Today is New Year's Eve, and the three people in the banker's house have been busy in the kitchen early in the morning.
Qin Manzhi caught a chicken from the chicken coop, strangled its neck and plucked its feathers.
My daughter said she wanted to eat some fried chicken, but she didn't know how to make it. She just cleaned the internal organs and put them aside, then stir-fried them with sauerkraut.
Zhuang Keqing chopped the chicken into small pieces, marinated it lightly with salt and sauce, patted it with flour, and put it in the pan.
The fried things were made with virgin sesame oil, which had a wonderful aroma. Qin Manzhi didn't feel bad about it and just let his daughter fiddle with it.
The good pork shank sent by Zhang's family the day before yesterday was chopped into pieces together with fat, and divided into two parts with ginger paste. One part was fried with minced green onions, and the other part was reserved for making dumplings at night.
The stove was filled with the aroma of oil all morning. In addition to frying the meat, Zhuang Keqing also mixed the noodles, added sesame seeds and caramel sugar, fried some sesame leaves and candied ears, and waited for others to come to pay New Year greetings a few days later.
Eat fruit.
There is a small clay stove squatting outside the stove, with firewood burning brightly inside. A large round-bellied earthenware pot is placed on it. The tongue of flames licks the fat belly of the earthenware pot, simmering the pork ribs soup inside to a snow-white color, mixed with medicinal herbs.
Rolling.
Qin Manzhi opened the lid of the pottery pot, and the steaming water surged up inside, and a strong fragrance overflowed.
"Doctor Li's herbal braised pork ribs are really fragrant." She closed the lid of the pot, stretched out her hand to drag Aman behind her, then sat back on the little Wuzi, pulled out a large winter bamboo shoot and began to peel off the bamboo shoots.
Shen Ling lit a fire at the mouth of the stove. Zhuang Keqing put fried food into the pot and responded, "It can be made with pork ribs or stewed with chicken. We only have fried chicken today, so it's not easy to stew chicken soup."
"But there are still a lot of medicinal ingredients. It won't be too late to stew it with chicken in a few days."
"That's it, you and Brother Ling need to take good care of themselves in the winter, so that you can be big in the coming year."
Qin Manzhi glanced at her daughter with a smile, then lowered her head and continued to peel the bamboo shoots.
The dishes were almost prepared in the morning, and I just took notes at noon. In the afternoon, I started busy cleaning the house again.
There is a saying that you won't be able to use the broom in the next few days.
When it was late and dark, the family would sit in the kitchen making dumplings, with Qin Manzhi rolling out the dumplings and Zhuang Keqing and Shen Ling making the fillings.
Fortunately for Zhuang Keqing, she loved to tinker with food in her previous life. Dumplings are very simple for her. She just fills the middle of the dumpling skin with stuffing, presses it with two fingers, and squeezes it with four fingers, and it becomes one.
The dumplings have big and round bellies, and they are arranged one by one like small ingots in the cabbage.
On the other hand, what Shen Ling did was almost meaningless.
The boy's hands were slender and well-proportioned, with distinct knuckles. They were born to hold pens. But at this time, his hands were covered with flour. He pinched the two sides of the dumpling wrappers together awkwardly, making the dumplings difficult to sit on.
Can't sit still and staggers around.
"Pfft, Aling, I really didn't expect you to be clumsy sometimes."
Zhuang Keqing joked with a smile.
But there was no emotion like embarrassment or shame on Shen Ling's face. The young man's face was calm and his eyes were focused, as if what he was holding in his hand was not some doughy stuffed meat, but some shocking article.
Zhuang Keqing was about to tease him a few more words, and was about to teach him step by step, but he accidentally saw the other party making more and more flexible dumplings. After a few breaths, the dumplings he made were almost the same as those he made.
"..."
Zhuang Keqing became hoarse.
So is there really the kind of person in the world who can learn everything quickly without any guidance?
She could only work with a complicated expression, but she didn't notice the slightly raised corners of Shen Ling's mouth and the slight expression of joy.
"Mom, we are almost busy here. You can go back and take a rest. Aling can help me watch the fire."
The dumplings are wrapped, and there is nothing else to do except steam the fish.
The two fat carp in the wooden barrel in the kitchen were brought to her yesterday by the villagers who dared to catch them on the ice in the river. She asked for the money, but the other party refused to accept it and turned around and ran away faster than a monkey. quick.
"Hey, okay, call me if you need anything."
The kitchen at home was still a bit small, and the two of them couldn't turn around once they stood on the stove. Qin Manzhi saw that nothing was wrong, so he carried Aman back to the house.
Only Shen Ling was left to take the place of lighting the fire.
Zhuang Keqing picked a big fish in the bucket, picked it up and put it on the chopping board. He knocked it unconscious with a wooden stick and skillfully scraped the scales to remove the internal organs. Just a few strokes or two was enough.
Just as she was about to stand up and flush the water, Shen Ling was already standing by the side waiting, with a gourd full of water in her hand.
"Thanks, Aling."
The girl stretched out her hand with a smile, and Shen Ling went back and forth several times to get water, washed the fish, and then sat back at the door of the stove.
To steam the carp, first make a few cuts on both sides. There is no need for any heavy sauce, just potato wine, salt and onion and ginger. Finally, cover it with two slices of bacon and put it in the steamer.
"Aling, the fire needs to be stronger."
Zhuang Keqing ordered and opened another stove to cook the dumplings under water.
Shen Ling opened the stove door, folded some straw and stuffed it in. When the fire was strong, he put branches in.
Steaming fish and cooking dumplings doesn't take much time. Fried chicken and fried meatballs are all ready. The bone soup has been simmered in a clay pot. A table of dishes quickly filled the small table in the main room.
