Chapter 125

Compared to their usual days, the Fan family’s New Year’s meal was quite impressive.

A catty of fatty pork was stewed together with tofu and Chinese cabbage that Fan Jin had brought, filling a large basin.

Another catty of lean pork was shredded and used to stir-fry bamboo shoots.

Chives were finely chopped and mixed with two duck eggs to make savory chive and egg cakes.

Today, there were no watery dishes; everything was dry.

Instead of the usual buckwheat pancakes, they had sorghum pancakes.

However, their family’s food had always been exceptional in the village, among the best. This year, though, other villagers had earned rice and wages, and their New Year’s meals were noticeably better, not inferior to theirs.

Moreover, compared to previous years, this year’s New Year’s meal seemed to be declining year by year.

Happiness can sometimes be a comparative measure; if each year is better than the last, with lively days ahead, happiness is strong. Conversely, when things decline, happiness weakens.

Sun Jinhua led Fan Zhaodi in the kitchen, busy all morning.

Fetching water, selecting, washing, chopping, mincing, and cooking—she did it all alone!

Her daughter, Fan Zhaodi, handled the firewood and kept the fire going.

Sun Jinhua felt a surge of frustration. In the past, she had always been the one waiting for meals!

Meanwhile, Hu Shuiqing was bustling in the kitchen with her daughters Daya and Er-ya. If they worked slowly or didn’t cook well, she could still mock them.

This year, however, it was completely different; now it was up to Sun Jinhua herself.

“Mom, is the New Year’s meal ready? I’m starving!” Fan Dazhu poked his head into the kitchen, impatiently asking.

Sun Jinhua saw her sixteen-year-old son, his face full of eager anticipation. “Almost there, almost there, don’t worry, it’ll be ready soon.”

Fan Dazhu smelled the drifting aroma of meat and stared straight at the fatty pork in the tofu and cabbage stew by the stove.

Quickly, he reached out, pinched a piece of fatty pork between his thumb and forefinger, and stuffed it into his mouth, “Hot, hot, hot! Delicious!”

Sun Jinhua wanted to smack him but restrained herself, frowning as she reprimanded, “There’s only a catty of meat altogether. I know exactly how many pieces there are. Stop eating so much. If Grandma finds out, she’ll scold you for sure!”

Maybe her mother-in-law would even accuse her of sneaking food.

Fan Dazhu shrugged indifferently, saying offhandedly, “What’s to be afraid of? I’m the eldest grandson. Grandma won’t be stingy with me. Besides, isn’t Zhaodi in the kitchen too? If Grandma really asks, Mom, you can say it was Zhaodi who ate it.”

From the stove, the quiet Fan Zhaodi peeked out, her eyes wide with disbelief at her own older brother.

Having eaten a piece of fatty pork, Fan Dazhu left, feeling satisfied.

As he left, Fan’s mother came in with a dark face, accusing him straight away, “Eldest, with your injured hand, you expect to cook? Just look at how long you’ve been at it! Everyone else has started celebrating New Year’s, and our house isn’t ready yet. Which daughter-in-law from another family is as useless as you? They’d have been kicked out long ago.”

Sun Jinhua snorted coldly. The whole family was waiting to eat, and yet she was the one being bossed around.

And now she was being picky!

She retorted, “Mother-in-law, if you think it’s slow, why don’t you do the cooking yourself?”

She wasn’t like Hu Shuiqing, who would allow her mother-in-law to hit and scold her at will.

Besides, now even Hu Shuiqing dared to defy her mother-in-law. What couldn’t she do?

Fan’s mother was furious, her chest heaving violently. Then she saw the dishes on the stove and sneered, “Fine, the tofu and bamboo shoots were my son’s filial respect for me. Later, don’t you dare eat them!”

With that, she turned and stormed out.

Left behind, Sun Jinhua spat, “I cooked them, so why can’t I eat them? I’m going to eat them anyway.”

