Picking Up a General to Plow the Fields

Chapter 229: New Year’s Eve (2)

TN: It just struck me that it is the Lunar New Year, happy year of the Ox, everyone!

The Lian family got up early in the morning and put on their bright new clothing, talking and laughing constantly.

After a simple breakfast, they began to put up the Spring Festival couplets and hand the red lanterns.
In a blink of an eye, because of the hanging red lanterns, the flaming red couplets, the blessing characters, and the New Years paintings, every household looked unique and they were extra festive.

Although they had started early, the main meal would take a lot of time.
There so many exquisite dishes to be cooked.
The whole family was busy going in and out and there was endless lively laughter.

Regarding tonight’s dishes, Lian Fang Zhou and Third Aunt had planned it a few days ago.
There would be stewed yellow lamb shanks, steamed sausages, sweet and soup carp, steamed pork with dried plums and vegetables, braised chicken with dried bamboo shoots and mushrooms, pork ribs with sauce and stuffed tofu, and many vegetarian dishes like stuffed winter melons.
They had slow cooked the lamb shank the night before.
They had to time the dishes right because the food became cold quickly in the winter.

The carp was wrapped in flour and put in the frying pan yesterday night.
After the chicken was offered to the ancestors, the carp would be cooked along with a piece of high quality pork belly that had been set aside previously.
After marinating the meat with five-spices and salt, they were boiled in a pot.
The skin was coated with honey and fried separately until there was no fat or oil left.
Then the dried plum was chopped into pieces and steamed on the bottom.
Everything was very fragrant.

The filling for the stuffed bean curds and stuffed winter melons was fresh.
Lian Fang Zhou and Third Aunt made three kinds of fillings, two of which had lamb and dried plums, and another with chopped leeks, celery, Chinese cabbage, and other vegetables and meat.

Lian Fang Zhou and Third Aunt were very busy and the three siblings went in and out to help with tasks from time to time.
Only Ah Jian never touched the kitchen, focusing on feeding the animals and watching with a smile.

After paying respects to their ancestors, they started cooking.
First the chicken was chopped and the fish was put into the oil pan to make the sweet and sour sauce.
Then the ribs were marinated in the sauce while they waited for the lamb to finish.
They also finished the stuffed bean curds and winter melons, steaming everything in the pot.

After the dishes were finished and the firecrackers had been set off, they prepared for dinner.

Lian Hai came over to wish them a happy New Year.
After chatting with Lian Fang Zhou and her siblings, he pulled her aside and asking in a low voice if she would like to spend the New Year’s Eve together to make things more lively?

This was normal, as Lian Fang Zhou’s parents had passed.
Of course, the two families should eat together! However, for the first and second branches of the Lian family, things were a little different.

Picturing sharing a meal with Madam Qiao, Lian Fang Zhou was sure that her siblings wouldn’t be able to eat a bite.
It would not only impact the New Year but also their tempers!

She smiled and declined.

Lian Hai understood and had originally expected this response.
After a few words of persuasion, he smiled and said that he would come and visit them again after dinner.
Lian Fang Zhou naturally welcomed him.

When all the dishes were about to be taken out of the pot, the village was full of the sound of firecrackers from all directions.
It seemed that the dinner time of almost every family was the same!

Lian Fang Zhou smiled and called Lian Ze: “Get the big firecracker we bought! We should set this one off too!”

This was a boy’s favorite thing: Lian Ze and Lian Che cheered loudly and immediately took out the large firecracker they had prepared.

Lian Fang Zhou did not need to worry about instructing them.
After placing it on the ground, Ah Jian took a stick of lit incense and lit the fuse.

The courtyard was filled with the sound of crackling as red debris sparked everywhere and the smell of gunpowder gradually increased.
Lian Fang Qing slammed into Lian Fang Zhou’s arms and covered her ears, giggling, while Lian Ze and Lian Che ran around waiting for the firecracker to go off.
They would pick up the unburned ones and keep them for fun.

More firecrackers came from over the wall and the sound of the village firecrackers came one after another.
This was the liveliest time of the year!

“Okay! Good Luck! Good Luck! Go back into the house now, it’s time to eat!” Third Aunt smiled, glancing at the reluctant Lian Ze and Lian Che.
“Quickly, go into the house and eat.
You can pick up the firecrackers later, they won’t run away! It’s still early!”

Everyone laughed and went into the house together.

“Fang Zhou! Third Aunt! Are you ready to eat?” Aunt Zhang and Li Juan called, coming in from outside with a smile.

“Aunt Zhang! Ah Juan!” Lian Fang Zhou greeted them eagerly, smiling: “We are just about to eat! What about you?”

“Yes, we are starting soon too!” Aunt Zhang held out a basket in her hand and said: “I have made a lot of dishes and I’ve brought a few that you haven’t tried yet.
It’s good to try something new!”

Lian Fang Zhou and Third Aunt thanked her with wide smiles and invited them into the house.
Third Aunt went into the kitchen to get the bowls and prepare the vegetables.

Two families that had a good friendship often did this.

Aunt Zhang uncovered the lid of the basket and poured the contents of the dishes into the bowls brought by Third Aunt.
There were several kinds of steamed pork: fried twice-cooked pork and steamed pork belly.

Lian Fang Zhou also filled Aunt Zhang’s basket with some stuffed tofu and pork ribs in sauce.
After chatting for a few words, Aunt Zhang and her daughter left.

After a while, Lian Hai also brought over a bowl of vegetables, pork knuckles, ham, and some stuffed eggs.

Lian Fang Zhou smiled and thanked him, accepting the dishes.
She also filled his bowls with some food to take back.

It was just that the mood of the two dishes were very different.
Lian Fang Zhou didn’t have to think hard about how ugly Madam Qiao’s face had been when she had heard Lian Hai say he wanted to deliver food!

If that uncle and aunt pair were really willing to deliver good, it definitely would not have been Madam Qiao’s idea.

Fortunately, it was not Madam Qiao who had come to bring the dishes, or else the New Years mood would have been affected.
It was more reasonable this way.

Nothing else happened for a while and the whole family gathered around the table to eat dinner.

Today’s dinner was at a round table, which symbolized reunion.
The table frame that supported the top was square with grooves.
There was also a round moveable wooden board, the size of a basin, in the middle of the table top.
After removing it, a small stove could be placed just on the groove of the table frame.
In this way, the top of the stove was flat with the table top and the soup pout would not be too high when it sat on the table.

After putting charcoal inside the small stove, the small round pot on top was filled with the lamb shank broth and the dishes.
Lian Fang Zhou also opened two jars of wine, one of the normal and the other was a fruit wine brought from the Lin family orchard.