Chapter 1392: New Year 3

"Alright, it's New Year's, don't lecture the children; wait until after the New Year to talk about it." Her husband Jian Yining jumped in again to smooth things over.

It was like this every time.

Whenever she lectured the children, her husband would speak up for their daughters, and then the girls would find their backbone and continue doing exactly as they pleased.

"Shut up!"

Wan'er was angry and scolded her husband: "From now on, our family has a new rule: when I am disciplining the children, you are not allowed to speak, not even a single word."

Youyou: "Why? Freedom of speech."

Taotao: "Because Mom is a dictator; she doesn't have much real ability but puts on a big show of authority, and she's only tough on us."

Mengmeng: "A bully at home!"

Then the three girls giggled and ran off, saying they were going to call their grandfather.

Wan'er helplessly said to her husband: "They've gone to find someone to back them up. Dad spoils them, and you indulge them too. They're so big now and still don't act like young ladies; if they can't get married when they grow up, you'll know what it's like to be anxious..."

"That won't happen. A tree grows straight on its own; they'll be fine when they grow up."

Jian Yining was indifferent and full of confidence: "Our daughters are smart and generous, without the affectations of ordinary girls; how could they not get married?"

"Whoever manages to marry our daughters in the future, it will be as if their family's ancestral grave is emitting auspicious smoke."

Whether anyone's ancestral grave would emit auspicious smoke in the future was unknown, but as the two were talking, they discovered the kitchen was emitting smoke!

"Oh my god!"

"These little ancestors have set the kitchen on fire!"

Wan'er screamed and ran over, and upon entering the kitchen, she nearly fainted.

In just a short while, the three daughters had actually built a mud stove in the kitchen, chopped up a stool, and used their school notebooks as kindling...

"Whoosh—"

A basin of water went down, and the fire was extinguished!

"Mom, what are you doing?" Youyou asked, dissatisfied.

Wan'er retorted: "What am I doing? I should be the one asking you girls that. Speak, what are you trying to do?"

Jian Yining, who arrived shortly after, also felt that the daughters had gone too far this time.

This time he stood on his wife's side and said to his daughters: "If you can't come up with a perfect reason, just wait to receive your mother's punishment."

The implication was—if you can't provide a perfect explanation, I won't back you up again.

The daughters gave their reason, and the reason left people speechless.

They said they wanted to share the housework for their mother, act like the kind of girls their mother wanted, and were preparing to build a stove to boil dumplings.

Wan'er:...

If you want to boil dumplings, just boil them; there is a perfectly good stove in the house, why build another one?

The daughters' reason was: Brother Zichen said that food cooked on a large rural stove tastes better!

In the end, they were chased out of the kitchen and told they were not allowed to enter again.

The Yun Family.

Their New Year was a normal one; the Yun family had a small household, no excessive rules, and servants to handle the chores. With five people in the family, four adults spent their time playing with one child.

It was a harmonious and happy scene.

Although there was a small regret that Shi Ran's belly had yet to show any movement, Ma Ling'er had come to terms with it now; let nature take its course. This kind of thing wasn't something she could solve just by being anxious.

If one had to compare these families, the Shi Yuke family in the countryside was the one with the strongest New Year atmosphere and the most human warmth!

The atmosphere of the New Year in the countryside had always been thicker than in the city.

It started getting busy from the twelfth lunar month.

Killing chickens and geese, and making cured meat.

On the twenty-second of the twelfth lunar month, they slaughtered the New Year pig.

Early that morning, the butcher came to the house, selected the largest and fattest pig from the pigsty, and tied its four hooves to the table.

The butcher raised his knife and brought it down; the white blade went in, and the red blade came out.

Shi Yuke nimbly placed a clean, large basin under the table to catch the pig's blood.

The fresh pig blood had to be stirred constantly with a spoon, adding some edible salt to prevent it from coagulating.

In the past, when slaughtering a pig, Shi Yuke never got close; she couldn't bear such a bloody scene.

In the countryside, when slaughtering a pig, people would come to help with the work. If others came to help at one's home, it wouldn't be right for the hostess to hide in the room and not come out.

As time went on, Shi Yuke gradually got used to it.

Now, she was not much different from a real country person; except that her skin remained fair and delicate, and she was better looking, she also spoke in a loud, clear voice, and her personality had become much more outgoing.

After the pig blood was collected, it was time to remove the hair.

Then they opened the carcass and removed the internal organs.

Cleaning the internal organs was a job she didn't have to do; there were others to help with that.

The slaughtered pig was quickly divided into pieces: head, trotters, hocks, ribs, shoulder, hindquarters, and leaf lard!

The remaining work was for Gu Zhihao; he picked out the best of the allocated ribs and meat to send to the Sheng Family, and the rest was for their own home.

From the Little New Year until the fifteenth of the first lunar month, the dining table basically always had fresh pork and braised products.

Especially the New Year's Eve dinner, which was incredibly grand.

First was the worship of the gods.

The whole pig head, braised until the skin was tender and the meat was soft, was placed in the seat of honor, looking plump and full.

Surrounding it were some chickens, ducks, fish, and pastries.

After worshipping the gods, they began to prepare the family's meal, and Nianyin and Lao Qi had also returned with the two children.

For the sake of convenience, Meiyin and Yulong call Gu Zhihao and Shi Yuke Dad and Mom.

They call Nianyin and Lao Qi "Mother" and "Father."

They collectively call the elderly couple Sheng Jiang "Grandpa" and "Grandma."

In the spacious kitchen, only Gu Zhihao was busy; it wasn't that no one was helping, but that he didn't need it.

Very quickly, a large table of dishes, complete in color, aroma, and taste, was prepared.

Men, women, old, and young gathered at one table; these families, though not related by blood, got along even more harmoniously than a single family.

The men clinked glasses, and inside the cups was vintage liquor from decades ago.

The longer white liquor ages, the more mellow and fragrant it becomes, and the same is true for the way people get along!

Various problems may arise during the period of adjustment, but as time goes on, people with compatible auras will get along more and more harmoniously.

The elderly neighbor couple wiped away tears at the dinner table, lamenting that their own biological children were not as good as their neighbors.

They sighed endlessly.

After the meal, everyone worked together to wrap dumplings, but Gu Zhihao was not there.

He had been called away by people from the village while at the dinner table and summoned to Cunzhang Jia to discuss matters.

The Village Chief did not want to continue the job next year and was preparing to have him serve as the Village Chief; Gu Zhihao hesitated and did not agree immediately, saying instead that he needed to go back and discuss it with his wife.

The Village Chief laughed at him for being henpecked and afraid of his wife.

Gu Zhihao replied righteously: "Being afraid of one's wife is not shameful; men who beat their wives are the ones who are shameful. I look down most on men who have no ability outside but return home to take their anger out on their wives."

He had drunk quite a bit of alcohol at the Village Chief's house and had agreed in a muddled state; Gu Zhihao was sent home by the Village Chief's son, a young man of only eighteen who was very sweet-talking.

He said to Shi Yuke: "Auntie, my uncle had a few too many at my house; please don't blame him, it was my dad who urged him."

"You know how my dad is, he specializes in urging people to drink; no one who comes to our house to drink ever goes home without having had too much."

The Village Chief's face had to be saved, and Shi Yuke was well-versed in social graces, so she spoke smoothly: "Nephew, it's the New Year and I've made you run an errand; I'm too busy thanking you to ever blame you, how could I?"