Last time, Fan Jin built a house, and Fan’s mother brazenly approached, offering wood to the carpenter in exchange for making a table.

Because it was made haphazardly to save costs, the wooden table was rough without smooth polishing or clear varnish, so it was quite crude.

But compared to costing nothing, its roughness wasn’t that bad.

Sun Jinhua and Fan Zhaodi brought the meal to the table. Fan’s mother, Fan Qian, Fan Dazhu, and the second, third, and fourth sons were already seated around it.

Their eyes were fixed straight on the dishes, mouths watering suddenly.

Before Fan Zhaodi could place the last pancake down, everyone reached out eagerly to grab the sorghum pancakes.

Once they got one, they stuffed it into their mouths while using their other hand to grab some meat from the table!

Normally, Fan’s family operated under a distribution system where Fan’s mother would distribute food. During the New Year, however, it was different—everyone helped themselves.

But for Fan Zhaodi, this was worse because she had no seat and could only stand at the corner of the table, trying to grab a bit of food. Being short, she couldn’t reach much.

Fan’s mother noticed but thought it was better if Zhaodi ate less since the delicious food and drinks were better left for the eldest grandson.

Sun Jinhua saw it too and felt she was useless since she couldn’t even grab a bite of the food in front of her!

Fan Qian and Fan Dazhu didn’t even lift their heads; they were solely focused on the food on the table. As long as they grabbed something to eat, they were satisfied!

Fan Zhaodi managed to get a piece of sorghum pancake, holding her bowl silently, and found a usual spot to squat down, nibbling slowly.

Around her, family members were saying, “The fatty pork is so delicious!”

“The duck egg and chive pancakes are also delicious! Don’t snatch, or there won’t be any left for me.”

“Leave me some shredded meat!”

“I want some vegetable soup too, to dip my pancakes in.”

When she heard there was no more vegetable soup, the light on Fan Zhaodi’s face faded. She had been planning to wait until everyone finished so she could dip her pancakes in the soup.

“Mom, didn’t Uncle Xiaoshu bring soybean flour and glutinous rice flour? Why haven’t we seen them?” Fan Dazhu asked suddenly between mouthfuls.

Fan Sanzhu immediately followed up, “Yeah, there’s plenty of glutinous rice flour! And soybean flour too. Why aren’t we making them?”

Sun Jinhua said irritably, “You can’t stop eating meat!

With such good dishes at noon, why eat them now? Save them for the dumplings we’ll have for dinner.”

Fan Dazhu and the others immediately cheered.

Glutinous rice flour was a fine grain, always delicious!

The whole table was filled with joyful smiles, except for Fan Zhaodi, who shrank her thin body in the corner.

On New Year’s Eve, they would stay up all night, setting off firecrackers at midnight to welcome the new year before they could sleep.

The children would also stay up, mostly excited and unable to sleep.

Shuiqing had already taken out everyone’s New Year’s clothes and placed them at their bedside.

They were neatly arranged, waiting for them to change into them early the next morning.

In the warmly lit dining room, the pastry boxes on the table were filled with jujube-flower pastries, hawthorn guokui, red bean cakes, peach blossom pastries, green bean cakes, and osmanthus rice cakes, accompanied by tea and sweetened water.

The candy box contained various colored sugar balls, looking very attractive.

There were also pears, oranges, and hawthorn balls among the fruits.

The five children looked at this and that, unsure which to eat first.

They felt like everything was delicious and wanted to eat each one!

Finally, they broke the pastries into pieces, each sibling taking a bite to taste them before choosing their favorites to eat.

They picked two types of candy they wanted to eat.

The fruits were cold and unpopular.

The children didn’t like to eat fruit, but Shuiqing liked it very much.

She placed tongs on the brazier and roasted an orange until the skin turned black, sizzling with juice, and quickly took it off.

Once it cooled enough not to burn her, she peeled it and ate it while it was still warm.