In addition to these, everyone also bought a lot of ingredients needed for the New Year, such as pork, beef, lamb, and other meats, as well as vermicelli, dried bean curd, and dried lily flowers.
As for other fruits, beverages, gift boxes, etc., the Shen family did not buy anything at all.
This was because not long ago, Zhou Ya Nan had someone send over a large pile of New Year's goods.
Zhou Ya Nan said that since her family owned a shopping mall, these New Year's goods were a small matter for them, so they should take care of everything.
Zhou Ya Nan had someone deliver various kinds of fruits, with each type of fruit sent by the basket or by the box.
Beverages and drinks were sent by the case, and she also prepared gift boxes needed for the New Year.
Mother Shen and Father Shen directed the younger ones to put away all their things, and then asked eldest brother Shen to cook.
This was because after dinner, the tasks they would undertake were the real highlight.
Dinner was as sumptuous as ever. After eating, it was only a little past 5 PM, approaching 6 PM, the perfect time to get busy.
Because tonight, they needed to stay up late to prepare everything that needed to be done, such as baked sesame flatbreads, glutinous rice strips, braised pork belly, crispy pork, and so on.
As for why they weren't making these during the day, the answer was, of course, that they were busy!
The baked sesame flatbreads they made were different from traditional ones.
Their baked sesame flatbreads had a crust made from a mixture of glutinous rice flour and brown rice flour.
The proportion of glutinous rice flour was higher than brown rice flour, which prevented the crust from being too hard.
After the crust was ready, it was time to make the filling for the baked sesame flatbreads.
The filling was made of sesame seeds, peanuts, and sugar, although there were other fillings as well, such as sweet potato filling and red bean paste filling.
After wrapping the filling, water was applied to the crust, which made it easier to stick sesame seeds.
The sesame-coated flatbreads were then flattened into a round shape and placed in a large pot to be slowly baked.
The aroma of sesame seeds from the high-temperature baking was so strong that it could be smelled throughout the entire village.
The freshly baked sesame flatbreads were the most delicious, so the first batch of baked flatbreads almost all went into everyone's stomachs.
After the baked sesame flatbreads were made, it was time for snacks like glutinous rice strips and sesame balls, as well as the "open-mouth dates" that everyone there loved to eat.
By the time these small snacks were all finished, it was already past midnight, but the real highlight had not yet begun, which was frying the braised pork belly, frying the crispy pork, and anything else that needed to be deep-fried.
Frying the braised pork belly was a technical skill, so it was naturally handed over to Father Shen, who had thick skin.
Father Shen: ...
In their region, there was a saying that "no feast is complete without chicken," and braised pork belly was also one of the main dishes!
This was also a dish that was indispensable during ancestor worship at New Year's.
After frying the braised pork belly, Father Shen and Mother Shen were urged by eldest brother Shen and the others to go back to their rooms to rest.
As for Old Master Mo and the old housekeeper, those who were older could not hold on any longer and had already gone back to sleep.
Fortunately, the siblings had been helping Father Shen and Mother Shen prepare since they were young, so even without their supervision, they knew what needed to be done.
The kitchen affairs were not for the women, so Ning Min, along with Jiang Qing Qing and Shen Yao, sat in the courtyard, holding the gold and silver paper bought by Father Shen, and were folding gold ingots.
Since the ingots were folded from gold and silver paper, they looked quite convincing.
Every piece of gold and silver paper had to be folded into an ingot, so they spread clean plastic sheets on the ground, which made it convenient to place the folded ingots.
In addition to folding gold ingots, they also had to learn how to make paper money and fold flowers.
By the time they finished making the paper money, the pile of items in front of them was enough to bury them.
"Finally finished folding!" Ning Min let out a deep sigh of relief, feeling much more relaxed.
"Fortunately, you two accompanied me this year. Otherwise, relying on my mother and me alone, we would have had to fold for several more days!"
Since Shen Yao went to college, she rarely came home, so most of the time, she and Mother Shen prepared things for the household.
She used to be most afraid of the New Year holidays because it was too tiring.
"It's okay, Sister-in-law. I'll help you every year from now on," Jiang Qing Qing said, then shyly lowered her head.
"Yes, you'll be with me from now on. It would be even better if the third brother finds another wife. Then the three of us sisters-in-law will have company in everything we do."
Ning Min glanced at Shen Huai Sang, who was adding firewood to the stove.
She had watched Shen Huai Sang grow up, so it was impossible to say she wasn't worried about his marriage.
"That's true, but it might not be easy for Huai Sang to find a wife, as he's always been in the army. I heard that even the mosquitoes in the army are male!" Jiang Qing Qing said.
After saying that, she felt sympathetic towards Shen Huai Sang. If that were really the case, when would her future brother-in-law be able to get married!
Shen Yao: ...
It wasn't to the extent that even mosquitoes were male. She wasn't worried about her third brother's marriage, because although there were very few women in the army.
However, it couldn't be said that there were none at all.
Thus, the group worked busily until 5 AM, when everything was finally completed.
After roughly tidying things up, everyone scrambled back to their rooms to sleep. As for the remaining mess? There was no need to worry, Father Shen and Mother Shen would clean it up when they woke up...
Time flew by, and it was soon the eve of the Lunar New Year.
Early in the morning, the Shen family got up and got busy.
The first thing they did upon waking up was to slaughter chickens and ducks and prepare fish.
Since there were more people celebrating the New Year together this year, the amount of chicken, duck, and fish was double that of previous years.
Eldest brother Shen skillfully slaughtered the chickens and ducks, and then second brother Shen and third brother Shen each took one and squatted to pluck feathers.
Father Shen, on the other hand, dealt with fish and shrimp.
At this time, the entire Shen family was busy, and no one was thinking about words like "you are a guest" or "you are doing my work."
However, with more people, the work was much easier.
Breakfast on New Year's Eve was just a simple meal, with the main focus being the New Year's Eve dinner.
The reason for the rush was to prepare the dishes early, go to the ancestral hall for ancestor worship in the afternoon, and then have the New Year's Eve dinner after returning from ancestor worship.
It was like this every year.
Because it was ancestor worship, only the Shen family went. Jiang Qing Qing, not yet married, could not go.
Of course, Mo Xuan also went along.
Although he was not of Shen family blood, his household registration was in the Shen family, so he was considered part of the Shen family.