After fleeing famine, I have thousands of acres of fertile land

Boss Ye had something on his mind and slept restlessly at night. He dreamed that he was still a child, catching fish in the river at the entrance of the village. Then he dreamed that he was busy at home before he fled from famine.

He got up at daybreak, filled the water tanks at home, and then went to the headman's house after hearing someone walking outside.

"I'm here to ask you, are we still going to worship our ancestors this year? We are so far away, do our ancestors know where we are?"

"Wen Ning is here to worship the ancestors. I was just about to inform you that it will start tomorrow. I have someone buy everything. You can just come over."

"Do you want to pay? I'll bring the money over later."

"Five hundred coins per family. Not long after arriving in Wu'an City, I found a temple and asked someone to perform a ritual to tell our ancestors where we are. I will build an ancestral hall after the New Year, and everyone can come and help."

When Boss Ye heard that the head of the village had made arrangements, he went back happily and prepared to bring the money over.

After hearing the village's arrangement, Old Man Ye felt relieved. Li Zheng was the clan leader and he could represent the entire Ye clan.

Soon it was time to worship our ancestors. This time it was simpler. We kept the pig's head from last time, and we also slaughtered chickens and ducks, and bought some cakes.

The head of the village burned incense and prayed for blessings, and led the Ye clan members to kowtow and pay their respects. It was a simple ceremony, and they planned to hold a grand ceremony after the ancestral hall was built.

After paying homage to their ancestors, the elders in the village put aside their worries and began to prepare for the New Year.

Early in the morning on New Year's Eve, the family got up and cleaned the house and yard. Li, along with her daughter-in-law and grandchildren, began to chop stuffing and make dumplings.

Ye Erlang was the chef for this year's New Year's Eve dinner. He learned a few dishes from Master Zheng and cooked them for his family today.

The Ye family prepared radish and meat filling, but there were no fresh leeks in winter, so they couldn’t make leek and egg filling.

Ye Qing and Ye Dalang chopped radishes, while Ye Wulang chopped pork. The pork raised at home was more delicious than the pork sold outside.

There were a lot of radishes prepared, and the two of them spent half an hour chopping them. There were still two left to chop, and their arms were already sore.

"Qingya, you take a rest, I'll chop it. There's not much left." Ye Dalang watched his sister rubbing her arms and knew that she was tired.

"Brother, I'm fine. I have two more and they will be ready soon." After saying that, he picked up one and started cutting it. It would be faster to cut it into pieces first and then chop it.

Ye Dalang silently sped up the process. The more he chopped his sister, the less she would have to chop.

"Brother, Qingya doesn't need help, just help me, I'm also very tired."

"Goro, you lack practice. If you do more, you will get used to it."

Ye Wulang looked at his brother speechlessly. How could he treat me differently? Am I not your dear brother?

Ye Qing looked at her fifth brother acting funny and covered her mouth with her hands while laughing. Her eldest brother still liked her the most.

The three of them chopped the stuffing while playing around. Ye Dalang put the stuffing in a cloth bag and found a clean wooden board to press it on.

A large stone was placed on the wooden board to press out the moisture from the radish.

Ye Erlang prepared all the dishes for dinner in the kitchen and waited to cook in the afternoon.

After they finished their work, Zhou boiled some hot water and the four of them took turns to take a bath. The custom in the village was to take a bath and change into new clothes on New Year's Eve.

After the four children finished bathing, the adults also went to take a bath. Old Man Ye and Mrs. Li put on their newly made cotton-padded clothes, which made them look several years younger.

Ye Qing also changed into the flowered cotton-padded jacket that Zhou had made for her. She tied her hair with two red hairbands. She looked like a doll in a New Year picture, clever and cute.

In the afternoon, Ye Erlang started cooking. He used the pot in the yard to stew the spare ribs.

Use another pot to stew the braised pork, and the chicken and duck that Boss Ye had killed early in the morning.

The tofu and vermicelli my aunt sent over tasted great when stewed together.

Fish is indispensable, and it is a good omen for having surplus every year.

Ye Erlang cooked, while Zhou and the children made dumplings. Ye Qing was the youngest, so she was in charge of rolling out the dough.

The other people were making dumplings. The child was quick with his hands and could roll out the dough by himself to supply several people.

When making dumplings, you should not only make dumplings for today's meal, but also for the first day of the new year. The rules of the first day of the new year are that you cannot use a knife.

Every year the three branches of the Ye family celebrate the New Year together, but this year they built a new house, and it was the first year in the new house, so they had to celebrate the New Year at home and thus celebrated separately.

Ye Erlang is nimble and quick, making him very suitable to be a chef. In a short while, a table full of delicious dishes was ready.

A group of eight people ate around a table, listening to Old Man Ye telling historical and mythological stories. It took almost an hour to finish the meal.

People had to stay up all night on New Year's Eve, so two braziers were lit in the house. Ye Qing took a few peanuts and roasted them on the side of the charcoal brazier.

"Qingya, here are some fried peanuts, grab some and eat them."

"I'm not hungry, I'm just eating for fun."

Mrs. Li called her eldest grandson, "Da Lang, go to the kitchen and get some sweet potatoes so that we can roast them together."

Ye Dalang responded and went out to get the sweet potatoes. As he walked into the yard, he heard some noise at the door.

Ye Dalang walked to the door and watched Second Uncle Ye come in. "Second Uncle, come in, have you eaten?"

"We just finished eating and came to see your grandparents."

Second Uncle Ye went straight to the main room, while Dalang Ye went to the kitchen to get some sweet potatoes. After taking two steps with the sweet potatoes, he saw Third Uncle Ye coming in.

"Uncle San, Uncle Er just arrived, come in and talk."

"How are your grandparents eating? I came to see."

"Grandpa and grandma ate a lot. Grandpa just told us a story. It was very interesting."

The two men went into the house while talking, and Ye Qing shared the roasted peanuts with his two uncles.

Old Man Ye was delighted to see his two sons coming. "The second and third sons have already cleaned up their homes."

"Everything is fine. This is the first time I celebrate the New Year by myself. I'm still a little uncomfortable. Dad, you guys can celebrate the New Year with my family next year."

"Second brother, this won't do. Parents are having a good New Year at my house. There's no need for them to go to your house. It's too much trouble." Boss Ye disagreed.

"Brother, I think what Second Brother said is right. We should take turns celebrating the New Year among the three families."

Seeing their children getting along well and willing to take the couple back home for the New Year, Old Man Ye and Mrs. Li were overjoyed. As they got older and did less work, they were afraid that their children would dislike them.

Seeing that Old Man Ye was happy, Ye Qing joined in the fun and held Li's hand tightly, competing with his second and third uncles for the old couple.

The others also joined in, making the two old men laugh. They played for half an hour before getting up and going home. Tomorrow morning, they would bring their children to pay New Year's greetings.

Several people waited until midnight, when firecrackers in the village went off one after another. Boss Ye lit the firecrackers he had prepared and then lay down to sleep.

Before dawn, Ye Lao Da woke up the children and set off a string of firecrackers to welcome the God of Wealth. Then they made dumplings for dinner. The earlier they ate, the more money they would make in the new year.

After dinner, Ye Lao Da and Zhou first greeted the old couple, and then the children greeted them together.

Old Man Ye and Mrs. Li prepared one hundred coins for each of their children, and the children of the other two families also prepared the same amount.