Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 299 Returning to the Village for the New Year
On New Year's Eve, Yan Jiekuang went to the kitchen early in the morning to prepare the ingredients. Sun Daming and his wife had already returned to the village yesterday. Tian Guixiang originally wanted to cook for them before leaving on the 30th, but Yan Jiekuang stopped her. Yan Jiekuang said, "Your sons and grandsons at home are waiting for you. Go back quickly to have a good New Year. I'm here for you." In this way, Sun Daming and his wife were persuaded to go back.

Ji Lian went upstairs to wake the children up. Shi Li was lying in bed and refused to get up. Ji Lian tickled her and woke her up. Shi Li smiled and said, "Mom, should I wear new clothes today?"

"Of course, today is New Year's Day. By the way, don't set off firecrackers like Fatty and Erpang, otherwise it will look ugly if they bounce onto your clothes." Ji Lian said with a smile.

Shi Li nodded seriously, and Ji Lian found a new cotton jacket, cotton pants, underwear, and socks, and most importantly a set of sportswear, which looked very nice in red.

Shi Li picked out this outfit herself. Ji Lian took the children to the mall. The three boys insisted on wearing military uniforms, but Shi Li was the only one who took a liking to this sportswear at first sight. Fortunately, she had her size.

After washing up, the children hurried downstairs, said hello to their great grandfather, and went to the central courtyard storehouse, where in addition to some food, Yan Jiekuang also bought a bunch of fireworks and firecrackers and placed them there. The children rushed in and picked out the ones they liked, then went to the living room and started to take apart the small firecrackers on the table and put them in their pockets. Yan Jiekuang saw it at a glance and said jokingly, "I was wondering why you had to wear military uniforms? It turns out it's because the pockets are too big."

Da Pang said proudly: "That's right, otherwise it would be so troublesome to go home again and again to get it."

Xiaopang immediately interrupted Dapang and said, "Brother Lei reminded you, otherwise you would not have thought of it."

Shi Lei smiled embarrassedly. Yan Jiekuang touched his head and said, "See, the only way you can study so well is because you have a quick mind."

The three children ran out of the house to find their classmates nearby. Before they left, Ji Lian gave each of them an egg and said, "Look at you, you got up late and even skipped meals just to play."

Yan Jiekuang looked at Shi Li who was sitting there obediently waiting for dinner and asked, "Why don't you go?"

Shi Li said: "My mother said to stay away from them, otherwise my clothes will get dirty. I want to look beautiful."

Yan Jiekuang kissed her and said, "Your mother is right. You must have something beautiful. I'll go get you some Shengzhou. You and your great grandfather can eat together. There are salted duck eggs today."

Shi Li clapped her hands happily and said, "Dad is the best. He knows that I love salted duck eggs the most."

At this time, Ji Lian pushed Grandpa Ji in. Yan Jiekuang said, "This morning, there is preserved egg and lean meat porridge, salted duck eggs, and pickles from Liubiju. Grandpa is waiting."

Yan Jiekuang went to the kitchen, while Old Man Ji teased Shi Li and Ji Lian went to make tea. The old man, like Yan Jiekuang, had to have a pot of scented tea when he got up.

After a while, Yan Jiekuang brought over the porridge, side dishes, and some steamed buns. The family sat together to eat breakfast, and the couple chatted with Grandpa Ji.

After breakfast, Yan Jiekuang went to the basement and took out the TV. Normally, there was no TV at home. Yan Jiekuang was afraid that watching too much TV would affect the children's eyesight and study. Today was New Year's Eve, and he heard that there would be a Spring Festival Gala in the evening, so he took it out.

Yan Jiekuang moved a square table to the front of the counter, put the TV on it, and started to debug it. He connected the antenna. Yan Jiekuang was rotating the antenna on the roof, while Ji Lian stood at the door, watching the clear image on TV, and quickly shouted, "Got it, got it."

Yan Jiekuang came down and said jokingly, "Why don't you just shout it out? You're pregnant. If the neighbors hear you, they'll think you're pregnant again."

Ji Lian blushed and hit him. Grandpa Ji smiled and said, "It's better to have one. The family will be prosperous. By the way, Jie Kuang, where are your cats and dogs? Why is there only the big cat left?"

The big cat lay on the recliner and let out a dissatisfied cry, as if to say, isn't it good enough that I'm the only one left?
Yan Jiekuang said: "I don't know either. They were kidnapped every day. I guess the big cat knows where they went, but the big cat is too lazy to take me there."

The big cat didn't respond, but changed its position and continued lying down.

