80s Transmigration: The Young Widow's Hustle to Riches

Chapter 321 - 318: Bidding Farewell to the Old and Welcoming the New

On the morning of Lunar New Year’s Eve, Lin Lan had Little Douzi change into a bright red turtleneck sweater, a coffee-colored children’s coat, and new cotton-padded shoes.

Lin Lan kissed him. "Mm, my son is so handsome today, just like a doll from a New Year’s painting."

Little Douzi kissed her back. "Mom, when is Uncle Xiangyang coming to put up the spring couplets?"

Lin Lan glanced at the alarm clock. "Go wash your face, brush your teeth, and eat breakfast. Uncle Xiangyang will be here by then."

"Okay!" Little Douzi scurried out of the room.

Lin Lan went into the courtyard to hang the laundry.

Qiaohui carried a kettle over and poured him a basin of hot water. "Douzi, we’re having sweet dumplings this morning. How many do you want?"

Little Douzi thought for a moment. "I’ll have three."

"Alrighty!" Qiaohui scooped out some glutinous rice flour, added water, and kneaded it into a dough. Then, she took the sweet dumpling filling Wu Shufen had made from the cupboard and wrapped over a dozen dumplings, placing them on a cutting board.

She lifted the pot lid, dropped the dumplings into the water, gave them a few stirs with a spatula, and put the lid back on. Once the dumplings floated to the surface, she scooped them into bowls, brought them to the table, and called out, "Cousin, time to eat!"

"Coming." Lin Lan straightened the last piece of clothing, hung it on the clothes rack, and carried the basin into the kitchen.

Qiaohui smiled. "We started without you."

Little Douzi pointed to his bowl. "Mom, I’m having three."

Lin Lan picked up her chopsticks. "Eat up. We have to go to town later."

Little Douzi nodded. "Auntie’s dumplings are big, so three is enough."

The sweet dumpling filling Wu Shufen made had lard in it, making them fragrant, sweet, and smooth—rich but not greasy, and chewy but not sticky.

After the three of them finished their sweet dumplings, they heated up some dog food for Wangcai. Just as they started boiling the pig feed, Li Xiangyang arrived on his bicycle.

Little Douzi ran up to greet him. "Uncle Xiangyang, I’ve been waiting for you for so long!"

Li Xiangyang ruffled his hair. "I came over right after I finished putting up the couplets at my place."

"Oh! I’ll go get the paste for you." With that, Little Douzi turned and ran toward the kitchen.

Lin Lan opened the door to the main hall and brought out a tall stool. "Xiangyang, this should be high enough for you to stand on."

"Let’s do the main gate first."

Lin Lan took out the couplets for the main gate and handed them to him.

Little Douzi handed over the porcelain basin filled with paste.

Li Xiangyang took it, used a brush to spread the paste on the doorframe, and put up the first line: *May peace and good fortune come from near and far*. Then he posted the second line: *May the whole family be happy and wealth flow in*. And finally, the horizontal scroll: *Auspicious Star Shining Brightly*.

Little Douzi looked at the gold characters on the red paper and clapped his hands. "Wow! They’re so pretty!"

Li Xiangyang climbed down from the stool. The three of them stood at the gate and admired their work for a moment before moving on to the main hall, the kitchen, the pigpen, and the chicken coop, replacing all the old couplets with new ones.

Once the bright red couplets were up, the festive New Year’s atmosphere felt even stronger.

Little Douzi looked up at Li Xiangyang on the tall stool. "Uncle Xiangyang, Brother Dandan said they’re putting up couplets this morning too. Are we putting them on our house as well?"

Li Xiangyang finished pasting up a couplet that read *May the Six Domestic Animals Thrive*. "Yes. We need to put them on the shops and the house over there too. I’ll take you with me later."

Little Douzi nodded, then thought for a moment and asked, "Where are we having our reunion dinner today?"

Li Xiangyang hopped down from the stool and ruffled his hair. "We’re having it at my house. Grandpa Li is already getting everything ready."

"Then let’s hurry!" Little Douzi urged.

Li Xiangyang nodded. "I’ll go get the bike."

Lin Lan came out with the bucket of pig feed. Seeing the two of them wheeling out the bicycle, she smiled. "You two go on and put up the couplets. I’ll come over after I’ve fed the pigs."

"Okay, we’ll head out first." Li Xiangyang rode off with Little Douzi on the bike.