It was completely dark outside, and the snow reflected the moonlight. Looking through the crack in the door, the ground was white and bright.
I haven’t eaten yet, so I want to say New Year greetings first.
The young couple knelt in front of Qin Manzhi and kowtowed to pay New Year greetings. Zhuang Keqing said auspicious words and wished his mother a happy New Year, good health, and prosperity in the coming year.
"May my mother be happy and healthy, and may my life be blessed with happiness and longevity."
Shen Ling was respectful and sincere. Seeing this, Qin Manzhi sighed in her heart and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes relaxed.
She kept saying: "Good boy, good boy." She helped the two of them up hurriedly, and then took out red paper packets, one for each person, and gave them lucky money.
After New Year's greetings, the New Year's Eve dinner begins.
The elder used chopsticks first, Qin Manzhi picked up a piece of steamed fish, and after finishing the meal, he stuffed a meatball into Little Aman's teeth.
After eating a hot meal, you don't sleep after eating, and you have to stay up late on New Year's Eve.
Zhuang Keqing and Shen Ling washed the dishes together, changed into new clothes, and went to the main room to sit on the kang with their mother.
Shen Ling was wearing a duck blue cotton robe, while Zhuang Keqing was wearing a short ginger jacket.
Qin Manzhi changed into a purple double-breasted cotton shirt, and even Aman was dressed in festive red.
The three of them sat around the Kang, doing nothing but eating melon seeds and peanuts, chatting and amusing the children, and drinking tea when they were thirsty.
It wasn't until Aman fell asleep and Qin Manzhi couldn't stand it anymore that Zhuang Keqing and Shen Ling returned to their rooms.
It was rare for the young couple to be alone in such a quiet place. Zhuang Keqing felt embarrassed and just chattered about her plans for the coming year. Shen Ling sat aside and listened, her whole body filled with tenderness that almost overflowed.
"Crack!"
There was a sound of firecrackers in the distance, followed by a second one, and then the intermittent crackling sounds gradually became one.
It's a new year.
Shen Ling went to the yard to set off firecrackers, and Zhuang Keqing went to the main house to fetch her sleepy mother. The two of them covered their ears and waited for the firecrackers to finish setting off. After returning to the house, they heated up the pork rib soup and each filled a bowl to warm it. abdomen.
Qin Manzhi was not young after all, and she couldn't bear it anymore in the middle of the night. She urged her daughter and son-in-law to go back to the house, while she hugged her little son and dozed off on the kang.
Before falling asleep, I was still thinking vaguely, hoping that Ke'er and Brother Ling would be pregnant with a baby next year.
At the end, I added another sentence, girls and boys are fine, as long as they are healthy.
In the back room, Zhuang Keqing pulled Shen Ling over again and mysteriously took out a small red cloth bag from under the pillow.
"This is a gift for you, please open it quickly and take a look."
The firecrackers had just been set off and she had another bowl of warm soup, and she was in high spirits.
At this time, her cheeks were glowing with a healthy pink color, and her almond-shaped eyes were shining brightly under the candlelight, full of expectation.
The small red cloth bag is only as big as the palm of your hand and is heavy in your hand.
Shen Ling didn't see anything on his face, he just reached out to take it, followed the opening of the cloth bag, and took out a small writing brush from inside.
The writing brush is made of silver, no more than two inches, and the barrel is round and smooth. On one side are engraved "Inscription on the Golden List" and on the other side are engraved "Increase Wisdom and Open Wisdom".
It turned out to be a Wenchang pen.
"Do you like it?"
When Zhuang Keqing went to Songling Town a few days ago, while Shen Ling was going to the bookstore, he went to the jewelry store and secretly asked the shopkeeper to order this brush, just to surprise him.
She was a little uneasy at this time, fearing that the other party wouldn't like this gift.
The silver writing brush lay in Shen Ling's right palm, a long and thin one, which just covered the light scar on his hand.
"like."
Shen Ling closed her palms and held the slightly cool gift in her palms.
"As long as you like it."
"It doesn't cost a lot of money. Your wife and I are now a rich woman. You will be able to live well and enjoy life with me in the future."
Zhuang Keqing was talking randomly, but his voice became lower and lower under Shen Ling's focused and burning eyes.
"Ke'er."
She heard Shen Ling calling her that.
"Huh?"
The candlelight flickered dimly, and the dark fragrance surged in the room. Aling's dark and clear eyes captured her mind, causing her to feel panic for no reason.
What does Aling want to say?
What would he want to do?
Zhuang Keqing slowly noticed that the current atmosphere seemed a bit ambiguous.
"I didn't prepare a gift for you."
Oops~ It turns out to be this!
I don't mind!
"No, it's okay. Just give me a red envelope tomorrow."
While he breathed a sigh of relief, for some reason, Zhuang Keqing felt a feeling of disappointment in his heart.
Her eyes wandered and finally landed on the small table in the room.
There are several pieces of steamed cake on top, which were made yesterday.
"I'm going to eat a piece of cake..."
After saying that, she stood up and reached out to take the cake.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she stood up, her wrist was held behind her, and after a while, the whole person fell into Shen Ling's arms.
"Ah, Aling?"
Zhuang Keqing struggled needlessly twice, but the arms around her showed no signs of loosening. He hugged her tightly without hurting her.
There was a raging fire burning deep in the young man's dark eyes, and Zhuang Keqing felt that he had nothing to hide from under this.
She turned her face away in embarrassment, but had nowhere to escape. The young man's hot breath brushed her forehead, and his delicate kisses engulfed her like a storm.
