I traveled back to ancient times, but I was able to lie down and relax.

"Okay, okay, I'm not leaving, I'm just going out for a bit. Stop pulling, or you'll tear my sleeve!"

Song Chen was helpless. He just wanted to go out for some fresh air, but Liu Nanjia thought he was going to run away too and held him back tightly.

"Really? You can't lie to me! This business isn't just mine alone. I'm doing it to earn more money for my family."

Liu Nanjia was somewhat suspicious, because her brother had previously used the excuse of going out, but then never came back in.

"Really, don't lie to you."

Song Chen felt even more helpless, but considering that Liu Nanjia had indeed sacrificed a lot for this family, his tone softened a bit.

"Alright." Liu Nanjia reluctantly let go, and seeing that Song Chen hadn't left, she glanced awkwardly at his wrinkled sleeve.

Then, feigning nonchalance, he patted it again.

Song Chen couldn't help but chuckle as he watched her series of actions.

It's good that we see this childlike side of her. She usually seems so mature and composed. She's only 12, but she acts like an adult.

He considered himself to be much more mature than his peers, having grown up in the chaotic and prestigious Beijing city and experienced so many things.

But sometimes when I look at Liu Nanjia, I feel that she seems to be more composed than I am.

Liu Nanjia looked at him suddenly laughing, somewhat puzzled. What was he laughing at? Had something funny happened?

Her bewildered expression only made Song Chen laugh even harder.

As a result, Song Chen received a huge eye roll.

After this little incident, Liu Nanjia and Song Chen became a regular duo, often working together to develop new dishes.

Song Chen's cooking skills also improved from being completely clueless to being able to cook for himself, though only for the dishes served in their restaurant.

Busy days always fly by, and most of December was spent looking for store locations, decorating stores, and researching new products.

Before we know it, the Little New Year is almost here.

In fact, after entering December, the village and town gradually began to have the atmosphere of the Chinese New Year.

People could be seen everywhere on the street buying New Year's goods, picking out meat and buying wine, which made their stalls even more successful. This is why Liu Nanjia didn't want to stop running his stall while he was renovating his new shop.

At that time, people also attached great importance to the Laba Festival, but Liu Nanjia was used to modern life and forgot about the festival.

Aunt Wang brought them a pot of Laba porridge that evening. Seeing that she hadn't prepared anything, she kindly reminded her, "Making money in business is important, but don't be so busy that you forget about the festival."

Liu Nanjia felt a little embarrassed, as she had genuinely forgotten.

Thinking back, she hasn't celebrated a single holiday since she came here.

Even the Mid-Autumn Festival, which used to be quite important in modern times, has passed by in a daze.

What were they doing back then?

It seems she had just started her fried chicken business and didn't have any money, so she overlooked her.

The Double Ninth Festival is another example.

Therefore, Liu Nanjia felt that she needed to take the upcoming Lunar New Year more seriously.

The Little New Year here is on the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, also called "Jiao Nian". According to custom, people worship the Kitchen God.

At the same time, Liu Nanjia also decided that they would stop setting up their stall from the day before the Lunar New Year. Since she came here, she had been busy with various things such as dividing the family and making money, and had worked hard for half a year.

I'll take advantage of the Chinese New Year to get some proper rest.

She used to envy companies that had long holidays during the Lunar New Year, unlike her unscrupulous company, which didn't give her a holiday until the 29th or even 30th of the twelfth lunar month.

Now that she's her own boss, she can leave things as long as she wants.

So early on the 24th, Liu Nanjia took out the prepared items and led the rest of the family to worship the Kitchen God.

The offerings for the Kitchen God were prepared according to the original owner's memories and after asking Aunt Wang. There were five-colored rice dishes, some fruits, and sticky candy.

When Liu Nanjia first heard the name "Jiaoya Tang", she was very confused. After Aunt Wang explained, she understood that it was maltose.

"Sister, isn't the Kitchen God an adult? Why does he like to eat sweets?" Liu Sirou asked, looking up at him with a puzzled expression.

She thought that adults didn't like sweets because, in her limited memory, her parents never ate them and always saved the sweets for her and her siblings. She also said, "My parents are adults, they don't like this stuff. Sweets are for children."

Liu Nanjia was stumped by the question. She didn't know. Aunt Wang just said she wanted it, so she prepared it without investigating why.

He was stumped by the question and couldn't speak for a long time. He looked to his brother and Song Chen for help.

Liu Yanxi wasn't quite sure either, as this was the first time he had personally participated in such an event.

Song Chen spoke up: "Because the Kitchen God has to go to Heaven to report on the situation of the people this year, in order to make him 'speak good words in Heaven and protect peace on Earth,' we use a sweet treat called 'sticky tooth syrup' during the Kitchen God worship ceremony to make his mouth sticky and sweet, so that he will only say good things when he reports on the people's situation in Heaven."

"I see," Liu Sirou nodded as if she understood, then praised, "Brother Chen is really amazing. I'll tell Xiao Shitou about it next time I see him."