Traveling through ancient times, I led my family to prosperity

"Dad, Mom, listen to me. This is just like selling chestnut cakes. Paying everyone can increase their enthusiasm and make everyone work harder. The monthly salary will be paid on the 15th of every month. We will get one tael of silver per month, and you and dad will get two taels of silver per month. You don't have to take this money and just keep it in the account. All the money earned by the family, except for daily expenses, will be kept in the public account so that we can buy land in the future."

Of course, no one objected.

"We've almost spent all the money we earned last year, so we'll start keeping accounts from next year," Xiao Lan said. "From now on, you can only spend your own money. The public funds can't be touched unless it's a big deal, and if you want to touch them, you need everyone's consent."

She took out three account books that she had prepared in advance, one was the income and expenditure account of the tofu workshop, one was their family's household expenses, and one was everyone's income and expenditure account.

Zhang and Sheng Xuan looked at each other and both felt that Xiao Lan had grown up and was becoming more and more capable of managing the family.

On the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, Xiaolan's family got up early. Shengxuan first made the paste, and then Xiaowen followed Shengxuan with the paste and couplets to paste the couplets on the doors of the house.

The frozen pork, frozen tofu, and frozen fish for today's cooking were all brought back the night before. Mushrooms, black fungus, and other dried goods were also soaked. The chicken at home had not been killed yet, so it would not be too late to kill it after Sheng Xuan was busy with the couplets.

Xiaoting first removed the ribs from the pork and planned to cook them for lunch. The meat was bought from Wang the Butcher’s meat stall during the market. Xiaolan’s family often patronized the stall, and over time, they gave a discount on the price. He not only knew that Xiaolan’s family made tofu, but also knew that Zhang grew bean sprouts at home. He knew that her family only supplied tofu to Tianxianglou, but he could ask about the bean sprouts. Their family was having a party in the first month of the year, and they wanted to buy her bean sprouts. Of course, Zhang was happy to take his business. After all, it didn’t matter if the bean sprouts grew a little or a lot.

The custom of Shengjia Village during the Spring Festival is to prepare a sumptuous lunch at noon. The family prepared the menu last night. Braised spareribs, braised pork, stewed pork elbow, stewed chicken with mushrooms, stewed cabbage, pork and tofu, scrambled eggs with black fungus, steamed fish, jelly, cold bean sprouts and a fried meatball.

Her family wants to fry radish balls. Zhang shreds the radish, cuts it slightly with a knife, puts it in a bowl, adds ginger, green onion, salt, and soy sauce for seasoning, and then pours a ladle of flour and mixes it together. The noodles for fried balls are different from those for other pasta dishes, and they need to be thinner. The radish itself has enough water, and it will release water after a little stirring, so there is almost no need to add extra water.

Fried meatballs require a lot of oil and flour. Farmers only fry them during festivals. Of course, there are some poor families who cannot afford to fry meatballs.

On Chinese New Year's Day, people usually fry a lot of meatballs. Children can eat them as snacks or as stews in the first month of the year. Zhang thought that the family's house would be built after the Chinese New Year, and she would have to provide meals by then, so she fried a lot of meatballs. She not only fried vegetarian meatballs, but also fish and meat chunks.

Xiaolan's family prepared many dishes this year. Xiaolan and Xiaoting packed the other dishes, while Zhang and Shengxuan took the basin and oil to the back of the house to fry meatballs. Her family used soybean oil to fry the meatballs this time, but of course animal oil could also be used. Xiaolan's family was better off now, and Zhang specially bought soybean oil when she went to the market last time, just for frying meatballs.

Pour the oil into the pot, Sheng Xuan lights the fire, Zhang's hands move smoothly, and evenly sized balls keep coming out of her hands and then fall into the oil pot. When the balls change color, they can be fished out.

After the meatballs were fried, Zhang started frying the fish and meat pieces.

While frying fish, Zhang called Xiaowen over.

Xiaowen had been waiting impatiently. If Xiaolan and Xiaoting had not been left behind to watch the fire, he would have rushed over to watch Zhang's frying meatballs.

Xiao Lan also heard Zhang's call and said with a smile, "Come over quickly. I think mother has fried the meatballs. Bring a bowl with you."

Sure enough, Xiaowen came back with a bowl full of meatballs.

The three children shared the radish balls, which tasted super good, with a crispy outer skin and tender inside.

"The meatballs are so delicious." Xiao Lan ate three in a row.

"Just try a few. The dishes will be served soon. Don't be too hungry to eat other dishes by then." Xiaoting reminded them.

While I was still cooking at home, I heard the crackling sound of firecrackers outside. It turned out that some farmers were about to have dinner.

Xiaolan's family was almost ready. Shengxuan and Xiaowen hung the firecrackers on a wooden stick and carried them to the open space outside the courtyard gate. Firecrackers cannot be set off in front of the haystack, otherwise it is easy to cause a fire. The New Year's Day is a period of frequent fires. There are several fires in the village every year at this time. It is not easy for farmers to pick up firewood, especially in winter. If a fire breaks out and the firewood at home is gone, they will be frozen.

When the father and son came back from setting off firecrackers, the table was already set. Sheng Xuan took the first bite, followed by Xiao Lan and the others. The meal tasted great, and the whole family was very satisfied.

The meal at noon was too greasy, so Xiao Lan took out some soaked frozen pears and gave one to each person. The frozen pears have a cool texture and are the best way to relieve the greasiness.

Children love Chinese New Year the most, they just eat and play, without any worries. In the afternoon, Xiaowen went to set off firecrackers with his friends in the village. Shengxuan followed Grandpa Sheng and his group to send funeral rites to the grave.

Every year during the Chinese New Year, Grandpa Sheng would make some hangings, which were usually white, yellow and pink paper hung on a piece of straw. After lunch, the men in the family would take the hangings to the ancestral graves, meaning that the ancestors would come to the house on horses with whips in hand to celebrate the New Year. But on the morning of the third day of the first lunar month, the hangings must be burned, because sending off the New Year on the third day of the first lunar month represents the end of the Chinese New Year. Burning them also allows the ancestors to return to where they should go. Xiaowen is young and has a shallow fortune, so it is not easy for him to go to the grave now. After the twelfth day, he will also follow the Sheng family to send the hangings.

The mother and her two daughters took out candies and melon seeds and ate them while talking about the New Year's Eve dumplings. Shengjia Village was very similar to the village where Xiaolan lived in her previous life. They both had a big meal at noon and a simple meal at night, and then started eating dumplings at midnight.

In the evening, Zhang started to chop stuffing to prepare dumplings for the New Year's Eve. The stuffing of dumplings in her family is very fixed, all of which are pork and cabbage stuffing. Cabbage represents wealth and abundance. During the New Year, people are very particular about saying auspicious words. Many children who speak without restraint are beaten for this.

Coins, dates, brown sugar and chestnuts are stuffed into New Year's Eve dumplings. Eating brown sugar means a sweeter life in the coming year, eating dates and chestnuts means having a baby soon, and eating coins means making a lot of money in the coming year. Anyway, they are all good omens.

The dumplings were to be eaten at midnight, and while Zhang was cooking them, Sheng Xuan took Xiao Wen to set off firecrackers. This string of firecrackers had the meaning of getting rid of the old and welcoming the new, representing the beginning of the new year.