Only this green, not disappointing the spring

This is the first New Year that Zhou Xiaoxi has celebrated here. Compared with her previous life, she truly feels what it means to celebrate the New Year.

Even if someone commits murder or arson, we have to wait until after the New Year to settle the score. Nothing can be postponed after the New Year!

Early in the morning, Li Dali ran to Zhao's house with a bundle of sesame straw, followed by two followers, one big and one small.

Ingots made of yellow paper are stuck to the straw, which means a treasure bowl.

Li Dali put down the sesame straw and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Everyone is coming out to celebrate the New Year!"

Li Daniu also cheered happily and shouted loudly:

"Come on, hurry up!"

Soon, everyone put down their work, put on their shoes, and ran out with smiles on their faces. Zhao didn't even put down the spatula in her hand, and Li still had a dustproof scarf on her head.

The whole family gathered in a circle, holding hands, dancing rhythmically and stepping on the straw with their feet, chanting: "Prosperity and peace every year".

As the saying goes: Sesame flowers grow higher and higher, sesame straw is used to describe a better life year by year. "Sui" is homophonic with "Sui", so stepping on the straw means "peaceful every year".

After completing this interesting ceremony, everyone dispersed.

The busiest people today were Zhao's mother and daughter, who had to prepare all the necessary New Year goods. Sister Zhou Xiaoxi and Zhang Da Niu also had to help add firewood to the fire and help out.

Li Dali was much more relaxed now. At most he could help chop more firewood in case of emergency.

As for Li Daniu, he had already gone to the village with his friends to set off the firecrackers his father had bought.

As for Yang Zian, well, he was in charge of tasting. He made timely adjustments if the food was too salty or too bland. His mouth was quite busy...

Although Zhou Xiaoxi lived alone in her previous life, she was a social animal and relied on takeout for her meals. If she didn't make some home-cooked meals for a while, she would have to look for recipes online again.

Therefore, she has almost no golden fingers in cooking. Don't expect her to make a full banquet, it's all just a pipe dream!

But it was Chinese New Year, so she had to show off her skills, right? After much thought, she decided to try the famous dark dish from her previous life - cola chicken wings.

Coke is impossible to have, so brown sugar can be used instead. It is also unrealistic to use only chicken wings, because no one will tear the chicken apart and sell it.

It was Zhao who doted on her and gave Zhou Xiaoxi half a chicken to play with. Li looked at it several times and hesitated to speak.

Her mother dotes on Xiaoxi too much!

Zhou Xiaoxi is very confident about this dish and is confident that it will definitely win the favor of children.

When Yang Zian heard that Zhou Xiaoxi was going to cook herself, he could no longer sit still. He ignored the bullshit saying "a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen" and stood beside the stove, watching with great interest.

After adding a few pieces of dried ginger and half a scallion and boiling a small pot of water, Zhou Xiaoxi poured the half stewed chicken into the pot to blanch it.

Drain the water and clean the pot, then heat the oil in the pot.

The oils consumed by country people are mainly rapeseed oil and lard, and sesame oil is consumed by the drop.

Zhou Xiaoxi doesn't care about this and just uses rapeseed oil.

Put the shredded ginger in oil and stir-fry until fragrant. Then add the crushed brown sugar and stir-fry until the sugar turns brown. Then start frying the chicken.

There were crackling sounds of oil splashing everywhere, and Yang Zian's neck was burned, causing him to grimace in pain.

Zhou Xiaoxi gave him an awkward smile full of guilt, Oops, I forgot to cover it with the lid!

After both sides were fried until golden brown, soy sauce and salt were added and stir-fried. At this time, all the meat pieces turned red and black. Li's eyes turned black as he watched from the side.

This is half a chicken!

When they were living in poverty, they couldn't even have meat to eat all year round, and her good daughter was wasted like this!

"Xiaoxi, why is your meat so black? Is it still edible? Is it because the fire is too big? Is it too late for mother to get some more firewood?"

Zhou Xiaoxi was still immersed in the fantasy of being a chef when her mother poured a bucket of cold water on her. She said anxiously:

"Mom, please don't get angry. I need a big fire right now. Hurry up and get me a bucket of water. I'll be successful soon!"

Seeing that Li was still hesitating, Zhao immediately scooped a ladle of clean water from the water tank and poured it into the pot neatly at Zhou Xiaoxi's signal.

After the water boiled, Zhou Xiaoxi covered the pot, removed most of the firewood, and turned to low heat to simmer until the sauce thickened.

The dish Zhou Xiaoxi made has to be eaten while hot, so she waited until all the New Year's goods at home were prepared before she started making it.

Night had fallen by then and Li Dali began to get busy again.

He placed a copper basin in the yard with some pine and cypress branches piled in it, took a fire stick from the kitchen and lit the branches, and when the fire started to grow, he covered it with a lid to keep it from smoking.

This is called ou sui. The smoke from the incense burner exudes the fragrance of pine and cypress, symbolizing the warding off of evil spirits and increasing longevity.

After burning the incense, everyone entered the house and the younger generation kowtowed to the elders.

In this family, Zhao was the most senior, and everyone knelt down and kowtowed to her, even Yang Zian was no exception.

Zhao originally wanted to stop him, but seeing that Yang Zian had already knelt down neatly, she said no more.

Then the younger generations will bow to their elders in turn, which is called "saying goodbye to the year".

After that, we will prepare to eat the New Year’s Eve dinner.

Zhou Xiaoxi's dark dish had just finished collecting its juice, so she served it with great satisfaction, and even arranged the dish a little, sprinkling some chopped green onions and sesame seeds on it. It looked pretty good.

After Li Dali set off several firecrackers, the meal officially began.

Accompanied by the incessant sound of firecrackers, the whole family gathered together in a warm and joyful atmosphere.

Zhou Xiaonan is a die-hard fan of her sister. Seeing that no one dared to try the black food, she immediately stood up and took the first step to pick up a piece of chicken.

She originally thought that no matter what the taste was, as long as it wasn't burnt into charcoal, she would swallow it whole to save face for her sister.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he put it in his mouth and chewed it, he opened his eyes wide and nodded vigorously.

Everyone was still a little confused. Was it delicious, or was it so unpalatable that it was painful?

The thoughtful little vest Li Daniu followed closely behind, picked up the only chicken leg and started biting it, and then he had the same expression as Zhou Xiaonan.

Zhou Xiaoxi said proudly:

"It looks like it tastes really good, if you want to try it, hurry up and use your chopsticks, or you might miss out!"

Yang Zian chuckled and ate a piece of it out of support.

The chicken was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with just the right amount of sweet and salty, and not a single bit of fishy smell. It was surprisingly good!

Thus, Zhou Xiaoxi won the first time cooking. Li Daniu even ate up all the soup with his white flour buns!

After eating and drinking, everyone worked together to clean up the dishes, and then the last task was left - staying up all night to celebrate the New Year.

Only at this moment did Zhou Xiaoxi truly realize the importance of the Spring Festival Gala in his previous life.

There is no TV, not to mention electric lights. The family can only sit around the fire and talk at night.

Even the most talkative person will run out of things to talk about in the end...

Country people always sleep regularly, and although they stay up all night to celebrate the New Year, few people really stay up until dawn. Nowadays, people are living a comfortable life, and at most they stay up until midnight and fall asleep, leaving only one oil lamp burning until dawn.

The new year is approaching quietly.

The children are looking forward to tomorrow's New Year's greetings game...