065 – Henceforth, Celebrate the New Year Together (1)
Neither Qin Mian nor Lei Tie looked back as they drove away in the ox cart.
Qin Mian was sure that it was mostly what Lei Xiaoyun said to others that the woman would say those words.
Due to being rejected, Lei Xiaoyun wanted to take out the matter of him and Lei Tie, making them upset. As the saying went, even the emperor had three poor relatives[1]. It was normal for these relatives to try to get along with them and ask for help. But once the goals could not be achieved, these relatives shot cold arrows behind their backs. These relatives were really detestable.
Lei Tie suddenly said: “Afterwards, no need to come.”“Of course.” Qin Mian had no hesitation whatsoever and could not deny his heartache for Lei Tie. Without him, Lei Tie would be lonely now. If these so-called relatives really had feelings, Lei Tie would not have been forced to run away from home in the first place. Later, he would not have been forced to marry a man, let alone forced to leave the house with nothing… Now, those people wanted to take advantage of such appellations as “Aunt” and “Uncle”, but how could there be such a good thing in this world? Since they did not care about Lei Tie, why should he and Lei Tie care about them?
“Wronged you.” Lei Tie said quietly.
It did not matter to Qin Mian, “They’re just unimportant people to me [我wǒ].”
Lei Tie suddenly gripped his (QM) hand. “En, they’re just unimportant people to us [我们wǒ men].”
There was one more word in the sentence. Qin Mian was taken aback and then smiled briskly, feeling a little nervous and joyful in his heart. This guy cared so much about him.
Upon seeing him smiled, Lei Tie also faintly smiled, “Wife, I’m glad to have married you.”
Qin Mian was flustered. He looked everywhere at the mountains and the trees but him. He pretended not to hear those.Lei Tie no longer said anything, simply gripped his hand and raised the whip to speed up.
Afterwards, they would not be alone with the two of them as family.
After the 20th of the twelfth lunar month, it gradually became colder. The cold wind blew like the scrape of blades and whimpered like an angry beast. The water in the pond froze and it was not a problem for adults of more than 100 jin to walk on the ice surface. The water in the well was like ice that every time one fetched water, one had to smash the ice with the bucket first. The sun disappeared for a few days, which seemed that a heavy snow was coming.
As the New Year approached, there was a nursery rhyme singing: “23rd, sacrifice to Kitchen God; 24th, sweep the house; 25th, make tofu; 26th, stew meat; 27th, slaughter rooster; 28th, make dough; 29th, steam mantou[2]; 30th, stay up all night and rejoice on the first day of the New Year.”
On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, Qin Mian and Lei Tie went to the town to buy new clothes and New Year’s goods. Qin Mian was worried that if there really was a heavy snow, it would be unsafe for the staffs with families outside the town to walk home. He gave them a lot of year-end bonus and took annual leave. The business would resume operation on the sixth day of the first month.
Yue Dong was a loner and had no place to celebrate the New Year. At first, Qin Mian hesitated to take Yue Dong home. After being rejected by Lei Tie, he did not mention it again. To be honest, he did not want an outsider to celebrate the New Year with them. Anyway, Zheng Liu warmly invited Yue Dong to spend the New Year at his home and Yue Dong readily agreed.
After handling the matter of the shop, Qin Mian and Lei Tie drove the ox cart home and planned to stay at home without going out before the sixth day of the first month.
It snowed heavily the next day. Large flakes of snow fell like goose feathers, one after another. No more than a moment, a layer of white snow accumulated on the roof, on the branches, on the courtyard walls, and even on the bamboo pole for clothes drying. Soon, a thick layer was also spread on the ground, like a white carpet, spotlessly white.
This was the first snow after he came to another world. Qin Mian dressed like a bear and curiously ran out of the courtyard to look into the distance. The sky and the earth were a vast expanse of white, branches wrapped in snow, crystal clear just like carved out of jade, making the world even more prominently boundless. Snowflakes dissolved all the sounds of the world. When White Spot had enough in the mountain, it ran over joyously like a puppy while howling and leaving a trail of footprints on the snow.
