Chapter 80: New Year’s Eve 2

The New Year’s Eve dinner was held at the uncle’s house. Xia’s mother went to help after lunch. This year, every household had vegetables, so the New Year’s Eve dinner table was particularly abundant.

There were ten dishes in total, symbolizing perfection.

There was a Northeast-style cold dish, a pigskin jelly, a garlic-sauce pork, a radish and lamb stew, a “Great Harvest” dish (containing ribs, potatoes, corn, pumpkin, and green beans), a braised carp, a chicken and mushroom stew, a loach and tofu stew, an eggplant and potato stew, a pork belly and cabbage noodle stew, and the main course was donkey meat dumplings.

This was the most lavish New Year’s Eve dinner the Xia family had ever had. The aroma wafting from the kitchen made the uncle’s grandsons forget about playing with firecrackers. They all squatted at the kitchen door, sniffing the air with their little noses twitching.

Xia Ning’an looked at the little ones in their new clothes, their faces full of anticipation, and couldn’t help but chuckle. She pulled out a handful of Da Bai Tu (Big White Rabbit) candies from her pocket and gave them to the little ones to satisfy their cravings.

For dinner, Xia Ning’an boiled a large aluminum kettle of milk tea with milk powder and black tea. She, her cousins, and the children drank it. Northern women are known for their good drinking capacity, and her aunt and mother were no exception. They drank the wine Xia Ning’an had brewed in her space during dinner.

Xia Ning’an’s grandfather, Old Xia, had worked in a winery before. He knew how to brew wine and had drunk a lot of white wine in his youth. He considered himself a connoisseur of fine wine, but even he was impressed by Xia Ning’an’s brew.

“My granddaughter is amazing. She’s so young and can already brew such delicious wine. I’ve lived a long life, and now it’s all worth it.”

“Grandpa, you’re saying that, but you’re still strong and healthy. I’ll give you my brewing recipe. I’m sure you can brew even better wine than me.”

Old Xia was so excited that he stood up. “My dear, are you really giving me the recipe?”

“It’s not some secret that can’t be shared. Of course, I can give it to you. How about we ask Dad to apply for a winery in our village next year? The sorghum here is so cheap. It would be a waste not to brew wine.”

Xia Changhai was also excited. “Daughter, can this recipe really brew such delicious wine?”

“Of course, it can. There are so many things our village can do in the future. For example, the soap we use at home. You’ve all used it, right? We can open a soap factory, a winery. After the New Year, we can also grow mushrooms and wood ear. We can even grow ganoderma lucidum for the village collectively. I’m afraid Dad, as the village chief, won’t be able to manage it all.”

The aunt clapped her thighs. “An’an’s soap is much better than the one from the supply and marketing cooperative. I use it to wash clothes now. It washes them so clean. We washed all the quilts and curtains in our house with it for the New Year. It even smells good.”

The men’s attention was drawn to the wine, while the women’s attention was drawn to the soap.

Xia Ning’an told her aunts and uncles that she would make them a batch of scented soap for washing their faces and bodies after the New Year, and a batch of whitening herbal soap. They were overjoyed.

The New Year’s Eve dinner was a lively affair, filled with food and drink.

The men, who rarely got to drink without being scolded by their wives, continued to drink and chat until nine o’clock that night.

Xia’s mother asked, “An’an, what kind of dumplings do you want to eat tonight?”

“I want zucchini, egg, and shrimp dumplings.”

Xia’s mother lovingly tapped her forehead. “You’re always so picky. I’ll go home and get some shrimp to thaw.”

“Mother, you rest. I’ll go get them.”

She ran out the door in a flash. Xia’s mother was about to call her youngest son to go with her, but she was too fast.

After bringing back the shrimp, Xia Ning’an pretended to be tired and went to sleep in her cousin’s room. In reality, she went to her space to make dumplings.

She had a lot of wild donkey meat in her space. Xia Ning’an made donkey meat and scallion dumplings, cod dumplings, beef and radish dumplings, and a hundred pounds of each. She gave them to Xiao Miao and wished her a happy New Year.

Xiao Miao had never had the concept of the New Year before. After Xia Ning’an explained it to her, she also prepared a New Year’s red envelope for Xia Ning’an on the morning of the first day of the New Year.

Inside were three large bottles of healing potion, each enough for ten people, three large bottles of strength potion, also enough for ten people each. After drinking it, they could increase their strength tenfold based on their own strength. There were also three small bottles of truth potion, enough for three people. After drinking this potion, they could learn the true thoughts of the person they were looking at for three seconds, for three minutes.

Xia Ning’an was very surprised and happy with Xiao Miao’s New Year’s gift.

On the morning of the first day of the New Year, she gave her parents and two brothers a strength potion each.

After they drank it, the three siblings ran to the yard to experiment.

Xia Ninghao could carry four bundles of firewood before, but now he could carry ten bundles with ease. The only problem was that they were too big, so he couldn’t carry more.

The three of them then turned their attention to the stone mill in the house. It weighed about 400 pounds. Before, Xia Ninghao couldn’t lift it, but he could move it a little bit. Xia Ning’an handed him a pair of gloves. He put them on and lifted the stone mill with one hand. He didn’t think he could lift it so easily. He just wanted to show off, but he was so surprised that he was stunned.