Mr. Ji said, "Your cats and dogs are very smart. They will probably come back after a while. Look at your mom's little black dog. Wherever your mom goes, it follows her. Many people envy it."

Yan Jiekuang was drinking tea and chatting with Old Man Ji in the main hall, while Ji Lian took Shi Li to the study. There was not much work to do at home and there was still some time before the New Year's Eve dinner, so everyone was very relaxed.

When it was almost noon, Yan Jiekuang started to cook. He fried the meatballs first. There were two pots in total, one pot of meatballs and one pot of radish meatballs. Yan Jiekuang was about to fry the small yellow croaker when he turned around and saw Shi Li standing at the door, drooling at the meatballs.

Yan Jiekuang chuckled, handed her a small bowl, and said, "Eat less, we'll have dinner soon."

Shi Li nodded and went out with the bowl in her hand. After a while, three more little heads appeared at the door. Yan Jiekuang looked at them and said, "Okay, give each of them a bowl." Shi Lei said, "Dad, get a big bowl. The main thing is that you fried it so well that the aroma has spread outside. Dapang's classmates and I are waiting."

When Yan Jiekuang heard this, he had no choice but to make another large bowl of meatballs, mixing the two ingredients together. Before leaving, he told them to eat quickly and come back early.

Yan Jiekuang started cooking at about 12 o'clock. There were 10 dishes and a soup. He had been to Tianjin before and brought back a lot of seafood, so he cooked them directly. He steamed mandarin fish, warm-mixed conch, braised prawns and roasted purple abalone. The rest were chicken, duck, mutton, beef and two vegetables. The soup was stewed pheasant shreds and bird's nest in a pot. For this soup, Yan Jiekuang went to Liulichang to buy 10 sets of earthenware pots.

By the time the dishes were served, it was almost one o'clock. Yan Jiekuang said to Shi Lei, "Go, set off the thousand-gun cannon at the gate of the courtyard."

Shi Lei ran out happily, followed by Big Fatty and Little Fatty. Shi Li stared at the dishes on the table, motionless. Ji Lian touched Shi Li's head and said, "You little foodie." Yan Jiekuang and Old Man Ji laughed. Yan Jiekuang brought two bottles of wine from the warehouse, one was Maotai and the other was Jiannanchun, and asked Old Man Shi, "Which one do you want to drink?"

Mr. Ji said, "Let's have Maotai, it has a rich taste."

Yan Jiekuang opened the wine and poured a glass for the old man. At this time, firecrackers were heard at the door. Yan Jiekuang poured himself a glass. Ji Lian had just gone to watch TV. When she came back to see Yan Jiekuang, she handed him her glass and said, "Give me half a glass too."

"Okay." Yan Jiekuang then poured half a cup for Ji Lian. The sound of firecrackers outside stopped and the three sons ran back.

Yan Jiekuang said, "Would you like to say a few words, old man?" Old Master Ji said, "No, let's start eating. Can't you see that the little girl can't wait?"

Yan Jiekuang laughed and said, "Let's eat." Shi Lei stood up and poured soda for his brothers and sisters, then started eating.

The family was enjoying the delicious food. Yan Jiekuang and Ji Lian were discussing what filling to use for the dumplings. Dapang shouted "pork and green onion".

Mr. Ji ate very slowly, like a gourmet, savoring the food slowly. Shi Lei, Da Pang and Xiao Pang ate like crazy, they were in a hurry to set off fireworks. Ji Lian kept persuading them to eat slowly.

Finally, only Grandpa Ji and Yan Jiekuang were left, chatting and drinking. Ji Lian had already started clearing the table and then went to the kitchen to knead dough, followed by her little tail Shi Li.

After a while, Yan Jiekuang found that the old man was a little tired, so he ended the New Year's Eve dinner and pushed the old man to the backyard to rest. Yan Jiekuang returned to the kitchen and started to mix the dumpling stuffing. The couple started making dumplings in the living room. There was also a troublemaker named Shi Li. The three boys had disappeared long ago.

Ji Lian asked Yan Jiekuang when he would go back to his parents' house. Yan Jiekuang thought for a moment and said, "On the second day of the Chinese New Year. After paying New Year's greetings, I will take my mother to my grandmother's house directly."

On New Year's Eve, they ate dumplings, set off fireworks, and watched TV. When the bell of the new year rang, Yan Jiekuang said with emotion, "I am one year older. Time is running out for me."

The children all went to bed. Ji Lian snuggled in Yan Jiekuang's arms. The two of them sat quietly, looking at the moon in the sky through the window.

