Farmhouse Green Plum

Chapter 579 New Year’s Eve

After this topic, the two fell silent.

At about 3 p.m., the carriage arrived at the county town. At this time, there were only a few people entering and leaving the city gate, all in a hurry.

Song Tian greeted the guards, gave them some candy, and asked with a smile, "Brother, when will the city gates close today? I have to go back after sending my sister into the city."

As a colleague in the government office, he took the initiative to explain the reason for his inquiry, which was not confidential. The city guard replied cheerfully, "Then you can go ahead and send it off. The city gates will probably not be closed until the evening of the tenth hour today."

"Xu Shi?" Song Tian was stunned. "Why is it so late today?"

On weekdays, the city gates are closed at the beginning of the evening hour. In winter, when it gets dark early, the gates will be closed two quarters of an hour earlier. Today, because it is New Year's Eve, he was worried that the city guards would close the gates early, so he asked.

The officer winked and said, "We received news this morning that the nobles from the capital are about to arrive. The county magistrate specifically asked us to wait a little longer and close the city gates after they enter the city."

The nobles of the capital...

Song Ying in the car quickly reacted and interrupted, "Are the relatives from the Shen family here to take care of the funeral?"

"Yes," the officer nodded, then sighed, "On New Year's Day, seeing the bodies of loved ones is so heartbreaking. It's unfortunate to have such relatives."

"That's right," Song Tian echoed. "Forget it, let's not talk about it anymore. It's bad luck during the New Year. Brother Yan, Brother Zhang, we're leaving first. We'll have a drink together later."

"Okay, you guys go ahead and get busy."

Since there was still time, Song Ying thought about it and asked Song Tian to take her to her home in the north of the city first. There would be a lot of firecrackers after dark, especially in the second half of the night, and they would probably rarely stop. Since she was in the city, she naturally had to pick up Tangtang.

There were almost no pedestrians on the street, and the carriage was running very fast, so it didn't take long. After picking up Tangtang, she took two lanterns from the shop and gave them to Song Tian. The second half of the journey back would definitely be in the dark, and with the lanterns, it would be much easier to walk.

Opening the door, Lin Wenxuan saw a man and a cat standing outside and was shocked. "Junior sister, didn't you go back home for the New Year?"

"After the reunion dinner, I'll come and stay up with Master and Uncle Master." Song Ying tilted his head and walked around him. "Where are Master and Uncle Master?"

"In the back hall, I'm preparing to roll out bread, dumplings and wontons." Lin Wenxuan closed the door and said as he bent down to tease Tangtang in the cage.

The custom in Jinchuan is to eat wontons cooked in red oil on New Year's Eve, while the custom in the capital is to eat dumplings. In the past, although there were only the two of them, master and apprentice, during the New Year, they would cook wontons and dumplings at the same time, and this year was no exception.

In the back hall, the charcoal fire was burning brightly. As it was just getting dark, there was only one candle lit in the room.

Doctors Lin and Ma were a little surprised to see Song Tian arrive with Tangtang. Doctor Ma was overjoyed: "After so many years, I didn't expect that our sect would still be able to celebrate the New Year together."

Song Ying opened the cage and released Tangtang. Hearing this, an idea occurred to him, "Master, did our sect also stay up together to celebrate the New Year's Eve?"

"That's right," Doctor Ma said with a touch of sadness. "At first, Senior Sister was still with us, but later, she reached the age of marriage and couldn't stay up with us during the New Year."

Doctor Lin's eyes also showed a hint of nostalgia, and he said angrily, "It's New Year's Day, why are you talking about this? People have joys and sorrows, separations and reunions, the moon waxes and wanes, and separations and reunions are normal. Hurry up and roll the noodles, I'm already hungry."

Doctor Ma took a breath and smiled again, "That's true. The New Year should be celebrated with joy."

He picked up the rolling pin and rolled the noodles, then called out to Lin Wenxuan, "Wenxuan, come too. Your hands are getting sore from rolling the noodles for too long because you're old and your hands aren't strong enough."

"Then Master, please let me do it." He was used to grinding and pounding medicine, so he was considered professional at rolling noodles.

Doctor Ma agreed, but did not put down the rolling pin. Instead, he grabbed a ball of dough and rolled it slowly.

Seeing that Doctor Lin was about to mix the stuffing, he shouted, "Senior Sister, leave it there! Song Ying, hurry up and go mix the stuffing. Your master can't cook. If she does, we won't be able to eat tonight."

"Okay, Master, let me do it."

"What do you mean I can't cook? They say a man should be looked at with new eyes after three days of absence. You underestimate me too much. I've made so many medicinal dishes. Now my cooking skills are catching up with the imperial chef!"

Not only did they mention Doctor Ma, but even Lin Wenxuan was worried when they heard this. He said, "Aunt, preparing stuffing is different from making medicinal food. You should let Junior Sister prepare it. Junior Sister's stuffing is delicious."

As he spoke, Song Ying walked to the corner, moved one of the heavy cabinets a few inches outward, then spread out her cloak and hung it on the cabinet, with the hem just a little higher than the ground.

"Junior sister, what are you doing?"

"It's time to set off firecrackers outside. Let's find a secret space for Tangtang to hide." Song Ying walked around to the other side of the cabinet, adjusted his cloak, and made sure that the two sides not against the wall were fully covered before he washed his hands and mixed the stuffing.

"Will Tangtang go in?" Lin Wenxuan expressed his doubt. As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Tangtang peeking over, sniffing, and then going in.

Soon, it came out from the other side, grabbed the cloak for a while, and went back in, going in and out, having a lot of fun.

Song Ying prepared several different fillings very quickly. At Dr. Ma's request, she even added crushed scallops to the filling.

After preparing the filling, Song Ying, Doctor Lin and Doctor Ma made the dumplings together, while Lin Wenxuan continued to roll out the dough the next day.

Because the dough was rolled out earlier, he was quick and skillful, and he had enough time to roll out the dough by himself.

"I almost forgot. I have to pack a few silver ingots in it." Doctor Lin said, and stood up to get two silver ingots, washed them and packed them in.

Song Ying turned his head and stared at the two dumplings carefully, hoping to remember what they looked like, as they represented his fortune for the year!

"Junior sister, stop looking, you put the chili bread in!"

Song Ying turned her head and saw a spoonful of bright red chili powder on the dumpling wrapper in her hand.

She was stunned for a moment, then said sheepishly, "This color is red and has a good meaning. I want to make a special dumpling."

As she spoke, she scooped out a handful of peppercorns and put them in, then filled it with appropriate fillings and wrapped it up.

Lin Wenxuan thought for a moment, put down the rolling pin, picked up a dough sheet and said, "I'll make a special one too!"

Then he made a dumpling with onion, ginger, garlic and other seasonings. After he finished, he said, "Make another wonton."

Without any hesitation, Song Ying made a dumpling with a "red and prosperous" filling.

Doctor Ma's forehead twitched. "Young people, you don't know how high the heavens are. When you eat it yourself, you will know how powerful it is."

"That's great! Eating this 'red and prosperous' filling of mine will bring you good luck. I'm sure you'll make a fortune and have great luck in the coming year!"

Lin Wenxuan also spoke seriously, "Mine is 'Quan Xiang' stuffing, which means the coming year will be full of color, fragrance and taste."