Fresh wood ear mushrooms contain a certain amount of toxins, so they must be dried before use. Mu Shuangshuang used a bamboo basket to spread all the mushrooms she collected in Lu Yuanfeng’s yard. Once they were dried, they could be washed and used for cooking.
Yuanbao is a year younger than Xiao Han and isn’t as precise in managing the fire’s intensity. Since it was hot, Mu Shuangshuang simply didn’t let him help out.
For lunch, Mu Shuangshuang planned to make five dishes: stir-fried pork with green peppers, a cold wild vegetable salad, a wild vegetable soup, and pan-fried winter lon slices.
The last ti she was here, she left so flour at Lu Yuanfeng’s house, so she thought she could make so biang biang noodles.
Although this dish is usually eaten on its own, using it as a side dish should be fine too.
The green peppers, winter lon, and at were all prepared by Lu Yuanfeng. Mu Shuangshuang knew there wasn’t a garden at his house and wondered where these vegetables ca from, so she felt a bit reluctant to use them.
She thought she should buy vegetables from Aunt Xiao Yun’s place tomorrow, as her garden was big and had plenty of vegetables.
Right now, the double harvest was not yet complete, and the land belonging to the third branch hadn’t reverted back to them. Mu Shuangshuang wanted to plant so bok choy but found it inconvenient.
Perhaps, she shouldn’t wait for the piece of land from the Old Mu Family. In ancient tis, developing wastelands was allowed, so she should cultivate a vegetable garden on her own to avoid having to pick from others’ gardens in the future.
Stir-fried pork with green peppers and cold wild vegetable salad are fairly common ho-style dishes, and Mu Shuangshuang found making them was not difficult.
As for the biang biang noodles, she wanted to eat them herself and also wanted to give it a try to see if the outco was good.
If it turned out well, she thought of teaching Yu Si Niang, maybe it would be useful for setting up a stall in the future.
Biang biang noodles were, according to Mu Shuangshuang, a relatively simple way to make noodle dishes. From the mont she started kneading the dough, Yuanbao’s eyes were wide open.
"Sister Shuangshuang, what are you going to make? Dumplings?"
In Yuanbao’s mind, using flour ant making dumplings, and dumplings were a great thing—he hadn’t eaten them many tis.
"No, sister is making biang biang noodles, which won’t taste any worse than dumplings. Yuanbao can just wait and see."
As she spoke, Mu Shuangshuang began kneading the dough, using a large mixing bowl to hold half a bowl of flour. She added a bit of water and kept stirring with a spoon.
She then added so old dough, covered the mixing bowl with a clean cloth, and let it rest for the ti it took to burn two sticks of incense, allowing the dough to rise.
Yuanbao was already sitting on a stool, watching Mu Shuangshuang, who found it a bit amusing and had to speed up her pace to start the fire and cook.
The fire crackled and burned, and once a pot of water boiled, she started adding wild vegetables to it. Cold wild vegetables needed to be blanched in boiling water to remove their inherent bitterness.
Once the wild vegetables in the hot pot changed color, she took them out and put them in cold water. After they cooled, Mu Shuangshuang lifted out the wild vegetables, chopped them up, and set them aside for later mixing.
With the remaining dishes done and the dough almost ready, Mu Shuangshuang divided the risen dough into small rolls, roughly the size of two thumbs thick and half a finger long.
After brushing oil on these small dough rolls, Mu Shuangshuang cautiously arranged them on a plate, covered them with a cloth, and continued to let them rest.
The subsequent steps were relatively simple, and Mu Shuangshuang planned to wait until Lu Yuanfeng and the others returned to finish them. Biang biang noodles should naturally be eaten hot.
Looking at the ti, it seed as if once she cooked the rice and waited a bit, they should be coming back for their midday break.
The three n were all working, so Mu Shuangshuang cooked a bit more rice, and before long, it was ready. She walked out of the yard and headed towards her house.
————
The Old Mu Family’s house was bustling because Mu Zhenzhen, the second aunt who hadn’t visited for a long ti, had co over.
She was wearing festive floral clothes, which she only wore on holidays, and was lounging around in the Old Mu Family’s courtyard with a handful of sunflower seeds brought from ho, cracking them noisily.
Mrs. Lin was chit-chatting with Mu Zhenzhen and occasionally complained about the third branch. Mrs. Lin was known for her sharp tongue, and in no ti, she had insulted everyone from the third branch.
"I spit; the third branch must have been kicked in the face by a donkey to dare live separately. I said to my mother from the start that Yu Si Niang was no good. See, I was right."
Mu Zhenzhen echoed Mrs. Lin’s insults a few tis, her mouth still busy cracking the seeds.
After talking for so long, Mrs. Lin’s mouth was dry, and she was eyeing the sunflower seeds in Mu Zhenzhen’s hands.
All the edible things in Old Mu Family ended up in the main house’s pocket, so now that the second aunt was here, she would make sure to eat sothing good and fill her belly.
"Gou Dan, your second aunt, have you noticed any changes in our family since you ca with your uncle?"
Mu Zhenzhen shook her head. "Changes? What changes? I don’t see any."
"Haha, really?" Mrs. Lin laughed dryly, her eyes fixed on the sunflower seeds in Mu Zhenzhen’s hands.
Gou Dan, who had returned from playing outside, seed to have a dog’s nose. As soon as he entered the backyard, he headed straight for Mu Zhenzhen and clung to her leg.
"Second aunt, Gou Dan wants so seeds, Gou Dan wants so seeds."
Mrs. Lin felt like giving her son a thumbs up—inspired by her son, rightly knowing what she wanted to eat and how to act spoilt.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Lin overestimated Mu Zhenzhen’s patience. With Gou Dan covered in dark, sticky sweat, his unwashed matted hair, and his perpetual runny nose covered in gri, Mu Zhenzhen got annoyed.
"Shoo, children like you are dirty, no eating," Mu Zhenzhen said disdainfully, kicking Gou Dan away.
Mrs. Lin’s face imdiately soured; this second aunt was really sothing, hitting even little ones.
Once kicked off, Gou Dan’s first reaction was to let out a loud wail.
"Mama, want seeds, want seeds, Gou Dan wants seeds..."
Gou Dan sat on the ground, frantically raking his legs, and in no ti the spot where he sat was swept clean of dust.
Seeing the scene, Mrs. Lin awkwardly said to Mu Zhenzhen, "Aunt, Gou Dan is still a child, you could at least give him so."
The rising dust got into Mu Zhenzhen’s nose, and she glared at Gou Dan unhappily.
"Why give him anything? Just because he’s a child ans he can beg people for food?
Later on, if he takes a liking to sothing, will he just stick his hand out and ask? If you ask , kids are like their mothers, whatever the mother teaches, that’s what the child becos."
Mrs. Lin felt as if she’d been slapped in the face, her face turning dark, and she suddenly had no words to flatter Mu Zhenzhen.
Poor Gou Dan, rolling and wailing, still couldn’t make Mu Zhenzhen spare even a single seed from her teeth for him.
"Gou Dan, go back inside. Mother will buy you seeds later." Mrs. Lin yelled at Gou Dan, but he only glanced at her and continued rolling on the ground.
It was only when Old Mrs. Mu heard the commotion and ca out to give Gou Dan a smack on the rear that he quieted down.
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