Chapter 471 Spending the New Year with Father-in-law and Mother-in-law

New Year’s Eve is the New Year’s Eve again.

It was the first time that Zhou Jing celebrated the New Year in the city since his rebirth. The Spring Festival in the city was much quieter than in the countryside.

In the countryside, every New Year's Day, lights and decorations are hung everywhere, and children are constantly setting off firecrackers, making people feel from the bottom of their hearts that they are bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new in the sound of firecrackers. In big cities, however, the streets are deserted, there are no sounds of fireworks, and you can't feel the scent of fireworks.

"I want to go to the supermarket, too."

After lunch, Zhou Jing went to the supermarket to buy New Year's goods. Gu Jia was itching to go shopping as she hadn't been shopping for three or four months.

"Don't go to the supermarket today because it's crowded. Stay here for a few days."

For safety reasons, Gu's mother didn't let her daughter go out.

"All right!"

Gu Jia suppressed her restless heart and endured for a few more days.

"What would you like to eat or drink?"

Zhou Jing touched Gu Jia's belly and said.

Gu Jia thought for a moment and said, "If you want to eat fruit, buy it if you like!"

One has to avoid certain foods when pregnant, and Gu Jia couldn’t think of anything she wanted to eat that was safe to eat.

Zhou Jing changed his clothes and went out, driving to a nearby supermarket. The family had almost all the meat they needed, so there weren't many New Year's goods to buy, but there were quite a few odds and ends.

Zhou Jing took a shopping cart and went to the basement to buy seafood and vegetables. He bought fish, crayfish, and crabs as seafood, and cucumbers, peppers, yams, etc. After buying seafood and vegetables, he bought fruits. He bought a watermelon and a cantaloupe.

Zhou Jing is very skilled in buying New Year's goods, which he cannot do in big cities. If he celebrates the New Year in the countryside, Zhou Jing's favorite thing to do is to buy New Year's goods and fill the trunk of his car with fireworks and firecrackers to have fun setting them off on New Year's Eve.

While buying New Year's goods, Zhou Jing called Yang Wenwen, and after talking to Yang Wenwen, he called Chen Jiaqian.

After buying seafood, vegetables and fruits on the underground floor and returning to the first floor, Zhou Jing bought a box of herbal tea and filled the shopping cart with New Year's goods. After paying the bill, Zhou Jing pushed the shopping cart, put the things in the car and thought about what else he needed.

The father-in-law came to BJ in the afternoon, and Zhou Jing must have a couple of drinks with him. Zhou Jing prepared a bottle of wine in advance.

After returning to the community, Zhou Jing delivered the New Year's goods to the outside of the elevator in two batches as he could not take all of them in one go, and then put them all in the elevator and went upstairs at once.

"Boys do everything quickly, but I like to take my time when buying New Year's goods."

Gu Jia went out to the elevator to help get things.

Zhou Jing smiled and said, "Really? Am I fast?"

"Show off." Gu Jia pinched the boy and picked up the watermelon and cantaloupe and asked, "How much is a pound of watermelon?"

"More than three dollars, this one is less than thirty."

Zhou Jing generally doesn’t buy watermelons in winter. The price doesn’t matter, the main thing is that they are not sweet.

“Watermelon in winter is perfect for tasting.”

Back in the house, Gu Jia took the fruit to the kitchen.

"Four people can't eat much food. We can make one shrimp and one crab today and one tomorrow."

Mother Gu looked at the things her son-in-law bought and said.

"Then we'll make the crabs tomorrow."

The crab was still alive, so Zhou Jing filled half a basin with cold water and put it in.

Gu Jia couldn't help, so she stood in the corner and asked, "What are you going to cook tonight?"

"Spicy beer shrimp, steamed fish, stir-fried pork, chicken, stewed lamb, lamb chops, pig head and cucumber, preserved egg, yam and pork ribs soup."

Zhou Jing is going to show off his cooking skills today.

"It's so delicious. How come I haven't made this before?"

Gu Jia said with a smile.

"There are no good ingredients. We need a free-range chicken."

Zhou Jing looked at the ingredients and planned the order in which they were prepared.

"Xiao Zhou, go and rest first. Wait until the pig's head and trotters are cooked."

