Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 176 Young Couple Celebrates the New Year

The Chinese New Year is just a few days away, and if you want to make tofu, you can’t delay.

So Qu Shaoyang quickly arranged for people to soak 80 kilograms of soybeans and prepare to make tofu.

When the guys heard that they were going to make big tofu, they were very happy and hurried to work.

Pick the beans, soak them in water overnight, and grind them on a stone mill the next day.

Put the ground bean paste into a large pot and boil it, then sieve it, filter the bean dregs, and filter the soy milk into a large jar.

Then add the prepared brine into the soy milk, and the soy milk will coagulate into flocs.

Scoop the white flocs into a square wooden plate covered with cheesecloth and with holes at the bottom.

Fill it up, cover it with gauze, then put a wooden board and heavy objects on it, let it sit for a while, and the tofu is ready.

Making tofu is easy to say, but you need to be very careful and attentive during the actual operation.

When cooking the bean paste, you should keep stirring it to avoid it sticking to the bottom of the pot, otherwise the tofu will have a burnt smell.

The ratio of brine to tofu must be accurately controlled. If there is too much brine, the tofu will be tough; if there is too little brine, the tofu will be too tender and will not have any shape, and so on.

Qu Shaoyang and his team overcooked the first pot of tofu, so they adjusted the proportion of the brine and finally made large, tender and smooth tofu.

We worked all day to produce 80 kilograms of soybeans, and it was not until dark that we finished everything.

The dinner that day was tofu.

Cut a piece of fresh, hot tofu and put it in a bowl. Pour some clear sauce and mashed garlic on it. Use a spoon to crush it and mix it. It is very delicious.

Liu Dongshan likes to add some chili oil to make it taste more delicious, and he can eat several bowls in one go.

During the Chinese New Year, in addition to slaughtering pigs and making tofu, people also steam buns, including various kinds of flower buns and date buns.

This year my family harvested some spring wheat and ground it into flour a while ago, just enough for Chinese New Year.

The quality of this spring wheat is actually not as good as that of winter wheat. It is black in color, has a rough surface, and does not have as much gluten.

There is no way. The climate in Northeast China makes it impossible to grow winter wheat. In some places, even spring wheat cannot be grown. So, it would be good to have white flour to eat.

Qu Shaoyang has already married, so he can no longer go to his master's house for meals as he did in previous years.

So this New Year, the young couple has to prepare everything.

This was the first year after the couple got married, and Li and Lin Ruolan were afraid that they didn't know what to prepare, so they came to help.

As for the guys, just like last year, we gave them rice, noodles, meat, vegetables, etc. and asked them to prepare them themselves.

In a blink of an eye, it was New Year’s Eve. We got up early to clean the yard and put up couplets, window flowers and blessing characters.

We start frying, stir-frying, and cooking at noon, and by mid-afternoon, the food is ready and we have the reunion dinner.

Since Qu Shaoyang is married, there is no reason for him to go to his master's house to celebrate the New Year.

Of course, I can’t go to my father-in-law’s house either.

Even though it is so close, at this time, a married girl is absolutely not allowed to go back to her parents' home to celebrate the New Year.

The young couple prepared eight dishes. Qu Shaoyang found some wine made from wild grapes in autumn and poured a glass for Chen Xiuyun.

"Come, wife, try this wine, which you and Master's wife made with wild grapes in the fall.

I like it, it tastes sweet and sour and the alcohol content is not too high. It’s Chinese New Year, so it doesn’t matter if I drink a few sips.”

Chen Xiuyun always puts her husband first in everything, and since Qu Shaoyang asked her to drink, she didn't refuse.

The two of them sat face to face, each raised their glass, clinked it with theirs, and then took a sip of wine.

Qu Shaoyang drank pure white liquor brewed in a local distillery, while Chen Xiuyun drank diluted liquor made from distilled liquor with wild grapes and sugar.

The wine was purple-red in color, and tasted sour and sweet in the mouth, without much smell of alcohol.

Chen Xiuyun tasted it and thought it was delicious, so she took another sip. "Wife, wife, eat some food first.

This stuff looks good to you, and tastes good to you, but it’s wine, not juice. Don’t get drunk later.”

