Chapter 244 New Year’s Eve
Or, draw a circle on the ground, have one person stand in the circle and kick a sandbag out of the circle, and then the person outside picks up the sandbag and throws it back with all his strength.

If the sandbag hits the circle, the person in the circle loses. If the sandbag is kicked out by the people in the circle and falls to the ground, the people in the circle need to estimate the distance between the sandbag and the circle, report a number, and measure it with their feet. If they can reach it with their hands after counting their footsteps, they will proceed to the next round of the game. If not, the person in the circle loses.

The loser needs to leave the circle and hand over the rights of the game to others...

All the rules of the game were not complicated. Xia Mingyue was able to understand them quickly and had fun with his two brothers.

Wu Jin was delighted by what he saw and came closer to play with the three of them.

So, the three people and the dog had a lot of fun in the yard, with laughter and joy all the time.

Here, Jiang Zhuguo and Lu were busy together in the kitchen.

As mentioned before, there is no shortage of food and drink on weekdays, and there are only two families and four people in total for the New Year’s Eve dinner, so there is no need to cook too much food, just a few simple and delicious side dishes.

At this time, Jiang Zhuguo and Lu also cooked according to this standard.

But in their opinion, no matter how simple it is, it is a New Year's Eve dinner after all, so chicken, duck, fish and meat are indispensable.

As for the chicken, people usually eat braised chicken and roast chicken, so the two of them made it into the more common fried chicken.

Chop the chicken into smaller pieces, blanch them in water to remove the blood foam, and then fry them in oil to make the chicken firmer and chewier. Then add the scallions, ginger, and garlic, and stir-fry the chicken.

In order to make the chicken taste more delicious and appetizing, Jiang Zhuguo added some of the bean paste that Xia Mingyue often used, and also added a little dried red pepper when cooking the pot base. The chicken fried in this way was spicy, fresh and delicious.

As for the duck, Jiang Zhuguo felt that it was a bit difficult to cook it properly, so after discussing with Mrs. Lu, he simply chopped the duck into pieces and stewed it into duck soup.

There is no need to add too many seasonings, just add some salt and pepper, simmer over low heat until the soup is clear and full of fragrance.

The fish is cooked using the steaming method which is not easy to make mistakes, and the fish chosen is sea bass which has few bones and tender meat.

The meat was made into braised pork. A few days ago, when Xia Mingyue was cooking and asked Manager Ge and Wu Xiong to taste the food, Jiang Zhuguo followed her and watched the preparation.

After finishing the four dishes, Jiang Zhuguo looked at the shiny oil on the dishes and frowned slightly, "Sister Lu, are these four dishes we made too meaty?"

Mrs. Lu nodded when she heard this. "Dumplings are also stuffed with meat. Once they are served, the table will be filled with meat dishes, which will be a bit greasy. How about we make two vegetarian dishes?"

Before the Chinese New Year, after Xia Mingyue sent a holiday gift to Shopkeeper Ge, Shopkeeper Ge also sent someone to deliver a holiday gift. Most of them were fresh vegetables, which were said to be carefully grown in the greenhouse and were not common species in winter.

Celery, cucumber, bamboo shoots, eggplant...

Jiang Zhuguo and Lu made a selection and finally made a dish of celery fried with dried tofu using celery and braised five-spice dried tofu.

Cucumbers are served with bean curd sheets, fried peanuts, blanched bamboo shoots, etc., and mixed with red oil to make a big salad.

The eggplant is steamed, squeezed dry, and mixed with garlic juice.

"These seven dishes are an odd number, which is unlucky..." Mrs. Lu asked.

Jiang Zhuguo agreed, so he took out another lotus root and wanted to stir-fry some lotus root strips.

When Mrs. Lu saw the lotus root, she wanted to eat fried lotus root, so she simply made another fried lotus root. In this way, the dish became nine, an odd number.

Lu thought about it and took out some fresh spinach...

When it was completely dark, Jiang Zhuguo and Lu brought all the dishes to the table and invited Xia Mingyue, Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu to come and eat.

Tonight is New Year's Eve, a time for the family to reunite, and Xia Mingyue brought Wu Jin into the main room as well.

Wu Jin was extremely happy, but he did not forget to bring his usual clay pot. In the pot were dumplings and stewed bones that Xia Mingyue had specially prepared for him. Wu Jin liked them very much.

However, after the three people and the dog entered the house, they saw that the table was full of dishes. Because one table was not enough, Mrs. Lu specially moved a small coffee table from home. The two tables were filled with various dishes, which was a dazzling array.

Xia Mingyue and the other two as well as Wu Jin and his dog were also shocked.

After staring blankly for a long time, Zhao Dahu spoke first, "Mom, are you not going to give us food tomorrow?"

So today we need to let them eat more so they won’t be hungry.

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Mrs. Lu was too embarrassed to admit that she and Jiang Zhuguo accidentally made more and more in order to make an even number. She just coughed and said, "Originally, I just wanted to make a few simple dishes, but after thinking about it, today is New Year's Eve, so I should pay more attention to the display."

"According to the rules, the food on New Year's Eve should be prepared but not finished, and left over for the next day. This is what we call having surplus every year..."

"That's what happened." Xia Mingyue nodded with a smile.

The firecrackers hanging on the branches outside were lit. With a burst of crackling sounds and confetti flying all over the ground, the New Year’s Eve dinner officially began.

Everyone picked up their chopsticks and began to enjoy this delicious meal that represented reunion.

Jiang Zhuguo and Lu had been busy at the stove for a long time, and now they often watched Xia Mingyue cook and got some advice. This New Year's Eve dinner was quite good.

Although it is still a little bit inferior to what Xia Mingyue made, it has good color, aroma and taste and tastes great.

Xia Mingyue's constant praise gave Jiang Zhuguo and Lu a great boost of confidence.

The food was delicious, and everyone ate with great appetite. Everyone put down their chopsticks only when their stomachs were full. However, the portion of the dinner exceeded everyone's appetite, and there was still a lot left on the table.

All the leftover food was reclassified and gathered, placed in the kitchen, covered with a basket and stored properly, ready to be eaten the next day.

After everything was cleaned up, some melon seeds, peanuts, apples, pears and other things were placed on the table, ready for everyone to gather together to celebrate the New Year.

Chatting, talking about the new and interesting things that happened during the day, talking about what we want to do next year, and then talking about the future of Xia Ji and the restaurant that will open next year...

The three of them were chatting happily. Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu were also very energetic, occasionally saying a word or two.

Only Wu Jin quietly walked out of the main room, walked around the yard a few times, and after making sure there was nothing unusual, he went into the house and lay at Xia Mingyue's feet for a while.

After staying for half an hour, he went out again for a walk and did his daily patrol.

It’s the New Year, and although we’re happy, we can’t let our guard down, right?