After enjoying the fireworks, the adults returned to the dining room and began making dumplings.
The children were still immersed in the exciting atmosphere of the fireworks outside.
They carried small lanterns, searching for unlit firecrackers on the ground, picking them up, lighting them, and continuing to set them off.
Younger children won't come back no matter how much adults call them.
They were so cold that they stamped their little feet, rubbed their little hands, and had runny noses, yet they still giggled and laughed, chasing each other and screaming...
The adults just let them be.
With more people, the work gets done. Pork and cabbage, pork and radish, and pork and chive dumplings—three kinds of fillings in total—are neatly arranged on the round bamboo mat.
The dumpling wrappers are made from a mixture of wheat flour and corn flour, with more wheat flour and less corn flour.
Li Lanzhen gave some flour, but most of it was sent over by Manager Hua.
She noticed that the white flour she brought out was yellowish in color and not as fine as the white flour Hua Zixi brought out.
The two types of flour were mixed together, and the resulting dough was a light golden yellow, which looked very nice.
One by one, the trays containing dumplings were carried out and placed on racks under the shed outside, allowing the dumplings to freeze slowly.
These dumplings are for tomorrow morning.
In the evening, the food prepared by the cafeteria for everyone to eat was soup dumplings.
The bone broth had been simmering for a day, resulting in a rich, white color and an irresistible aroma.
Add tofu cubes to the soup, season it, sprinkle with green leafy vegetables, put the cooked dumplings into large bowls, and then ladle two spoonfuls of soup over them.
The dumplings, a pale golden color, are round, served in a rich, white broth. The fresh, vibrant green vegetables and the white tofu create a visually appealing dish.
A sip of soup, warm and fragrant, filled the bellies of adults and children alike, and they all went home to celebrate the New Year.
Han Shunde reminded everyone to come early tomorrow morning.
Since everyone gathers here to eat dumplings and exchange New Year's greetings, there's no need for each household to visit each other.
After returning home, Li Lanzhen and the children gathered at Li Erhan and Ye's house.
First, they talked about how good life was here. Then they recounted how difficult it was when they were fleeing famine. Finally, they began to look forward to the future.
More than half an hour later, they returned to their respective homes.
Before everyone left, Li Lanzhen told her children and grandchildren.
Tomorrow morning, we'll come early to wish Li Erhan and Ye a Happy New Year, and then we'll all go to the canteen for breakfast together.
Happy New Year!
The sun had just peeked over the eastern hills, showing only half its face.
The yard of Li Erhan became lively with the children's chattering and shouting.
Li Erhan and Ye Shi sat on chairs on either side of the square table in the main room, happily watching their children, grandchildren, and other relatives kneeling on the floor.
Li Lanzhen, Li Xishui, and Tonghua knelt at the very front.
The three of them offered their blessings in unison.
Wishing my parents a Happy New Year, and good health and longevity!
After kowtowing, Li Lanzhen handed Li Erhan and Ye Shi each a red cloth pouch.
Li Xishui and Tonghua also gave each of them a red purse filled with silver.
Li Lanzhen gave her parents ten taels of silver each.
Li Lanzhen stood up from the ground and took out another jewelry box.
He took out a silver bracelet and put it on Ye's wrist, and then took out a plum blossom silver hairpin and inserted it into Ye's hair bun.
She turned to Li Erhan and said, "Dad, look at Mom, she looks so much younger!"
Li Erhan looked at Ye Shi and chuckled.
Ye glared at him and slapped Li Lanzhen's arm.
"You child, you have no manners, even making fun of your mother."
Why did you spend so much money on jewelry?
"You can buy these for yourself. Your mother is too old to wear them."
Li Lanzhen shook her head, "Mother, I don't like wearing jewelry, it's too much trouble."
As she spoke, she gave each of Tonghua, Zhang Yuniang, and Xue Nizi a silver hairpin adorned with plum blossoms.
Give Han Yuemei a pair of plum blossom earrings.
Several of the younger girls each received a pair of silver lilacs.
At this moment, Han Yibo tugged at Li Lanzhen's sleeve.
He asked with wide, questioning eyes.
"Grandma, Grandma, Bai'er doesn't have any silver lilacs."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter.