After the four pigs were fed and the pigpen was cleaned, Lin Lan went to the vegetable patch to cut some baby bok choy and pull up some garlic sprouts and celery. She then went back to grab the cured chicken, new clothes and shoes, and two bamboo tubes of tea leaves, packing them all in a shoulder basket.

Qiaohui took out two pairs of insoles and said to Lin Lan, "Cousin, I made two pairs of insoles for Uncle Li."

Lin Lan took them and had a look. Seeing the embroidered "double happiness" characters, she nodded. "Nice. The stitching is so fine and dense. You’re much better at this than I am."

"Really?!" Qiaohui looked at her, delighted.

Lin Lan nodded, then rode her bike to the Li family’s house with Qiaohui. As she pushed open the courtyard gate, she saw Old Li, wearing an apron, coming out of the kitchen.

They both called out their greetings at once.

"Happy New Year, Dad!"

"Happy New Year, Uncle Li!"

"Good, good. I’ll give you your red envelopes after the meal." Old Li chuckled as he looked at them, taking the shoulder basket. "There’s just one more dish to go. I just roasted some sugarcane in the kitchen. Go get some and eat."

In the winter, everyone loved to eat roasted sugarcane. The elderly said it could cure coughs, and on cold days, children loved to hold the warm stalks in their hands.

"Okay!" Lin Lan agreed and went into the kitchen. Seeing the sugarcane placed in front of the stove’s firebox, she picked up two stalks and handed one to Qiaohui.

She took a bite. The skin of the roasted sugarcane peeled off easily, and the flesh inside was warm and sweet.

While eating her sugarcane, Lin Lan saw that Old Li had already prepared all the dishes. On the large round table was a sausage platter, a glistening cured goose, and spicy sausages.

There was also a spicy and refreshing cold-dressed chicken, and in the steamer, a sweet steamed pork belly with preserved vegetables that was perfectly tender and rich but not greasy, and a five-spice steamed pork with rice flour that was moist and fragrant...

"It smells so good!" Qiaohui sniffed the air. "Uncle Li is amazing. He made all these dishes in just one morning."

Old Li, who was slicing meat, said happily, "Once I finish making the *xiang*, and Xiangyang and Little Douzi get back, we can start our reunion dinner."

Qiaohui had never seen how *xiang* was made, so she smiled and said, "Uncle Li, let me learn from you."

"Alright!" Old Li agreed cheerfully.

He sliced a piece of pork shoulder, finely chopped two green onions, and julienned a small piece of ginger. He minced them all together with the pork to form a paste. Then, he added salt, white pepper, soy sauce, and Sichuan peppercorn powder, mixing everything evenly by hand.

Next, he separated the whites from two eggs. He mixed the egg whites with a bit of sweet potato starch and a splash of water to form a slurry. He poured the slurry into the meat filling and stirred vigorously in one direction until the paste grew firm and springy, then set it aside.

He whisked some eggs and greased the bottom of a pan with a piece of pork fat. He then ladled the egg mixture into the pan, swirling it to create a thin, even crepe.

Once the egg crepe was cooked, he brushed it with a starch slurry. He then spread the meat paste over one half of the crepe and rolled it up tightly. After placing the roll in a steamer, he poked a few holes in it with a toothpick and steamed it until cooked. Finally, he cut the cooked roll into one-inch-long sections and set them aside.

In the bottom of a bowl, he placed some crispy fried pork and soaked dried daylilies. He arranged the steamed *xiang* rolls on top, poured in a rich broth, and placed the bowl back in the steamer to steam again.

At noon, the sound of firecrackers could be heard intermittently from the streets.

Just as the *xiang* was almost finished steaming, Little Douzi ran into the courtyard. "We’re back!"

"Time to serve the food!" Old Li called out happily.

"Coming!" Yang Zhigang and Little Douzi ran over with big grins.

The group carried the cured meats and steamed pork with rice flour to the main hall. Old Li plated a braised carp in a bright red spicy bean sauce. A reunion dinner had to have fish, as its name was a homophone for "surplus" year after year.

He brought the steamed *xiang* out of the steamer and sprinkled it with chopped green onions, followed by golden, crispy fried pork... and a small dish of tangy and spicy pickled vegetables.

After everyone was seated, Old Li looked at them with a cheerful smile. "Eat, eat! Help yourselves to whatever you like."

Qiaohui picked up a piece of the soft, savory *xiang* with her chopsticks. After taking a bite, she praised, "Uncle Li, this *xiang* is delicious!"