowflakes on his body turned into water droplets as the temperature rose, and then slowly evaporated away. Zhao Luochuan took a bite of the steaming sweet potato, hummed, and nodded, "So sweet."
Yang Donghu had already eaten one, so he saved the other half for him.
Zhao Luochuan took out the newly bought hairpin from his pocket and stared at Yang Donghu with a smile: "Look, does it look good?"
Yang Donghu followed his movements and saw a simple and elegant silver orchid hairpin in his hand. He exclaimed in surprise, "It looks great, really beautiful."
Zhao Luochuan was praised, and his already proud mood soared to the sky. If he had a tail behind him, it would definitely be sticking up high at this moment: "I fell in love with it at first sight. It definitely suits you. Here you go."
"You have such good taste." Yang Donghu took the hairpin, which still had Zhao Luochuan's body temperature on it.
"Hey, as long as you like it."
This hairpin is more expensive than the one bought for Zhao Fangchu. Yang Donghu carefully looked at the delicate flowers carved on it, and a smile appeared in his eyes.
Zhao Fangchu's hairpin was later discovered by Zhu Cuilan.
Originally, he would only wear it when he went out to show off in front of his peers. He stole the limelight in front of a group of good friends, and became so proud that he ran into Zhu Cuilan who was visiting on his way home.
Zhao Fangchu felt uneasy when he saw his mother running away. A small hairpin was not eye-catching at all, and it was far away, so his mother didn't notice it at all.
But the family that Zhu Cuilan visited also had a boy who was jealous of Zhao Fangchu's show-off and kept pestering his mother to buy him a hairpin.
His mother was very annoyed. Such an expensive thing could not be drunk or eaten, and it was not enough to use a wooden hairpin to tie the hair. He insisted on buying it from the street for dozens of coins and refused to agree no matter what.
When Zhu Cuilan arrived, she happened to be in the middle of a busy crowd. The guy refused to give in and pointed at Zhu Cuilan, saying, "Fang Chu can buy it, so why can't I?"
The brother's mother said angrily: "His family is rich, you should go with them and recognize your Aunt Cuilan as your mother."
Zhu Cuilan was dragged into the war as soon as she arrived. She didn't know what was going on but tried to mediate. However, she was confused and heard that it seemed to be related to her family. She pulled the boy aside and asked him for a long time before she got a general idea.
This time he didn't bother to go out, picked up a thin wooden stick from the roadside and rushed into the house.
It's no wonder that Zhu Cuilan was angry. The boy said halfway through his speech that Zhao Fangchu had a hairpin, but Zhao Fangchu didn't mention a word that it was given by Yang Donghu.
Zhu Cuilan knew that Zhao Fangchu could not afford to buy a hairpin by himself. Considering that Zhao Fangchu ran away when he saw her, she thought that Zhao Fangchu had done something wrong, so she caught him and beat him up.
Zhao Fangchu explained for a long time with tears and snot, before he finally understood the whole cause and effect. He felt extremely regretful. He felt that his superficial showing off had earned him a beating in vain, which was not worth it no matter how he looked at it.
He was very angry and locked himself in the room. The matter ended when Zhu Cuilan told him to come out for dinner.
From then on, Zhao Fangchu put the hairpin away and never showed it off again, waiting to wear it with new clothes during the Chinese New Year.
After Yang Donghu found out, he blamed himself for a while. If he had known this would happen, he should have made it clear to Zhu Cuilan when he bought it.
At this time, Yang Donghu also got a new hairpin, and the two agreed to wear it together on New Year's Day.
Zhu Cuilan soaked the red beans and mung beans she bought in water in advance. Soaking them overnight and cooking them the next day would make the beans easier to cook.
"Donghu, let's cook the Laba porridge tomorrow in the same pot. It will be the same if we serve a bowl of it when offering sacrifices to the gods." Zhu Cuilan said.
"good."
Zhu Cuilan saw them baking, packed up her things for tomorrow and came over to join in the fun. "By the way, before you go to bed tonight, don't forget to put a bowl of water on the windowsill. Tomorrow morning, you can chew on the Laba ice for good luck."
Yang Donghu nodded: "I understand, aunt."
Laba ice is also a custom of Laba. Adults always fill a bowl with water on the night before Laba. If there are ice lumps on the ice the next day, it means that everything will go smoothly and the weather will be good in the coming year.
Then pour out the ice cubes and let the child eat it, which means that bad luck will be eliminated and the child will grow up with good fortune. This is an old rule handed down from ancestors, and everyone will follow it to get good luck. It is not clear whether it works, but it can bring peace of mind.
Yang Donghu did as he was told before going to bed. He placed a bowl of water on the windowsill. It was still snowing outside and it looked like it would snow for another night.
The room was very hot. The two took off their coats and sat on the bed and talked for a long time. They fell asleep in each other's arms late at night.
Early the next morning, Yang Donghu got up to check the water from last night. It was frozen hard, but the surface looked smooth. He didn't know whether it was successful or not.
He put the bowl next to the stove to melt it for a while, and took out a large piece of complete and clear ice.
He cracked the ice cubes with the back of a knife, selected a piece of suitable size and put it in his mouth. The bone-chilling coldness immediately dispelled the last bit of sleepiness.
Zhao Luochuan came in and saw that his mouth was bulging. He could also hear the sound of him gasping because the ice was too cold.
"Be careful not to get sick if you eat this early in the morning. You've had enough of this in your mouth, so spit it out quickly." Zhao Luochuan said.
Yang Donghu didn't listen to him and pointed at the ice on the table, indicating that he should have a piece too.
Zhao Luochuan has never believed in this. He just thinks of it as a way to make the children happy, so it’s okay to eat it together.
Seeing him eat ice cubes, Yang Donghu mumbled, "May you live long and peacefully, happy and free from worries."
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