The cannon fodder female supporting role stirs up trouble in period literature

Xia Yu hurriedly said: "Aunt, the betrothal gift is for the Hua family. Thank you for raising Erhua over the years..."

Zhou Laiying waved her hands, "Don't talk about this. Although our family's conditions are not as good as yours, we are still okay. There is no such thing as leaving a betrothal gift for a daughter. Don't worry about this matter. Just listen to your aunt."

Xia Yu glanced at Hua Rendong and saw her nod at him, so he did not mention that he must keep the betrothal gift. What he was thinking in his heart was that in the future he must join Hua Rendong in honoring his uncle and aunt, and he must pay more attention to the Hua siblings, especially Hua Aiguo, who had just been promoted to company commander this year. Next year, he should find someone to arrange some meritorious tasks for him, and see if he can be promoted to battalion commander before the end of the year.

After discussing the bride price, the Hua family was busy preparing the New Year’s Eve dinner.

At this time, the whole building was filled with fragrance. Thinking of the cooking skills of the whole family, Hua Rendong suddenly missed the aroma of Xia Yu's cooking.

Xia Yu naturally saw the expectation in her eyes, so he rolled up his sleeves and went to help in the kitchen. However, as soon as he entered the kitchen, Zhou Laiying pushed him out. "How can you let guests cook? Xiao Xia, just go sit and talk with Erhua. I, her uncle, and her sister are enough in the kitchen."

Having said that, he pushed Xia Yu out without saying anything.

Xia Yu had no choice but to sit in the living room with Hua Rendong who was also pushed out.

I had no hope for the taste of the New Year's Eve dinner, but soon a burst of fragrance wafted out from the kitchen. Hua Rendong was surprised, but Hua Dahua, who came out to serve hot water, winked at Hua Rendong and whispered, "Mom was afraid that good things would be wasted these days, so she took the trouble to find the canteen chef to learn a few dishes. They are all copied from him, and they are perfect. I guarantee the taste will be great."

Hua Rendong was surprised. "My aunt has been learning cooking for so many years but still can't master it. Is she really putting in the effort this time?"

Hua Dahua looked back towards the kitchen, and seeing no one coming out, she chuckled, "Didn't mother worry about the oil in the past? Even the best dishes won't taste good without enough oil and salt, right? This year she herself said that since we have enough meat and money at home, we must prepare a good New Year's Eve dinner. Such good ingredients would be wasted if we don't cook them well."

After more than an hour of busy work, the New Year's Eve dinner on the table had eight dishes. In the middle was a plate of braised carp, and next to the carp were a plate of chicken stewed with hazel mushrooms and a plate of braised pork elbow in soy sauce. The rest of the dishes were mainly meat dishes, with only one dish of fried meat with celery, one dish of fried meat with chili pepper, and a plate of canned yellow peaches which were considered vegetarian. Not to mention that they looked really good.

Zhou Laiying pointed at the plate of stir-fried pork with celery and chili peppers and said to Hua Jindong as if presenting a treasure: "This is what your elder sister and younger sister bought in the city the other day. It's almost as expensive as meat. How about you all try it?"

Greenhouse technology was not yet perfect those days, and the vegetables that could be eaten in Northeast China in winter were all transported from other places by train cars, and the transportation costs alone were very expensive.

However, these two vegetables were bought from the third brother, and she specifically asked the third brother to keep them for them. They were both produced in the space, and the third brother charged a little money as a token of his appreciation. In fact, the vegetables at this time are much more expensive than meat.

Before dinner, Hua Aiguo took Hua Aidang downstairs to set off firecrackers. Hua Xiaohua also went with them. The others lay on the balcony and watched down.

There were already quite a few people queuing up downstairs waiting to set off firecrackers. Some people who didn't care about the style of the firecrackers just put out a stick from the balcony and hung the firecrackers on the stick to set them off. The crackling debris flew all over the people below. It was a Chinese New Year and they had to be scolded to feel comfortable.

