The people, disregarding the cold weather, happily ran around celebrating in the heavy snow.
However, this heavy snow is destined to disappoint them, but fortunately it will allow them to persevere for a little longer. At least after this heavy snow, the problem of drinking water will be solved to some extent.
On the night of the heavy snowfall, Xu Han cooked a hot pot. There were two flavors of hot pot today: one was seafood and the other was spicy.
The hot pot broth for Sanxian is made with chicken broth, and the broth is made by adding matsutake mushrooms, chanterelle mushrooms, and shiitake mushrooms.
"This three-delicacy dish is also delicious. It's great for cooking vegetables and meat in it; it's especially fresh and flavorful," Xu Han said.
"Yes, we used to only have the spicy hot pot base, but now we've added the three-delicacy hot pot base, and it's pretty good. Eating this helps relieve the spiciness when it's hot," Grandpa Zhao said.
"Of course, you have to have ice jelly with hot pot to cool down the spiciness. I've put the ingredients here, so you can adjust them to your own taste!" Xu Han said, taking out the ingredients for making ice jelly and placing them on the table.
Each of the four of them made themselves a bowl of ice jelly, and then continued eating hot pot...
The heavy snow continued intermittently until the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, leaving a thick layer of snow on the ground, reaching up to knee-deep.
These past few days, the group has been busy shoveling snow and cleaning the backyard house in a timely manner. The roof is covered with tarpaulin, so there can't be any snow accumulation.
Not only do we have to shovel snow, but we also have to prepare for the New Year! But this year we can't go to the market to buy New Year's goods, so we can only do some tinkering at home.
Because there are two more people in the family this year, we need to prepare more things than last year. Although there are many things to prepare, the division of labor and teamwork made things quite fast.
The Taoist priest and Lu Chuan were mainly responsible for cleaning the snow on the roof and in the yard, while Grandpa Zhao followed Xu Han and busied himself in the kitchen, helping to start the fire and wash vegetables, keeping him quite busy.
In the past few days, Xu Han has made a lot of delicious food, but it's pretty much the same every year: fried meatballs, fried sesame leaves, crispy pork, steamed buns, dumplings, and cleaning.
Every year, the New Year celebrations are almost the same. Not only that, but they also cook meat, chicken, duck, and the like. Xu Han makes all these things to make the New Year atmosphere stronger.
However, I didn't prepare any sausages or cured meat this year. I made some last year, and we still have some left over! So I didn't make any this year.
On the morning of New Year's Eve, the four of them got up early. It was New Year's Eve, so they definitely had to make good preparations.
After finishing breakfast, Xu Han took out the beef from her spatial storage and chopped it into dumpling filling so she could make dumplings later.
Of course, glutinous rice balls were also indispensable. Lu Chuan taught the Taoist priest how to roll the glutinous rice balls while he went to prepare the dumpling filling.
"Grandpa Zhao, could you please help me pick and wash these vegetables? I'll go prepare the rest," Xu Han called out.
"Okay, leave it to me! You go and do your thing."
Xu Han ran into the storeroom and took out dried vegetables and mushrooms to soak them, so they could be used for the New Year's Eve dinner later.
Then Xu Han took out the meat she needed to eat today from her space. Each type was a large portion, and any leftovers could be stored directly in her space.
Since we're going to have to make it anyway, we might as well make a lot at once. We can store the leftovers in our storage space and eat them whenever we want.
Chicken soup is difficult to cook, so Xu Han first put the chicken soup in an earthenware pot and placed it on a small stove next to her.
Then I started processing the other meats and vegetables, first preparing the ones that needed to be fried and blanched so they could be used directly when cooking.
No one had a proper lunch at noon. They just sampled this and that and weren't hungry anymore. Besides, there was still some braised meat and fried meatballs that had been prepared a few days ago, so they could grab whatever they wanted whenever they wanted.
They kept busy like this until around 3 p.m., when the New Year's Eve dinner was ready. With fruits, nuts, pastries, and other dishes, there were a total of 20 dishes, which was quite a feast!
"Lu Chuan, go to the storeroom and get some wine. The food is all ready," Xu Han called out to Lu Chuan.
"Okay, I'll go right now." With that, he walked towards the storeroom.
Meanwhile, the Taoist priests and their companions began serving dishes to the table.
A variety of delicious and visually appealing dishes were laid out on the table, making them look incredibly appetizing. All sorts of different flavors were represented, including sour, sweet, spicy, and salty.
"This is too lavish! I've been waiting for this meal for a long time," the Taoist priest said.
“Yes, look how beautifully this is presented. It’s just as good as what we eat in Beijing,” Grandpa Zhao chimed in.
To make tonight's dinner more ceremonial, Xu Han specially prepared the plating. Although it wasn't particularly exquisite, it was still pleasing to the eye.
"With these fine wines, wouldn't it be even more enjoyable?" Lu Chuan said as he walked over with a bottle of wine.
"Yes, yes, yes, quickly fill everyone's cups, let's all have a good drink today," the Taoist priest said happily.
“Okay, drink as much as you want tonight, it’s all you can eat,” Xu Han laughed.
"Hahaha, girl, you said it yourself!"
Because the Taoist priest usually enjoys drinking, but Grandpa Zhao said that the priest's health condition is not suitable for drinking too much, Xu Han always kept an eye on him and prevented him from drinking.
Although the Taoist priest said he was annoyed by Xu Han's management, he was actually very happy inside. It was a blessing to have someone who cared about him and was taking care of him.
"Come on, let's raise a glass to celebrate. This is the first time we've celebrated the New Year together. There will be many more times in the future. I wish everyone all the best and good health in the new year," the Taoist priest said, standing up and raising his glass.
Upon hearing this, everyone else stood up and clinked glasses to celebrate the arrival of the New Year.
In the past six months, we have become very familiar with each other's personalities. Neither of us is unreasonable, and we are both very tactful in our actions. So, we have gotten along quite harmoniously over the past six months.
We've already developed a sense of family; everyone cares for and helps each other, and it's quite nice to have a lively and fun-filled time together.
Of course, the Taoist priest and Grandpa Zhao still bickered every day as before. If they didn't bicker one day, everyone felt particularly unaccustomed to it!
It was precisely because of the addition of Grandpa Zhao and the Taoist priest that the house became more lively, no longer as quiet and deserted as before, but instead filled with more life.
When we're busy, we work together; when we're free, we each do our own thing. Some want to go for a stroll in the valley, while others want to read or write. Everyone has their own living space; we're not tied together every day.
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