Abandoning the Old and Welcoming the New

The other employees in the warehouse laughed when they heard this.

“That makes sense. My mother-in-law likes to cause trouble. It’s as if she’s unhappy if she doesn’t sow discord. However, every time the factory starts making baskets, she doesn’t go anywhere during that period of time. She just stares at the gift boxes every day and tries her best to make a few more.”

“That’s right. I can’t control my wife either. However, as soon as Miss Yu says the factory will start making baskets, no one goes to the ‘Information Exchange Center’ at the entrance of the village anymore!”

“Hahaha, the entire family is working together to weave bamboo baskets. It’s indeed much more harmonious!”

The food factory was immersed in a productive atmosphere. Everyone was making the final push for the last batch of New Year’s orders.

The last day of this year arrived.

Although New Year’s Day wasn’t as grand as the Spring Festival, in the Gregorian calendar, it was also a day of abandoning the old and welcoming the new. According to the country’s legal holidays, the food factory would have a day off on January 1.

This wasn’t the first time Xiao Sheng had invited Yu Bing and Jiang Chun to the Xiao family’s house for dinner, so the two of them didn’t stand on ceremony with him. After all, the more people, the merrier.

This year was much colder than last year, so everyone unanimously decided to eat hotpot.

Yu Bing stir-fried the hotpot base like last year, while Jiang Chun and Xiao Sheng were in charge of washing the hot vegetables.

Because they were already prepared and Xiao Sheng didn’t lack money or stamps, this year’s feast was much more sumptuous than that of last year.

Other than chicken and fish, Xiao Lin bought pig liver, pig intestines, beef, and tofu in town early in the morning.

Yu Bing soaked the dried mushrooms in water. Winter vegetables like potatoes, radishes, and cabbage filled the table.

Everyone raised their glasses. Because there was no wine, they filled them with honey water to celebrate.

Yu Bing smiled and said, “It’s a new year again. I hope everything will go smoothly for all of us this year.”

Xiao Sheng also smiled and said, “I wish everyone a happy new year.”

Jiang Chun thought for a moment and smiled. “My blessing is simple. I hope everyone will be happy every day and live a better life!”

Xiao Lin was unwilling to be ignored, so he hurriedly raised his glass and said, “I want to say my blessing too. I want to wish everyone a happy new year!”

“I hope that Sister Yu Bing and Sister Jiang Chun will become more and more beautiful and have their wishes fulfilled. I hope that my brother will be safe and my sister will be healthy. I hope that my study progress will improve!”

Xiao Lin’s blessings were very specific, and with the innocence and sincerity of a child.

The blessings were usually said by adults, but since Xiao Lin joined in the fun, Xiao Li was also interested and said with a smile, “Then I wish everyone all the best!”

Yu Bing laughed as she rubbed Xiao Li’s head. “Well said! This blessing has the most weight.”

As the five of them said their New Year’s blessings, the hotpot on the table was steaming. In the brazier on the ground beside it, the burning dead wood crackled like firecrackers while warming the air.

There was snow outside the house, and warm yellow lighting in the house.

At this moment, in the intellectual dormitory, everyone was gathered together to celebrate the new year.

As the male team leader and female team leader of the intellectual team, Wen Jiang and Tian Jing suggested that everyone hand over 0.3 yuan, so that everyone could pool their money together to get stamps and eat a good meal. Everyone agreed.

In the end, they used the 20.5 yuan they had gathered to buy two chickens, nine pounds of pork, and one pound of pork bones. The intellectuals had reclaimed two acres of veggie land at the back of the dormitory building, so they didn’t need to pay for the vegetables.

The pork bones were used as the base of the soup, and the pork was cut into thin slices. In order for everyone to get a share of the chicken, the chicken was cut into small pieces.

Because the meat was distributed evenly according to the number of people, the two team leaders first used bone soup to cook the meat and vegetables. Then, everyone held a bowl as they queued up.

These things looked like a lot, but with 68 people, everyone could only eat two pieces of chicken at most. They could even get four to five pieces of pork. Although it wasn’t much, it was enough to satisfy their appetite.

After most people received the meat, they would first bury it under the rice. After the vegetables were served, they would take a piece out from time to time to slowly savor the meat.

Yu Yan sat at the side with Yao Nian in an old cotton jacket. Seeing everyone’s actions, she snorted in disdain and ate the meat in her bowl first.

historical

If it weren’t for the fact that the weather was cold and she didn’t want to freeze her hands, she wouldn’t have bothered with these poor people for just a few pieces of meat.