With the remaining ten feet of indigo cloth, Li Zhouzhou made himself a quilted coat with a kerchief, and there was some cloth left, which was just right for tying his hair.

　　Made one for my dad.

　　There was a lot of slack time during farming season, and Li Zhouzhou couldn’t sit idle after making clothes, so he took apart the tattered clothes at home and pieced them together to make a thick door curtain. He sewed it several times and hung it at the entrance of the main room to block out the wind and cold. During the day, he pinned one side to the door, leaving only a corner exposed for ventilation.

　　The whole house became much warmer.

　　There is bone soup in the pot now, with a few jujubes and white radish in it. The soup is milky white and delicious with some noodles, cabbage and tofu in it. It goes down hot and makes you sweat and feel comfortable.

　　On the twenty-sixth day of the lunar year, Li Da packed his bag and went to the village to slaughter a pig.

　　This year, he brought back a large pot of pig offal. Li Zhouzhou learned how to stew chicken, but he made it twice because he was afraid it would go bad. In previous years, he would wash it and stir-fry it with oil and sauce. The offal has a strong smell and it doesn’t taste good without sauce.

　　Heat oil, brown sugar, aniseed and wine, and cook for more than half an hour. Then take the firewood pot to the back stove. My husband said that adding more food would make it more flavorful. It was almost dark when my father came back, and Li Zhouzhou picked up a bowl of the still hot braised food and cut it into large pieces and put it in a bowl.

　　What they drank was multi-grain porridge, a plate of shredded radish, a bowl of braised offal, and a big hot steamed bun.

　　”Dad, how about trying it? Is it the braised food?”

　　Li Zhouzhou felt that it was different from stewing the chicken. He couldn’t explain why, but he thought it was good anyway.

　　There are chicken gizzards, chicken hearts, pig livers, pig lungs, pig intestines, etc. in it. It looks dark red in color and has a shiny and oily aroma.

　　Li Da first picked up a piece, because he killed pigs and ate the pig offal every year. To be honest, he was tired of the taste, but farmers couldn’t waste food. The offal tasted the same over and over again.

　　Bored.

　　But today was different. Li Da took a bite. He didn’t know what stewed food was, but it was delicious. “It tastes better than the ones fried with sauce before.” He kept using his chopsticks, taking one bite of the soup and one bite of the steamed bun.

　　Gu Zhao also thought it was good. It might be related to the ingredients themselves. The chickens and pigs here are fed with wheat bran and pig grass. The chickens can walk freely in the backyard. The meat is of good quality. The wine is also brewed from grains.

　　”It’s delicious. Let’s soak it overnight and try it tomorrow morning. This pot of soup can be used as a stew.”

　　Li Zhouzhou listened to his husband and left some food in the pot untouched. The next morning, he took out a piece and tasted it. The flavor was even stronger. He took out the rest, but did not pour out the juice in the pot, saving the remaining marinade for cooking.

　　In the morning, I eat steamed buns with porridge.

　　Later, they kept the soup until the twenty-eighth day of the lunar year. Li Zhouzhou made a big pot of it and left it overnight. On the twenty-ninth day of the lunar year, Zhu Nijiang came with his son, daughter-in-law and eldest grandson to pay New Year’s greetings and brought many gifts.

　　Sugar, wine, dried fruit, and a piece of cloth. This is not cheap.

　　Everyone sat in the main room and talked. It was warm. Li Zhouzhou prepared melon seeds, peanuts, and maltose for the children, and also served dried fruits. The Li family naturally invited Zhu Nijiang’s family to have lunch, as they brought gifts.

　　At noon, Li Zhouzhou and Zhu Nijiang’s eldest daughter-in-law prepared a table of food. The offal that was braised yesterday happened to be ready to serve. Originally, the offal was not a real meat, and it was definitely not suitable for entertaining guests, but it tasted good and fresh after being braised. Li Zhouzhou let Zhu’s wife have a taste first.

　　”Can I go up?”

　　”Oh, if you hadn’t told me it was offal, I wouldn’t have been able to taste it. It’s really well made.”

　　Mrs. Zhu is also a capable person. She tasted the food and thought it was delicious and new. She praised Li Zhouzhou again and again without asking “how was it made”. Her family is a craftsman. Her father-in-law and husband both make a living by their crafts. Now that the Li family has come up with a new food, how can she have the nerve to ask about it?

　　What if someone wants to do business?

　　When the bowl of stewed vegetables was served, the Li family cooked a pot of white rice, chicken, fish, fried meatballs, and two vegetarian dishes, cabbage and tofu, cooked with meat sauce, which was delicious.

　　A dish of cold shredded radish.

　　Because the family uses a stove and a kang, Gu Zhao has been getting a little irritated recently – he himself finds it strange. When he first came here to spend the winter, his hands and feet were cold when he didn’t hold Zhou Zhou in his arms at night. Now it’s only been a little over a year, and he’s wearing the same thickness of clothes as last year, and the kang is heated the same way as last year, but he’s getting a irritation this year.