Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 135 New Year
Lin Ruolan prepared the ingredients for the staff's reunion dinner and asked the staff to cook it themselves.

These bachelors didn't know anything when they were at home, but now they have left their hometown and come to Guandong Mountain to make a living, and gradually they have become versatile.

Qu Shaoyang listened to their dinner and nodded.

"Okay, as long as everyone has eaten well, it's New Year's Eve, and everyone should be happy.

Well, the dumpling filling and dough have been delivered. You can make the dumplings yourself later.

Is there anyone who knows how to make it? If not, I can teach you."

"Yes, during the Chinese New Year, our old boss gave us vegetable stuffing and dough, and came over to teach us how to make them. We have learned how to make them now." Jiang Chunfu replied for everyone.

"Oh, as long as you can wrap it, that's fine. Then you guys wrap it, I'm going to go back."

Qu Shaoyang didn't spend the Little New Year at home, so he didn't know about this. Since everyone knew how to make it, there was no need for him to worry about it.

So he chatted with the guys for a while and then went back to help Lin Ruolan.

Shuanzhuer and Xiaofeng are still young and don’t eat much, so basically they don’t have to be counted.

For the other four people, there was no need to make too many dumplings. Qu Shaoyang rolled the dough while Lin Ruolan and Liu Dongshan made the dumplings. It didn’t take long before they had made two dumplings.

Cover one of the curtains with a clean white cloth and put it outside to freeze and cook it tomorrow morning. Cook the other curtain in the evening and eat it.

In those days, there was no electricity, let alone television. We lit several kerosene lamps in the house to at least make it brighter.

After making the dumplings, there was nothing to do, so the family sat on the kang and ate melon seeds, pine nuts and hazelnuts, chatting while eating.

As Shuanzhu and Xiaofeng get older, they sleep less and less.

The two kids ate a little more in the afternoon, but they became energetic in the evening and sat in the fence watching the adults eat.

These two little guys are so greedy that their saliva is almost flowing out.

"Xiaozhi, don't feed them pine nuts and melon seeds secretly. They are still young and can't chew them. They may get stuck easily."

Qu Shaoyang was afraid that Xiaozhi would feed the child secretly, so he gave him special instructions.

"Oh, I see, brother. Mom told me not to feed them." Xiaozhi nodded obediently and agreed.

"Master, let's get another piece of land next year and plant some fruit trees.

The climate here in Maoer Mountain is good, we can plant some pears, peaches, apricots, plums, sand apples, etc., and after a few years when they grow up, we will have fruits to eat."

Qu Shaoyang thought back to his previous life, when even in winter, there were all kinds of fruits and nothing was lacking.

I don’t have the conditions right now, but planting some fruit trees would be fine.

At that time, you can dry some fruits, make some candied fruits, and freeze some pears to eat during the New Year. Isn’t that great?
This is how life is. We can’t just focus on making money, we also have to be satisfied with our daily life.

"Okay, next spring, let's take some time to go to the orchards in Kuandian and Hushan and buy some fruit tree seedlings.

It's just right to plant it on the edge of the field, on the local boundary, and you can eat some fruit, which is good." When Liu Dongshan heard it, he immediately agreed.

A few people talked and laughed, and time passed quickly. The two little ones finally couldn't hold on any longer and fell asleep after eating some milk.

At the beginning of the midnight, firecrackers were heard outside. Liu Dongshan and Qu Shaoyang also took Xiao Zhi out to distribute paper and set off firecrackers. Lin Ruolan was cooking dumplings in the kitchen.

Soon, the dumplings were out of the pot and the firecrackers outside had stopped setting off, so it was a good time to go into the house and eat dumplings.

Qu Shaoyang came in from outside and glanced at the kang. It turned out that the two little guys were sleeping soundly and were not woken up by the sound of firecrackers.

While the child was sleeping soundly, the four of them quickly set the table for dinner.

The meat from the next year is more tender and is basically the same as that from domestic pigs.

The dumplings we had that evening had a very well-seasoned filling, with just the right amount of saltiness. They tasted just right when dipped in garlic sauce and vinegar.

This winter, the family had not been short of meat, so they were full and could not eat so many dumplings at night. Fortunately, Lin Ruolan had put a few small copper coins in the dumplings, and Xiaozhi and Qu Shaoyang were thinking about the money, so they could eat two more.

In the end, the copper coin was eaten by Qu Shaoyang.

"Well, it looks like Shaoyang will be able to make a fortune next year, good." Liu Dongshan said with a smile when he saw it.

After eating dumplings, the new year has arrived.

Qu Shaoyang took Xiao Zhi to kowtow to his master and his mistress and wish them a happy new year. Liu Dongshan and Lin Ruolan quickly gave the two of them the red envelopes they had prepared in advance.

Logically, people should stay up all night on New Year's Eve, which is called "staying up all night".

But there are few people in the family, and Xiaozhi is just a child. Lin Ruolan is tired of taking care of the child all day long and can't stay up. She fell asleep after chatting for a while.

Liu Dongshan and Qu Shaoyang were quite energetic. They ran to the waiters' quarters and watched them play cards.

Those guys like to play a few cards when they have nothing to do. Most of them don't have money, so they use other ways to win or lose.

For example, whoever loses can wash the other person's smelly socks or help the other person with work. There are always ways to pass the time.

Anyway, there was nothing to do on New Year's Day, so we played until almost dawn. We were so sleepy that we just lay down in our clothes and took a nap.

I woke up early in the morning on the first day of the new year, cooked the dumplings that I had frozen last night, and ate a few of them.

Afterwards, the guys came to wish their boss a happy new year, Qu Shaoyang and Liu Dongshan, and each of them gave them a red envelope.

There wasn't much money in it, just twenty or thirty cents, just for the sake of luck.

The guys were all very happy and went back to rest happily.

Afterwards, Qu Shaoyang took Xiao Zhi out to greet their neighbors during the New Year.

At the beginning of the new year, Qu Shaoyang and Xiaozhi both wore new clothes made by Lin Ruolan. They were dressed neatly and everyone who saw them said that the two brothers looked very energetic.

The winter in Guandong Mountain is relatively long and extremely cold, and there is not much to do in winter.

So every winter, basically everyone is idle and stays at home.

Men feel uncomfortable when they are idle. After being tired for half a year, they have to find some entertainment in winter.

Therefore, every winter, people organize gambling games in many places.

The house invites a large number of people to play cards, Pai Gow, Mahjong, etc., and the host takes a cut.

When Qu Shaoyang and his friends went to pay New Year's greetings, they happened to run into a family where many people were playing cards.

As soon as they saw Qu Shaoyang coming, everyone stood up to greet him and insisted on pulling Qu Shaoyang to sit down and play a few games.

Qu Shaoyang had no addiction to these things, so he naturally didn't want to leave. But it wouldn't be good to just leave, so he could only sit for a while.

Among those playing cards, there was a man in his forties, dressed in ordinary clothes, but his hair was combed neatly and straight.

The lips and chin were shiny and greasy, as if he hadn't wiped his mouth after eating.

Judging from this, the family’s living conditions should be good, otherwise where would all the money come from?

With nothing to do, Qu Shaoyang just sat aside and watched them play cards for a while.

While they were playing, they suddenly heard footsteps, and then a child about the same age as Xiaozhi ran in from outside.

"Dad, dad, please go home and check. The piece of pig skin you used to wipe your mouth has been taken away by the cat."

The child entered the room and started to pull the man with the greasy twist on his mouth.

The man got anxious when he heard it, "What? The pig skin was taken away? Then where's your mother? Why didn't your mother chase him back?"

(End of this chapter)