As soon as the Minor New Year passed, time seemed to accelerate. Chen Lan and her mother continued to be the children's playmates, while everyone else in the household became exceptionally busy. In the blink of an eye, it was the twenty-fifth of the twelfth lunar month, the day for making tofu.
After Chen Lan finished attending to the dragon-phoenix twins, she carried them downstairs to the living room. She found the living room quiet, with only the cradle swaying gently.
Chen Lan felt a bit puzzled. Who had woken up so early? She placed the twins on the sofa and approached the cradle to look inside. Wow! Good heavens! How early had they woken up today? Several small children were sleeping soundly inside the cradle, all snoring softly.
There were Da Douzi from the family, Xiao Tiedan and Xiao Puta from next door, and Xiao Xibao and Xiao Nangua from the fourth building. Only Xiao Dunzi and Xiao Hehua siblings from the fifth building, and Zhang Xiaohe's son, Xiao Tudou, were missing.
As Chen Lan was pondering, she heard a knock on the door. Chen Lan couldn't help but chuckle at herself, truly living up to the saying, "Speak of the devil, and he shall appear." Without a doubt, it must be people bringing children over!
She quickly walked to the door and opened it. Chen Lan realized her guess was correct. Liu Man'er had brought Xiao Dunzi, wrapped in a small quilt, and Zhang Xiaohe had also brought Xiao Tudou, wrapped in a quilt. Behind them followed Zhao Qiaojie, carrying Xiao Hehua on her back.
Chen Lan quickly welcomed them in. Liu Man'er and Zhang Xiaohe greeted Chen Lan upon entering and then headed towards the cradle with their children. Upon seeing how full the cradle was, both women were stunned.
They turned back to Chen Lan for help and said, "Xiao Lan, what should we do? How could they all be so early?"
Chen Lan quickly soothed them and said with a smile, "Don't you two worry, sit on the sofa and rest for a bit..."
Before Chen Lan could finish, Liu Man'er anxiously said, "Xiao Lan, we can't afford to rest! We have to queue up to make tofu today, and we need to hurry to the big kitchen to get in line; we didn't expect them to be even earlier than us."
Zhang Xiaohe chimed in, "Yes! We really must hurry! We need to go quickly."
Seeing their genuine anxiety, Chen Lan quickly explained, "Even if you're in a hurry, can you let me finish speaking first? What I mean is, you two sit on the sofa and wait for a moment. I'll go upstairs and bring down the stroller for the dragon-phoenix twins. Then the children will have a place to sleep!"
The two women immediately brightened up upon hearing this and showered Chen Lan with compliments. Chen Lan no longer lingered with them. She handed the twins a toy each to play with and then hurried upstairs.
Soon, Chen Lan brought down the stroller. After settling the two little ones to sleep, Chen Lan noticed Xiao Hehua listlessly leaning against her aunt Zhao Qiaojie, clearly not fully awake. She then asked gently, "Xiao Hehua, do you want to sleep a little longer?"
Xiao Hehua nodded listlessly.
After settling Xiao Hehua to sleep, Liu Man'er, with her sister-in-law Qiaojie, and Zhang Xiaohe hurried off.
Not long after, her mother came out from the kitchen carrying breakfast. Seeing Chen Lan and the dragon-phoenix twins, she smiled and said, "I figured the three of you would be coming down soon, so I went to the kitchen and cooked millet porridge for everyone, and steamed buns and flower rolls. Millet porridge is very nourishing, and it's good for the children to drink more of it."
Chen Lan set aside the twins' breakfast and started eating with her mother. While eating, Chen Lan asked, "Mom, have Grandma and Mama Liu gone to make tofu?"
Her mother smiled and said, "Your Grandma and the others left early this morning without even eating breakfast. They called Uncle De and Uncle Fu to help them with the work. After you feed the twins, you can call them back in batches to eat breakfast."
Chen Lan softly asked with confusion, "Mom, why are they in such a hurry? Nowadays, beans are ground by machines, and making tofu is very fast!"
Her mother laughed and said, "Lan'er, do you think making tofu is the only thing to do today? Let me tell you, there are more than just making tofu today. There's also pasting window decorations and welcoming the Jade Emperor. These two things cannot be taken lightly!"
Her mother lowered her head, took a sip of millet porridge, and continued, "Just making tofu itself is already very tedious. Tofu can be made into large blocks, small blocks, dried tofu, pressed tofu, tofu skin, fried tofu puffs, and so on. Moreover, making and eating tofu in the twelfth lunar month is called 'Everything Made is Fortune, Everything Eaten is Fortune.' Tofu and sauerkraut are staple dishes in Northeast China during winter; they are indispensable throughout the winter."
As mother and daughter were chatting happily, the dragon-phoenix twins began to fuss. They were hungry and wanted to eat.
Chen Lan quickly gulped down her millet porridge and stood up to tie bibs around the twins, preparing to feed them.
Her mother also quickly finished her millet porridge and came over to help.
Time passed quickly. After the twenty-fifth, it was the twenty-sixth, the day for slaughtering pigs. Since there were no pigs raised in the valley this year, they couldn't have pig-killing feasts, but they still wanted to eat pork. So, they had to buy meat this year for the New Year. Chen Lan bought half a pig for each family from the system. She had Mingzhe and his two younger brothers use sleds to deliver the meat to each household.
The twenty-seventh was for slaughtering roosters; the twenty-eighth was for fermenting dough; the twenty-ninth was for steaming buns and preparing the oil. On this day, the kitchen would be heated up to fry things, and everything needed for the New Year's frying had to be completed today!
Of course, Chen Lan and her mother didn't have to worry about these tasks. The mother and daughter peacefully continued their roles as children's playmates. Chen Lan, smelling the aroma of fried food wafting from the kitchen, started to crave French fries.
So, she immediately took action. After informing her mother, she went to the root cellar out back and brought up a basin of potatoes. Her mother looked at her curiously and asked, "Lan'er, why are you bringing up so many potatoes?"
Chen Lan, quickly peeling the potatoes with a peeler, replied, "To make French fries."
Her mother didn't quite understand but didn't ask further. As long as she knew it was food, it was fine.
Chen Lan went to the kitchen, got a knife and cutting board, cut the potatoes into thick strips, washed them, and then took them to the kitchen.
Before long, she brought the potato strips out outside in a winnowing basket from the kitchen. When she came back in, her hands were empty.
Her mother asked in confusion, "Lan'er, didn't it turn out well?"
Chen Lan was momentarily stunned, not understanding what her mother meant. Her mother, thinking she was upset, quickly comforted her, "Lan'er, it's okay if it didn't turn out well. We can try again next time. Just use fewer potatoes next time you try, otherwise, it'll be too wasteful."
Only then did Chen Lan understand what her mother meant! She couldn't help but burst into laughter.