Gu Zhao came forward and said with a smile: “I want to burn some things. I was thinking of sending them over after the New Year. Brother Zhu happened to be here. Can you wait a moment while I draw a blueprint?”

　　”Okay.” Zhu Nijiang’s eldest son agreed immediately.

　　Now Zhunijiang’s daughter-in-law couldn’t refuse anymore, so she rolled up her sleeves and offered to help.

　　Gu Zhao painted a teacup, the kind with a lid and handle. Every household in the village drinks water from a bowl without a lid. In winter, if you don’t drink the water after pouring it in, it will get cold quickly.

　　There are teacups in the town. The exquisite and expensive ones are small and short, with patterns painted on them, while the cheaper coarse porcelain cups are slightly larger and have no handles or lids.

　　Gu Zhao is not a refined person, why would he like to taste tea?

　　It’s just drinking like a cow to quench your thirst.

　　”What is this?” Zhu Nijiang’s son looked at it and it looked like a cup, but it was very big, smaller than a bowl, and had a handle.

　　Gu Zhao: “A large teacup. I usually get so absorbed in studying that when I turn around to drink water, it’s cold. I thought of adding a lid and a handle for easier use. I wonder if it can be heated?”

　　”It can be fired. I can make it.” Zhu Nijiang’s son promised. It’s not difficult.

　　Gu Zhao smiled and said, “That’s great. We can also make the belly bigger so that we can put some food in it. When next spring comes, I’ll go to the fields to bring food to Dad. It will be convenient to have a lid so that we don’t have to worry about bugs getting in.”

　　Zhu Nijiang’s eldest daughter-in-law came in with food and praised the words. She was a householder and had to deliver food to the men working in the fields during the busy harvest season. She usually carried a basket, but she was afraid that the rice would spill out and she walked slowly with the basket. This was much more convenient and cleaner.

　　”Don’t worry, brother Gu. I will send it to you after the first batch is baked in the new year.” Zhu Nijiang’s son now thought of what his father said about Gu Zhao being smart.

　　He had thought that it was nothing, he could not compare to Zhu Xiucai in their village, who had passed the examination. But after coming here today, he found that Gu Zhao was very honest in his words and deeds, and he did not have the problem of scholars’ eyes and brains. Although his ideas were not about writing articles, they were practical for the villagers.

　　Still making money.

　　At noon, Li Da came back and the meal was ready. After the meal, Zhu Nijiang’s son and daughter-in-law went back.

　　Li Zhouzhou told his father about the gift that Zhunijiang’s family had received. Li Da knew at a glance that Zhunijiang’s family had made money from the stove and said, “It’s nothing.”

　　My husband also said the same thing.

　　Li Zhouzhou felt at ease after receiving the harvest.

　　The 29th was busy. In the afternoon, Li Zhouzhou fried fruit. He used white flour, which was rare. He beat three eggs into it and divided it into two doughs. One side was salty and the other side was sugar. The dough was left to rise for a while, then rolled into skins, cut into palm-sized strips, cut a few slits, rolled it back and forth and stuck it together, and fried it in a pan.

　　Don’t use lard as oil, use soybean oil for frying.

　　It’s a bit soft right out of the pan, but when it cools down, it becomes crispy and fragrant.

　　Li Zhouzhou first brought a bowl to his husband, picking up some of the sweet and salty ones. The remaining oil was still useful for making fried radish meatballs.

　　”Fry some chicken?” Gu Zhao pinched a fruit and fed it to Zhou Zhou’s mouth first.

　　Li Zhouzhou took a bite, and Gu Zhao continued to eat the rest, saying it was delicious. Li Zhouzhou felt embarrassed and changed the subject, “Is the chicken fried too?”

　　”Dry it in egg and flour, fry it in oil until it’s almost cooked, and add some to stir-fried dishes.”

　　Li Zhouzhou quickly understood, “It’s similar to jar meat, which is simple and convenient.”

　　If his husband wants to eat, Li Zhouzhou will make it.

　　Anyway, we have to kill chickens and eat eggs during the Chinese New Year, so we should not be stingy. If we are stingy and don’t want to eat or drink during the Chinese New Year, we will have a hard time and nothing to eat in the coming year. This is what the old saying goes.

　　Li Zhouzhou went back to the kitchen to continue working. Gu Zhao stopped reading, wiped his hands, and took the fruit bowl to the kitchen to help make the fire.

　　The couple worked in the kitchen, chatting and talking, working non-stop, time passed quickly, and in a blink of an eye it was dark and time for dinner. Li Zhouzhou didn’t busy himself with anything else, he fried the radish meatballs and cabbage in the afternoon in a pot with the big bone soup and ate them with pancakes.

　　It’s New Year’s Eve.

　　Had breakfast early in the morning.

　　Li Da has a pig to be slaughtered today, but it is not busy, just two families. They slaughtered it before the New Year, and after today, the first day of the first lunar month, there will be no knives and no busyness, no one will invite them to do it.

　　”Dad, my husband and I went to Dongping Village to see the teacher.” Li Zhouzhou said to his father.