Xia’s mother and father, who were watching, gasped in shock.

Xia Ningzhou, being a soldier, had strong mental fortitude.

Xia Ninghao quickly recovered and carried the stone mill around for several laps without feeling tired.

There was nothing heavier than the stone mill in the house, so he was a little disappointed.

Xia’s mother looked at the large vat of pickled vegetables. It must have weighed 500 or 600 pounds.

Xia Ninghao ran over and hugged the vat with both arms. He easily lifted it up.

The whole family took turns hugging the large vat. Even Xia and Xia Ning’an felt they had plenty of strength left, let alone Xia Changhai and Xia Ningzhou.

Everyone was amazed by the potion.

Xia Changhai reminded his family to keep this ability a secret, especially Xia Ninghao, who was impulsive. They had to keep this potion a secret and not tell anyone.

Before the family finished their breakfast, visitors started to arrive for New Year’s greetings.

As the village chief and with a talented daughter like Xia Ning’an, villagers would first come to the village chief’s house for New Year’s greetings.

Xia’s mother prepared a fruit candy and a Da Bai Tu (Big White Rabbit) candy for the children, and a piece of fruit and a piece of peach pastry baked by Xia Ning’an for the adults.

The front door of the house was open, and people came and went.

Xia Ning’an, her two brothers, and her cousins, Juanzi and her cousin, went out to pay New Year’s greetings together. As they were leaving, they ran into Li Dabao, who was rushing to pay New Year’s greetings. He went inside to greet Xia’s father and mother, and then chased after them to go door-to-door with the Xia siblings to pay New Year’s greetings.

They spent the whole morning going around, their throats were dry from talking, their faces were stiff from smiling, and their pockets were full of peanuts and melon seeds.

They went back to the uncle’s house for lunch. This year, things were good, and they had more money. On the first day of the New Year, Xia Changhai’s house was filled with visitors. The old man asked them to come over for dinner on the first day.

They had a lot of meat at home, thanks to his son, the village chief.

Xia’s mother also packed a bunch of food to take over.

Xia’s grandfather looked at his youngest son’s family. His three children were all very talented: the resolute Xia Ningzhou, the intelligent Xia Ninghao, and the clever Xia Ning’an.

He was incredibly satisfied.

Although his wife had been a little biased before, they were still a family. A family should be together, happy and lively.

Northerners can’t celebrate the New Year without dumplings.

This time, Xia Changhai and his elder brother were responsible for rolling out the dough, while Xia Ning’an and her brothers wrapped the dumplings.

Xia Ningzhou had wrapped dumplings during the New Year in the army. His dumplings were passable. Xia Ning’an, of course, was very good at it. Her dumplings were thin-skinned and meaty, like little ingots.

Xia Changhai laughed, “My An’an is so skilled. Look at her dumplings. They’re all the same, like ingots. They’re works of art.”

He was so proud of his talented daughter.

Of all of them, Xia Ninghao was the worst at wrapping dumplings. They were all crooked and lopsided. Some were leaking, and some were so thin that they couldn’t hold the filling.

Xia Ning’an teased him, “Second brother, your dumplings will probably turn into noodles when they’re cooked.”

“I’ll eat the noodles myself. Don’t try to steal them from me.”

The little nephew heard this and said, “Uncle is the dumbest. He doesn’t eat dumplings with filling, but he wants to eat noodles.”

Children say the darndest things. The adults laughed.

The atmosphere was lively and warm.

As they were wrapping dumplings, firecrackers started to go off in the village.

Everyone started to cook the dumplings and eat their reunion dinner.

After they finished eating dumplings, Xia Ning’an took out a few decks of playing cards. The cousins divided themselves into several tables and started playing cards. Of course, they played secretly. Playing cards wasn’t allowed openly in this era.

After the first day of the New Year, it was the second day. On the second day, they went back to their mother’s family. Xia Ning’an’s family spent another day at the uncle’s house. That day, the eldest cousin returned to her mother’s family.

Xia Ning’an gave her eldest cousin’s two children a dollar each in red envelopes, the same as the other children. The eldest cousin was very happy. She spent the whole day at her mother’s family, laughing and having fun. Nowadays, children’s red envelopes were only a dime. An’an was so generous.

The last time she came back was during last year’s New Year. This time, the eldest cousin could clearly feel that her family’s life was different.

The eldest cousin had married into a village in another commune. It was not easy to come back once a year. This was thanks to her husband, who was a lively person and was in charge of the village’s ox cart. It wasn’t difficult to come back once a year.

The aunt felt sorry for her daughter. This time, she brought back a lot of grain, oil, vegetables, frozen fish, and frozen meat.

She also taught her eldest cousin how to grow vegetables in boxes and mushrooms.

When she went back, Xia Ning’an gave her eldest cousin a lot of mushroom bags. Her cousin’s husband drove an ox cart to the county, and he was a lively person. It wasn’t difficult to sell things. Xia Ning’an also told him the location of Zhang Dagang’s black market.

The eldest cousin was so touched that she cried. But she was full of hope for the future. She would definitely come back more often next year to learn from her.