What did you say? Am I a pauper again?

Chapter 293 Chinese New Year
"Let's eat hotpot today. It's the most comfortable thing to eat in cold weather!" Father Huang sat on the stool with a smile on his face.

"There are a lot of people here today, so eating this is convenient and fast." Jiang's mother said with a smile.

"Come, eat meat first. There's plenty of mutton today!" Huang Chunyang picked up a piece of mutton with chopsticks and put it in first.

"By the way, Brother Li Ran, you still have a few sheep raised at my house!" Huang Chunlei said.

"There's no rush. Just keep it here." Li Ran said.

Huang Die and the others all knew that it was not that Li Ran wanted to take advantage of them, but that Li Ran did not want these sheep.

However, since I wanted to eat lamb, I would ask Li Ran to do it. It didn’t matter where we went.

Huang Dad and the others didn't say anything else.

Jing Yuanzhi also picked up a thin piece of mutton roll with chopsticks and put it into the pot.

Then I picked up a piece of pork belly that had been put in earlier and dipped it in the dipping sauce I made. It was fresh, spicy and delicious!
Jinnian sat next to her, picked up a piece of potato, and ate it in small bites, grimacing because of the burn.

Jing Yuanzhi smiled and put the freshly blanched mutton into her bowl with his chopsticks: "Come, have some mutton, it's very fresh!"

"Thank you, sister!" Jinnian smiled and took the piece of meat.

"Ran boy, eat as much as you can! Don't be polite with us!" Father Huang picked up a big piece of meat with chopsticks and said to Li Ran.

"Uncle, what are you talking about? I treat you as my elders, so I won't be polite to you."

"Haha, that's right!" Dad Huang laughed heartily.

Mother Jiang also smiled.

"Haha, Brother Ran!" Huang Chunyang swallowed the meat in his mouth, hooked Li Ran's neck and shouted loudly.

He is a few days older than Li Ran, and they usually call each other by their names. Now that Li Ran has said in person that Father Huang and Mother Jiang are his elders, Huang Chunyang must take advantage of it quickly.

Li Ran smiled and ignored him. How childish!

Huang Chunlei did not participate. He was the youngest anyway, whether he recognized him or not. Instead of wasting time on saying these words, he might as well eat more food.

There are few vegetables in winter. Today, Jiang Mu took out two cabbages. These cabbages were kept in the ice cellar and were still juicy. After being blanched, they tasted delicious when dipped in water.

Jing Yuanzhi smiled as he looked at the people playing around and ate the steaming hot food.

The meal took almost half an hour, and after they finished, Li Ran helped to clean up.

After packing up, he was about to go back.

Jiang's mother took some vegetables out of the ice cellar and asked Li Ran to take them back.

The least abundant food in winter is vegetables. Since they have ice cellars, they can preserve a lot of vegetables.

He took a few of each and tied them together for Li Ran.

"Ran boy, can you take it back by yourself? Do you want me to ask Chunyang to help you?" Mother Jiang looked at the two large bundles of vegetables and thought it would be difficult for Li Ran to carry them back by himself.

"Thank you, Brother Chunyang." Li Ran said with a smile.

Jiang's mother also felt that he couldn't take it back by himself, so she turned around and shouted to Huang Chunyang outside the door: "Chunyang, Chunyang! Come and help Ran take the vegetables back!"

"coming!"

Huang Chunyang patted the snow off his hands, came over and saw the two bundles of vegetables on the ground, picked up one and put it on his shoulder, and said to Li Ran, "Let's go."

"Goodbye, auntie. Goodbye, Yinyin. Goodbye, Jinnian." Li Ran greeted them one by one before picking up the bundle of vegetables on the ground.

Huang Chunyang and Li Ran were much faster, and Huang Chunyang came back a quarter of an hour later.

After he came back, he went outside and helped Dad Huang reinforce the sheep pen.

There are a few more sheep in the house than when these goats first arrived, and the area behind the sheepfold has been rebuilt and made bigger.

But wolves are very ferocious, and even after they reinforced the sheepfold, it was still somewhat unsafe.

So, but now they have no better way, they can only hope that the wolves will stay in the woods and not come to the village.

Jing Yuanzhi didn't have a good solution. In addition to wolves and tigers, these beasts were not just talk, but real beasts in the forest. In addition to the sheepfold, the area around the house also needed to be reinforced. The fences and bushes had all lost their leaves, leaving only bare branches and dense thorns.

However, these are still not safe if you encounter a pack of wolves.

These days, Huang Dad and his men are busy with reinforcement, so there is not much work to do at home.

Jing Yuanzhi and the others cooked at home, helped knit sweaters, and cleaned the house, while Huang Dad and the others were responsible for the safety of the house.

Fortunately, no ferocious beasts came down the mountain during this period.

Soon, it will be the New Year.

Li Ran brought Wumao and their food to Jingyuan's home.

Li Ran was alone, so he was called by Jiang's mother and Huang's father to celebrate the New Year with them.

Li Ran brought Wumao with him, and also brought a lot of food.

He's staying here for several days, he can't just come here to eat for free.

The atmosphere of the New Year is still very strong.

Festive red couplets and paper-cut window decorations were hung in the house.

These were bought by Huang Die and Jiang Mu in early winter and were prepared long ago.

In winter, the road to Huangjia Village would be blocked by heavy snow that would not melt for a long time, so from the beginning of winter they had to prepare food and other daily necessities for the entire winter until the next spring.

The family is better off this year, so Mother Jiang and Father Huang bought couplets and window decorations in advance when they were preparing.

The atmosphere in the house suddenly became different after putting up couplets and window decorations.

There is a New Year atmosphere in the house.

Those who clean the house clean the house, and those who prepare the New Year’s Eve dinner prepare the New Year’s Eve dinner.

Huang Die, Huang Chunlei and Li Ran went to kill sheep, and also killed two wild rabbits that they had raised before.

Kill it, process it, put it aside, and then clean the house.

Jiang's mother and Jing Yuanzhi came down to prepare the ingredients for the family.

The house is very lively and everyone is busy.

Mother Jiang also fried a lot of melon seeds, peanuts and candies, and put them on a plate.

After finishing the housework, a group of people sat around the brazier, warming themselves by the fire and eating snacks.

There are also some potatoes, sweet potatoes, and chestnuts roasted in the brazier. They are sweet and soft, and you can be full just by eating these snacks.

When the actual New Year's Day arrived, the whole family got up early in the morning.

Half of the pork in the ice cellar was taken out and processed early in the morning, and the mutton that had been processed earlier also had to be prepared.

We had a quick lunch at noon and everyone was looking forward to the afternoon meal.

In the afternoon, there were grilled lamb chops, fragrant lamb was cooking in the pot, and there was pork belly simmered in a big pot.

Put the vegetables aside and start stir-frying after the meat is cooked.

There were two more fish, which were caught by Li Ran, Huang Chunyang and Huang Chunlei after they broke through the ice in the river.

The fish is quite big. I’ll eat one tonight and the other one later.

The fish was made into chopped pepper fish, with a layer of green and red peppers covering the whole fish.

The peppers were preserved thanks to the ice cellar.

The table was filled with soft and tender lamb, shiny red pork belly, fried lamb offal and vegetables.

The brazier was placed under the table. People sat at the table, eating by the fire and didn't feel cold at all.