Zhou Xiaoyun’s Happy Life

Chapter 32 Busy New Year (1)

 Twenty-three, dip melons in sugar; twenty-four, clean the house; twenty-five, give a gift to the Kitchen King; twenty-six, steam the steamed buns...

The New Year is getting closer and closer, and every household is starting to be busy with the New Year. The market starts every day from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month. Every woman goes to the market to buy fish, meat, vegetables, sugar, wine, cakes and fruits to prepare for the New Year.

Rural people have worked hard all year and are willing to buy New Year’s goods during the Chinese New Year. Those who have money and those who have no money buy them in large and small bags at home.

 Father Zhou goes out early and comes back late. He is busy killing pigs for others every day.

Many families slaughter the pigs they have raised for a year and keep them for the New Year. They can sell part of the pork to get some money, and they can also give some to relatives and friends. They make fried meatballs, pickled bacon, stuffed buns, and meat dumplings at home. .

Pork offal is also a rare delicacy. Pork liver and pork loin are fried and eaten, and pig blood is best used to cook tofu. There are also pork belly and pig intestines. Add some Chinese cabbage and the aroma will make children salivate.

Fatty pork is used to marinate the oil. The lard is fragrant, and the oil residue is mixed with sugar. It is so delicious that it can be swallowed by the tongue. Whenever a pig is being slaughtered at home, the children at home will be anxious to watch the fun and wait for delicious food.

 Pork is the main delicacy during the Chinese New Year, and rural people eat less chicken, duck, beef and mutton.

 This year, the Zhou family's two pigs were fattened, and one of them was sold by Zhou's father.

 Zhou's father ruthlessly killed the other one so that the family could have a good year.

When killing the pig, several strong men were invited to tie the pig up with strong ropes. Father Zhou walked over with his shining pig-killing knife.

 Only Dabao was watching the **** scene. Zhou Xiaoyun, Xiaobao and Erya hid in the house and did not dare to come out. Zhou Xiaoyun felt a little frightened when he heard the sound. He didn't take Xiaobao Erya out until the shrill screams ended.

The pork weighed about one hundred kilograms, and Father Zhou generously gave two or three kilograms of pork to each of the helpers.

Several men declined but happily took it away. Not every family was willing to kill a pig to celebrate the New Year. Rural people did not have much other income, so they had to collect some grain from the fields and sell pigs at the end of the year to save some money. Most people sold their pigs to pig dealers in exchange for money.

Father Zhou gave some pork to his uncle’s house and aunt’s house, and also asked his uncle to take some pork to his third uncle’s house in the city when he drove a tricycle into the city.

The rest was taken and sold at the market. During the Chinese New Year, if you had no money, you would buy less, but if you had money, you would buy more. In general, every family would buy meat, and dozens of kilograms of meat would be sold out in a short time at the market.

The money from selling the pork was just in time to buy New Year’s goods. When he returned home, Zhou’s father’s left and right hands were full of things. Zhao Yuzhen happily carried a few big-headed silver carps back in a basket and salted them with coarse salt to eat during the New Year.

Dabao's sharp eyes saw that the bag on Zhou's father's right hand contained some delicious food such as melon seeds, sugar, and cakes. He was so greedy that he swallowed hard and kept clamoring to eat. Father Zhou stared at him and dared not say a word. .

Father Zhou put all the New Year's goods in the bags on the top of the high wardrobe. Of course, this was something to entertain relatives during the New Year, and he would not let the children eat it now. Dabao and Xiaobao could only look at it and sigh.

Zhao Yuzhen marinated several fish and put them in a jar. There was also a jar full of pickled sauerkraut and winter Chinese cabbage at home. She also saved some eggs and duck eggs, and prepared to kill two chickens and ducks each. It's almost enough to buy some tofu and the like.

  At home, we still have more than 20 kilograms of pork and some pig offal, which can be said to be quite rich.

The aroma from the kitchen attracted several children. It turned out that Zhao Yuzhen was boiling lard.

 The fat pork cut into large pieces crackled in the pot, and soon a lot of transparent lard came out. At this time, few people only used lard for salad oil. Zhou Xiaoyun especially liked that the dishes fried with lard had an indescribable aroma, which was far from the light salad oil.

Father Zhou kept stuffing straw into the bottom of the pot. There was a large and long chimney on the earthen pot stove sticking out of the house. The straw was burning vigorously and a lot of black smoke was emitted. Most of it floated along the chimney to the outside of the house. Looking from a distance Be like a black dragon.

Some of them drifted into the house, and Zhou's father was the first to suffer from the smoke. The kitchen was filled with the smell of smoke and lard, and it was hard to say whether it smelled good or bad.

However, none of the four brothers and sisters of the Zhou family were willing to go out. They were all eagerly waiting for the moment when the lard was cooked.

 As the pork in the pot slowly becomes smaller and more oil becomes available, the lard is finally almost cooked. Zhao Yuzhen scooped the oil into a large basin with a spoon, then used a slotted spoon to pick up all the oil residue and put it in a large bowl. The oil residue gives off a strange fragrance and is golden and attractive.

Dabao grabbed the burned person with his hands and shouted: "Oh, you burned me to death!"

Zhao Yuzhen felt distressed, angry, and amused at the same time: "Look at how anxious you are, wait until it gets colder before eating."

 When the heat has passed and it has cooled down a bit, and the oil residue has become crispy, take one and stuff it in your mouth. Not to mention how delicious it is, Zhou Xiaoyun feels that this is simply a delicacy on earth. If it is mixed with some sugar, it will be like the flat peach from the heaven.

Dabao and Xiaobao didn’t even care about asking for sugar. They each grabbed a handful and ate it happily.

Er Yaren couldn't reach it as a child, so she kept crying when she saw her brothers eating in a hurry.

Zhou Xiaoyun hurriedly led his sister to the table and started to feed Erya. After being fed for a few mouthfuls, Erya finally stopped making noises and kept opening her little mouth to eat. Zhou Xiaoyun had no choice but to feed her and take a few bites while Erya was eating.

 After a while, a large bowl of oil residue was eaten clean by the four brothers and sisters of the Zhou family.

Dabao, whose gluttonous worms were fed, took Xiaobao out to play. Zhou Xiaoyun knew that his parents were busy and had no time, so he took the initiative to play with Erya.

 (End of this chapter)