Aside from these meat and vegetable dishes, fresh vegetables that were absolutely unseen during New Year's in previous years had all appeared on Wang An's table this year.
Thus, the eleventh dish was shredded cucumber mixed with dried tofu skin and green pepper strips, with a small amount of cilantro added in.
The twelfth dish was baby bok choy stewed with tofu. Tofu sounds like "bean fortune" (doufu), making it an almost essential dish on the New Year's table.
The thirteenth dish was persimmons mixed with white sugar.
Wang An loved the leftover syrup from the sugar-mixed persimmons the most; it was sweet with a slight tang, simply obliterating all the drinks of future generations.
The fourteenth dish was stir-fried celery with vermicelli. Celery and vermicelli (qin fen) sounded like "diligent" (qinfen). As farmers, how could they get by without being diligent?
The fifteenth dish was stir-fried leeks with eggs.
The sixteenth and final dish was cold-dressed bitter melon.
In Liu Guilan's words, only by remembering how the bitter days of the past were spent could one know how the good days of the present came to be.
After Liu Guilan finished speaking, the whole family fell silent.
However, immediately following this, Liu Guilan said with a chuckle
"Alright, it's the New Year. Actually, I just couldn't come up with sixteen dishes, so I used bitter melon to fill the number, hehehe. Come on, let's all have a toast first."
Liu Guilan's words left everyone stunned for a moment before they burst into laughter once again.
Truth be told, Liu Guilan's reversal was quite a jump; one second she was being sentimental, and the next she had turned it into a joke.
Nevertheless, the atmosphere at the dining table instantly became filled with laughter and harmony.
Once Liu Guilan finished, the five of them—Wang Dazhu, Liu Guilan, Wang An, Shen Wei, and Zhao Cuiyun—all raised their glasses of baijiu, while the six of them—Mu Xueqing, Wang Yi, Wang Xiaomei, Wang Xiaoli, Xiao Lai-zi, and Gou Shengzi—all picked up their soda bottles.
Only the two little treasures, Kuaile and Xingfu, one in the arms of their father Wang An and the other in the arms of their mother Mu Xueqing, looked at everyone one by one with eyes full of curiosity, babbling incoherently.
Everyone clinked their glasses. After putting them down, Wang An asked Xingfu in his arms with a smile
"Big girl, seeing us drink, you want some too, huh? Hahaha..."
Whether Xingfu understood or not, she reached out her hand toward the wine glass in front of Wang An.
Seeing this, Wang An quickly lifted Xingfu a bit higher and hurriedly said
"You can't touch this stuff. Promise Daddy that we won't drink alcohol in the future, okay? It's not good for a little girl to drink."
As he spoke, Wang An gave a kiss to Xingfu's tender and delicate little cheek.
Mu Xueqing also said to Kuaile in her arms
"We won't drink alcohol either. If you want to drink, be like your dad—no matter how much he drinks, he doesn't get drunk."
Immediately after, Mu Xueqing also kissed Kuaile's little cheek.
Wang An said to Xingfu again
"When you grow up a bit, Daddy will teach you martial arts. If anyone dares to act cocky with you, you just whack them."
After saying this, Wang An kissed Xingfu's little cheek again.
Then Mu Xueqing said to Kuaile
"When you grow up a bit, you should also practice martial arts well with your dad. If anyone dares to bully your sister, you just whack them."
After Mu Xueqing finished, she also kissed Xingfu's cheek.
And so, the couple doted on their children right there by the dining table, completely oblivious to anyone else.
Liu Guilan couldn't help but interrupt
"Are you two going to eat or not? Wait until you're finished and go back to the room to dote on them."
Perhaps because it was the New Year, or perhaps because life at home was getting better and better, Liu Guilan's tone of voice had become much gentler.
Hearing this, Wang An and Mu Xueqing looked at each other and smiled. Only then did they hold the children in their left arms and pick up their chopsticks with their right hands to eat with everyone.
With a full sixteen dishes, it truly felt like there was too much to eat. Even if they only took two bites of each dish, they had basically finished a full meal.
Unsurprisingly, many of the dishes on the table had only been eaten a few times, and some had only been touched once.
By the time the meal was over, it was already 2 PM.
After cleaning up the dishes, Xiao Lai-zi and Gou Shengzi stayed at Wang An's house to watch TV with Wang Xiaomei and Wang Xiaoli, while Shen Wei and Zhao Cuiyun each went home to heat their kang beds.
Wang An had originally thought about taking a nap to prepare for the New Year's Eve vigil, but Mu Xueqing said to him
"Go take a stroll. Sister Shen Wei is heating her kang at home; it'll probably be a while before she comes over."
As soon as Wang An heard this, he immediately understood what Mu Xueqing meant. It was nothing more than telling him to go to Shen Wei's house and shoot the breeze with her.
Wang An said with a grin
"I was thinking of serving you well tonight. Wouldn't it be quite interesting if we were 'doing that' while welcoming the New Year?"
Mu Xueqing's eyes lit up upon hearing this, but she said
"Mm-hmm, it's just that these two kids are a bit of a hindrance. I reckon we'd only get to 'do that' once before they wake up."
Mu Xueqing gestured with her eyes toward Wang An's crotch and asked
"Just once, can you satisfy yourself?"
Wang An turned to look at the two little treasures and let out a long, helpless sigh.
Truth be told, although these two little treasures were the apples of Wang An's eye, they were two massive obstacles to the wonderful things Wang An and Mu Xueqing wanted to do.
Even now, Wang An could occasionally recall the sudden sound of crying and that very abrupt kick just as he and Mu Xueqing were reaching the height of their passion.
Noticing Wang An's face full of helplessness, Mu Xueqing couldn't help but giggle. While laughing, she said
"Just go. Otherwise, you'll be left hanging again before tonight. I've heard that stopping suddenly halfway through 'that' is very bad for a man's health."
Wang An pulled Mu Xueqing's head close and kissed her sexy lips, then he got up, put on his shoes, and strolled over to Shen Wei's house.
In less than two minutes, Wang An arrived at Shen Wei's home.
At this moment, Shen Wei was sitting on a small stool by the stove, staring blankly at the flames in the hearth. She didn't even notice Wang An opening the door and coming in at first.
It wasn't until Wang An closed the two wooden doors with a thud that Shen Wei looked up toward the entrance.
And what greeted Shen Wei was Wang An's lecherous, smiling face.
Wang An opened his arms, and Shen Wei immediately stood up with a face full of smiles and threw herself directly into Wang An's embrace.
Wang An lifted Shen Wei up by her waist, and his large mouth pressed down onto her small mouth for a kiss.
Shen Wei also wrapped her arms around Wang An's neck, kissing him passionately.
After making out for a long while, Shen Wei whispered to Wang An
"Let's go to the east room; the east room is warm."
And so, Wang An kicked open the door to the east room and carried Shen Wei inside.
After a short while, this pair of "dog-like" lovers did "that" together.
When Wang An emerged from Shen Wei's house, he felt refreshed all over.
As they say, a man simply cannot go too long without touching a woman.