Qin Mian was amused. He grabbed a handful of snow and threw at it.
With a twist of its body, White Spot skillfully avoided it, gave him a proud look, and continued to run happily.
Lei Tie stood quietly not far away and watched for a while before he said, “Go back.”
“White Spot, let’s go.”
When they reached the entrance of the village, they heard cheerful laughter. The mischievous children in the village ran around in the snow, playing snowball fights. Even when they slipped, they were not afraid but giggled instead. They were carefree and without worries.
As soon as Qin Mian entered the room, he climbed on the heatable brick bed. After the twelfth lunar month ushered in, the heatable brick bed was never cold. [it’s always warm]
White Spot perceptively went to the side of heatable brick bed and lay on its stomach.
And of course, they ate on the heatable brick bed. Since the weather turned cold, they ate hot pot almost every day. Lei Tie had learned to cook hot pot beforehand. When the ingredients were cleaned, they could be eaten as soon as they were cooked in the pot. It was easy, satisfying and hot. Lei Tie was still the one to wash the dishes. Qin Mian hardly had to do anything. He assumed he would gain at least 3 Jin this winter.
24th, sweep the house. The two lived in a new house, so they were lazy and did not clean.
On the 25th, Lei Tie soaked half a bucket of soybeans and went to the tofu workshop in the village to make tofu. In the middle, he found time to come back and brought back a large bowl of soybean milk that tasted rich, mellow and delicious. Half a bucket of soybeans made over 50 Jin of tofu that appeared tender and tasty.
Qin Mian suddenly remembered the delicious fermented tofu. When he was very young, there was often an old man about 60 years old in his village who carried a shoulder pole to sell fermented tofu. The fermented tofu was said to be made by secret method. It was a small square piece with a bright red surface and tasted spicy and sweet-smelling. His grandmother would buy 5 pieces for 5 yuan every time. He particularly loved to eat it. A half a piece of fermented tofu could be eaten with a large bowl of rice.
At that time, he was young and ignorant. He asked the old man how he made the fermented tofu and why it was so sweet-smelling. The old man was also amused. It was probably because he was young, the old man really told him. Later, he told his grandmother the recipe. His grandmother was smart and successfully made the fermented tofu. Now he still remembered how to do it.
“Lei Tie, let’s go to the kitchen to make fermented tofu [fǔ rǔ].” Qin Mian jumped off the heatable brick bed and bent down to wear shoes.
Lei Tie looked at him strangely. He was under the impression that his little wife would always be on the heatable brick bed all winter.
He put down his chess[3] piece, “What is fǔ rǔ [fermented tofu]?”
Qin Mian said mysteriously: “It’s delicious and goes well with rice.”
“Not afraid of the cold?” Lei Tie asked.
“A charcoal brazier will do. Come on.” Qin Mian could stand the cold for the sake of delicious food.
Qin Mian asked Lei Tie to wash two empty clay pots and wipe dry the inside. Seeing him holding the dishcloth and reaching into the cold water with his face unchanged, Qin Mian patted him on the shoulder with admiration, pretending to be comforting. “An able man is always busy. You’ve worked hard.”
Lei Tie flicked his index finger and a few drops of clear water splashed on his face.
Qin Mian stared at him while shivering. The man was already doing things with his head bowed, as if nothing had happened. He picked up a cold porcelain plate and pressed it on Lei Tie’s face when he was unprepared. When he clearly saw the man’s face shivered, he burst into loud laughter.
White Spot, who was lying in the nest, opened its eyes, raised its head and swept a glance towards the kitchen. Then, it closed its eyes again and lay flat.
Qin Mian lighted the fire to make some chili oil and served it in a bowl. After the chili oil cooled down, he added pepper, Sichuan pepper, star anise, measured flour and appropriate amount of rice wine to make a stewed soup for later use.
