Chapter 313: The Beginning of Winter

When it was time for lunch, the factory’s broadcast started as scheduled.

The people at the steel factory heard the announcement, and once again, it was a praise for Zhou Yimin. The factory employees had become somewhat numb to it, not knowing how many times it had happened.

Zhou Yimin found it hard to keep a low profile at this point.

Zhou Dafu quickly congratulated him: “Congratulations, Uncle Sixteen! You’ll probably get promoted soon.”

“What are you thinking?” Zhou Yimin rolled his eyes.

Promotion or not, it didn’t matter much to him anymore.

Unexpectedly, Eldest Uncle came over.

When Zhou Yimin saw Eldest Uncle, he asked, “Eldest Uncle, did you come to see me for something?”

“Yimin, I’d like to buy some meat,” Eldest Uncle said somewhat awkwardly.

Zhou Yimin was puzzled, thinking that Eldest Uncle shouldn’t be lacking food, but since it was his first time asking, he didn’t want to refuse. “Eldest Uncle, how much meat do you want to buy?”

“About twenty to thirty pounds,” Eldest Uncle answered honestly.

In two days, it would be the beginning of winter. The three uncles in charge wanted to organize everyone in the courtyard to make dumplings together, but the money for the meat would be covered by the three uncles.

In the northern regions, the main customs of the Beginning of Winter include eating dumplings, replenishing energy for the winter, and winter swimming. Dumplings are eaten because their shape resembles ears, and people believe that by eating them, their ears won’t freeze in the winter.

Replenishing energy is a way to rest and reward the family for their hard work, often by slaughtering chickens, lambs, or using other nourishing foods. Winter swimming is a way to exercise the body and prepare for the cold season.

Zhou Yimin was curious: “Eldest Uncle, why do you want to buy so much meat?”

“Well, in two days it’ll be the Beginning of Winter! The three uncles and I want to spend some money to buy meat and organize everyone in the courtyard to make dumplings together, to have some fun,” Eldest Uncle explained.

Zhou Yimin understood and immediately said, “Alright, I’ll bring it back after work today.”

“Great! Thanks, Yimin,” Eldest Uncle said gratefully.

When it was time to leave work, Zhou Yimin, as usual, left on time.

However, Wu Tian quickly hopped on his bike to the address Zhou Yimin gave him. It wasn’t far from the steel factory, and he arrived in no time.

He found the gate closed and, with no other option, knocked on the door.

After a few minutes, the gate was finally opened.

Dapeng looked at Wu Tian, not recognizing him, and asked, “Comrade, who are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for Zhou Yimin, Zhou the team leader sent me,” Wu Tian explained quickly.

When Dapeng heard that Zhou Yimin had sent him, he asked, “What did Yimin ask you to do?”

“I’m here to buy ten pounds of pork,” Wu Tian replied hurriedly.

Currently, the price of pork was one yuan per pound, so ten yuan would be enough to buy ten pounds and complete this month’s task.

Dapeng found it a bit strange, but didn’t ask further. He turned and went inside. Soon, he came back out with ten pounds of pork.

“Here are ten pounds of pork, no less!”

Wu Tian handed over ten yuan, took the pork, and quickly thanked him.

With the meat in hand, if it hadn’t been for the fact that it was already time to leave work, Wu Tian would have rushed back to the factory to complete his task.

On his way back, Zhou Yimin stopped at a store and bought thirty pounds of pork, as well as several pounds of lamb and some lamb bones.

Carrying all these items, he returned to the courtyard, where Eldest Uncle and the others were already waiting.

When they saw Zhou Yimin return, they hurried to greet him. Eldest Uncle looked a bit puzzled: “Yimin, we didn’t buy so much, did we?”

It wasn’t that they couldn’t afford it—many people in the area were struggling to buy meat.

“This thirty pounds of pork was bought at Eldest Uncle’s request, and the remaining five pounds of lamb and lamb bones are my contribution to this event,” Zhou Yimin explained.

“I didn’t want the three uncles to bear all the costs, so I contributed a little as well.”

The three uncles had no problem with this, and it turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

Two days quickly passed, and the courtyard started to come alive early in the morning.

The children, upon hearing that there would be dumplings, got up early, eager to eat them.

The adults began preparing the dumplings, and everyone joined in. It had been a long time since the courtyard had been so lively.

Zhou Yimin had planned to rest on the day of the Beginning of Winter and sleep in, but with all the noise outside, he couldn’t sleep and had to get up.

When he opened the door, he saw the women gathered around two large tables. One table was dedicated to rolling dough, while the other was used for filling and folding the dumplings.

Only in the north would this be the case. In the south, whether making dumplings or wontons, the wrappers were usually bought from outside, not made from scratch.

This was something unique to the north, where people made dumpling wrappers step by step, starting from flour.

This time, there were three types of fillings for the dumplings: pork and scallion, chives and egg, and a mixed pork and three-flavor filling.

When Eldest Uncle saw Zhou Yimin, he approached to greet him: “Yimin, just woke up?”

Zhou Yimin had lived in the courtyard long enough for Eldest Uncle to understand his routine.

“Yeah! Eldest Uncle, you guys started making dumplings so early?” Zhou Yimin asked.

He knew that making dumplings in the north required starting from the flour, and it took a lot of time. It was probably around five or six in the morning when they started.

He saw Aunt One expertly pinch even portions of dough and roll them into thin wrappers, then pass them on to the next person.

Widow Ma took the wrappers in her hands, added fillings in the center, folded them over, and pinched the edges.

Each dumpling was made in under thirty seconds. Although there were many dumplings to make, no one complained; instead, they enjoyed the process.

Since the food shortage began, it had been a long time since they had eaten dumplings.

For this batch of dumplings, the entire courtyard used up all the white flour they had for the month. There wasn’t much flour, but everyone contributed small amounts to make it enough.

As for the meat, Zhou Yimin helped buy it, and even contributed some lamb and lamb bones for soup.

Drinking lamb soup on the Beginning of Winter was a traditional custom in the north, believed to help nourish the stomach and ward off the cold.

Watching the simple process of making dumplings, Zhou Yimin couldn’t resist trying. He attempted to make a few, but found it wasn’t as easy as it looked. There was a certain skill to it.

Widow Ma saw his struggle and shared a few tips with him, and he soon learned how to make dumplings.

Having come from the south in his past life, Zhou Yimin had never learned to make dumplings, so he found it quite interesting.

The children, playing and laughing nearby, made Zhou Yimin feel happy. He went back inside, grabbed some candy, and handed it out to the kids.

Seeing the candy, the children rushed forward, but Zhou Yimin made them line up to take their share. Only then did they form a neat line.

Each family had at least two or three children, and with so many families in the courtyard, there were about thirty or forty children in total.

(End of Chapter)