Gu's mother only knows how to cook traditional home-cooked dishes. She doesn't know how to make beer shrimps or mouth-watering chicken, so she left it to her son-in-law.

"Mom, just stew the pig's head and trotters and leave them alone."

You can be lazy with your biological mother Zhou Jing, but you can’t be lazy with your mother-in-law.

Zhou Jing opened the can of herbal tea, took a can and asked Gu Jia if she wanted to drink it.

It was too cold, so Gu Jia didn't dare to drink more. She took her own cup and asked Zhou Jing to pour half a cup for her to satisfy her craving.

The computer in the bedroom was turned on and the Bluetooth speaker was connected. Zhou Jing sat in front of the computer and turned on the music.

“This speaker is so convenient.”

Gu Jia picked up the speaker to study it. When using wired speakers before, she often had to untangle the wires, but the Bluetooth speaker completely solved that trouble.

"In the future, it will be upgraded to a smart Bluetooth speaker, with chips and smart software added to the speaker, so that it can be controlled by user voice, such as playing or switching songs, adjusting the volume, and it can also replace the alarm clock."

Zhou Jing revealed to Gu Jia the future upgraded version of the Bluetooth speaker.

"It's too sci-fi. How long will it take to realize it?"

Today’s Bluetooth speakers are enough to subvert Gu Jia’s imagination. Gu Jia can’t even think of doing the functions Zhou Jing described.

"It won't be long. It will be possible once smartphones are released. Technology will develop very quickly in the next few years. The popularity of smartphones will greatly change our lifestyle. Maybe in three or four years, we won't need to carry cash anymore. We can pay for meals, shopping, and rides with our phones."

Zhou Jing said while holding Gu Jia's hand.

“It feels like science fiction is about to become reality.”

Gu Jia has seen many science fiction movies, but none of them was as sci-fi as this one.

"Technology development will usher in a big explosion at every node. For example, the first industrial revolution saw mankind quickly move from an agricultural society to the steam age, the second industrial revolution saw mankind quickly move from the steam age to the electrical age, and the third industrial revolution was the information age of the last century, ushering in the Internet that we are familiar with."

“The fourth industrial revolution is now beginning, and mankind will quickly enter the intelligent era.”

"my country completely missed the first and second industrial revolutions, which resulted in us lagging behind and being invaded for more than a hundred years. We are still lagging behind in the third industrial revolution, so it is crucial to grasp the fourth industrial revolution."

Zhou Jing took a sip of herbal tea and smiled.

"So it's so crucial. Do you think our country can keep up with the times this time?"

Gu Jia originally thought that the emergence of smartphones was just a mobile phone, but she didn't expect it to start a new industrial revolution.

"As long as we maintain peace, the country will have enough talent after popularizing education, and coupled with high industrialization, when it reaches a certain critical point, technology will develop explosively."

When Zhou Jing was young, he would get angry easily because of certain things. When he was in his thirties and looked back, he understood the meaning of "impatience will ruin great plans". Whether it is an individual or a group, sometimes you have to take action when you need to, and you also have to know how to be patient at the critical moment of development.

Listening to Zhou Jing talking, Gu Jia admired Zhou Jing's vision very much. Zhou Jing's success was not accidental.

At around two o'clock, after the pig's head and trotters were stewed, Zhou Jing went to the kitchen to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner. After the ingredients were ready, the mutton was stewed first.

"How do you eat pig's trotters? Do you just chew them?"

Gu Jia originally thought that pig's trotters were not very tasty, but the stewed ones looked quite delicious.

"Yes, if you want to eat it, take one."

Zhou Jing was originally planning to make braised pig's trotters, but Gu's mother stewed the trotters and pig's head together.

"I am a lady."

Gu Jia needs to pay attention to her image.

Zhou Jing cut and tore the pig's trotter into small pieces while it was still hot. The pig's trotter stewed by his mother-in-law was more flavorful than Zhou Jing had imagined. His mother-in-law cut the pig's trotter into several pieces before stewing.

"Taste it."

Zhou Jing fed Gu Jia a piece of pig's trotter.

"good to eat."

Gu Jia opened her mouth and ate and said.

"Xiao Zhou, tell me what you need me to do."