Next, he asked Lei Tie to take some paddy straws and spread it in the basket. He put a piece of white paper on the basket. The white and tender tofu was cut into square pieces and placed on the paper with even spacing.
After a few days, when the tofu grew mold, Qin Mian sprinkled a layer of salt on the tofu.
Afterwards, he said to Lei Tie: “After about eight days of pickling, put the tofu into an earthen jar, pour in the brine soup, seal it with paper and mud like a wine jar, and it’s done. Remind me eight days later.”
Lei Tie nodded, “Come over to warm your hands.”
“It’s the 27th today.” Qin Mian sat down by the charcoal brazier and arranged the tasks for the next few days, “Today make dough, stew meat and fry food balls. Tomorrow make steamed buns, dumplings and steam mantou.”
Lei Tie said: “So many things? You say, I do.”
Qin Mian chuckled, “It’s New Year, so you’ve to be busy to get the feeling of New Year. Although we’ve a small family, we should be more ceremonious in order not to be looked down upon. There are still three days to go before New Year’s Eve.” This was the first year after he was reborn, the first year that Lei Tie returned home, and the first year he spent with Lei Tie. He must be well prepared.
Lei Tie remained silent. He tightly held Qin Mian’s hands and placed them atop the charcoal brazier to warm together. His deep gaze fell on Qin Mian’s face.
Qin Mian tried to pull out his hands, but he could not. Lei Tie’s hands were as tight as clamp.
“I’m not leaving, why do you hold so tightly?” Qin Mian asked with a smile.
Lei Tie wanted to ask him if he would ever leave, but he did not ask. He warmed Qin Mian’s hands before letting go.
Qin Mian got on his feet, “You make dough, I stew meat.”
Lei Tie stood up and scooped out the flour.
Qin Mian boiled water, added seasoning, put the washed ribs, chicken, trotters and large pieces of pork into it, covered the pot, stewed over high heat, and put more large pieces of firewood into the hollow space of the stove. He did not need to worry about it for the time being. These cooked foods were prepared in advance and it could save time by working it out a little bit when entertaining the guests in the first month. At the same time, he could steam sweet potatoes in the pot.
Qin Mian moved a small square table by the charcoal brazier, chopped meat and cut lotus root. It was too cold and everything was ice-cold. His hands were numb with cold. He had to warm by the fire even when he was cutting a few ingredients.
After Lei Tie made the dough, he took the kitchen knife in Qin Mian’s hand, cut the ingredients according to his instructions. Very soon, they made three bucket of stuffing which included pork paste, lotus root stuffing and fish paste. Then, they made a bucket of pork balls, a bucket of lotus balls, a bucket of fish balls, and a bucket of sweet potato balls. There was also a bucket of tofu dregs made from tofu. After mixing minced meat and flour, it could be made into tofu dregs balls. It also tasted very delicious. Lotus root balls, sweet potato balls and tofu dregs balls were fried, while pork balls and fish balls were boiled in water.
After the meat in the pot was cooked, Qin Mian sliced a whole chicken and cut a bowl of meat for White Spot. The two of them made do with lunch and continued to be busy in the afternoon.
The smell of fried food balls wafted in the kitchen. This was the taste of New Year.
Looking at the delicious food balls, Qin Mian felt a sense of accomplishment.
On the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, the dough was well prepared. Qin Mian and Lei Tie steamed two pots of mantou, a pot of meat steamed buns, wrapped a tray[4] of dumplings, and fried a basket of dried hemp leaves[5], dough twists, sangza[6] and dough sticks.
Lei Tie never knew that the New Year could be celebrated so sumptuously. Qin Mian prepared many foods that he had never seen before.
[TL: Me too, Lei Tie.]
Note:
[1] The relatives and friends of the rich are not necessarily all rich
[2] Steamed bun
[3] It refers to the Go board and also means various chess by extension
[4]帘子 literally means curtain
[5] The other translation is cannabis leaves [owo]
[6] Sangza [sanzi] is a deep-fried noodles in a twisted pyramid shape
Fried dough twists
