Time Travel: My Comfortable Life After Going to the Countryside

The next morning, after the two got up and washed up, Liu Xiangyang heard people passing by outside the courtyard gate from time to time.

At this moment, Roland came over and, seeing Liu Xiangyang looking at the villagers curiously, explained to him.

"A few years ago, a former educated youth said that the village was practicing feudal superstition. Later, the village found a fault with him and sent him back. They even wrote a lot of bad things about him in his file. After that, no one cared. However, the village became much more low-key."

He stood at the door and saw many villagers leading their families out into the countryside, each carrying a basket, which was covered with a cloth.

He knew the basket contained paper money and wine, and the villagers all tacitly told him he was going to clear weeds.

Seeing this scene, Roland felt a little down. She had been here for four or five years and still didn't know when it would end.

Liu Xiangyang glanced at the villagers, then at her, sighed softly, and without saying anything more, pulled her into the courtyard and closed the gate. "Let's pay respects to our ancestors later."

Being alone in a foreign land, I feel especially homesick during festivals. The ancients were right.

"Hmm, Xiangyang, when can we go back?" As soon as the courtyard gate closed, Roland hugged Liu Xiangyang with red eyes.

"..." He didn't say anything, he just hugged her tightly.

"Alright, I'm here for you. It's Chinese New Year today, so be happy. If they come over and see you like this, they'll think I've been bullying you."

"Haven't you bullied me enough?" Roland wiped his eyes, got up from his embrace, and straightened his clothes. He muttered, "You even carved words for people there, do you think I'm an animal?"

Hearing her words, Liu Xiangyang was a little tempted. He had only had time to look at her before, and hadn't tried it yet.

Seeing his expression, Roland quickly said, "Don't do anything rash, they'll be here soon."

"I'll let you off this time, but I'll deal with you later."

Xue Bingbing was tidying up the ingredients for the New Year's Eve dinner when she saw Luo Lan come in and greeted her, "Luo Lan's here? Quickly, help me see how to clean this fish!"

"Hey, Sister Bingbing is here!" Roland quickly responded, rolled up her sleeves and walked over, using her busyness to hide the heat on her face and her racing heart.

Before long, Zuo Qingqing, Jiang Xiaowen, and He Xiaoqin also arrived one after another, and the small kitchen and living room immediately became crowded, but also full of life.

"Wow, so many dishes! We're going to have a good meal tonight!" Zuo Qingqing, a native of Hunan, looked at the dried chili peppers and cured meat soaking in the basin with her eyes shining.

"Should we save this flour for making dumplings? In Shandong, dumplings are the main dish for Chinese New Year, and the filling has to be delicious!" He Xiaoqin leaned over to look at the flour basin.

Liu Xiangyang wanted to help, but He Xiaoqin gently stopped him: "Brother Liu, just sit down and rest for a while, have some water. These tasks can be handled by us women." Her voice was soft.

Liu Xiangyang looked at the busy figures in the room. Xue Bingbing from Suzhou was preparing meat filling with a southern flavor.

Zuo Qingqing from Hunan was eager to try her hand at making chili peppers, He Xiaoqin from Shandong was kneading dough with great skill, and Jiang Xiaowen from Xinjiang was preparing vegetables, occasionally exchanging a few words.

And there was Roland beside her, peeling garlic with her head down, her profile appearing soft in the steam.

The group then began making dumplings with various fillings, following the local custom.

After preparing the filling, He Xiaoqin started rolling out the dough. A piece of dough was quickly rolled out by He Xiaoqin's hands.

The others were in charge of packing, and they were quite fast. The pot lids were full in no time. It wasn't even -20 or -30 degrees Celsius outside, so they froze quickly after being left out for a while, much faster than a freezer.

After making the dumplings, the group took turns preparing their own dishes.

One dish after another was served on the kang table, and the originally spacious table was immediately filled to the brim, with almost no space left. The steaming heat and various aromas wafted into people's noses.

In the center was Jiang Xiaowen's hearty bowl of hand-pulled mutton, the broth milky white and rich, the mutton stewed until tender, piled tremblingly in the bowl, sprinkled with bright green cilantro.

Next to it was Zuo Qingqing's stir-fried cured pork with garlic sprouts. The cured pork was bright red and translucent, the garlic sprouts were emerald green, and dried chili peppers were sprinkled on top, glistening with oil.

He Xiaoqin's stew pot was still bubbling on the small clay stove, with kelp, tofu puffs, and pork belly peeking out from the dark sauce, the steam carrying a rich aroma of the sauce.

Xue Bingbing's egg dumplings were golden and tempting, neatly arranged on the plate like a row of small ingots. Luo Lan's steamed pork ribs with preserved mustard greens were savory and fragrant, the ribs were tender and soft, and the dark preserved mustard greens were soaked with the meat juices.

Liu Xiangyang then asked Xue Bingbing to make smoked roe deer meat, wild boar meat, and smoked sausage, along with a bowl of pickled vegetables. Of course, the most indispensable dish was a large plate of plump, white dumplings, which had already been cooked and taken out, steaming hot. There were a total of ten bowls of food, which couldn't all fit on one kang table, so he went to Xue Bingbing's courtyard to get another kang table and put all the food on it.

"My goodness, this is so lavish!" Zuo Qingqing rubbed her hands together, her eyes wide with amazement. "I haven't seen such a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner in years!"

"Don't just stand there, get on the kang (heated brick bed) and eat while it's hot!" Xue Bingbing called out, setting out bowls and chopsticks in front of everyone, and taking out a few small, rough porcelain wine cups.

"Wait, there's something important we haven't done yet," Liu Xiangyang said.

"Is there anything else?"

"Let's set off firecrackers! What kind of New Year is it without the sound of firecrackers? Wait here, I'm going to set off firecrackers."

At this time, families in the village who could afford it also set off firecrackers. The sporadic sound of firecrackers could be heard from time to time, but they all stopped after a few dozen seconds.

Nowadays, firecrackers can only be bought with tickets, and each family can only have one small string.

Liu Xiangyang moved a stool to the front of the cabinet, stood on the stool, put three or four rolls of firecrackers from his spatial storage to the top of the cabinet, and then took one roll down.

"I had thought about this when I came back from Harbin, and I specially bought a few strings of firecrackers. I was just waiting for today."

The group followed him into the courtyard, where firecrackers began to crackle and pop. In the darkness, the bright flashes of the firecrackers illuminated everyone's faces.

After setting off the firecrackers, everyone went back inside. Xue Bingbing took three empty bowls and wine cups, and set out chopsticks. When everyone saw this, they all understood. They silently recited the names of their deceased relatives, and that was it for the ancestral worship.

After finishing everything, Liu Xiangyang opened two bottles of alcohol: one was vodka, which was strong and spicy; the other was a slightly sweet fruit wine.

As a result, the fruit wine was met with disdain from Jiang Xiaowen, who said, "You can't drink fruit wine. Everyone's happy today, so we have to drink baijiu (Chinese liquor)."

All the women agreed, so Liu Xiangyang removed the fruit wine from the table.

So everyone took off their shoes, climbed onto the kang (heated brick bed), and sat around the table. Liu Xiangyang raised his wine cup: "It's New Year's Day today, and we've all gathered here from all over the country. It's not easy. Enough said, there's plenty of food and drink. Let's toast to this New Year's Eve dinner that we've prepared ourselves!"

"Let's have a drink!" Everyone raised their glasses and downed them in one gulp. The fiery liquid slid down their throats, and the warmth spread instantly.