Mother Gu helped Zhou Jing today. "I can do it alone."

To stew the mutton in the pot, Zhou Jing took a local rooster's drumstick and put it into the pot with cold water, and added onion, ginger, peppercorns and cooking wine.

"Drool chicken only uses chicken thighs, how long should it be stewed?"

Gu Jia watched Zhou Jing salivate as he learned from her.

"Boil the water over medium-low heat for 30 minutes. The key is the soul sauce, minced garlic, chili powder, and white sesame seeds."

Zhou Jing said as he prepared the sauce.

After a while, Zhou Jing prepared the ingredients for the New Year's Eve dinner. It was still early to cook, so Zhou Jing brought half a plate of pig's trotters to the dining table, poured the freshly made soul juice on it, and let Gu's mother and Gu Jia taste it together.

"The sauce you make is still authentic."

Gu Jia tasted a piece of pig's trotter, which was delicious in color, aroma and taste.

Mother Gu looked at her daughter and said, "You can't just focus on eating when you have a child. Cooking for a child is not an easy task."

"What needs attention?"

Gu Jia said with a smile.

"First, make sure the rice is cooked. It's better to be soft than raw. Then don't make it too hot. Taste the rice yourself before feeding it to the baby. The rice must be chewed before feeding it to the baby. Make sure it's clean when cooking. Try not to add seasoning to the baby's rice. Just add some salt, soy sauce and sesame oil. Give the baby plenty of water and porridge."

Mother Gu patiently taught her daughter how to be a mother.

"It's quite troublesome. Is it troublesome?"

Gu Jia looked at Zhou Jing and said with a smile.

"Just get used to it."

Zhou Jing thought to himself that of course it was troublesome. There was nothing more troublesome than raising children. One could be lazy at work, even if one was tired of his own company, one could put it aside, but one could not do that with one's own children. One had to worry about them all the time. Even when the children grew up, parents would still have endless worries, until they died.

"Xiao Zhou is very careful. Jiajia should also pay more attention in the future. Don't take children lightly. Dangerous things should be placed out of reach of children, such as knives, scissors, medicine, and kettles."

Mother Gu continued.

"Ok."

Gu Jia remembered everything in her heart.

Zhou Jing deeply felt what Gu's mother said. When he was a child, he would go to his grandparents' house during the holidays. He saw that many more children in the countryside were injured than those in the city. Some were lame, some had scars from burns on their arms, and so on. Adults in the countryside are busy, and living conditions are limited. They don't take good care of their children, so they are easily injured.

The flight that Gu's father was on arrived at the Capital Airport at around 3:20, and Zhou Jing drove to pick him up in advance.

"I'm coming, Dad."

Seeing Mr. Gu coming out of the airport exit, Zhou Jing went up to him and helped him with the luggage.

Father Gu was not shy and handed the things to Zhou Jing. He smiled and said, "I haven't been to BJ for almost a year. How far is the airport from where you live?"

"It's less than 20 kilometers. Dad, do you want to find a place to sit for a while?"

Zhou Jing acted like a student in front of his father-in-law.

Mr. Gu was not wearing work clothes at this time, but casual clothes. Even so, his temperament was calm, giving people the feeling that he was not a simple person.

"No, just go home."

Dad Gu knew that Zhou Jing was worried that he was tired from the plane ride.

After finding the car, Zhou Jing first opened the presidential seat, held the door with his left hand, and blocked it with his right hand to let his father-in-law get in the car first. After his father-in-law was seated, Zhou Jing closed the door neither lightly nor heavily, then opened the trunk and put the things away. Finally, he got in the car, fastened his seat belt and started slowly.

Mr. Gu has a special status. Zhou Jing is now the boss of two or three companies. Mr. Gu usually keeps a certain distance from Zhou Jing and Gu Jia.

Zhou Jing would not deliberately try to get closer to his father-in-law's power. It would not be good for either himself or his father-in-law if he was caught by someone with ulterior motives.

So Gu Dad An'an was an official, and Zhou Jing'an was responsible for running the company.

After more than 20 minutes of arriving at the community, Zhou Jing sent a message to Gu Jia.

"Are you tired, Dad?"

