Chapter 151: Chapter 85: The Warmth of New Year’s Eve (Part 2)

By the time they finally started their New Year’s Eve dinner after all the fuss, some of the dishes had already gone cold. But that didn’t matter. Many of the dishes were just for show anyway. The ones they were actually eating were being kept warm on a stove.

Zheng Changhe and Yang Family sat on one side; Juhua and Qingmu sat on the other. Otherwise, with so few people, they would have been sitting too far apart, which wouldn’t feel very close.

Zheng Changhe poured himself some wine and sipped it, chatting with Yang Family and the others as he ate. Although there were only four of them, the atmosphere was lively. An oil lamp sat on each side of the table, their small flames dancing and flickering, reflecting on everyone’s smiling faces and the steam rising from the clay pot.

The clay pot held braised pork with greens. Zheng Changhe picked out a piece of braised pork and said with a smile, “This year’s New Year’s Eve dinner is the most lavish we’ve ever had. I remember one year, before I married your mother, it was snowing heavily just like this. We had nothing at home, just some cabbage and tofu for the New Year. But we got lucky! On the twenty-eighth of the last lunar month, Huai Zi’s father and I caught two rabbits in the mountains, one for each family. My mother braised the rabbit with chili peppers and threw all the tofu and cabbage in to cook with it. It smelled unbelievably delicious.”

Hearing this, Yang Family’s eyes grew a little misty. She smiled and said, “That’s because you were starving; of course everything tasted good. Besides, rabbit really is tasty. Speaking of which, our Juhua takes after her grandmother—our mother was an excellent cook.”

Qingmu agreed. He said to Juhua, “Grandma’s pickled sour cabbage was delicious, too, different from your spicy pickled cabbage. Grandma would scramble an egg with some green onions, then fry it with rice until it was light and fluffy. I could eat two big bowls of that.”

At this, Juhua’s eyes sparkled as she looked at him, hoping he would tell more stories about their grandmother. ’Old sayings and stories from the past are always so fascinating to listen to.’

And so, Yang Family began to speak. “When your grandmother cooked cornmeal porridge, she liked to add a pinch of salt and stir in finely chopped vegetable leaves. She’d serve it with some pickled chili slices—they were much better than the ones Meizi’s grandmother pickled. You could eat two big bowls of it and still not want to stop! One time, that boy Huai Zi ate until he was so stuffed he couldn’t walk. It scared your grandmother so much she had to keep rubbing his belly for him. As a daughter-in-law, I never had the patience for cooking. As long as it was cooked, I was done. I’d never think to mix and match things like that. That’s why I say Juhua takes after her grandmother.”

At Yang Family’s words, Qingmu seemed to recall the incident and couldn’t help but laugh.

His wife’s story got Zheng Changhe talking. His face flushed, he said loudly, “That’s right. The little fish I used to net in the Little Qing River, my mother would cook them with chili peppers, and they smelled so good. In the winter, she’d mix them with spices, dry them out, and give them to Qingmu to chew on as a snack. You know why that rascal Zhang Huai was always coming over to play with Qingmu? For the snacks! Huai Zi’s grandma was a terrible cook. Everything she made was a burnt mess. In this village, Li Gengtian’s mother was another good cook, very capable. And his wife today is no worse than her mother-in-law. Meizi’s grandma was just average.”

Qingmu stifled a laugh and said to Juhua, “Huai Zi’s grandma was something else. Every time she cooked, the rice was either burnt or mushy. His mother always tried to cook instead, because she knew her mother-in-law’s cooking was bad. But Grandma Zhang was so diligent. She’d always say, ’You’re busy all day, you poor thing, you must be exhausted. You rest, I’ll do it.’ And as a result, everyone had to eat burnt rice. The crispy rice on the bottom of the pot was always burnt, too. When Huai Zi complained about the burnt crispy rice, she told him that eating burnt things brings you money. Huai Zi actually believed her! Every time he came to my place to eat crispy rice, he’d specifically look for the scorched pieces.”

Hearing this, Juhua collapsed onto the table, laughing uncontrollably.

Yang Family smiled. “Everyone has their strengths. Her cooking was bad, but her needlework was excellent. The clothes and shoes she made had such fine, even stitches that the whole village praised them. She had a good personality, too, always smiling and speaking in a slow, gentle voice. Qingmu and Huai Zi were always stealing her eggs and bringing them back for your grandmother to cook for them. Even when she found out, she didn’t get angry.”

Qingmu took a bite of steamed pork with rice flour and chuckled. “Grandma told her all about it. And here Huai Zi and I were, so proud of ourselves, thinking no one knew.” He turned to Juhua and explained, “We would wait right by the chicken coop, and as soon as a hen laid an egg, we’d grab it. That way, Grandma Zhang wouldn’t know. The eggs she collected in her jar were all counted. As long as she had already put an egg in the jar, we would never take it. If she asked, ’How come the chickens only laid five eggs today?’ Huai Zi would say, ’Grandma, maybe the chickens didn’t get enough to eat. They probably couldn’t lay any more eggs.’”

“HAHAHA…” Juhua finally burst out laughing. Yang Family and Zheng Changhe were laughing uncontrollably too.

After laughing for a while, Juhua finally asked, “Brother, how old were you back then? How were you as naughty as Gou Dan?”

Qingmu smiled faintly. “Only three or four. How old could I have been? We were much better than that kid Gou Dan. We just climbed trees to get birds’ eggs, used spiderwebs to catch cicadas, and dove into the grass to catch crickets. It was Li Changxing and Liu Sanshun who loved to play in the water. That’s why they were so good at catching fish and eels. But Grandma never let us play in the water. I really wanted to, though.”

Yang Family said, “You were her only grandson, she doted on you so much. How could she dare let you play in the water? Living here by the Little Qing River, all the boys play in the water, but the elders worry constantly. The ones who drown are always the ones who know how to swim.”

Zheng Changhe said, “Sigh… just talking about this is heartbreaking. The reason your grandmother never let you play in the water was because of something that happened. That year in Old Wang Village, there was a boy who was especially well-liked and very smart. One time, there was a big flood, and everyone got into boats. But for some reason, he fell out of the boat. His family got into the river and searched for him everywhere. Everyone thought, ’He must have been washed away by the current,’ but they never saw him surface. Then they thought, ’Maybe he was swept downstream?’ So they searched downstream, but they never found him. Later, after the water receded, they found the boy right where he had fallen out of the boat. He was a smart one. He had been clinging to a tree stump underwater, waiting for someone to rescue him. His hands were gripping it so tightly. Tell me, isn’t that just fate? What other child would have had that kind of presence of mind? Most would have panicked, flailing their arms and legs. His parents were so full of regret they wanted to jump into the river themselves, slapping their own faces over and over.”

The topic was too heavy. Yang Family and Juhua were both saddened by the story. ’It’s New Year’s Eve,’ they thought, and quickly changed the subject. Soon, they were laughing and talking again.

They ate and drank, talked and laughed, listening to the ceaseless sound of firecrackers popping one after another outside. They thought the New Year’s Eve would pass just like this, but suddenly, Black Dog started barking wildly in the courtyard. Qingmu stood up and said, “That’s probably Huai Zi.” With that, he went to open the door. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep