"They say once Laba Festival passes, it's New Year," and with Laba gone, the whole town was suffused with the spirit of the approaching New Year. As they also had to prepare for the old patriarch's birthday celebration after the New Year, Zhixin and his brother became even busier.
Zhixin had returned to the mountain earlier and had Mrs. Li and the others slaughter some of the chickens they raised there, as well as some geese, in preparation for the patriarch's birthday banquet. It is not ideal to slaughter living creatures during the first month of the lunar year, so they had to get it ready before New Year. Of course, they didn't forget to leave some for the two families so they could enjoy the festival. There were still six pigs left at home, one was reserved for each of the families, Zhixin took two down to the town, and the remaining ones were the breeding boar and sows.
