CHAPTER 93: CHAPTER 93: NEW YEAR’S EVE DINNER IN 1993

Under everyone’s anticipation, New Year’s Eve finally arrived.

Knowing that there would be delicious food today, Da Wa and Er Ni got up almost without being called. Upon hearing the door open, they climbed out of bed, even though it was just dawning.

In the morning, they cooked handmade noodles, specially made with fine flour, which they usually wouldn’t bear to use. It was the first time.

Jiang Hu rolled the dough, while Er Nian prepared the bowls, pinching a bit of pea shoots, and extravagantly frying four eggs.

As for Xiao Mi and Tie Dan, just eating some noodles filled them up, but they got hungry quickly. By noon, they could steam an egg custard.

A bowl of noodles on the morning of New Year’s Eve tasted fragrant, rich with oil, satisfying everyone immensely.

New Year’s Eve dinner was eaten at night, but that didn’t stop them from being busy in the morning.

In winter, Jiang Hu dug quite a few winter bamboo shoots from the mountain and dried them after processing. Yesterday, Er Nian took a big handful to soak, and now they were ready.

Winter bamboo shoots stewed with ribs, radishes stewed with bones, and among the fish caught yesterday, there was a big one, perfect for braised fish.

Fish is an essential dish on the New Year’s Eve dinner table, symbolizing abundance every year.

Er Nian had already planned tonight’s menu yesterday. Besides these meat dishes, there were green onions, cabbages, garlic sprouts, etc., from their own garden.

The pork belly was pickled for a few days later, while today they’d stir-fry cabbage and green onions with eggs. With an odd number of five dishes, it wasn’t good, so they decided to kill a rabbit.

Six people, six dishes, that’s enough.

Er Nian had Jiang Hu soak the big bones and ribs to remove the blood, while she went to release the chickens and rabbits.

The chicks had hatched for several days now. It was too cold outside, so they were kept in the chicken coop, not daring to let them out.

Even so, they stuffed straw into the gaps around the coop to keep the wind out.

Fortunately, the coop was not small, with two big hens leading over a dozen chicks, so it wasn’t crowded at all.

"Xiao Mi, why are you here again?" As soon as Er Nian reached the coop, she saw Xiao Mi standing on tiptoe, peeking inside.

If Er Nian had read books, she would know how to describe Xiao Mi at this moment.

Eyes eagerly waiting.

"Mom~" Xiao Mi turned around, looking at her mother eagerly.

Er Nian walked closer, squatting in front of Xiao Mi, and reached out to touch her head: "What’s wrong? Do you really like the chicks?"

Xiao Mi nodded vigorously: "Cute!"

The newly hatched chicks were small, fluffy, and incredibly cute.

Of course, that was secondary. She was observing what the chicks ate. Just eating vegetable leaves wouldn’t do; eating too many would give them diarrhea.

After several days of observing, Xiao Mi found that besides eating leaves, they also ate small insects, pebbles, etc.

Earlier, when sorting the sorghum and corn, her mother had saved the shriveled husks separately. At the time, Xiao Mi didn’t know why, but recently she saw her mother crushing those husks and mixing them with chopped greens to feed the chicks.

Xiao Mi felt she understood a bit more about feeding the chicks.

The next step was figuring out how to sneak away with two of them.

Luckily, Er Nian didn’t know what Xiao Mi was thinking. She just patted Xiao Mi’s head: "Then wait here for a while, the weather is nice today, so I’ll let the chicks out."

Xiao Mi’s eyes sparkled as she nodded vigorously: "Okay!"

If it weren’t for New Year’s Eve today, and fearing her parents and siblings would be sad over two missing chicks, she might not have held back and acted right away!

Fortunately, Xiao Mi restrained herself, just watching for a while before following Er Nian back after she fed the chickens and rabbits.

Wait a bit more, after the New Year!

Suddenly, Xiao Mi remembered something: "Mom, the puppy."

Wasn’t a puppy supposed to be bought? Why hasn’t it been brought home yet?

Just a puppy, it shouldn’t be as precious as an ox, right?

Er Nian was replacing the water for soaking bones to remove the blood, and upon hearing Xiao Mi’s question, she explained: "The puppy hasn’t been born yet. In another month or two, we can bring it home."

Xiao Mi felt relieved.

Then happily went off to help Er Ni peel garlic.

Jiang Hu often delivered vegetables to restaurants, and occasionally listened to chefs talk about cooking.

They wouldn’t reveal their secret recipes, but Chef Zhang was willing to chat about everyday cooking.

Now, even Jiang’s family cooking was much more delicious, particularly with added seasonings like dried peppercorns and chili peppers.

These ingredients are quite expensive, but used sparingly enough not to make Jiang Hu worry.

For lunch, they cooked sorghum rice, fried some fatty pork with salted vegetables, and made fish soup with small fish, keeping it simple.

However, in the afternoon, every pot in the kitchen was in use, with ribs and big bones being stewed. Both were soups, yet different in nature.

Jiang Hu killed a rabbit and then spent the afternoon pulling pigweed from the field.

Er Nian prepared the rabbit and scooped up the leftover pig feed from yesterday for a big pot, enough for the next two days.

Today, it wasn’t just Jiang’s family that was busy; every household in Fu’an Village was bustling with preparations for the New Year’s Eve dinner.

This was their first New Year’s Eve dinner after settling in Fu’an Village, and everyone valued it greatly.

Before it got dark, Er Nian began cooking, with braised rabbit, steamed fish, scallion fried eggs, and a cabbage dish.

Rarely did Da Wa get chased out of the kitchen by his father, told to play with his younger siblings, while he and his wife worked on the New Year’s Eve dinner together.

As darkness fell, Da Wa lit the oil lamp, and Er Nian called out from the kitchen.

"Da Wa, quickly bring your siblings over for dinner."

The enticing aroma had long been wafting out, leaving all the siblings drooling.

"Coming!" Da Wa held Tie Dan’s hand, while Xiao Mi had already dashed ahead.

"Smells so good, mom," Xiao Mi exaggeratedly inhaled deeply as soon as she entered the kitchen.

Jiang Hu teased her: "Does the meat smell better or your mom?"

Xiao Mi climbed onto the bench by stepping on a stool: "Both the meat and mom smell nice."

Trying to trick her? Impossible!

Er Nian quickly set down the plate and came over to hug her: "Careful, don’t fall."

"Thank you, mom," Xiao Mi smiled, her eyes squinting joyfully.

However, contrary to what Xiao Mi expected, Er Nian didn’t sit her properly on the chair but placed her directly on the ground.

"Haven’t washed your hands yet, little foodie. Quickly, go wash your hands. I’ve kept warm water ready for you all."

Xiao Mi blushed a little and happily ran off to wash her hands.

Er Nian carefully washed each child’s hands, while Jiang Hu set all the dishes on the table.

Not only was there so much meat today, but Er Nian also generously cooked a pot of pure white rice without adding any coarse grains!

Xiao Mi and Tie Dan even sat at the main table, instead of the small chairs for their meals.

Jiang Hu and Er Nian each took care of one of them, seating them by their sides, placing small bowls and spoons in front of them, enjoying the soup and meat.