Chapter 1374 - 539: Dad, Is This the "Seafood" You Bought? Farewell to the Old and Welcome the New—New Year’s Eve Dinner!

Chapter 1374: Chapter 539: Dad, Is This the "Seafood" You Bought? Farewell to the Old and Welcome the New—New Year’s Eve Dinner!

After the car left, he turned to Chen Shaokang and the others and said:

"You really can’t go play with those fireworks by the reservoir right now—one slip and someone could get killed. Wait till we’ve had dinner and it’s dark, then we can watch together, it won’t be too late."

"Okay, Uncle Shen."

Shen Guofu pointed toward the gate:

"Go lock the main gate, so nobody comes over and fiddles with the fireworks while we’re eating. If something happens it’ll still be on us."

As soon as Chen Shaokang heard that, he and Lin Bin immediately drove the commuter van over to the gate to lock it.

In the dining room, Chen Meijuan and a few old ladies finished wrapping all the dumplings they’d be eating over the next few days, then carried them to the kitchen to freeze them one by one.

After freezing the dumplings she asked curiously:

"How long till dinner?"

"Almost there. Once the hot dishes are ready, we’ll start serving."

It was already past four in the afternoon, and the sound of firecrackers from the village in the distance had started up.

Chen Meijuan said:

"Hurry up then. If we’re behind everyone else, we won’t be able to grab any good luck."

Lin Xu chuckled:

"When did you get so superstitious?"

"This isn’t superstition, it’s traditional custom. It’s like foreigners hanging stockings at Christmas. They all know there’s no Santa Claus, yet they still fuss over it every year—that’s tradition too."

Once she said that, it was Lin Xu’s turn to be lost for words.

Mm, next time someone attacks traditional culture like that, he’ll use this to fight back.

Before long, one cold dish after another was carried into the dining room.

By now a big round table had been set up in the dining room, big enough for the whole family to sit around, with a motorized lazy Susan on top so nobody had to rotate the table by hand.

There was a charcoal stove glowing red in the room, the smoke vented outside through a pipe. It was over twenty degrees indoors, warm and cozy, perfect for a meal.

Carrying several steamed dishes on a tray, Lin Xu came out of the kitchen, looked up at the sky and asked curiously:

"How come it suddenly looks so overcast? Is it going to snow?"

As soon as old Madam Lin heard that she said:

"Snow is good. A big snow on New Year’s Eve means good weather and timely rain in the coming year."

Running into a heavy snow during the New Year is definitely a fine thing.

Just imagine sitting later in a warm room, eating the reunion dinner, sipping a little wine, and now and then turning to glance at the snowflakes drifting outside the window—how cozy is that.

Helping to carry dishes, Lin Hongjun laughed and said:

"Just thinking about eating the reunion dinner while it’s snowing makes me itch for a drink."

His eldest aunt, Bian Suqing, shot him a look:

"You’ve gone one lunchtime without booze and look how greedy you are. Can’t you set a good example for Xiao Bin?"

Lin Bin said:

"No need, no need, I already take my cousin as a role model. If my dad wants to drink, let him drink, he doesn’t need to use me as a shield."

Lin Bin had just entered his final year of high school, with heavy coursework, so they didn’t see him often.

What he said made Bian Suqing laugh:

"If you’re taking your cousin as a role model, then you’ve got to get into Central Finance University too. Son, do you have confidence in yourself?"

"I do have confidence in myself, I just don’t have confidence in the Central Plains cutoff score. Every year everybody’s rushing onto the same single-plank bridge; I’m not sure I can squeeze past them."

In the kitchen, Lin Xu took out the steamed camel hump, poured off the juices, and simmered them together with abalone sauce in the wok for a bit. When it was ready, he drizzled in some scallion oil, then poured the sauce back over the camel hump.

One steamed camel hump was now done.

After handing it off for Shen Jiayue to carry out, Lin Xu asked Chen Shaokang at the door:

"The charcoal grill ready?"

