As night was falling, the hot pot ingredients were ready. Afu had prepared two types of dipping sauces, one with sesame oil and the other with a dipping sauce. If you were eating a spicy hot pot, you'd use the sesame oil sauce. If it was a plain hot pot, you could use the dipping sauce, as you would when eating thinly sliced mutton.
The smell was irresistible, especially in the cold weather. The kitchen was filled with steam and a delicious aroma that made the men crave it. They sat in the kitchen eating hot pot with bowls in their hands. Some preferred the spicy variety, others preferred the plain one. They were eating and drinking wine at the same time, extremely content. Mrs. Song and Mrs. Huang, on the other hand, were helping the children scoop up vegetables and meat from the plain hot pot, making it a lively meal.
