Chinese New Year extra: The morning of New Year’s Eve (Jiang Junlian’s perspective)
My name is Jiang Junlian, and I am an ordinary gold medal salesperson for an internationally renowned cosmetics brand.
My sister, Jiang Junqing, is my partner. Last year, our combined sales ranked first in Asia, and our annual income was several times that of our third cousin, who was working as an accountant in his own restaurant.
I'm not targeting my third cousin Jiang Ran. We sisters have obviously had the best relationship with my younger brother since we were young. Most of my younger brother's pocket money and New Year's money were spent on snacks for the two of us. After my brother became famous, he also opened the most small stoves for us sisters. The number of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall that I ate alone was three times that of Brother De, Brother Cheng and Brother Ran combined. Even the engagement banquet of brother and sister-in-law in Shu. Among the younger generations of our Jiang family, only Juan Qing and I are gone.
There are so many iron-clad facts in front of us. Brother Ran, who has always been a transparent person in the family in the past few years, has no self-awareness. He always feels that he gets the first-come-first-served. When he works as an accountant in Tai Feng Building, he has the most contact with the younger brother. Brother has the best relationship.
I won’t talk about Brother De and Brother Cheng. They have never been self-aware since they were young. Even now, they call themselves my dearest cousins and they don’t take my two sisters, Juan Qing and me, seriously at all. .
I won’t say any more. In order to prove to you who among the younger generations of our Jiang family is the person closest to my brother, today I have to tell you about the first year our family spent in Peking. What happened on ten morning.
That winter was very cold.
It was so cold that I wouldn’t have been able to get up if I hadn’t specifically set the alarm.
It was so cold that I slapped Jun Qing twice in the morning to wake her up, so that when she came to the kitchen, the marks on her face were still there.
When we got to the kitchen, Brother Cheng had already finished half of the meal, and I saw the porridge on the table. I know very well why Brother Cheng got up so early and came over here. He just wanted to come over early and let the little brother open a small stove for him and get something to eat.
I have to say that Brother Cheng still doesn’t understand Little Brother well enough. Little Brother is such an easy-to-talk and considerate person who will give you Xiaozao as long as you want him to, but there is a difference between Xiaozao and Xiaozao.
When grandpa was in charge, the early bird caught the worm. Now it's my brother's turn. If you want to eat something really good, you can't just get up early.
"Brother Cheng, have a great New Year!" I said enthusiastically.
"You two arrived just in time. The porridge and fried bean paste are already ready. You can eat fried soybean noodles when I cut some dish codes for you." The younger brother responded with a smile.
"Of course, Juan Qing and I came here at the right time." I did come at the right time. As the sister who knows my brother best, how could I not guess the time when his breakfast will be cooked?
After saying hello, Jun Qing and I scooped out a bowl of porridge and mixed a large bowl of noodles with soybean paste. I like cucumber strips, so I added more cucumber strips. Juan Qing only liked fried sauce, so she scooped out two more spoonfuls of fried sauce. I also advised her to add two less spoons to avoid being salty. Juan Qingfei said it was delicious even if it was salty. .
I really don't understand her taste.
Although we are twins, we occasionally have disagreements about eating.
I had a bite of preserved egg and lean meat porridge and a bite of noodles with soybean paste. Boiling hot porridge, well-mixed noodles, and refreshing cucumbers. Although the combination is a bit strange, it is unexpectedly appetizing. It is just a bit monotonous. If I can have something else, this New Year's Eve morning will be perfect.
While I was eating, I noticed that Brother Cheng had already finished eating. He only ate a small bowl of fried noodles.
"Hey, Brother Cheng, are you only going to eat a small bowl of fried noodles? Don't you want to eat more?" Juan Qing asked a little strangely when he saw that Brother Cheng was only eating a bowl of fried noodles.
"No, no." Brother Cheng waved his hand, "I just drank 4 bowls of porridge and it's a bit hard to eat. You two eat slowly, I'll leave first."
After saying that, Brother Cheng put down the bowl and left the kitchen.
"Sister, did Brother Cheng eat something else?" Juan Qing felt something was wrong and whispered to me.
"My little brother must have been cooking for Brother Cheng." I glanced at the little brother, who was talking calmly, "Brother, what else did Brother Cheng eat besides porridge and fried noodles?"
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"I just ate a meat bun that was left over from yesterday." The younger brother didn't hide it, "Who told you two to come here late? Brother De came first, ate beef noodles and then went back."
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Juan Qing was a little disappointed: "Sister, we got up late."
I don't understand. We are obviously twins, but I just came out two minutes earlier than Juan Qing. Why are my reaction speeds so different?
If I hadn't taken Juan Qing along these years, she would have eaten so much less good food.
Based on what I know about my brother, how could he only prepare noodles with fried bean paste and preserved egg and lean meat porridge on the morning of New Year’s Eve? If he only prepared these two things, he wouldn't need to get up after 5 o'clock.
I saw yesterday that my brother had set an alarm clock for 5:30 this morning.
