"Then let’s have dumplings," Lian Shouxin said, seeing that his wife and children insisted on him making a choice.
There’s a saying in Thirty Mile Camp, ’nothing’s as comfortable as lying down, and nothing tastes better than dumplings.’ This ans that the most comfortable thing is lying down, and the best food is dumplings.
Tenant farrs aren’t familiar with those so-called delicacies from land and sea; to them, having a al with dumplings made of white flour and at filling is a great luxury.
Lian Manman also thought that dumplings were good, nutritious, and the filling was rich, allowing for a wide variety of flavors.
"Fine, then we’ll make dumplings tonight, dumplings with white flour," Lady Zhang said.
"Mom, I’ll go buy the at. Is three pounds enough?" Lian Manman stood up and asked Lady Zhang.
"Enough, if it’s three pounds of at, then get a bit more lean at," replied Lady Zhang.
As life improved day by day, the family’s preferences for food also gradually changed. When they had no money, they used to buy fatty at because the fat was filling. Now, it’s different.
Lian Manman took so money, carried a basket, and brought Xiao Qi with her to town. First, she went to the butcher shop and bought three pounds of pork with more lean than fat, then she went to Cai’s to buy a whole roasted chicken. She rembered that Lian Shouxin loved eating this.
When she got ho, Lian Shouxin saw the roasted chicken and, although he said it was wasteful to buy roasted chicken when there were dumplings, the smile in his eyes couldn’t be hidden.
Being valued by family and loved by them can make even adults feel joyful.
The at had been bought, but what about the vegetables?
"Let’s use winter lon," suggested Lady Zhang.
This was the right season for winter lon. Pick a tender one, wash it clean, cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, don’t peel it, grate the lon into shreds using a grater, squeeze it lightly with salt, get rid of the water, and it’s ready to be used as filling.
Tender winter lon is juicy and has a fresh aroma; even without at, just mixing it with various seasonings is enough to make dumpling filling. For tenant farrs, dumplings made of white flour are indeed a treat. Sotis, they use finely ground sorghum flour for dough and fresh vegetables such as winter lon for filling.
No matter how well you knead it, you can’t roll out sorghum dough as thin as white flour. Thick dough can’t make delicate dumplings; what they make are the size of a palm and cannot really be called dumplings. What the tenant farrs make are simply referred to as ’big veggie buns.’
Before the family split, Lady Zhou had a fondness for these big veggie buns. Even then, the Lian Family didn’t often have them, because even if no at was added, the vegetable filling used more oil than usual cooking, and the sorghum flour for the buns had to be ground fine, which was more expensive than the coarser variety.
For three pounds of at filling, Lady Zhang picked two large tender winter lons from the pig shed, each weighing five to six pounds. Although removing the seeds and draining the excess water would reduce their weight, paired with the three pounds of at, Lian Manman still felt it was too much.
They definitely wouldn’t be able to eat it all in one al.
But Lian Manman didn’t say anything. Making dumplings was not easy and more troubleso than cooking a regular al. When farmstead families made dumplings, they usually made extra. They’d eat so for dinner that night, and the next morning, they’d ’saute’ the leftovers, enough for another al.
’Saute’ here doesn’t an the sa as in dishes like sautéed liver tips; it’s a colloquial term used by older folks in Thirty Mile Camp, roughly equivalent to ’heat up.’
As for making the dumplings, Lian Manman was still in charge of preparing the filling. She added aspic to it, along with special broth flavoring from their own shop, making the filling delicious and fragrant. You could sll it from afar.
Today was Lian Shouxin’s birthday, and the original plan was for him to rest and not work. However, Lian Shouxin couldn’t sit still. He started making the dough, and when Lian Manman had finished adjusting the filling, Lian Shouxin took up the rolling pin and started rolling out the dumpling wrappers.
Lady Zhang, Lian Zhizhi, and Lian Manman were responsible for making the dumplings while Wu Lang and Xiao Qi, wanting to show their filial piety, helped out, though clumsily.
When the first pot of dumplings was ready, Lian Shouxin took a large bowl, picking up a full bowl of dumplings.
"Husband, will you take it to your father?" Lady Zhang asked.
"Mhm, it’s my birthday today, so I’ll bring it over," Lian Shouxin replied.
"That’s settled then." Lady Zhang added more water to the large pot, placed a stear basket on top, and began steaming the second batch of dumplings. "We an well. If his grandmother or soone from the Upper Room says anything unpleasant, don’t take it to heart, just co back quickly. As long as we have expressed our good intentions, that’s all that matters," she said.
"I know," Lian Shouxin agreed and carried the large bowl out.
Lian Manman, with nothing else to do, tiptoed and followed behind.
The Upper Room had already set the table for the al.
"Dad, Mom, we’ve just made so dumplings, please have a taste," Lian Shouxin said as he offered the large bowl to Old Master Lian.
"You made dumplings? Why bother carrying them all this way? You have quite a few mouths to feed at ho, let the kids eat more; we’ve got everything here, no need to keep bringing things to ," Old Master Lian said.
After a token resistance, Old Master Lian accepted the dumplings.
"Your Fourth Aunt can make so good stuff; I could sll the aroma from far away," Lady He said with a grin, from across the table.
"Old Fourth, your life’s gotten better; you eat dumplings every now and then. I beca a Jiansheng, and I don’t even eat as well as you do," Lian Shouren remarked as he drew a circle in the air with his chopsticks over the table, glancing at the steaming dumplings.
Lian Shouxin was about to co out when he heard Lian Shouren’s sowhat sour words and stopped in his tracks.
"Big brother, whatever we eat is out in the open for everyone to see. No one sees what you eat. We don’t have much on ordinary days; today’s my birthday," Lian Shouxin replied.
With a loud smack, Lady Zhou slamd her chopsticks down on the dining table.
＊＊＊......＊＊＊
First update, penultimate day of the month, seeking everyone’s pink support. (To be continued. If you like this work, your votes of recomndation or monthly votes on Qidian are greatly appreciated. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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