101 New Year’s Day

When the villagers saw it, they all had their own thoughts. They found out that the cost of spicy hot soup is not expensive, so some people gritted their teeth and paid for the materials to make it themselves. Some people were unwilling to pay so much money and worked together with other families.

Jian Qingqing saw that there were so many people who wanted to do it, so she gave them some training and started to make spicy hot soup.

Not to mention, the overbearing aroma of spicy hotpot attracted many customers. Even if they were all gathered together to do it, the business would still be booming. It did not matter if people had money, everyone wanted to have a taste. Just smelling the aroma and eating black steamed buns on the side was fragrant.

This era was not like the modern era. People who did not have money would not eat on the street. Jian Qingqing let them sell spicy hotpot soup too. It was ten wen a bowl, and they could take it back and cook it themselves. This way, many people who did not want to eat here would also buy a bowl back in order to have a good new year.

These days, the Jian Family villagers left early and returned late every day. Even if the weather was cold, they were not afraid. All of them earned enough money to fill their pockets.

These few days at the end of the year were the busiest. Jian Qingqing got up early every day to make new year food to eat. Fried sesame seeds, pastries, baked cookies, dragon beard candy, new year cakes, fried pine nuts, and so on. she also took some potatoes and sweet potatoes to make sweet potato jerky and french fries. She made a lot of them and took a portion to the store as a small gift for the customers who came to buy things. The rest was placed in woven bamboo baskets. Xiao Lang stared at that place every day and drooled.

Now that Xiao Hu and the others were all on vacation, they played crazily in the village every day. Recently, the sun had risen and the weather was not so cold. There was a pond in the village that let out water to catch fish. After those big fish were caught, it was the village children’s turn to go in and catch the small fish, Xiao Hu and the others went in to catch fish every day.

Xiao Ye loved cleanliness, so he did not participate. The most annoying thing was Xiao Lang. Every day, he rolled back with mud all over his body. Jian Niang was so angry that she chased after him all over the village with a mallet.

However, every time Xiao Lang rolled down the pond, he would bring back about ten catties of small fish. The kind that did not even have hard bones.

Jian Qingqing divided them into two ways. One was to fry them in a frying pan. After frying, she would sprinkle some salt on them and sprinkle some chili powder on them. They could be used as snacks or dishes.

The other way was to first dry them in an oven, then marinate them with onion, ginger, and garlic. Finally, they would be fried into spicy dried fish. This was also very delicious. The whole family could not stop eating it.

New Year’s Eve soon arrived. The family cooked a very rich dinner.

Old Man Jian sat at the main seat. His eyes were moist as he looked at the sumptuous dinner. He sobbed and said, “Who would have thought that last year, our family’s New Year’s Eve dinner was to eat chaff and swallow vegetables? It has only been a short year. Our family started a business and built a big brick house. There was meat on the dining table. All of this was thanks to Big Sister! Even if I die now, I still have the face to meet my ancestors!”

Jian Dalang immediately spat twice and disagreed, “Father, what are you saying during the New Year? It’s too unlucky.”

Mother Jian also said, “Father, your body is still so healthy. You’ll have a lot of fortune in the future!”

Old Man Jian also knew that he had said the wrong thing. He said guiltily, “At my age, I already have a long life. If I can enjoy the good fortune, then I won’t live in vain.”

Jian Qingqing picked up some food for him and comforted him, “Grandfather, this is just the beginning. Your grandchildren haven’t even grown up yet. You have to live a long life. You have to watch me earn a lot of money and watch Xiao Hu and Little Ye become famous officials. The real good fortune lies in the future.”