novellhall Chapter 116 Preparing the New Year's Eve Dinner
Chapter 116 Preparing the New Year's Eve Dinner
When Qiao An and Huo Jiyun returned to the side room of the main house, Huo Fang was telling her younger siblings a story.
Joanne brought out a plate of tangerines. "Try this new variety of tangerines. Mom got them from the black market. They're so rare."
Huo Ning grabbed a tangerine and looked up to see Qiao An's swollen lips.
"Mom, why are your lips swollen?"
Children speak without thinking, but Huo Ning's words drew the attention of the other two children.
Joan scratched her head awkwardly; it was not only swollen, but also a little painful.
Seeing Qiao An's helpless expression, Huo Jiyun chuckled quietly from the side.
Joan punched him in an annoyance. "Go make the bed in that room!"
"Okay! I'll go right now."
Huo Jiyun ran to the side room while laughing.
Joanne peeled a few tangerines for the children and shut them up.
When Huo Jiyun finished his work and came out, Qiao An handed him three peeled pieces.
"Mmm, this orange is so sweet, and it's seedless. It's delicious."
Huo Jiyun ate them one after another, and finished them quickly.
"This is supposedly a new variety from the farm; you might not be able to buy it even if you have the money," Joan offered a relatively reasonable explanation.
Huo Jiyun didn't press for details; whatever she said was true.
That night, Qiao An and Huo Jiyun slept side by side, which was unusual for them.
At first, Huo Jiyun was overjoyed.
But he soon discovered that this was not a reward for him, but a punishment.
Qiao An is a restless sleeper; she always moves around in her arms at night.
This movement inevitably leads to touching places that shouldn't be touched.
Huo Jiyun felt like a cannonball about to explode; this feeling was truly agonizing.
The family of five, four of whom were sleeping soundly.
Only Huo Jiyun stood silently gazing at the roof beams.
If only those three kids didn't exist.
Ugh...
The next morning, Qiao An woke up in Huo Jiyun's arms.
It's cold in winter, and a few days ago she even felt a bit chilly under a quilt.
But last night she was so hot that she stretched her arms out.
To be honest, men are really like furnaces; just leaning against them makes you feel warm.
She got up and stretched, and when she looked down, she saw Huo Jiyun with dark circles under his eyes and a pitiful look on his face.
"Didn't you sleep well?" Joan asked.
Huo Jiyun still felt lingering fear when he recalled the feeling from last night. "Yeah, I had a bit of insomnia."
"Why are you having trouble sleeping? Is something wrong with your body?"
Huo Jiyun felt even more frustrated upon hearing this. He did feel uncomfortable somewhere, but he couldn't say it.
Qiao An's vacation starts today, and Huo Jiyun will be able to see Qiao An every day for the next week.
For some reason, he started to dislike the three children.
Why are they still bothering Joanne?
Either let her play with them, or tell them stories, or let her cook something delicious.
Joan has very little time to spare for herself.
Huo Jiyun was angry.
He felt he had to find a way to get the child away.
Yesterday's kiss was like a key, opening the door to a new world for Huo Jiyun.
He wanted to continue, he wanted more.
Qiao An had no idea what Huo Jiyun was thinking; she was busy preparing for the New Year.
This is the first New Year she has celebrated since she transmigrated into the novel.
No war, no killing, no apocalyptic New Year.
How precious!
The day before Lunar New Year's Eve, she started planning the menu for the New Year's Eve dinner with her child.
"Ah Chen wants to eat braised pork? Okay, I'll write that down."
"A-Ning wants sweet and sour pork? No problem."
"Fangfang wants braised lion's head meatballs? Okay!"
"Husband, husband?" Qiao An called Huo Jiyun "husband" naturally.
Huo Jiyun came running over, "What's wrong?"
"What do you want to eat for New Year's Eve dinner tomorrow?" Qiao An looked up at her, biting her lower lip lightly.
Damn it...
Huo Jiyun's true thought was: I want to eat you!
He cursed inwardly: Why does seeing her remind me of those things?
He was really driven by lust.
Bringing himself back to reality, Huo Jiyun replied, "I want to eat your Kung Pao Chicken; it's sweet and delicious."
Joan wrote it down stroke by stroke, "Okay!"
She looked at the notebook and said, "It's all meat dishes. We can't do without vegetables. I'll add one more vegetable dish and one cold dish."
After writing down the menu items, Qiao An happily slammed the notebook on the table. "Alright! Our New Year's Eve dinner is ready!"
"Mom! Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, can my sister and I have an extra piece of candy?" Huo Chen saw Qiao An was happy and remembered that Huo Ning had been thinking about candy for the past two days.
"Sure, from tomorrow until the seventh day of the new year, the three of you can eat two White Rabbit candies and two red shrimp pastries every day, but you must brush your teeth in the morning and at night. If you forget to brush your teeth even once, the perk will be canceled."
The three children didn't understand what "welfare" meant, but they roughly understood.
"Second Aunt! I will keep an eye on my younger brother and sister!" Huo Fang, as the eldest sister, took the initiative to accept her task.
"Our Fangfang is so good," Qiao An said softly, hugging her.
Huo Jiyun really didn't expect Qiao An to be so good to Huo Fang, a child who was not related to her by blood.
Huo Fang is becoming more and more cheerful. Her teacher said that she is first in her grade and will have no problem getting into the town's junior high school.
Unfortunately, society is in turmoil now, and you have to find a job after graduating from high school. It would be great if there were a university you could go to.
Huo Jiyun was unaware that the college entrance examination would be reinstated in a year, which was why Qiao An insisted on sending Huo Fang to school.
She knew Huo Fang's abilities; she was the first college student in Lianchi Village.
On New Year's Eve, from the morning onwards, white smoke began to rise from the chimneys of every household in Lianchi Village.
That really proves the idiom.
Smoke curls from the kitchen.
Everyone is preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner.
This was the best meal everyone had all year.
At Tian Yongfu's home, Aunt Liu and Dongmei were busy in the kitchen early in the morning.
In previous years, the only meat dish their family had on New Year's Eve was dumplings.
And you can barely taste the meat flavor.
This year is different.
The last day that Aunt Liu and Dongmei worked at Qiao An's house.
That evening, Qiao An and Huo Jiyun went to Tian Yongfu's house together.
They brought them a full two pounds of pork, five pounds of flour, as well as canned fruit and several bags of candy, melon seeds, peanuts, and the like.
Tian Yongfu felt bad and didn't want to accept it.
But Qiao An was quick-witted and managed to entangle Tian Yongfu in just a few words.
In the end, I didn't even know why I accepted these things.
But thanks to Qiao An, their family had both money and meat this year, and everyone started looking forward to the New Year's Eve dinner as soon as they got up in the morning.
In stark contrast to their family was the Huo family.
Before the New Year, Huo Jiyun gave Liu Huying thirty yuan.
The thirty yuan was barely warmed before it was divided between the first and third wives.
After arguing, the final solution was to split it equally.
Thirty yuan, ten yuan per family, no one can say anything.
But problems followed one after another.
The New Year's Eve dinner must be prepared properly.
Doing things well requires money.
None of them wanted to contribute more.
That day, I went to town to buy New Year's goods, and each family contributed three yuan.
In the end, they pitifully brought back five catties of coarse flour, two ounces of pork, three ounces of peanut oil, and half a catty of peanuts.
With two yuan left, he bought two feet of scrap cloth from the supply and marketing cooperative.