Chapter 687: Stocking up on New Year’s Goods

The Laba festival had just passed, and with only about twenty days left until the New Year, the festive atmosphere in the village was particularly thick. People were air-drying salted fish, cured meat, and soy-marinated ducks and chickens. It was a time for every household to show off its financial strength.

The Thorne family was clearly the wealthiest. Their courtyard was filled with hanging cured meat and salted fish, along with a dozen or so soy-marinated ducks. While other families kept only a few of their own chickens and ducks and sold the rest for cash, Phoebe Huxley didn’t sell a single one. She kept a few for making soup and laying eggs, and slaughtered the rest to be cured and marinated.

As the New Year approached, Felix Thorne’s business became exceptionally busy. Sometimes, he’d handle two or three jobs in a single day. Naturally, this meant their home was overflowing with pork—so much they couldn’t eat it all in time. The excess was all air-dried into cured meat. On top of that, Phoebe Huxley had raised two pigs. She had commandeered one for the family’s use and planned to slaughter the remaining one for the Little New Year festival.

And so, the Thorne family’s spacious courtyard was packed full of meat, and the air was thick with its savory aroma. Dollar stared at the meat and drooled every day, but he didn’t dare try to steal any. Phoebe Huxley would break his legs. He knew not to mess with the she-tiger; she was scarier than a wild wolf.

Phoebe Huxley was also air-drying several large black carp. These carp were over a meter long, with sharp, hard teeth. About six miles from Millstone Peak, there was a place called Stonewall Reservoir where many black carp were raised, and some were harvested every year.

The bigger the fish, the more expensive it was; the whole point of eating black carp was its size. Not many people ate it fresh. It was almost always salted and air-dried. After drying for over a month, the fish developed a rich, fragrant aroma, and the meat became delightfully chewy. You’d cut it into chunks, wash it, add some slivered ginger, scallion segments, cooking wine, and other seasonings, then steam it. It was a top-tier dish that went perfectly with rice or wine, so naturally, the price wasn’t cheap.

In the past, Phoebe Huxley could never bring herself to buy them. But this year, she was feeling confident, her back straightened with pride. As soon as she heard the reservoir was harvesting, she had Felix Thorne ride his bike over to buy a few large black carp. He also brought back several bighead carp. The heads were for stewing with tofu, while the bodies were delicious braised or in a soup. The black carp, however, were to be dried into salted fish, perfect for giving as gifts or for the family to enjoy.

The Thorne family’s courtyard was especially impressive this year. Anyone who passed by would look on with envy. That wasn’t just meat hanging there—it was cold, hard cash!

Phoebe Huxley also had two new outfits made for Kelley Xavier and her younger brother. She had Jim Thorne deliver them and also invited Kelley to come over for the reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve, telling her to bring her brother along. Phoebe genuinely liked the girl. She had good grades and was so sensible; ’she’s almost too good for my eldest son,’ Phoebe thought. That was why she had to treat the girl even better, to make sure Kelley wouldn’t look down on him.

Besides, Howard Thorne had improved a lot this semester. His teacher said that at this rate, he even had a good chance of getting into a university for a bachelor’s degree. Phoebe Huxley was overjoyed to hear this, and it made all her hard work and exhaustion feel worthwhile. Naturally, her fondness for Kelley Xavier grew even stronger.

’Any girl who can motivate my eldest son to improve and be ambitious is a good daughter-in-law,’ she mused. ’I have to treat her like my own daughter. You trade sincerity for sincerity, after all!’

And Kelley Xavier was worthy of her sincerity. Phoebe Huxley was just that kind of straightforward person. She responded to kindness, not coercion. If someone was good to her, she’d repay them tenfold. But if someone wronged her, even in the slightest, they’d find that Phoebe Huxley’s butcher knife wasn’t just for show.

"Mom, I’m going out to play."

Tang Xiaonan skipped out to play, with Amanda Chapman in tow. Phoebe Huxley wasn’t worried at all. Although Amanda was only two years older than her daughter, she was very steady and had a feisty personality. She wouldn’t let anyone take advantage of them when they were out.

"Play for a bit, then come back for dinner! We’re having boiled shrimp tonight. Amanda, you should eat with us too!"

Phoebe Huxley called out after them. She had heard from Old Master Tate that children who ate more shrimp would grow up to be smarter. Ever since then, a plate of shrimp would appear on the Thorne family’s dinner table from time to time. Jim Thorne, who hated shrimp, had protested countless times to no avail, earning nothing but a swift smack from Phoebe Huxley for his trouble.

Tang Xiaonan and Amanda Chapman ran to the village entrance to build a snowman. It had snowed two days earlier, leaving a blanket over a foot thick that hadn’t melted even after two days under the sun. The two girls had just finished shaping the snowman’s body when they heard the rumble of a tractor. Looking toward the bridge, they saw a familiar figure.