On the second day of the Chinese New Year, after breakfast, Yan Jiekuang drove the children back to Courtyard No. 95. Grandpa Ji had not come back. The old man now liked the house in Yuer Hutong, especially the study, where he would sit for half a day.

Yan Jiekuang still parked the van at the entrance of the alley, then carried some seafood and two bottles of wine, followed Ji Lian and the children straight to their parents' home. As soon as they entered the yard, they saw Grandpa Sun and hurried to wish him a happy new year. The children also went up to wish him a happy new year one by one. Grandpa Sun wanted to give red envelopes, but Yan Jiekuang quickly said, "No need, Grandpa Sun. It's not easy for anyone now. We have many children, so we don't care about this."

Grandpa Sun couldn't defeat Yan Jiekuang, so he put it away. Yan Jiekuang and his wife brought the children into the house. Yan Bugui and his wife were there, as well as Shi Xiaoya and her children. Yan Jiekuang quickly asked the children to kowtow and wish their grandparents a happy new year. Yan Bugui, who had a sullen face, smiled when he saw the children, and his complexion improved a lot. Yan Jiekuang also wished a happy new year to several people, and Yang Ruiping gave each of the four children a red envelope.

Yan Bugui said: "Since grandma has given it to you, grandpa will not give it to you."

Yan Jiekuang didn't care and asked Yang Ruiping if he wanted to go to his grandmother's house. Yang Ruiping said, "Of course I have to go back. Shi Xiaoya and the children will go too. Your second brother works overtime every day and never comes back."

Yan Jiekuang said, "That's nothing, let's go." Yan Bugui sat on the chair motionless. Yan Jiekuang looked at his mother. Yang Ruiping said unhappily, "Your father doesn't want to go because he is afraid of spending money." When Yan Bugui heard this, his face darkened again.

Yan Jiekuang took his group out and drove a van straight to Sanyuan Village.

When they arrived at Sanyuan Village, the New Year atmosphere was stronger than in the city, and the sound of firecrackers was everywhere. When passing by the village entrance, the children saw Hu Zi and a group of children from the village setting off firecrackers in the fields. The children clamored to get off the car. Yan Jiekuang stopped the car, and the children ran out to find Hu Zi. They were very familiar with the children in the village. When the two groups met, several children took out the candies in their pockets and gave them to the children in the village.

Yan Jiekuang drove to his grandmother's house. When the horn honked, his grandmother and grandfather came out of the house. Yang Ruiping jumped out of the car, walked into the yard, greeted his parents, knelt down and kowtowed to wish them a happy new year.

Afterwards, Yan Jiekuang brought Ji Lianshi and Xiaoya to kowtow and wish a happy new year. Grandma and grandpa helped them up with a smile on their faces. Grandma said, "Hurry up and get up. Come on. Thanks to your grandpa for preparing more red envelopes and saying that you must come back."

He gave red envelopes to several people. Yang Ruiping was the first to receive one and put it in his pocket, saying, "It's a blessing to receive red envelopes from my parents at such an old age."

Yan Jiekuang and the other two also took it. Grandpa asked, "Where are the children? Aren't they here yet?"

Yang Ruiping said: "When we got to the village, we ran into Huzi and went crazy together. I think they will be back soon. Don't worry about them."

Grandpa said, "Come inside quickly, it's so cold."

Yang Ruiping supported grandma, and Yan Jiekuang and the other two followed into the house. As soon as they sat down, their uncle Yang Ruian came in with Xiaohu. Before they could stand still, Yan Jiekuang said to Xiaohu, "That's great. Come with me to move the things. We're waiting for you."

Yan Jiekuang took Xiaohu to get the things they brought. There were quite a lot of things, including seafood, lamb legs and pork hind legs, and finally a box of white wine.

Xiaohu said: "Why do you bring so much? We have a lot of things at home."

Yan Jiekuang asked, "How is it this year? Our restaurant still uses less vegetables. You have to find a way to develop meat dishes."

Xiaohu said: "This year has been very good. There are no vegetables left. Next year, the village plans to build a breeding farm, mainly for cattle and sheep. After the New Year, my second uncle and I plan to go to Inner Mongolia. This year, the village has had a good year and the income is quite good."

"That's good. If you need me, just come to me. I have time now." Yan Jiekuang said.

Xiaohu said, "I see. There will be a lot of things to do next year. Many villagers want to rebuild their houses in the spring and start breeding farms. I can only rest during the Chinese New Year."

Yan Jiekuang said: "Okay, I'll cook you a big meal these two days, and we'll have a good drink."

The two brothers chatted and laughed while carrying their things back to their grandfather's house.

(End of this chapter)