I was reborn after my cousin stole my life.

Chapter 83: Chinese New Year and Candied Hawthorns

Yuan Xiu lay on the table, pen in hand, and continued the conversation from the letter Jiang Zhou had finished writing.

Just as she had advised Jiang Zhou, she offered heartfelt greetings, careful instructions, and finally expressed sincere gratitude. After writing all of this, she had filled a whole sheet of paper.

Jiang Zhou glanced at it and said, "That's all nonsense."

Yuan Xiu glared at him.

"Writing a letter to family isn't like writing a report to your boss; there's no need to be so concise. See if there's anything else you want to add."

Yuan Xiu asked a pointless question.

"No, that's fine."

Yuan Xiu reached into the drawer, took out an empty envelope, carefully folded the letter, and put it inside. "Then you can mail it tomorrow."

Jiangzhou mailed the letter the next day.

……

Before we knew it, it was Lunar New Year's Eve.

On this day, Yuan Xiu and Jiang Zhou both got up very early.

Yuan Xiu cooked breakfast. It wasn't that Jiang Zhou didn't want to cook; he simply didn't have the energy or skill to make glutinous rice balls.

Yuan Xiu had bought the glutinous rice flour two days earlier. She kneaded the dough, wrapped it with finely chopped brown sugar, and then cooked it in a pot.

When the plump, white glutinous rice balls float to the surface of the boiling water, they are ready.

Sweet, soft, and glutinous, these fist-sized brown sugar glutinous rice balls were eaten by Jiang Zhou all by himself.

After breakfast, Jiang Zhou was pulled by Yuan Xiu to tidy up the house carefully.

Yuan Xiu had taken some time a few days ago to cut some paper-cut window decorations, which she put up today.

Spring Festival couplets can no longer be pasted up; it's not fashionable anymore. You know, starting from 1966 or 1967, the Spring Festival was abolished.

Yuan Xiu and her colleagues were given a holiday not because it was a nationally mandated holiday, but because their workplace adjusted it on its own, and it could be canceled at any time.

The same goes for Jiangzhou; it's more like a work-short leave arrangement than a holiday.

Many factories in the city have to keep operating even on New Year's Eve; the machines never stop.

While Jiangzhou was putting up paper-cut window decorations, Yuan Xiu went into the kitchen to prepare lunch and New Year's Eve dinner for the two of them.

Yuan Xiu fried crispy pork and fried dough sticks, two dishes that are essential for celebrating the New Year in her hometown.

Cut pork with a ratio of three parts fat to seven parts lean into strips, marinate with seasonings, mix sweet potato starch with eggs to form a paste, pour the marinated pork into the sweet potato starch paste, coat it with the batter, and slowly fry it in hot oil until golden brown.

Fried dough sticks are made with flour. First, mix it into a batter, add salt and pepper, hold chopsticks in both hands, dip the dough into the batter, roll it twice, and then put it into the oil. In no time, they will be fried until they puff up to three times their original size. They are oily, fluffy, soft and fluffy, and the skin has a crispy texture from being fried in the oil.

After Jiang Zhou finished putting up the window decorations, he went straight to the kitchen. He had already smelled the delicious aroma and swallowed his saliva several times while putting up the decorations.

Seeing him come in, Yuan Xiu first picked up a piece of fried crispy pork and held it to his mouth, "This is fried crispy pork that we make for the New Year in my hometown, have a taste."

There are various kinds of fried dough sticks in different regions. There are many kinds of fried dough sticks alone, some with vegetables, some with meat, and some with nothing at all.

Jiang Zhou had eaten fried crispy pork before, but none of the previous ones tasted like this.

Local flavors vary from place to place.

"tasty!"

Yuan Xiu then picked up another fried dough stick, plump and round, and handed it to him.

This time, she simply used chopsticks to pierce through the middle of the fried dough sticks, skewered them, and handed them to him.

"We're having hot pot tonight. We can add the fried pork belly and fried dough sticks to the hot pot, or use them to make soup. If we don't finish them, I'll use them to make steamed pork belly tomorrow..."

Yuan Xiu's face lit up whenever food was mentioned; she was an expert in this field.

For their lunch, in addition to fried pork and fried dough sticks, Yuan Xiu also steamed red sausage, fried ribbonfish, and made a hot tonic soup with the tonics sent by Ms. An Hui.

After lunch, the two of them had basically nothing to do. Yuan Xiu also wanted to take a break, so she put her textbooks and medical books aside and relax a bit.

"How about we go explore the nearby towns?"

They lived near the suburbs, in an area that was considered a rural-urban fringe. Going in the opposite direction from the city, they could reach the countryside, where there were towns, which were even closer than the city itself.

At this time of year, the town might be more bustling than the city.

Yuan Xiu nodded excitedly, "Go!"

The two set off immediately, putting on cotton-padded coats, scarves, and hats to keep themselves warm and cozy, and then rode their bicycles.

The nearest town to the compound is only a 20-minute bike ride away.

When Yuan Xiu arrived, she realized that it was an ancient town.

At the entrance to the town, there is a tall archway that looks like it has a history of several hundred years. Yuan Xiu had studied history and knew that this was probably an archway built by someone who had served as an official in the town several hundred years ago.

The town was indeed bustling.

In the countryside, the villagers don't have the concept of not having a holiday during the Spring Festival. On New Year's Eve, they all rush to the town.

There are a lot of young people.

Yuan Xiu's eyes were drawn to a string of candied hawthorns. For some reason, once she saw the bright red candied hawthorns, she couldn't take her eyes off them, and her mouth started to water automatically. She was so tempted that she kept swallowing.

I ate a big lunch and I'm not hungry at all.

Her gaze was so intense as she stared at the candied hawthorn in the little girl's hand that Jiang Zhou couldn't ignore it.

"Comrade, where did you buy these candied hawthorns?"

The little girl pointed ahead and said, "It's right ahead. Just walk forward and you'll see it."

"Thank you."

The little girl skipped and hopped off to play with her friends, carrying a candied hawthorn.

Jiang Zhou smiled and said to Yuan Xiu, "I'll buy it for you right away."

Yuan Xiu's face flushed slightly. She had originally intended to be polite, but the craving in her mouth wouldn't let her.

It wasn't that she wanted to eat it, it was that the baby in her belly wanted to eat it.

Yes, that must be it!

The small shop selling candied hawthorns is a government-owned enterprise in the town. There were many people gathered in front of the shop, mostly adults with children.

During the Chinese New Year, candied hawthorns are inexpensive and don't require coupons. Families who love their children are willing to spend five cents or ten cents to buy a skewer for their kids.

Jiang Zhou went to queue up, while Yuan Xiu watched the car wait on the side.

After waiting for about ten minutes, Jiang Zhou returned with a large string of candied hawthorns in his hand.

"I bought you a big one, is it enough?"

Yuan Xiu nodded, her saliva rapidly secreting in her mouth. All she wanted to do was quickly eat one to satisfy her craving.

Jiang Zhou handed it to her, saying, "Take your time."

It won't slow down at all!

Yuan Xiu took a big bite and popped a round, bright red candied hawthorn into her mouth.

This sudden sense of satisfaction made her want to stomp her feet in joy!

She actually stomped her foot, and only after she finished did she realize how childish she had been.

Seeing her round, bulging eyes, round, bulging mouth, and hamster-like, flushed cheeks, Jiang Zhou clenched his fist and put it to his mouth, suppressing the obvious smile on his lips.

Yuan Xiu: ...Don't think I can't tell you're laughing!