It's getting late, and I didn't have time to cook dinner. Eating only rice cakes definitely won't fill me up.
So Xu Han took out some leftovers from the past two days from her spatial storage, and everyone ate some together.
After dinner, Grandpa Zhao took Mu'er back to the backyard to rest.
Lately, Ze'er has been making a fuss every night, keeping people awake.
At first, he suggested that Mu'er sleep with Grandpa Zhao, but he disagreed. However, after being bothered by him many times, he insisted on going to sleep with Grandpa Zhao.
It seems they couldn't stand Ze'er crying and making a fuss in the middle of the night. Not only Mu'er couldn't stand it, but Xu Han and Lu Chuan couldn't stand it either. Sometimes they really wanted to throw Ze'er out.
Fortunately, thanks to Xu Han's constant corrections recently, Ze'er's habit of causing trouble in the middle of the night has gradually improved. Otherwise, Xu Han and Lu Chuan would have gone crazy sooner or later.
Seeing that it was getting late, Xu Han washed up and then lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) to play with Ze'er.
The little boy was so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open, but Xu Han wouldn't let him sleep, otherwise he would make a fuss in the middle of the night.
Ze'er herself is also a bit of a goofball. Even when she's extremely sleepy, she'll force herself to stay awake and laugh and joke when she sees her mother playing with her.
Lu Chuan came in and saw this scene. He said, "Ze'er is really energetic. He woke up right after we finished dinner. He can still hold on for so long."
"We have to exhaust his energy tonight so he can get a good night's sleep," Xu Han said while teasing Ze'er.
Lu Chuan also took off his shoes and climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), joining Xu Han in the effort to exhaust Ze'er.
Only when Ze'er was truly sleepy did the two of them let him go, blow out the lamp, and lie down to sleep.
The next day, when Xu Han woke up in the morning, the sun was already up.
After breakfast, seeing that the sun was shining brightly, I took the quilt out to air it.
After preparing all that, we immediately started preparing for the New Year. Today we're steaming buns and dumplings, which is also hard work.
With only a few days left until the Lunar New Year, I'd better hurry up and prepare the New Year's goods so that I can start working on the wasteland outside after the New Year.
After several more busy days, the group finally managed to prepare all the New Year's goods before Lunar New Year's Eve.
On New Year's Eve, Xu Han took out all the meat and miscellaneous offal that needed to be cooked from her space and cleaned them all at once.
While cooking meat today, I took the opportunity to braise all the offal that had accumulated in the room, making it convenient to eat later.
"I've already prepared the seasonings in the big pot. You just need to keep an eye on the fire," Xu Han said to Lu Chuan as she put the lid on the pot.
“Okay, I’ll keep an eye on things here. You go and do your own thing,” Lu Chuan said.
Grandpa Zhao was inside the house helping to look after Ze'er and Mu'er.
Seeing this, Xu Han didn't disturb them. She turned around and went to the storeroom, where she sorted out the items inside.
I need to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner soon, so it's good to get everything I need ready in advance so I can use it directly when cooking.
Soak dried vegetables and mushrooms in hot water first, and take all other utensils and ingredients into the kitchen.
When Xu Han finished tidying up the storeroom and came out, she smelled the aroma of braised meat.
"There aren't many eggs left in the space, otherwise we could put some more in to braise, that would taste great too," Xu Han said.
“We had a lot of dried bamboo shoots before, right? We can braise some of these later, they’re delicious too,” Lu Chuan said.
"That's fine, I'll soak some first." Xu Han said, then took a large wooden basin, put some dried bamboo shoots in it, and ladled a lot of hot water from the pot to soak them first.
At noon, everyone ate some freshly braised meat and vegetables to fill their stomachs. After lunch, Xu Han began preparing this year's New Year's Eve dinner.
First, soak a plate of the mung bean sprouts that you sprouted a few days ago in vinegar. This is very simple to make and will be ready in no time.
Heat oil in a wok. Once the oil is hot, add chili peppers, scallions, and ginger and fry until fragrant. Then quickly add the mung bean sprouts, along with salt, vinegar, sugar, and other seasonings. Stir-fry briefly and then immediately transfer to a plate.
Store the cooked hot dishes in the storage space first, so they don't get cold and taste bad later.
Fish is an essential part of the New Year's Eve dinner. Today, Xu Han is making a whole braised fish, and she specially picked out the largest one from the remaining pile of fish to use for this year's New Year's Eve dinner.
The braised fish I made this year was fried a couple of days ago while I was frying other things. The method was different from what I usually eat. Frying it first and then braising it makes it taste even better and gives it a different texture.
Of course, if there's fish, there must be chicken. Chicken is the most common type of meat. Xu Han made a marinated chicken, cooked it, shredded it, and plated it.
I also made a stir-fried chicken with chili peppers, which everyone really enjoyed.
Chop the chicken into small pieces, heat the oil and stir-fry it in the pan. Add a little water and simmer until cooked through. Then add plenty of green and red peppers. It looks beautiful and tastes delicious.
This dish is Lu Chuan's favorite, and everyone else also loves stir-fried chicken with chili peppers. It's Xu Han's specialty, and she makes it often.
Beef is an essential part of the New Year's Eve dinner. Xu Han sliced a plate of braised beef in soy sauce and stir-fried a portion of beef.
In addition to tofu, mushrooms, dried vegetables, and greens, a total of twelve dishes were made, along with a beef bone soup.
After the food was prepared, Xu Han saw that it was still quite early, so she didn't set the table but instead stored it in her spatial storage.
During this time, Xu Han and Grandpa Zhao switched tasks, while Lu Chuan helped Grandpa Zhao put up lanterns and couplets in the house.
Xu Han took this opportunity to change Mu'er and Ze'er into bright red clothes.
Red is essential for the festive atmosphere of Chinese New Year. It's a color ingrained in the Chinese psyche, and it's indispensable for any joyous occasion or holiday.
So during her postpartum period, Xu Han made a red New Year's outfit for Mu'er in advance, while Ze'er wore the clothes that Mu'er had left over before, which were also very new.
Both of them were born in winter, and their height and weight were about the same, so Xu Han didn't make new clothes for Ze'er, aiming to avoid waste and reuse the clothes.
After Xu Han helped the two of them change their clothes, she also changed into a new outfit for herself. She wrapped Ze'er in a blanket and led Mu'er into the courtyard.
"Look how nice our new clothes are!" Xu Han asked with a smile.
Mu'er was very excited to wear her new clothes. She skipped and hopped to Lu Chuan, and even turned around so that her father could see her more clearly.
"It looks beautiful, so festive!" Lu Chuan praised.
“The New Year should look like the New Year. Put on new clothes, and look at the newly pasted couplets and lanterns in the yard. The New Year atmosphere comes right away,” Xu Han said excitedly.
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