She was just asking casually, but to her surprise, Wen Xuan shook her head and said, “I don’t want it anymore.”

Wen Xuan patted her belly, a bit regretful, “Can we save it for the Lantern Festival? I definitely can’t eat it today.”

If they really fried it, she’d be missing out! After all, fried chicken isn’t as good the next day.

“…”

“Alright then!” Wen Jiajia couldn’t believe Wen Xuan had finally gotten tired of eating. Fried foods do get tiresome after a while.

Even without the fried chicken, Wen Chun and Wen Xuan were like mice falling into a rice bin, feeling like the kitchen was heaven.

With a handful of fries in one hand and lotus root strips in the other, dipping them in the freshly made ketchup, they were so happy they could have danced.

Wen Jiajia was worried they might overeat, so she also made some digestive tea. Luckily, the girls were old enough to know their limits, avoiding the overstuffed feeling they used to get when they were younger.

Soon, evening arrived.

Wei Dai returned at seven, and they didn’t start the New Year’s Eve dinner until then.

Wei Dai was the kind of person who had to change his clothes as soon as he got home, and the first thing he did after changing was to hold his daughter.

“Did our Xiaomei cry today?”

Then he paused, smiling, “Her nickname is settled, but everyone’s still calling her Xiaomei. Who started this?”

Wen Jiajia, feeling guilty, stayed silent.

She had started it, then the aunt followed, and then Wen Chun and Wen Xuan picked it up. Soon, everyone around her started calling her Xiaomei.

Every day it was “How’s your Xiaomei?” or “What’s Xiaomei up to?” Eventually, no one paid attention to the carefully chosen nickname, including Wei Dai.

Wei Dai sighed, “Oh well, I guess we’ll stick with it. But it’s a shame that the perfect little name I came up with is going to waste.”

Wen Jiajia had nothing to say, so she just called everyone to eat, “Let’s eat, let’s eat. The food is much more plentiful this year compared to previous ones.”

With the family growing, there was reason to celebrate.

Seeing the abundance of ingredients, the aunt had also put her full skills on display, cooking up several large dishes in a row.

There was braised pigeon, white-cut chicken, winter melon stuffed with eight treasures, garlic ribs, honey-glazed char siu, roasted goose, and one particularly eye-catching dish, Ah Yi abalone^[1]is a well-known Chinese dish, often considered a delicacy..

The others were okay, but Wen Xuan was practically drooling, and Wen Jiajia could clearly hear her gulp.

It would have been perfect if there was sweet and sour pork too.

Wen Jiajia brought out the homemade plum wine she had brewed in the summer. She didn’t dare drink it, but Zhong Huisheng’s eyes lit up when she saw it, “I haven’t had wine in a long time. I wonder if I can still hold my liquor.”

Wen Jiajia poured a cup of bayberry wine for Zhong Huisheng. “It doesn’t matter if you’re out of practice. You can take your time to get back to where you were! Auntie, try a sip. This year’s brew should be better than last year’s and should smell more fragrant. If you’re not used to it, I have plum wine and osmanthus rice wine in my room.”

“Bayberry wine is good. It looks red and brings joy during the Chinese New Year,” Zhong Huisheng said, picking up the bowl. She took a sip, tasted it carefully, and praised, “It tastes great! It has the flavor of bayberries and a nice wine taste.”

As she spoke, she picked up two bayberries with clean chopsticks, took a light bite, and her face wrinkled. The taste wasn’t bitter or sour, but the alcohol’s aroma was almost overwhelming.

However, after taking another bite, she found the stimulating sensation quite enjoyable.

Wei Dai, concerned about disturbing his daughter, refrained from drinking. Thus, except for Zhong Huisheng, everyone had soy milk.

After raising their glasses and wishing each other a “Happy New Year,” everyone picked up their chopsticks and started eating.

Wen Jiajia was particularly fond of the braised pigeons. She ate two and then asked Wei Dai, “Where did you get the pigeons?”

Wei Dai replied, “There’s a family in a nearby village that raises them secretly in the mountains. I saw them, and they agreed to sell me a few, but asked me to keep it a secret.”

Wen Jiajia couldn’t help but admire Wei Dai’s knack for finding unique ingredients. His luck in discovering such finds was impressive.

After finishing the dishes, Wen Jiajia had a few dumplings and half a bowl of chicken wonton soup, and felt full.

At this moment, Xiaomei woke up. Her black eyes were scanning the room as if she were observing her surroundings. Her little hands, sticking out from under the quilt, were opening and closing in the air as if trying to grab something.

“Uncle-in-law, my Xiaomei is awake!” Wen Chun was the first to notice. She quickly put down the roast goose leg she was chewing, jumped off the table, and ran to check on her sister.

Wei Dai went over to take a quick look and made some funny noises to tease her, causing Xiaomei to burst into laughter.

Although Wei Dai thought he was making her laugh, Wen Jiajia pointed out, “How can a one-month-old baby know whether it’s funny or not? She was just comfortable enough to laugh reflexively.”

Wei Dai felt disappointed, thinking his daughter was a genius capable of laughing at just one month old!

The next day.

The 76th year of the lunar calendar officially began.