Douhua tugged at him, "Bai'er, you're a boy. Only girls wear silver cloves on their ears."
Han Yibo was stunned for a moment, his face turning bright red with embarrassment, and he stomped his foot.
"Grandma, I don't want silver lilacs! When I grow up, I'm going to take the imperial examination and earn lots of money so I can buy you so many silver lilacs to wear! Humph!"
As she spoke, she used her two little hands to make a very large circle.
Li Lanzhen picked him up and kissed his chubby little face. "Okay, Grandma will wait for my grandson to earn money to buy Grandma silver cloves to wear."
Then, looking at his sons and grandsons scattered on the ground, he smiled gently.
"Sons and grandsons also have them."
"My daughter and granddaughter both wear them, so here's some loose change for you. Go buy whatever you want to eat."
Then, regardless of age, each person was given a small amount of silver.
She bought a batch of silver jewelry in her space, which she asked Hua Zixi to buy early on.
The space contained all the silver, gold, and jewelry that had been collected from the bandit stronghold.
A portion was given to the shopkeeper of the bookstore in Youzhou City, so that he could sponsor well-behaved and impoverished scholars.
She gave most of the rest to Silver Fox.
He then took out some gold, silver, and jewelry confiscated from the Jia family mansion from his spatial storage and handed them over to him.
Tell him where these things came from, and have him give them to Hua Zixi to buy food and supplies for the training camp's daily expenses.
Li Erhan and Ye Shi also gave red envelopes to the children.
The family then went to the dining room in a lively atmosphere.
Along the way, I've met many families.
Everyone is wearing brand new clothes today.
His face was beaming with a warm, gentle smile.
Each table in the dining room had sunflower seeds, peanuts, and sugar cubes on wooden plates.
The children sat properly at the table, first picking up a piece of sesame candy and putting it in their mouths, before slowly peeling and eating sunflower seeds and peanuts.
Li Lanzhen glanced around and saw that no one—whether big or small, young or old—had put the melon seeds, peanuts, or candy on the table into their own pockets.
Seeing this, she felt that all her efforts were worthwhile.
Han Shunde asked Han Minghai and Hong Sange to check if everyone had arrived.
After everyone had arrived, Han Shunde coughed twice to calm everyone down.
He stood up and said, "Today, we in Peach Blossom Spring are celebrating the New Year together here."
Our journey here from famine has been fraught with hardship, and the road ahead is fraught with even greater difficulties and dangers.
We've come to live a good life here!
The person we should be most grateful to is Lanzhen!
As everyone already knows, I won't go into details, but without her, we wouldn't have the good life we have now!
Therefore, I urge everyone to remember her kindness!
Everyone should be kind and hardworking; let's not be ungrateful.
The term "group New Year's greeting" was coined by Li Lanzhen, and once everyone understood it, they started using it.
In fact, in her daily life, Li Lanzhen consciously or unconsciously used many words and ideas from the era before she traveled back in time.
Li Lanzhen found his words both amusing and a little embarrassing.
How did this turn into individual heroism?!
She didn't want to be the hero, the one to stick her neck out.
Then, Gou Dan shouted and led the applause.
"Thank you, Grandma Lanzhen!"
The thunderous applause almost lifted the roof off the dining room.
Han Shunde said with a smile, "Now we'd like to invite your Grandma Lanzhen to say a few words to everyone."
Li Lanzhen stood up and said with a smile.
"I'm not as amazing as Village Chief Han makes me out to be."
Good days are the result of everyone's hard work.
However, I strongly agree with one of Village Chief Han's remarks.
Absolutely not! We cannot betray Peach Blossom Spring, and I hate betrayal the most!
My punishment for betrayal is extremely severe, and it is a pain that the betrayer cannot bear!
Finally, I wish Peach Blossom Spring a year filled with favorable weather and abundant harvests, and that everyone's lives will improve steadily, like sesame seeds blooming higher and higher!
A round of applause erupted.
"Time to eat dumplings!"
Xue Nizi shouted this in her loud voice, and everyone sat down to eat dumplings.
However, at this moment, Xue Bao walked up to Li Lanzhen.
He respectfully clasped his hands in a fist and bowed to her, saying loudly.
"Auntie, I want to marry your daughter, Han Yuemei. Please agree!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com