"All set, all burning nicely. Cousin, when are you starting to grill?"

Lin Xu grabbed a handful of skewered slices of camel hump and went outside, set up the grill rack, and laid the camel hump on it to start grilling.

As soon as he put it on, a milky fragrance mixed with the aroma of animal fat drifted out.

The camel hump meat on the iron skewers began to curl and contract, and the surface turned glossy with oil.

Before long, when the white camel hump meat had turned slightly yellow and charred, Lin Xu grabbed a handful of barbecue seasoning and sprinkled it over. The spicy flavor and the aroma of Cumin Powder made the meaty fragrance of the camel hump even richer.

He put it back over the coals to grill briefly, and this delicacy was finished.

Worried that the iron skewers would be inconvenient to carry back and forth, Lin Xu returned to the kitchen and slid all the meat off the skewers onto a plate lined with lettuce leaves.

Just then Shen Jiayue came in; he picked up a skewer and handed it to her:

"Here, have a taste—grilled camel hump."

Taking it in her hand, Shen Jiayue tore off a slice of camel hump with her teeth and tasted it, exclaiming:

"Wow, this meat is so fragrant—aromatic, tasty, and really chewy. It has a squeaky bite to it, kind of like beef brisket fat, but the texture’s better than that, and there’s this milky note... it’s too delicious. I’ve got to eat a few more slices later."

Lin Xu said:

"We haven’t even used a third of the camel hump today; more than half is still left. If you like it, we’ll make more next time."

Unlike other ingredients that need skinning and deboning, once you peel off the outer skin, a camel hump is just one solid block of meat, with an extremely high yield. Relatively speaking, this stuff has pretty good value for money.

With that, Lin Xu dipped the marinated thin slices of camel hump into a whole-egg batter and slid them into the oil one by one to deep-fry.

Once fried, he plated them and set out two small dishes of dry seasoning—one salt-and-pepper, one spicy—for dipping. This dish of dry-fried camel hump slices was now done.

Lastly, Lin Xu stir-fried shredded camel hump the same way he’d do Chili Fried Meat Shreds, then finished all the other dishes. Tonight’s reunion dinner was complete.

There were lots of dishes, almost forty in all.

But to avoid eating leftovers for several days straight, Lin Xu had intentionally reduced the portion sizes. For the steamed dishes, basically one chopsticks’ worth per person and that was it.

Small portions and many varieties made everyone’s diet more diverse, so they wouldn’t just eat one or two things and end up nutritionally unbalanced.

Seeing that all the dishes were ready, old Madam Lin said to Lin Xu:

"Grandson, go light that string of firecrackers in the yard. On the thirtieth evening you’ve got to set off a string of Pao before eating, to grab good luck."

Then she picked Dundun up in her arms and asked:

"Good Dundun, it’s New Year today. What do you want to eat? Great-grandma will pick it for you."

Dundun looked at the dishes on the table and pointed at the camel hump.

Shen Jiayue immediately picked up a small saucer and set it to one side:

"Here, this is for you—the steamed camel hump, no seasoning added. Try it, and if you like it, I’ll make it for you again tomorrow."

She’d thought Dundun would find it too greasy, but to her surprise the little guy wriggled free of her arms, bent down to sniff it first, showed an intoxicated expression, and then lowered his head and started eating.

The fascia was hard to bite through, so Lin Xu had cut it up beforehand.

The little fellow ate happily, his tail gently wagging, making the old folks beam with joy.

Soon the sound of firecrackers outside started.

Lin Xu came back in, took off his down jacket, and sat beside Shen Jiayue in his sweater.

By now Lin Hongqi had already filled everyone’s cups with liquor. Raising his glass, he said:

"Come on, New Year’s Eve, let’s start with one. Happy New Year!"

Everyone put down their chopsticks; those drinking raised their wine glasses, those not drinking raised their soft drinks, and all said together:

"Happy New Year!"

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