During famine years, I had a divination slip in hand, and my whole family ate chicken, duck, fish, a

The horse snorted, exhaling a puff of white steam, and the wheels creaked and groaned as they rolled over the frozen, hard ground, swaying and lurching toward Kaoshantun.

Ye Cuicui bounced around on the pile of fabric, her braids swinging wildly, giggling incessantly, her little hands tightly gripping the roll of peach-colored printed fabric as if she were holding a golden doll.

Li Chunyan sat on the side of the cart, with the bag of roasted chestnuts on her lap. She would touch it every now and then, muttering to herself that she felt a pang in her heart at spending twenty-six taels of silver, but looking at all the stuff on the cart, she felt it was worth it.

Ye Qingqing sat cross-legged on the white rice bag, her back against the warm pickling jar. She took out the nine hundred-tael silver notes from her bosom, flipped them over a few times with her fingertips, and thought to herself that this thing was more reliable than anything else. With it, she could get through the cold winter months in a decent way.

She called out, "Brother, we're almost at the village entrance! We have our own horse-drawn carriage now!"

Ye Dali drove the carriage with his head down, cracking the whip barely, just swaying it lightly near the horse's ear.

The chestnut horse seemed to understand human nature, walking steadily on its four hooves, as if afraid of shaking the "little hill" on the carriage apart.

As they passed over ditches and gullies, Ye Dali shouted, "Giddy up, keep it steady!"

As if it understood, the horse slowed down and wiggled its rear end as it moved along.

As they approached the village entrance, a few figures were squatting under the old locust tree, idly chatting. It was Old Zhao and his second son.

Upon seeing the brand-new elmwood cart swaying over with half a load of goods, Old Zhao took his pipe out of his mouth, squinted at it, and thought, "Oh dear, why does it look like that hothead Dali from the Ye family?"

What's that thing being hauled? A brand new truck?

The second son rubbed his eyes. "Dad, it really is Brother Ye! My goodness, what's that in the carriage? Colorful fabrics and an iron pot! Have they found a gold mine?"

Old Zhao puffed on his pipe listlessly, saying nothing, but a mixture of curiosity and irritation welled up inside him.

What was the Ye family like before?

Living in a drafty, dilapidated house and drinking thin gruel every day, Ye Youliang was heavily in debt. Who wouldn't avoid him?

It's only been a few days, and you've already made such a big fuss.

The carriage swayed into the Ye family's courtyard, its iron wheels making a thud as they rolled over the frozen ground.

Li Chunyan jumped down first, shouting at the top of her lungs, "Dad! We're back! We bought a big horse-drawn carriage!"

Upon hearing the commotion, Ye Youliang quickly came out of the house, leaning on his cane, and sure enough, he saw a large truck parked in the yard, loaded with goods.

His eyes widened in disbelief, and he gritted his teeth inwardly, "How much money will this cost! Second daughter, are you trying to squander it all?"

Ye Qingqing nimbly jumped out of the car, wrapped the money bag around her waist, and grinned as she approached.

"Dad, feel this carriage floor. It's made of elm wood, very sturdy. And that horse, a chestnut horse, four years old. We'll use it when we go out from now on."

Old Man Ye reached out and touched the horse's neck. The horse lowered its head and rubbed its face against him, and his heart softened instantly. He still said stubbornly, "You spendthrift girl, twenty-six taels! That's enough for us to eat fine grains for two years."

"How could that be?"

Ye Qingqing waved her hand, "Big brother, let's unload the meat first. Today we'll have hot pot with mutton, so we can stay warm and cozy during the winter."

One sentence made the whole family's mouths water.

Ye Cuicui jumped out of the car, grabbed the cloth, and ran into the house. "Dad, we're having meat today! Second Sister said it's hot pot with mutton!"

Although Li Chunyan was reluctant to spend the money, she didn't care about anything else when it came to food, and rolled up her sleeves to help move things.

Ye Dali unharnessed the horse, tied it to the small stable, grabbed two handfuls of bean cakes to feed it, and then turned around and carried mutton into the house with Ye Qingqing.

Ye Qingqing directed them to move the two large pickling jars to the corner of the warehouse and line them with thick straw ropes.

