Twenty-three, sugar gourd paste; twenty-four, sweep the house; twenty-five, send off the Stove King; twenty-six, steam buns...

  The footsteps of the years are getting closer and closer, and every household is starting to get busy for the New Year. The market has started from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, and every day, women from each family go to the market to buy fish, meat, vegetables, sugar, wine, and pastries to prepare for the New Year's goods.

  Rural people have worked hard for a year and when it comes to the Spring Festival, they are willing to spend money on New Year's goods. Whether rich or poor, everyone is carrying big bags and small bags back home.

  Zhou Fu has been going out early and returning late every day, busy helping others slaughter pigs.

  Many families raise a pig for a year and slaughter it before the Spring Festival, selling some of the pork to earn money, giving some to relatives and friends, and using the rest to make dishes like fried doughnuts, salted ham, meat buns, and dumplings.

  Pig offal is also a rare delicacy, stir-fried pig liver and kidney are delicious, and pig blood is best used to cook tofu. There's also pig stomach and large intestine, which can be cooked with cabbage to create an aroma that makes children drool.

  Pork is used to make lard, the pork oil is fragrant and sizzling, the residue is mixed with sugar, it's so delicious that it makes you swallow your tongue. Every time when the family is about to slaughter a pig, the children in the family are eagerly watching the excitement and waiting for the delicious food.

  During Chinese New Year, pork is the main delicacy, while chicken, duck, beef and mutton are eaten less in rural areas.

  This year, two pigs raised by the Zhou family were relatively fat, and one of them was sold by Mr. Zhou.

  Zhou's father slaughtered another pig to make sure his family had a good New Year.

  When killing the pig, several strong men were invited to come and tie the pig with sturdy ropes. Father Zhou walked over with a shiny sharp knife for killing pigs.

  The bloody scene was only watched by Da Bao, while Zhou Xiaoyun took Xiao Bao and Er Ya to hide in the house, not daring to come out. Zhou Xiaoyun's heart felt a chill when she heard the noise, and it wasn't until the mournful screams stopped that she brought Xiao Bao and Er Ya out.

  The pork weighed about 100 catties, and Father Zhou generously gave two or three catties to each of the people who helped.

  Several men declined, but they all took it with a smile. Not every family can afford to kill pigs for the New Year's festival. Rural people have no other income, relying on selling grains and pigs at the end of the year to save some money. Most families sell their pigs to pig dealers in exchange for cash.

  Zhou's father sent some pork to his elder brother's family and aunt's family, and also asked his uncle to take some to the third uncle's family in the city when he drove a tricycle into the city.

  The rest took some to the market to sell, during the New Year's festival, those who had no money bought less and those who had more money bought more, anyway every household bought meat, dozens of kilograms of meat were put on the market and sold out in a short while.

  The money from selling pork was just enough to buy New Year's goods. When they returned home, Father Zhou had his hands full of things, and Zhao Yuzhen happily carried several bighead carp in a basket back to salt-cure for eating during the New Year.

  Dabao's sharp eyes spotted some melon seeds, candies and other treats in Zhou Fu's right hand bag, his mouth watering uncontrollably, he kept asking to eat but was silenced by Zhou Fu's stern glare.

  Zhou's father put all the New Year's goods in the bag on the top of the tall wardrobe, which was certainly not for the children to eat now when entertaining relatives during the New Year. Dabao and Xiaobao could only look at them with relish.

  Zhao Yuzhen pickled several fish and put them in a jar, at home there was also a full crock of pickled sour vegetables and big white cabbage for winter storage, and some chicken eggs and duck eggs were stored. She steeled herself to slaughter two chickens and ducks each, then went to buy some tofu and other things, which would be almost enough.

  There are still twenty or thirty kilograms of pork and some internal organs at home, which can be said to be very rich.

  The fragrance coming from the kitchen attracted several children, and it turned out that Zhao Yuzhen was simmering lard.

  The chunky pork in the pot was sizzling and crackling, and soon a lot of transparent lard emerged. At that time, few people ate salad oil, and most people ate lard. Zhou Xiaoyun especially liked the dishes stir-fried with lard, which had an indescribable fragrance, far surpassing the light and refreshing salad oil.

  Zhou's father kept stuffing straw into the bottom of the pot, and on the earthen stove there was a long chimney extending out of the house. The straw burned fiercely, emitting a lot of black smoke, more than half of which floated out of the house along the chimney, looking like a black dragon in the distance.

  Some even floated into the house, and Zhou's father was the first to be smoked, the kitchen was filled with a smell of smoke and pork fat that was hard to describe as good or bad.

  However, none of the four siblings in the Zhou family were willing to go out, and they all waited eagerly for the moment when the lard was cooked.

  The pork in the pot slowly became smaller and the oil more abundant, and the lard was finally cooked. Zhao Yu Zhen used a ladle to scoop the oil into a large basin, then used a strainer to pick up all the residue and put it in a large bowl. The residue emitted an unusual fragrance, golden and enticing.

  Ah, big treasure used his hand to grab the scalded thing and loudly shouted: "Oh no, I'm scalded to death!"

  "Look at you, so anxious, wait till it cools down a bit before eating."

  When the hot air passed, it became slightly cooler, and the oil residue became crispy. At this time, pick one up and put it in your mouth. The "crunchy" sound was incredibly fragrant and delicious, Zhou Xiaoyun felt that this was simply a heavenly delicacy, if you add a little white sugar, even the peaches of the gods wouldn't be exchanged for it.

  Dabao and Xiaobao didn't care about wanting white sugar anymore, each of them grabbed a big handful and ate happily.

  Two little girls couldn't reach, watching their brothers eat hastily and crying out loud.

  Zhou Xiaoyun hurriedly led her sister to the table and started feeding Er Ya, who finally stopped fussing after being fed a few mouthfuls. Her little mouth kept opening, wanting to eat more. Zhou Xiaoyun could only feed her, taking advantage of the gap in Er Ya's eating to snatch two mouthfuls for herself.

  In no time at all, a large bowl of greasy leftovers was eaten clean by the four siblings of the Zhou family.

  The big treasure who had fed the hungry worm in his belly took the little treasure out to play, and Zhou Xiaoyun knew that her parents were busy and didn't have time, so she automatically played with Er Ya by herself.