When Qu Shaoyang saw this, he quickly picked up some vegetables for his young wife and asked her to eat more.

Don't just keep drinking the wine because you think it tastes good.

"This stuff has a strong aftereffect. It will be very uncomfortable if you get drunk."

Chen Xiuyun looked confused, "Not really? I think it tastes good."

Is it really that mysterious? She remembered that she had secretly drunk the wine her father had hidden away before. It was spicy and bitter, and it was completely different from this.

"Trust me, you really can't drink too much. I'm afraid you'll feel uncomfortable if you get drunk."

Qu Shaoyang felt a little regretful now. He shouldn't have let his wife drink. What if she became a drunkard?
"Oh, I understand. I'll drink less then." Chen Xiuyun nodded, not daring to drink too much.

The young couple ate and chatted at the same time. Before they knew it, Chen Xiuyun had drunk several glasses of wine, and her white jade-like cheeks were flushed.

However, her eyes were clear and she didn't look drunk.

After both of them had eaten, Qu Shaoyang helped his wife clear the table.

He also observed carefully and found that his wife did not stagger when she walked and her steps were normal.

When Qu Shaoyang saw it, he felt relieved that his young wife was fine.

It's been quite quiet recently, with no wild animals entering the village. Who wouldn't want to spend the New Year peacefully at home?
So all the people who were on patrol and night watch today withdrew.

Qu Shaoyang didn't have to go out on patrol. After cleaning up the meal, he stayed at home with his wife. The two of them chatted while chopping meat and vegetables and making bread and dumplings.

It’s very easy to make dumplings for two people.

There was no entertainment activity late at night, so the couple could only sit on the kang, beside the oil lamp, chatting while eating melon seeds or peeling pine nuts, hazelnuts, etc.

When it was midnight, Qu Shaoyang went out to set off firecrackers and distribute paper, while Chen Xiuyun went to cook dumplings.

After eating the dumplings, the couple chatted for a while. Qu Shaoyang thought it was about time, so he asked Chen Xiuyun to get dressed and took her to the East Courtyard.

"Master, Master's Wife, Happy New Year and all the best."

Qu Shaoyang led his wife into the east room of the Liu family and knelt down and kowtowed to wish a happy new year.

"Hey, hey, Happy New Year, everything is good, get up quickly, get up quickly." When Liu Dongshan and his wife saw them, they hurriedly told the two to get up.

Then, the couple took out the red envelopes they had prepared long ago and stuffed them into the hands of the young couple.

"Come and sit down. I told you that we should celebrate the New Year together, but Shaoyang insisted. It will be more fun if we are together."

Lin Ruolan asked Chen Xiuyun to sit down and talked to her.

Over there, Xiaozhi brought his two kids, Shuanzhu and Xiaofeng, over to wish Qu Shaoyang and his wife a happy new year.

Shuanzhu and Xiaofeng are both one year and eight months old. They can say some simple words but cannot say anything too complicated.

Xiao Zhi taught them how to say New Year's greetings, but they didn't know how, so they just clenched their fists and bowed to Qu Shaoyang and his wife, making everyone laugh.

The young couple played at Liu's house for a while. At the beginning of the morning hour, the children were sleepy, so the couple went home to rest.

People have to stay up on New Year's Eve, which normally means they should not sleep all night, but most people can't stand it and just lie down and sleep without taking off their clothes.

At the beginning of the Mao hour, the big rooster outside had just crowed twice, and everyone was still immersed in sleep, when suddenly, there was a burst of urgent gong sounds outside.

Qu Shaoyang sat up with a start, "Wife, stay at home and don't go out. I'll go see what's going on."

I don't know what happened. I started having stomachache and diarrhea yesterday, and the pain got worse today. I had a low-grade fever at night and was shaking all over.

I originally thought it was gastroenteritis, and I took berberine, Huoxiang Zhengqi, and norfloxacin, but none of them worked. If it still doesn't work tomorrow morning, I'll have to go to the hospital for a checkup. I'm not sure about the time for tomorrow's update. If I'm in good condition, I'll update. If I can't, I'll have to take a leave.

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(End of this chapter)