The iron pot and brazier were carried into the kitchen, and the fire tongs and cleaning rods were placed against the wall.

The rolls of cloth were carried into the west room and neatly stacked on the kang (heated brick bed). Cuicui insisted on spreading the pink printed roll on the headboard where she slept.

After tidying up the bags of rice, flour, oil, charcoal, and firewood, Ye Qingqing carried the lamb chops and ten pounds of hind leg meat into the kitchen.

Li Chunyan was busy tending the fire when Ye Youliang came over to take a look. "Second girl, how do you cook this mutton? We country folk don't eat it this way."

Ye Qingqing placed the meat on the cutting board, picked up a cleaver, and quickly deboned the mutton. Then, following the grain, she sliced ​​the meat into thin, translucent pieces and arranged them on a porcelain plate.

I also cut half of the hind leg meat to stew, and sliced ​​the other half in the same way as lamb.

She then rummaged through the vegetables she had bought and found several large white radishes and a large Chinese cabbage. She peeled and sliced ​​the radishes, tore the Chinese cabbage into pieces, and also took some frozen tofu from the ground, cut it into cubes, and arranged them all together.

She grinned and said, "Dad, Sister Chunyan, this hot pot is just about moving a charcoal brazier onto the kang (a heated brick bed), setting up a pot, boiling the water, swishing the slices of meat in, taking them out when they change color, dipping them in the sauce, and eating them hot, tender, and not greasy at all."

Li Chunyan stuffed firewood into the stove, her face flushed red in the light.

Wow, that sounds delicious! What about the seasonings?

The packet of sesame paste, garlic, and chili peppers that Ye Qingqing bought from the grocery store came in handy.

She put the sesame paste in a small bowl, added some cooled boiled water and stirred it, mashed the garlic into a paste, crushed the chili peppers, scooped a spoonful of the sesame oil she had just bought, chopped some scallions and cilantro, and placed a bowl in front of each person.

Ye Dali heated the kang (heated brick bed) in the west room until it was scorching hot. He placed a charcoal brazier in the middle of the kang table, put the newly bought thick iron pot on it, added water drawn from the well, and threw in a few pieces of scallion and two slices of ginger.

Ye Youliang set up the kang table, and Cuicui had already taken off her shoes and was crawling on the kang waiting.

The water in the pot was bubbling and gurgling.

Ye Qingqing picked up a slice of mutton, dipped it in the boiling broth, and the slice immediately turned from red to white and curled up at the edges. She quickly scooped it out and put it in Li Chunyan's bowl, saying, "Sister-in-law, have a taste."

Li Chunyan blew on the meat a couple of times, dipped it in sesame sauce and minced garlic, popped it into her mouth, and chewed. Her eyes lit up instantly. "Oh my god, this meat is so tender, it's like it's melted in my mouth! Delicious! So delicious!"

She was so hot she was panting, but she couldn't bear to spit it out.

Ye Cuicui followed suit, picking up a slice herself, clumsily dipping her little hands in the bowl, taking a bite, and stamping her feet in dismay from the heat, mumbling, "Hot! Delicious! So delicious!"

Ye Youliang also tasted a piece, didn't say anything, just kept nodding, his wrinkles beaming with joy.

Ye Dali ate in silence, one slice after another, until sweat beaded on his forehead.

Ye Dazhuang, who had been living in the air the whole time, had his eyes light up after taking the first bite.

Ye Qingqing also picked up a large mouthful with her chopsticks.

This is the first time I've ever had such authentic hot pot.

Outside, the north wind howled, making the window paper rattle. Inside, the house was warm and cozy, with the charcoal fire glowing red. The family gathered around the pot, the aroma of meat mixed with the scent of sesame sauce filling the entire room.

Ye Qingqing added cabbage and radish to the pot. Once the frozen tofu was cooked, its honeycomb-like holes absorbed the broth, and when you took a bite, it was piping hot and fresh.

They didn't want to waste the ten pounds of pork fat, so they cut it into small pieces and rendered it into oil. Ye Cuicui sprinkled some salt on the rendered pork cracklings and ate them as snacks, finding them incredibly delicious.