51 Flavor Wontons

◎It burned down all the way, burning his blood to a boiling point◎

After Song Jinyi left.

The maid held the tea tray and bent down to replace the cold tea for Song Zhangye. When the housekeeper came over, she put away the tea tray and stood aside.

The housekeeper reported to Song Zhangye about the recent purchases in the mansion.

The butler had followed Song Zhangye for nearly thirty years and thought he understood the master's character. Today, he thought the master would not agree to Song Jinyi's request, but the result was unexpected.

This made him curious about his master's thoughts. While speaking, he raised his head from time to time and looked at Song Zhangye, trying to find out something.

Song Zhangye waved his hand for the rest of the people to get off.

"You've been thinking about it for a long time. If you have anything to say, just say it now." Song Zhangye's eyes seemed to carry a real sense of oppression, pressing heavily on the butler.

The butler lowered his head, hesitated for a long time, and said frankly: "I'm just a little surprised. I didn't expect that the master would agree to the suggestion made by the young lady?"

Song Zhangye chuckled softly and asked, "Do you think I agreed with her idea just because of her nonsense?"

"Is that because?" Before the butler could finish his words, he met Song Zhangye's eyes and immediately understood what he was thinking.

Previously, when he accompanied his master to a banquet at Yingchun Tower, he heard people mention the Songji Sweet Water Shop incident during the meal. It was extremely difficult to prove the false accusation of drugging.

Neither he nor the master thought that the young lady could solve the problem.

But the lady solved it, and not only did she solve it, she solved it in a way that made people have to praise her with a "beautiful!"

Song Zhangye said, "If it were me now, I could settle the matter with just a little money, but if it were me when I was younger, I wouldn't necessarily be able to handle it better than her.

So, I want to see how far she can go."

The housekeeper complimented, "Master, you have to set a good example for me. That's why the young lady is able to surpass her father."

After hearing this, Song Zhangye smiled faintly, "And what she said and did today, she was very confident, but not arrogant. People like her seem to have endless energy, endless ideas, and endless persistence.

In the end, it gives people an unexpected surprise.

Just like her mother, Yunzhi."

When mentioning Yunzhi, Song Zhangye's usually cold tone became slightly soft, mixed with a layer of subtle nostalgia and sadness.

The housekeeper couldn't say anything to the previous mistress of the Song Mansion, so he could only echo the master's words: "Maybe this time, the young lady can become what you hope she will be."

On the other side, Shen Lingyu's eyes were blank, and she was absent-mindedly cutting off the leaves of the blooming gardenia. She didn't come back to her senses until the maid next to her exclaimed.

Looking at the wrongly cut leaf, she was stunned for a moment, then slammed the scissors on the table with a clang sound.

Geng Niang quickly stepped forward and held her hand, saying carefully, "Madam, be careful with your hand. This is just a lasting struggle that has prolonged the time by a few months."

"But the master never postpones business matters, but he made an exception for her this time."

"Speaking of making exceptions, hasn't the master made a few for you? When that woman was still alive, he gave you the management of the household. Later, he promoted you to the position of principal wife and doted on the young master.

"She's just a worthless girl, she can't cause any big trouble," Geng Niang consoled.

Shen Lingyu sat on the couch, his fingers unconsciously pinching the cuffs, rubbing them repeatedly, “It’s different, you don’t understand, the master is no longer the master of the past, he is old, he has to consider who to hand over the Song family to in the future?”

Geng Niang continued, "The only person in the Song family who can be relied upon is your Ru'er. The master is simply too anxious and desperate, seeking all kinds of help. Everything will be fine once the young master grows up."

"Yes, I still have Ru'er..." She turned to ask Geng Niang, "Where's Ru'er? How's his business strategy going?"

Geng Niang paused, "The young master is still young, only seven or eight years old. He only knows a few words. It's normal for him to learn slowly."

"Is he a slow learner? He must finish learning it for me this year and memorize the entire text. Otherwise, how can he stand up in front of his father? How can he take over the Song family business in the future?"

Shen Lingyu stood up and said, “Let me wash up, I will go to the study to check Ruer’s homework in person.”

******

Song Jinyi got Song Zhangye's approval and had some breathing time.

By the end of the month, three or four snowfalls had occurred, and the temperature in Yunzhou City was getting lower and lower. Dewdrops were still dripping from the wind hood, and the air was chilly. [1] Passersby were all wearing padded jackets and high boots that did not reach their ankles.

On the day of the winter solstice, every family was celebrating the festival at home, and heavy snow was falling on the streets, so few people were strolling around. Therefore, Song Jinyi gave everyone a day off and let them sleep until noon.

In ancient times, the Winter Solstice was also known as the "Winter Festival," "Celebrating Winter," and "Eliminating the Cold Festival." As one of the eight festivals of the four seasons, the Winter Solstice was considered a major winter festival. In ancient times, people said, "The Winter Solstice is as important as the New Year."

Song Jinyi cooked a pot of mutton soup at noon.

Because people in Daxia love to eat mutton, the price is not cheap, but she bought two mutton shanks and some seasonings, just a simple meal, and then bought two steamed buns to finish her lunch.

The highlight is at night.

Song Jinyi and Xu Ruolan bought ten kinds of brightly colored vegetables, including carrots, purple cabbage, spinach, etc., and then boiled them in a pot to obtain ten juices of different colors.