I glanced at the covered pot and said with a smile: "Brother, are Professor Li and the others coming over for breakfast today? Aren't our two families celebrating the New Year together? Do you want me and Juan Qing to help you give it to Professor Li and the others later? Will you send me breakfast?”
Juan Qing didn't react and continued to drink porridge.
"Professor Li and the others are eating at home this morning. It's too cold in the morning so they don't have to make a special trip. They will come back when the sun comes out at noon." The younger brother said.
"That's why Juan Qing and I were asked to send breakfast over. How could we let them come over in such a cold weather?" I continued.
The little brother laughed: "I knew I couldn't hide it from you. Did you smell it or guess it?"
I chuckled: "Of course I guessed it. Brother, you set the alarm clock for 5:30 in the morning. How could you only cook porridge? You must have made other good things."
The younger brother pointed to the covered pot: "Inside are stewed soups in small cups, red dates and longan soup, egg and meat cake soup, radish and pork ribs soup, apricot and pig lung soup, tremella and lotus seed soup, yam, wolfberry and crucian carp soup, and tea tree mushroom and ribs. There are all kinds of soups. Beixing Pork Lung Soup Grandpa San and Professor Li have had bad throats these past two days. The tremella and lotus seed soup belongs to grandma, the egg and meat cake soup belongs to grandpa, the red date and longan soup belongs to Qiqi, and the yam, wolfberry and crucian carp soup belongs to grandma Chen.”
"You can each pick a cup of the rest and treat it as errand money for later."
"Thank you, brother." Juan Qing didn't react quickly when he said goodbye, but now he reacted faster than me.
"Don't worry, little brother, Juan Qing and I have remembered it and will send it to my grandparents and Professor Li quietly later." I agreed immediately, looked at my phone and it was only 7 o'clock, and asked, "Brother , it’s only 7 o’clock, when will Juan Qing and I deliver the soup?”
"You don't need to deliver soup to grandparents. Just wait until 8 o'clock and you can come over and deliver the soup to Professor Li and the others."
"Okay, little brother!" Juan Qing and I said in unison.
When we thought about the soup that my brother had specially stewed for us later, Juan Qing and I suddenly had an appetite. We stopped talking and began to gulp down porridge and noodles.
When we were finishing breakfast, Brother De came late. I exchanged a few pleasantries with Brother De, thinking that we still had tasks to do at 8 o'clock, so we didn't stop to put down the bowls and say goodbye after eating.
After Juan Qing and I left the kitchen and returned to the room, Juan Qing said in a very hopeless manner: "Sister, I kind of want to eat beef noodles."
"What kind of beef noodles should I eat? When can't I eat beef noodles? How long does it take for me to make a bowl of beef noodles? How long does it take to stew a cup of soup? Is my brother good at making noodles or making soup? The gap between the two is yours. Do the math, is it more cost-effective to eat beef noodles or drink soup? "I hate that iron cannot become steel.
Junxing Junqing's mind was still clear, and he suddenly understood after I made this suggestion: "Soup is a good deal."
The two of us watched TV series in the room for a while, and then went straight to the kitchen as soon as 8 o'clock arrived. There was only one young man in the kitchen, and he was making noodles. It seemed that the noodles were almost alive.
"Drink your own soup first, and then go and give it to Professor Li." The younger brother opened the lid of the pot generously.
I counted only 11 cups of soup in total. After excluding grandpa, third grandpa, grandma, Professor Li, Grandma Chen, third uncle, third aunt, brother and sister Qiqi, there was just enough for Juan Qing and me to drink.
There are not many soups to choose from. I chose tea tree mushroom and pork ribs soup, and Juan Qing chose radish and pork ribs soup.
The soup is very fresh, and the taste of tea tree mushrooms is much better than that of pork ribs. It tastes a bit like the earthen pot soup I have had before. Because it was stewed in a small pot, it was only a bowlful. The soup, with a small amount of oil floating in it and stained with the brown color of tea tree mushrooms, was gone in two or three mouthfuls.
I finished the soup, swallowed every tea tree mushroom, and chewed each bone. When I turned my head, I found that Juan Qing was also chewing the bones.
Throwing the bones into the trash can, I carried Beixing pig lung soup, and Juan Qing carried yam, wolfberry and crucian carp soup. We braved the cold and walked quickly towards Professor Li's house.
The wind was so strong this morning that it made my head hurt. I felt like my facial cream was all gone.
Although the wind was strong, my hands hurt, my face hurt, and my head hurt, but when I thought about the tea tree mushroom pork ribs soup I just drank, I felt that the pain was worth it.
"Sister, you are so amazing. I didn't even expect that there was stew in that pot." Juan Qing's voice trembled in the cold wind.
"Of course." My voice was trembling, but I couldn't hide my pride, "I am the person in the whole family who knows me best."
"Brother De, Brother Cheng and Brother Ran are far behind me."
If my voice didn't shake, I think what I just said would be more powerful.
So cold. (End of chapter)