During the meal, Hua Jianshe opened a bottle of Moutai liquor that Xia Yu brought, and even the youngest Hua Ai Dang got a small cup.

Because they were so happy, the family drank four bottles of Moutai. After they finished, they were so drunk that they lay on the bed and didn't care about anything else.

At around five o'clock, a child knocked on the door and asked Hua Ai Dang to go out and play.

The flower-loving party got up dazed, put on their clothes, picked up the pasted lanterns and became energetic. Fortunately, the children did not go far, and chased them downstairs to play. They picked up the unexploded firecrackers, and when they had enough, they used the incense in their hands to light the candle in the lantern. Soon, the sound of firecrackers like a fart popping was heard downstairs.

The firecrackers at this time were not as loud as those of Honeysuckle in the previous life, and some of them were misfired after being lit, but the children were having fun. From time to time, adults would shout from upstairs, asking them to be careful when setting off firecrackers and not to burn themselves.

Xia Yu has been celebrating the New Year with his colleagues in the department these years. Although it is lively, it always lacks the atmosphere of home. Until today, when Hua Rendong, the woman he will definitely marry in the future, sat next to him, he felt at ease.

At around seven o'clock, the dough and dumpling filling were ready. Except for Hua Aidang who was having fun downstairs, the whole family sat in the living room making dumplings.

This is a must-do every year. There is no one in the North who doesn’t know how to make dumplings.

Hua Dahua washed three coins, one worth one cent, two cents, and one worth five cents, and also got two pieces of candy and wrapped them in the dumplings.

It took five rolls of dumplings to finish all the dough and stuffing. Seeing that there was not much stuffing left in the bowl, Zhou Laiying kept shouting, "Put less stuffing. All the dough has been wrapped, so there is only some stuffing left."

The dumplings that were wrapped later were all deflated, but at least there was a small bowl of stuffing left. Zhou Laiying breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Fortunately there is stuffing left, otherwise we would have to suffer poverty next year."

Xia Yu didn't understand why he had to leave some stuffing, so Hua Rendong explained to him, "My aunt said that the skin is clothes and the stuffing is money, so whatever is left will be enough for next year."

Xia Yu had never heard of such a saying, but he kept it in mind, thinking that when he and Hua Rendong celebrated the New Year alone in the future, they must prepare plenty of stuffing so that they would have endless money to spend in the coming year.

When Hua Ai Dang came back, his shoes and trouser legs were soaked, and his socks were cold.

Hua Jianshe quickly stripped off all his clothes, leaving only a pair of shorts, and stuffed him into the quilt. He then put his pants and shoes in the room to dry next to the stove.

While eating dumplings, Hua Aidang wanted to crawl out of the quilt, but Hua Dahua pushed him back, went to find a set of autumn clothes and autumn pants to put on him, and then wrapped him in a blanket before letting him crawl out of the quilt.

When he came back all wet, Honeysuckle had added a pill to the hot water she was making for him to drink. Although it was a little cold, there was no need to worry that he would catch a cold.

Anyway, kids these days play outside in the winter, and even if they have big snotty noses from the cold, few of them catch a cold.

If you have a cold, drink some ginger soup and stay in bed, you will be fine in two days.

The dumplings were stuffed with celery and sauerkraut, and the meat was generous. The whole family was full. Hua Jindong ate a whole plate of dumplings without spending a penny. Xia Yu, on the other hand, ate two pennies each, one for five cents and one for two cents.

Hua Aiguo ate one with candy filling, and the remaining one with candy filling and the one-cent coin were eaten by Hua Aidang. The little guy happily hid the one-cent coin under his pillow.

After eating the dumplings, each of them got a pig's front hoof to chew. Zhou Laiying said, "Eat more, so you can make more money next year."

He spoke in a very low voice. After all, making money at this time was not an honorable thing. It was fine to talk about it among family members, but he couldn't let outsiders hear it.