After fleeing the famine, my older sister and I married the brother next door.

Chen Dashan put the chicken into a wooden basin, fetched a kettle of boiling water from the kitchen, poured it over the chicken, turned it over, poured it over again, and then squatted down to pluck the feathers. The chicken feathers came off easily with a scald from the hot water, revealing the white skin.

"Take out the innards, don't throw them away, stir-fry them separately. Stir-fry them with chopped chili peppers, they'll be spicy and go well with rice." Chen Dashan opened the chicken and carefully took out the innards—chicken heart, chicken liver, chicken gizzard, and a string of golden chicken fat.

Su Xiaoyin took the offal, rinsed it under running water, and put it in another bowl: "Okay, I'll take the offal out and stir-fry it separately. Add more chopped chili peppers, if you like it."

She carried the bowl into the kitchen, stood by the stove, and asked again, "Mom, should we stew the whole chicken or just half of it? It's New Year's Day, there's a lot of food, I'm afraid we won't be able to finish it all if we stew it."

Mother Chen came from the main room, peeked at the plump chicken, and thought for a moment: "Simmer half of it. Freeze the rest. Chop off the drumsticks and keep them; the children love them. Keep the wings too; we can eat them tomorrow. Make soup with the carcass." She gestured on the chicken with her finger, "Cut it open from here; simmer the top half, and freeze the bottom half."

Su Xiaoyin responded and instructed Chen Dashan to chop the chicken in half. She gave the larger half to Chen's mother and wrapped the smaller half in oiled paper, then put it in a large vat in the backyard to freeze. The snow in the vat hadn't melted yet, and it was colder than an ice cellar; the meat wouldn't spoil even after several days.

The aroma of stewed chicken wafted from the kitchen, a blend of the spiciness of scallions and ginger and the salty fragrance of soy sauce. Mother Chen stir-fried the chicken pieces until golden brown, added boiling water, and simmered it over low heat. The lid was tightly closed, and steam escaped through the gaps, condensing into a layer of white mist on the windowpane.

"Xiao Qing, are the pastries ready yet? The children are all craving them." Su Xiaoyin poked her head out of the kitchen and called out to the east wing.

As soon as she finished speaking, Su Xiaoqing came out of the small kitchen on the other side of the kitchen carrying a plate of steaming pastries—she had set up a small charcoal stove next to the main stove because she found the fire too strong and it was difficult to control the heat when making pastries. The plate was filled with freshly made pastries, some shaped like peach blossoms, some like gourds, and a few like small fish, each one golden and plump, steaming hot.

"Come and have some pastries, everyone! They're fresh out of the oven and still warm!" Su Xiaoqing placed the plate on the table in the main room.

The children immediately gathered around. Shi Tou picked a fish-shaped one, took a bite, and the flaky crust crumbled, revealing the dark red jujube paste filling inside, sweet and fragrant with the aroma of flour, melting in his mouth. Aji and Afu fought over to pick the peach-shaped ones, while Qingqing took a gourd-shaped one and ate it in small bites.

Su Xiaoyin picked up a peach-shaped pastry, broke it open, and found it filled with a rich, glossy jujube paste filling, sweet but not cloying. She chewed it, her eyes lighting up: "This is delicious! Make more tomorrow and sell them at the shop. Pastries with fillings will definitely sell better than plain ones."

Chen Xiaohe leaned against the doorframe, holding a pastry in his hand, and looked at Su Xiaoqing, his eyes crinkling with laughter: "Xiaoqing, you're so skillful! You made so many different kinds of pastries. How did you make this peach blossom shape?"

Su Xiaoqing was a little embarrassed by the praise, and looked down at the molds in the basket: "I just pressed the molds into the baskets that my brother carved. The peach blossom one is new; my brother made it a few days ago."

Chen Dashan was squatting in the yard cleaning up chicken feathers when he heard this. He looked up, smiled slightly, and then lowered his head to continue working.

Mr. Chen pasted the last "Fu" character on the front door, took two steps back to check if it was straight, patted the paste off his hands, and went into the kitchen. A chicken was stewing on the stove, water was boiling in another pot, and sliced ​​cured meat and dried bamboo shoots were laid out on the cutting board. He smelled them and let out a comfortable sigh.

"Old man, go and fetch that bucket of water from the backyard to the kitchen. We'll use it to scald the pig's head later," Chen's mother's voice came from deep inside the kitchen.

Mr. Chen responded and turned to leave.

Inside the main room, the children were still scrambling for pastries. Qingqing broke the last piece of peach blossom cake in half, giving one half to Afu and keeping the other for herself. Mother Chen came out of the kitchen and saw that half a plate of pastries was missing from the table. She lightly patted Shitou on the back of the head, laughing and scolding, "Save some room! There's more good food tonight. This year's New Year's Eve dinner has eight dishes, fish and meat. If you're full now, how will you eat anything else?"

Shi Tou shrank his neck, put the half-eaten pastry back on the plate, and pulled Aji to the yard to look at the couplets.

Steam rose from the kitchen, where Chen's mother, Su Xiaoyin, and Su Xiaoqing squeezed in, chopping vegetables, stewing meat, and steaming buns. The pots and pans clattered and clattered, and waves of delicious aromas wafted out. The fire in the stove burned bright red, casting shadows that shrank and swelled on the wall like a lively shadow puppet show.

After cleaning the chickens, Chen Dashan went to the backyard and chopped a bundle of firewood, stacking it at the kitchen door before sitting down to catch his breath. Su Xiaoyin brought out a bowl of hawthorn water from the kitchen and handed it to him. He took it, and his hands warmed, and so did his heart.

He leaned against the pillar, watching the children running around in the yard, smelling the aroma of food wafting from the kitchen, and listening to his family members' laughter. He had only one thought in his mind: the New Year has finally arrived.

----

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, before dawn, firecrackers crackled and popped in the alley. Inside the Chen family's house, the children were awakened by the noise and jumped up, clamoring to go out and collect duds. Chen's mother stopped them, giving each of them a new set of clothes and urging them to wash up. Shitou put on his new cotton-padded jacket and twirled in front of the mirror. Aji and Afu tugged at the hem of their clothes, comparing whose color was brighter. Qingqing had a red silk flower tied in her hair, and Chen's mother praised her, saying "You look good," and she smiled for a long time.

After finishing their dumplings, the family tidied up and sat down in the main room. Sunlight streamed through the paper windowpanes, casting a warm glow on the floor. On the table were sunflower seeds, peanuts, candies, and pastries that Su Xiaoqing had made the day before, and pot after pot of tea was being refilled.

Chen Dashan leaned back in his chair, holding a bowl of tea in his hand, and spoke first: "Dad, what are your plans for after the spring? Let's discuss it while we have some free time today."

Father Chen lit his pipe, took a puff, and slowly said, "I've already found people for spring planting. The two brothers from the Li family and the eldest son from the Zhao family are reliable and easy to work with. As for the seeds, I'll ask Brother De after the New Year when they're going to the neighboring county to buy them, and we'll go with them. We need to buy more melon seedlings this year. Our melons have gained a reputation in the county town in the last two years, so we can't let up. We need to plant more watermelons and cantaloupes. Last year, many of our regular customers didn't buy enough, so we can't let them down this year."