I have been farming since I crossed over.

Yang Mingxi, her mother, and her second sister were talking in the room while the aunts outside were already busy. The eldest aunt, Mrs. Li, scooped a large basin of rice, rinsed it with well water, and then poured it into the steamer to steam. Then she scooped another half basin of rice, rinsed it, and poured it into the steamer. Half a bag of rice disappeared before her eyes. Mrs. Li, the eldest aunt, asked her twelve-year-old third son to watch the fire while she took the basin and went to the yard to pick up tofu!

Every household in Changshan Village can make tofu, especially when the Chinese New Year is approaching and the twelfth lunar month comes. When relatives come to the house and there is no meat to entertain them, a whole piece of tofu can be used to entertain the guests.

The Yang family is large and soybeans are cheap, so they can be cooked and eaten directly. Therefore, the Yang family makes tofu almost every other day and eats it in different ways, and they never get tired of it.

This morning, the sisters-in-law rose early and worked together to make two boxes of tofu. They cut them into small square pieces and set them out in the yard to dry. They planned to dry the tofu and make delicious braised tofu. Mrs. Li filled a large bowl of tofu in a rice washing basin, brought it to the well, and rinsed it carefully in cool water. She was going to take it home to make a dish called Mapo Tofu.

At that moment, Fourth Aunt and Old Lady Yang returned from the garden with baskets full of spinach. The spinach they had picked was fresh and tender, emerald green, and a delight to look at. Old Lady Yang watched the eldest daughter-in-law washing tofu and said with a smile, "Eldest daughter-in-law, blanch the spinach, add a handful of hot peppers, and serve it cold!"

"Okay, Mom, look at the whole stir-fried pork with garlic sprouts, mapo tofu, chicken stewed with potatoes, spinach salad, and a pot of cabbage soup, okay?"

"Okay, it's too late now, so let's just leave it at that!" After saying that, Old Lady Yang walked towards the barn. She wanted to see why the second son's wife hadn't killed the chicken yet. If she waited too long, the chicken wouldn't be stewed until soft, and she was worried that Master Xier wouldn't be able to eat it.

As soon as Old Lady Yang entered the barn, she saw the second son's wife holding a basin filled with a fat, pre-cooked rooster. It looked like it weighed about 7 or 8 pounds, filling the entire basin. "Mom, the chicken is ready. I'll take it to the kitchen and chop it up so we can stew it," said Second Aunt Liu, who was about to leave the barn when she saw Old Lady Yang entering.

"Okay, chop it into smaller pieces so it's easier to cook until soft." Old Mrs. Yang followed him out of the barn and walked towards the main house.

Fourth Aunt Qian washed a basket of spinach and brought it to the kitchen, handing it to her eldest sister-in-law, Li. Then she came out to wash the remaining cabbage. Li had originally planned to have a cabbage stew with tofu for dinner, so she had prepared a lot of cabbage. While she was washing it, she saw Yang Mingxi and the others return. She interrupted them and went off to do something else. Qian then washed the remaining cabbage and brought it back to the kitchen. She said hello to Old Lady Yang and went out to meet someone else.

Today is the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month. The second daughter of the fifth room is getting married on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. So, except for the third son, who went to the eldest sister's house to invite the eldest daughter of the fifth room to come back and see her off, all the other children are at home. The fifth son and his two sons are checking the large dowry items to take away, preparing to pack and tie them up so they can be carried away when the time comes. The other children are helping Mrs. Wu with the laundry!

The uncles, aunts, and other relatives were all at home tidying up the yard and preparing food for the seventh day banquet. Only the third family remained. The third son was in the county, helping his eldest brother-in-law run a cloth shop. His third daughter-in-law, Gao, also lived in the county with her two unmarried daughters and would not return until the seventh day.

The sixth son and his wife, Ms. Ding, and the seventh son took the second grandson, the fourth grandson, and the sixth grandson to the mountain. The sixth daughter-in-law, Ms. Ding, was the daughter of a hunter and had some hunting skills. They went to the mountain to try their luck and see if they could get some wild game to add a dish to the banquet.

The eldest girl of the fourth room, Miss Yang Ba, took her younger brothers and sisters to play in the yard of the fourth room after they dispersed from around Yang Mingxi, so the entire Yang family yard seemed busy and quiet!

When Li was finishing the last cabbage soup, Qian also received a group of people including Lao Liu who went up the mountain to try their luck. As the sun was setting, the Yang family's welcoming banquet began.