Seeing her father whom she hadn't seen for more than half a year, Gu Jia was as happy as a child and walked into the house with her father's arm.

"Not tired." Father Gu glanced at his daughter's belly, then returned his gaze to her face and said kindly, "You look good."

"Jia Jia has been looking very good in the past few months."

Mother Gu made a cup of tea for the child's father and brought it to the living room.

"All the Western and Chinese doctors I've seen said that my pregnancy is much better than most people's."

Gu Jia said as she hung her dad’s down jacket on the clothes rack.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Zhou Jing went to the kitchen to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner, which consisted of seven dishes and a soup. Zhou Jing was methodical. He stewed the mutton and lamb chops and placed them in the steamer to keep them warm.

The two big chicken legs for the mouth-watering chicken are also stewed. The chicken legs are soaked in boiled water that has been cooled in advance. Take out the chicken legs, cut them into sections, arrange them neatly on a plate, and pour the soul juice on them and you're done.

"How about trying it?"

Zhou Jing brought the mouth-watering chicken to the table and said to Gu Jia.

"This is the most delicious mouth-watering chicken I have ever eaten. Dad, please try Zhou Jing's cooking. The chicken is a native rooster that Zhou Jing bought from his hometown in the countryside yesterday. The mutton and pork were also bought by Zhou Jing in the countryside."

Gu Jia tasted a piece, went to the kitchen, got a small bowl, picked up a piece of chicken leg and gave it to her dad.

"Yes, it tastes different from the chicken you buy."

After tasting it, Dad Gu praised it.

"I'll chop the vegetables."

Gu's mother helped in the kitchen, taking the washed green and red peppers, cucumbers, etc. to the chopping board to cut them.

"The dishes look so many, but they will be cooked quickly. Mom, go take a rest."

Zhou Jing was used to cooking by himself, and having someone to help would disrupt his rhythm. Gu's mother insisted on helping, and Zhou Jing didn't say anything else.

There are three cold dishes in total, mouth-watering chicken, preserved eggs, and cucumber and pork head. The first one is ready, and Zhou Jing started to make the other two cold dishes.

The sauces for each cold dish are similar, but Zhou Jing still makes them separately. He heats the oil at once and adds them to the seasoning bowl of each cold dish in turn. The last two cold dishes are completed in less than five minutes.

"I'll serve it."

Gu Jia wanted to help.

"No, just talk to dad."

If Gu Jia, who is pregnant, helps Zhou Jing, things will only get more chaotic.

"Jia Jia, stop making trouble in the kitchen. Just be more diligent next time."

Mother Gu was also worried that her daughter might accidentally bump into something while walking around in the kitchen.

Gu Jia left the kitchen with a smile. The protection period for pregnant women was about to end, so she really had to be more diligent in the future.

Three cold dishes and braised lamb were ready, leaving spicy shrimps, stir-fried pork, steamed fish, and yam and pork ribs soup. Zhou Jing stewed the yam and pork ribs soup, marinated the fish, and then made the spicy shrimps. After the spicy shrimps were stir-fried and the fish was marinated, he poured the water steamer on the plate and waited for the spicy shrimps to be out of the pot to make the stir-fried pork. These seemingly troublesome dishes were all finished by Zhou Jing in less than an hour. The yam and pork ribs soup needed to be stewed for a while longer, and the dishes were eaten first when they were served.

"It seems you usually hide a lot."

Looking at the table full of beautiful and sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner, Gu Jia realized that she had underestimated Zhou Jing's cooking skills.

"Some of them were also my first time making. I had never made mouth-watering chicken and braised lamb before. I decided to make mouth-watering chicken after seeing someone else making it online this morning."

Zhou Jing smiled and said.

"It tasted so good the first time you made it. I can only say that you have a great talent for cooking."

Gu Jia, a woman who is about to become a mother, feels inferior to her.

"There are many dishes that are cooked in the same way. It all depends on how much effort you put into it."

Mother Gu glanced at her daughter. Although the family was well off, her daughter was lucky enough to have waited so long for a good son-in-law.

"There is a saying that governing a large country is like cooking a small fish. The same is true for managing a company. Xiao Zhou must have mastered this skill."

Father Gu also admires his son-in-law Zhou Jing very much.

(End of this chapter)