A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

The New Year's Eve dinner was extremely lavish.

Aunt Zhang heated the kang (a traditional heated brick bed) until it was very warm, and then put two kang tables together.

Everyone was dressed in their everyday clothes and sitting around the kang (a heated brick bed).

Shi Tou and An Qing had just built a snowman outside the gate, and the two of them were bickering and vying to show off their achievement to Gu Xixi.

Stone: "Sister Xixi, I was the one who said first that you liked snowmen and wanted to build one, but he just had to interfere!"

An Qinghe: "Many hands make light work. Without my help shoveling the snow, could it have piled up so big?"

Stone: "I was the one who piled them up!"

An Qinghe: "I piled some up too!"

Stone: "I found the nose!"

An Qinghe: "I arranged all the decorations in its arms!"

Stone: "I don't need your help, I can do it myself!"

Aunt Zhang looked at the two of them and couldn't help but laugh. She said to the old doctor, "Now that there are more and more people in the family, it's become quite lively with all the talking and laughing."

The old doctor chuckled and picked up his glass of liquor. "So, if you want a lively atmosphere, you have to look to the young people."

Gu Xixi looked helplessly at the two people who were still arguing and said, "Brother An, is it meaningful for you to argue with a child?"

"And Stone, Brother An is a guest. He's just trying to help you out, so don't take it too seriously."

"Thank you for your kindness. I'll go out and see the snow dolls after the fireworks."

Upon hearing Gu Xixi's words, An Qinghe and Shi Tou both turned to look at her.

An Qinghe said, "That's not right. My competition with Shi Tou is fair and even, so how can you say it's not interesting?"

Shi Tou frowned as well, "Sister Xi Xi, Brother An is one of us, and we're serious about building snowmen. How can we not take it seriously?"

Gu Xixi pursed her lips speechlessly, "Fine, you two can keep arguing and making a scene. I've figured it out, your relationship is built on fighting. I won't get involved anymore."

Aunt Zhang and the old doctor both burst out laughing.

After dinner, everyone went outside to set off firecrackers, just some simple sparklers and firecrackers.

Gu Xixi stepped across the threshold and saw a giant snowman.

It has a round head, round face, and round body, and its height is almost as tall as An Qinghe.

Stone held up a lantern, his face beaming with pride.

"This is a surprise we racked our brains to prepare. Sister Xixi, do you like it?"

Gu Xixi leaned closer and couldn't help but laugh when she saw the snow doll's design clearly.

Two large braids were made from yellow wheat straw.

The eyes are dried dates dyed with ink, the mouth is shaped like a pumpkin, and the nose is a green scallion leaf.

What's even more ingenious is what the snow doll is holding in its arms.

A handful of dry wheat ears, with two strings of copper coins hanging from them.

Several thin bamboo sticks were used to skewer wheat flour buns, red date cakes, and crabapple fruits.

Aunt Zhang chuckled and said, "I was wondering why there were fewer steamed buns and rice cakes in the basket."

She pretended to slap An Qinghe twice, saying, "I told you two not to mess around with the food!"

An Qinghe knew that Aunt Zhang wasn't really hitting him, but he deliberately covered his head and ran around, begging for mercy: "Auntie, I know I was wrong!"

"These are frozen solid outside, but we can still eat them after steaming them! I'll eat them; I won't waste any!"

After laughing enough, Gu Xixi said, "What were you two thinking, making all this stuff?"

An Qinghe glanced at the stone and asked him to speak.

Shi Tou cleared his throat and shook his head. "The wheat straw, pumpkins, and green onions are all grown on our own land. They're here to celebrate a good harvest."

"Red dates represent eyes, a wish that Sister Xixi will soon see more ways to make money!"

"These good things in my arms, the copper coins tied to the wheat stalks, are of course to wish Sister Xixi to make a lot of money from farming. The rest are all things that Sister Xixi likes to eat."

An Qinghe concluded, "This snow doll is a custom-made product exclusively for Gu Xixi!"

Gu Xixi smiled and said, "That's right, I like it very much. I hope you can take my good wishes with you."

She smiled and looked around, then bowed slightly, saying, "I hope you will all take good care of me next year."

It's not advisable to go to bed too early tonight while staying up to welcome the New Year.

Everyone played dominoes in the main room until midnight before going out to their rooms to sleep.

An Qinghe took the initiative to put some heavy things back into the kitchen, and when he came out, he ran into Gu Xixi returning from the toilet.

An Qinghe was still living in the small house in the backyard. He remembered something important and said with a smile, "I wonder how our Fu tea is going. Why don't we go and check on it?"

Gu Xixi wasn't sleepy yet, and after a moment's thought, she agreed.

“I checked once in the autumn and the tea cakes had successfully fermented, so I wrapped them up one by one.”

"At this point, whether the fermentation will succeed and whether the golden flowers of Fu brick tea will appear is entirely up to fate."

"So I haven't opened it or looked at it since then."

The two walked into the pharmacy while talking.

An Qinghe lit the oil lamp and looked at Gu Xixi with interest. "Guess if we succeeded?"

Gu Xixi thought for a moment, "I won't guess. It's a 50/50 chance, what's the point of guessing?"

An Qinghe winked and smiled, "But I have a feeling that tonight is a festive occasion, and since it was a spur-of-the-moment decision for us to come together to unseal the gate, it's a perfect coincidence that we're sure to see a good result."

Gu Xixi, of course, didn't believe it and chuckled, saying, "Then let's give it a try. Don't cry if you fail."

The tea cakes and tea bricks on the shelf are all numbered according to the tea tree variety.

An Qinghe first took down a round tea cake, placed one hand on the soft paper covering it, and looked up at Gu Xixi.

Helpless, Gu Xixi had no choice but to extend her right hand and press it onto the tea cake as well.

An Qinghe said, "The unsealing ceremony is complete, and it can be dismantled now."

The two of them unwrapped the soft paper together.

When Gu Xixi saw the pitch-black tea cake inside, she couldn't tell whether she felt disappointed or relieved that "it was only the first time the experiment was being conducted, and failure was in line with conventional understanding."

She comforted An Qinghe, saying, "It's a normally fermented dark tea, and it hasn't spoiled, which is the first step to success."

An Qinghe frowned and said, "Wait!"

He carefully brought the oil lamp close to the tea cake, his eyes slowly widening, revealing a look of ecstatic joy.

"This isn't ordinary dark tea! Xixi, take another look!"

Gu Xixi was taken aback and quickly bent down to take a closer look.

Anqing gently shook the lampstand in cooperation.

Finally, Gu Xixi saw the golden starlight reflected in the lamplight.

Anqing urged excitedly, "Now you see it? Isn't it the real Jin Hua?"

Under the warm light, Gu Xixi looked at the tea cake, and it seemed as if little flowers were sprouting in her heart.

"I see her, it's Jin Hua!"

"Although it's not much, it's probably because the fermentation time is still short."

An Qinghe's face lit up upon receiving confirmation. "Doesn't this prove that our method is correct?"

"And the water and climate of Huachidu Village are perfect for making Fu brick tea!"

Gu Xixi straightened up and nodded firmly at An Qinghe, "Yes, it's a preliminary success."

The two continued to disassemble different experimental items.

Almost all of them have golden flowers, more or less, indicating that different types of tea have different fermentation depths and speeds.

But the taste is more important.

The next step is to select the tea with the best overall quality.