Wen Jiajia was listening to the news while eating. It snowed again last night. Although the sun hadn’t risen yet, the distant green hills were covered with a thin layer of white.

Wei Dai entered the room with a book in his hand, placed it on the table, and said, “This is the book you asked Teacher Shen to bring you.”

Wen Jiajia took it and was thrilled. “Wow, it’s a rare exercise book. Teaching supplementary books were so scarce back then that it’s almost a miracle to get one now. I never thought I’d need to ask someone to get me teaching books.”

Wei Dai was curious. “Why did you want this book?”

Wen Jiajia raised her eyebrows and said, “Silly, of course, I’m doing the exercises. What else would I do with it?”

Wei Dai was intrigued by what kind of questions she was working on.

Wen Jiajia proudly explained, “Most people’s brain power peaks during the college entrance exams. After the exam and a good night’s sleep, the brain tends to forget a lot, as if there’s a fog. covering the knowledge learned over the years. University is even worse; a passing score on a test is quite an achievement.”

She continued, “And after graduation, it gets even more challenging. You’re considered talented if you can remember mathematical formulas, accurately pronounce Greek letters, distinguish between light years as a unit of time or distance, and recite certain words.”

Wen Jiajia admitted she couldn’t remember math formulas easily. Her brain was like an ordinary person’s, unable to cram for exams and get into top universities like Tsinghua or Peking University. She needed to prepare well for next year’s college entrance exams.

Of course, she couldn’t tell Wei Dai this.

There was no sign of resuming college entrance exams yet, and even Teacher Shen thought Wen Jiajia was just passing time.

Days went by, and after the Lantern Festival, Wen Chun and Wen Xuan would soon return to school.

Wen Jiajia couldn’t help but wonder when she would be able to return to work at the hospital.

Director Gao had asked Lin Yunfei to convey more than once that he missed her very much. With the weather warming up in March and spring approaching, it seemed like a good time to return to work without worrying about getting cold while riding a bike.

On this Jingzhe day, thunder rumbled in the sky.

Xiaomei was probably frightened by the thunder and let out the loudest cry she had ever made.

This attracted Sister Bao from next door. Hearing the noise, she thought something was wrong, as this child was usually very well-behaved and rarely cried at night.

“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. It’s just thunder,” Wen Jiajia comforted her, hugging her close.

She was surprised to find that this little girl, who didn’t even cry when woken by her own fart, was afraid of thunder.

Sister Bao came into the room with freshly made steamed cake, placed it on the table, and said, “What’s wrong, Xiaomei?”

Wen Jiajia sighed, “She was startled by the thunder.”

Sister Bao exclaimed, “Oh!” and gently rocked and patted the baby. Xiaomei suddenly stopped crying and looked at Sister Bao with watery eyes.

Sister Bao smiled and said softly, “All the girls in your family are good-looking. Wen Chun, Wen Xuan, and their xiaomei are all very attractive. It shows that the Wen family has excellent genes.”

Wen Jiajia laughed. She agreed, noting that the original owner’s parents looked good—they were tall, had full heads of hair, well-defined noses, and white teeth. Despite not brushing their teeth daily, none were damaged, proving the strength of their genes.

In comparison, Wei Dai’s family was just average.

After calming the baby back into the crib, Sister Bao looked at the darkening sky and commented, “This thunder sounds as if it has punched a hole in the sky.”

At that moment, Wen Jiajia thought it might be an earthquake.

Sister Bao brought steamed cakes, and Wen Jiajia stuffed half a bowl of fish balls into her mouth.

A few days ago, Wei Dai had secretly caught some fish in a wild lake. Aside from keeping a few boneless fish for eating, she and the aunt turned the rest into fish balls.

Few people in the area liked fish balls, and even if they did, there were no local sources to buy them, so they put in a lot of effort to make them. Fortunately, the result was pleasing, and the fish balls turned out really well.

They made a whole pot of them—some as big as a fist and some in normal sizes. Because there wasn’t enough minced pork, they also made some plain fish balls. They ate them daily, and there is still a small pot left in the cupboard.

From a distance, Wen Jiajia saw Zhong Huisheng picking wild vegetables by the lake. She hurried to the door and called out, “Auntie, you’re back!”

It was getting dark, and it looked like it was going to rain. Being near the water during a thunderstorm was dangerous. Wen Jiajia, who had attended many class meetings and learned the “seven don’ts” of thunderstorms, was particularly cautious.

Zhong Huisheng finally heard her calls and walked home carrying a basket.

Some children were still playing outside, so Wen Jiajia gathered them up and said sternly, “Don’t you know you’re not supposed to play with tree branches during thunderstorms? And you were playing under a tree. Aren’t you afraid of being struck by lightning?”

Wen Jiajia, who usually smiles at children, suddenly lost her temper. The children were frightened, and most of them went home as instructed.

A few troublemakers made faces at Wen Jiajia and shouted, “I don’t want to listen.”

For children like these, Wen Jiajia always relied on Lao Wang.

Lao Wang was known for his strict discipline. With a smooth wooden stick in hand, he appeared and scared the remaining children into running home, howling in fear.

Wen Jiajia snorted in satisfaction and turned back into the house.