The Su family's New Year's Eve dinner was exceptionally lavish.
In addition to four cold dishes and six hot dishes, they even prepared hot pot.
Each table featured a copper hot pot, bubbling merrily over charcoal, exuding a festive warmth.
Su Xiaotian always felt that if there was one food that could embody the spirit of human life, it would be hot pot.
For the elders' table, Su Xiaotian had prepared a nourishing broth.
The other two tables were set with spicy broths.
Although Li Jianhong and the others had helped prepare the dishes, they were still astonished when everything was finally laid out.
They had known the Su family was well-off, but they hadn't realized they were this wealthy.
What ordinary family could prepare such a sumptuous New Year's Eve feast?
Let alone families like theirs, who were not well-off to begin with. Even during the New Year, they would at most have one meat dish.
But looking at the dishes on one table in the Su family's home: a whole sour and spicy carp, a whole stewed chicken, braised pork trotters, sweet and sour pork ribs, braised meatballs, shredded pork in vinegar, crispy fried pork, winter fruit pork, and spicy pork – these were all substantial dishes.
Out of ten dishes, nine were hearty, with only one vegetable dish, which Su Xiaotian insisted on, saying that eating only meat would be too greasy.
Otherwise, they had no doubt the Su family would have served a table full of meat dishes.
In addition to these, the hot pot also came with large platters of fresh lamb and beef.
With so many people, the cost of this single New Year's Eve dinner must have been considerable.
Although the young women had become quite familiar with the Su family in recent days, they still felt a bit awkward at this moment.
It was the first time for these girls to celebrate the New Year at someone else's home.
Outside, the wind was biting, but indoors, it was as warm as spring. The family ate and chatted, discussing various topics.
Li Jianhong and the other girls listened attentively.
They felt that simply listening to them speak was a valuable learning experience.
It was at this moment that the girls finally realized that several truly influential figures were present.
The head of a prefecture was serving his father-in-law, the renowned Chi Ge was sitting amiably at his seat, enjoying the braised meatballs, and the couple Du Tonghe and Yu Ruiyuan were also not to be underestimated.
In Xiaotian's words, if Grandma Yu hadn't given up on art, her achievements today would have been considerable.
"Xiaotian, it's a good thing your house is so large; otherwise, with so many people, we wouldn't all fit," Qi Xiaofang said, looking at the crowd with admiration.
This was truly what it meant to be from a prominent family.
She was certainly broadening her horizons.
Indeed, at eight o'clock, the television began broadcasting the Spring Festival Gala as scheduled.
Entertainment programs were scarce at this time. Even though many of the performances seemed awkward to Su Xiaotian, who had seen the rich and varied programs of later generations, they were still met with unanimous praise from her family.
Even Chi Ge commented that the program was quite thoughtful.
After a lively dinner, the younger generation went into the courtyard to set off firecrackers, while the older generation sat inside, chatting and drinking tea.
The women, after clearing the dishes, began to sit and snack on melon seeds, commenting on the television programs.
The atmosphere was warm and convivial.
Su Xiaotian felt that perhaps this was what was meant by "peaceful years."
By next year, the family would welcome new members, adding another generation.
Soon, it was past ten o'clock, and Grandpa Su and the others took out red envelopes to distribute New Year's money.
The Su family distributed New Year's money fairly; every child received some, even Su Shouwen and his wife, who were already married.
Li Jianhong and the others initially thought that other families' New Year's money had nothing to do with them.
To their surprise, the elders had also prepared red envelopes for them.
Fortunately, since they were celebrating the New Year at the Su family's home, they had also prepared gifts for their own elders, otherwise, they would have been truly embarrassed.
After a lively exchange of red envelopes and gifts, it was almost midnight, and Grandma Su busily called for the preparation of dumplings.
The Su family had prepared two types of dumplings that day: pork and cabbage, and beef and scallion.
They had also deliberately placed a few washed coins in the dumplings to wish for good luck.
Su Xiao Jiu harbored considerable resentment about this, as he had never managed to eat a coin from the family's dumplings.
Unsurprisingly, his younger sister always got the most.
But Xiao Jiu only complained a little before letting the matter go.
As expected, when they ate dumplings this year, Su Xiaotian still got the most coins. Out of five coins in total, she managed to get three herself, with one going to Su Ciliang and another to Chen Zi'an.
This made the little fellow Chen Xiuyuan unhappy.
"Why doesn't Xiao Yuan have one?" the little fellow pouted, his beautiful big eyes glistening with tears.
Su Xiaotian quickly took one of her three coins and gave it to Chen Xiuyuan.
"Here, does Xiao Yuan want a coin from sister?"
Little Chen Xiuyuan, however, did not hesitate and took it directly.
But seeing that Su Xiaotian still had two coins in front of her, the little fellow became unhappy again.
"Sister has more, I have less!"
Su Manxiu smiled and patted her son's chubby little bottom, saying, "You have plenty of New Year's money; do you want to share some with your sister?"
As the youngest child, he was only responsible for receiving New Year's money and not giving gifts, naturally making him the biggest recipient.
The little fellow knew that money was good, so he quickly stretched out his chubby little hands and clutched his pockets tightly, afraid that his New Year's money would be taken away.
He also firmly declared, "Mine, mine, Xiao Yuan's."
Seeing the little fellow's stingy demeanor, everyone burst into laughter.
Although the tradition was to stay up late on New Year's Eve, the elders were old and could not truly stay awake until midnight.
After midnight, the Spring Festival Gala ended, and the dumplings were eaten. Everyone then dispersed to their homes to rest.
The Su family was large, so the Su brothers accompanied Du Tonghe and others to the Du family's residence. The rest of the family, tired from the continuous travel, returned to their rooms to rest.
Originally, Su Xiaotian thought her grandfather would hold a meeting this year to summarize the family's gains and look forward to the future, but this procedure was unexpectedly skipped.
Upon further reflection, she realized that a few years prior, her grandfather might have been worried that the family members were not clear about their income and feared that the sons might cause unpleasant scenes over money.
But now, each family's accounts were separate, and the money earned by each family belonged to them, so such a procedure was no longer necessary.
After all, earning money was a matter of individual capability.
Living their lives separately, earning their own money, and spending their own money, there was indeed no need for a meeting to discuss these matters.
Only Su Xiao Si felt quite regretful. He had earned a lot of money this year and had planned to make a stunning announcement at the family meeting, but his grandfather didn't give him the opportunity!