Chapter 167: Before the New Year

Chapter 167: Before the New Year

Some were trying to calm the situation, while others were pulling people away.

Su Zhaozhao and the others decided not to stick around and took the children home.

Wang Chunhua mentioned a few more times later that Director Peng’s eldest son had been sent to a lower-level army unit to serve as a soldier.

Speaking of Gao Yue, at first, everyone thought she wouldn’t be a good stepmother and that she would definitely mistreat the children. As the saying goes, "A stepmother’s heart is like a scorpion’s tail—cold and cruel."

Unexpectedly, she turned out to be a pretty good stepmother.

The three children who stayed at home were living much better than when they only had their father. They were dressed in new clothes and shoes, and looked well-cared for.

The youngest daughter was always with her; she even carried the child on her back when going to the market to buy groceries. The child called her "mom," and they were very close—those who didn’t know better would think the child was her own.

"Gao Yue really knows how to handle things," Wang Chunhua remarked.

Of course, all of this happened after the New Year.

As the Spring Festival approached, there were significantly fewer people at the office. Many were planning to return to their hometowns with their wives and children during the New Year. A three-day holiday wasn’t nearly enough, so many had already taken time off in advance.

It wasn’t just the Supply and Marketing Cooperatives; the military was no different. Most of those who had family visitation leave were taking it during the New Year holiday.

For most people, the Spring Festival reunion was a tradition that ran deep in their hearts.

Yang Yuanzheng also got a letter of introduction from the Human Resources Division, took half a day off, and went to wait in line to buy a ticket at the Sea City train station.

When he finally got back, his clothes were torn from the crowd.

"There were too many people! Some people went to queue up in the middle of the night. I was only able to get the ticket because I had to ask a favor from someone I know; otherwise, I wouldn’t have gotten it until the afternoon."

At least he managed to get the ticket, and Section Chief Xie let him leave work early to go home and pack.

Starting from the 28th, Su Zhaozhao also began her holiday. There were three days of statutory holiday, plus one more day of public holiday, making it four days in total.

The front stores, including the tailor shop, Cotton Batting Shop, and grain stores, had also put up signs saying they would be closed and only reopen on the second day of the Lunar New Year.

Even the market would be closed for New Year’s Eve and the first day of the Lunar New Year.

The Supply and Marketing Cooperatives had posted notices in advance.

On the 28th, Su Zhaozhao and Gu Heng, together with two diligent children in the family, started the big clean-up!

Su Zhaozhao dug out some old clothes for them to wear, and they put on thick cotton masks and labor protection gloves. Su Zhaozhao also wrapped a flowered scarf around her head and her daughter’s, mainly to keep off the dust.

The taller person was in charge of cleaning the dust off the beams and walls, while the shorter person was responsible for wiping the windows and furniture. The kids didn’t want to be left out either; one helped clean and organize the books on the bookshelf and the bottles and jars around the house, while the other swept the floor with a broom.

They scrubbed and dusted every nook and cranny, inside and out. It took an entire morning to clean the small house.

Wang Chunhua next door was frying some fried dough fritters and had Zhou Fangfang bring over a bowl.

While cleaning, Su Zhaozhao caught the smell, and it was irresistible. No matter the food, if it’s fried in oil, it smells delicious!

Su Zhaozhao took the fried dough fritters into the kitchen and transferred them to another bowl, handing the empty bowl to Zhou Fangfang, and grabbed a handful of candies to stuff into her pocket. "Thank your mom for me," she said.

Zhou Fangfang thanked her and skipped off home with the bowl.

Su Zhaozhao brought the fried dough fritters out from the kitchen and called for Gu Xiang and the others to come and eat.

The freshly fried ones are best when eaten hot; if they get cold, they're not as good.

Su Zhaozhao picked one up and took a bite. It was fragrant and sticky, with red bean paste inside—delicious!

Gu Heng was washing his hands by the sink. Seeing that his hands were wet, she picked one up and held it to his mouth.

Gu Heng glanced at the kids, and when he saw they weren’t looking, he quickly leaned down and took a bite.

Su Zhaozhao: "Tomorrow, let's fry some pastries too, some fried dough twists and crispy pork. We should fry a bunch so we can use them for soups later."

Gu Heng nodded. "Yes, don’t skimp on the oil."

These fried pastries clearly had too little oil; the surface wasn’t very crispy.

"I know."

The New Year's gift from the Supply and Marketing Cooperatives included a jug of oil, about 2.2 pounds (two jin). A few days ago, Gu Heng also brought home a ten-jin (about 11 pounds) jug of oil. Su Zhaozhao would occasionally render some lard and store it in a jar; their home didn’t lack oil for cooking.

When you eat well, you can really see the difference. Su Zhaozhao had gained at least ten jin (about 11 pounds) since she first arrived!

Even after gaining ten jin, she was still on the slim side.

Su Zhaozhao was quite satisfied with her current weight, but Gu Heng was not. He always felt she was too thin and wanted to fatten her up.

One night, Su Zhaozhao even asked him what weight he thought would be ideal for her.

Gu Heng thought seriously for a moment and then said a number that made her want to hit him: "One hundred twenty jin (about 132 pounds)."

She definitely didn’t want to weigh one hundred twenty jin!

Everyone knows that 132 pounds is the hardest to lose.

On the twenty-ninth, Su Zhaozhao was busy from the morning.

Zhou Xiaojun next door had originally planned to take Gu Xiang out to play with firecrackers—he’d been studying hard and barely passed his finals.

When he came to the Gu family and saw that Su Zhaozhao was preparing crispy pork, he gave up on playing and crouched by the kitchen, saying he wanted to help.

Auntie Su definitely needed to send a bowl over to their house. He wanted to wait and be the first to eat it. If he took it home, his mom would probably save it for New Year’s Day.

The fried pastries from yesterday, after he ate one, his mom locked the rest in the cabinet.

"Auntie Su, what is crispy pork?" Zhou Xiaojun asked, swallowing. If it had meat, it was bound to be delicious!

Su Zhaozhao was seasoning the meat filling.

"Haven't you eaten it before?"

Zhou Xiaojun shook his head. "I’ve never even seen it."

Gu Xiang explained it to him.

In fact, Gu Xiang had rarely eaten it too. When they were younger, with their family's financial situation, dishes that required both meat and oil weren’t something their family could afford.

He could only remember having it once or twice.

Funny enough, the province where Su Zhaozhao used to live had similar traditional foods to the place where the original body was from.

Su Zhaozhao began dropping meat strips coated in sweet potato starch into the pot of hot oil.

The meat strips sizzled and flipped in the oil, turning from white to golden, and a mouthwatering aroma filled the kitchen, then drifted out through the window.

The three kids in the kitchen sniffed the air at the same time.

"Smells awesome!"

Next-door neighbor Wang Chunhua caught the scent too. Not seeing Zhou Xiaojun around, she asked Zhou Fangfang, "Where's your brother?"

Zhou Fangfang nodded toward the neighbors. "He went in there and hasn’t come back out."

Wang Chunhua angrily placed her hands on her hips. "Why didn’t you bring him back?"

Zhou Fangfang hesitated.

She wasn’t sure if she could get him to come back.

Without bothering to take off her apron, Wang Chunhua rushed over to the Gu family’s place.

She pushed the door open and stepped inside. A few steps in, she saw Zhou Xiaojun squatting by the stove, eating with great relish!

"Zhou Xiaojun!"

Zhou Xiaojun jumped in surprise!