Li He looked at the ten bowls on the table, each filled with juices of different colors. She scratched her head and asked curiously, "Sister, what are you doing?"

When Li He saw Xie Wuyang calling Song Jinyi "sister", she thought they were siblings. Later she found out that they were not siblings. However, she felt that the word "sister" was more intimate, so she also started to call Song Jinyi that way.

Of course Song Jinyi didn't think it was a big deal, so she just followed her and shouted.

“Make wontons.”

"But this looks like paint. Are you going to paint on the wontons?"

Xu Ruolan and Song Jinyi both smiled when they heard this.

Song Jinyi tilted her head and smiled at her: "I don't have that ability."

Xie Wuyang was cutting vegetables nearby. When he heard the noise, he looked at Li He as if he was a fool and said, "This is for coloring the dough."

Li He was already a little afraid of Xie Wuyang. Even though she was a fool, she could hear Xie Wuyang mocking her. She turned around and hid beside Xu Ruolan, who was far away from him.

Song Jinyi glanced at Xie Wuyang, then at Li He, and shook her head. She didn't know why Xie Wuyang and Li He just didn't get along.

She poured the juice into the flour and divided it into ten portions of dough. The dough was not big, but the problem was the large quantity. Even Xie Wuyang, who didn't know how to knead dough, was forced to join in kneading the dough.

He had no experience, only brute force, and he kneaded the dough into pieces.

Song Jinyi suppressed her laughter and called Li He over to take a look. "Look at this thing, isn't it like paste? Do you want you to teach it?"

Song Jinyi's original intention was to vent Li He's anger. It was Xie Wuyang's fault for bullying the child.

Li He looked up at Xie Wuyang beside her. His face was as black as coal, and his eyes were staring at her sinisterly like an owl in the middle of the night. It was winter and the kitchen was not yet lit, but she was still sweating on her back.

She shook her head like a rattle and rejected Song Jinyi's proposal.

Song Jinyi sighed softly in her heart, not knowing what to say, and continued with her work.

Next, prepare the fillings. Add salt to pork, shrimp, lamb and other fillings and chop them into small pieces. Then add vegetables, red beans and other vegetarian fillings to make a total of ten fillings.

Next it’s time to make wontons.

Li He had only been able to make desserts before, and at most porridge, but she had never made wontons before. For a moment, she was at a loss when looking at the filling and dough.

Just when I didn't know what to do, I heard the sound of children playing next door outside the window, chattering about making a snowman.

Li He is young, still a child. When she encounters something she is not good at, she wants to escape. She blinks her big eyes and looks outside, wanting to watch people making snowmen.

Song Jinyi noticed her absent-minded look and flicked Li He's head to bring her back to her senses. "What's so fun about making a snowman? I, your sister, can make goldfish. Do you want to learn?"

Li He nodded without hesitation.

Song Jinyi picked up a piece of orange dough, cut the square dough into triangles, put the filling in the middle of the triangle, and then folded the pointed end over to wrap the filling.

You can’t see anything in this step, but in the next step, bring the two sides of the filling down and pinch the opening tightly.

The wrapped filling looks like the body of a goldfish, and the hanging dough looks like the goldfish's tail, long and thin.

Li He was naturally gifted in cooking, and after watching it once, she immediately mastered it and made a few small goldfish wontons that were exactly the same as Song Jinyi's.

Song Jinyi adhered to the principle of praising education and praised Li He for her cleverness and talent. Li He blushed with embarrassment and worked harder to make wontons. She finished wrapping a whole dough in just a few strokes.

Xie Wuyang looked at Li He expressionlessly, blinked his deep green eyes, acted coquettishly in a slightly stiff manner, and also asked Song Jinyi to teach him.

Song Jinyi noticed that he was vying for favor like a child, and she couldn't help laughing and taught him how to make rabbit wontons.

Xie Wuyang did not have the talent that Li He had. His hands and feet were clumsy, and he could not get the shape right when he tried to pull up the rabbit ears.

Song Jinyi patiently educated him. She wrapped her hands around Xie Wuyang's clothes and taught him how to wrap them step by step.

The two of them put their shoulders together, and through the touch of his hands, he could feel the warmth of Song Jinyi. She lowered her head and watched the movements of her hands carefully.

But he was lost in thought: If he just turned his head slightly to the side, he could kiss her fair cheek.

After Song Jinyi taught him how to wrap one, she asked him if he had mastered it this time. He paused and said, "I still can't."

It was not until Song Jinyi taught him the third one step by step, in a slightly fast tone, that Xie Wuyang noticed her impatience and nodded, saying that he had learned it.

Xu Ruolan made wontons in regular shapes, while Song Jinyi made wontons in her favorite shape - ingot-shaped wontons.

For convenience, Song Jinyi did not boil soup in a separate pot. She just chopped some green onions and coriander and spread them on the bottom of the bowl, tore some seaweed, added some dried shrimps, and directly poured the hot soup for cooking wontons into the bowl.

While eating, Li He picked up a piece of the little goldfish she had wrapped. She picked it up with a chopstick, looked at the cooked goldfish wontons, exclaimed "How cute", and then ate the little goldfish in a big mouthful.

Song Jinyi ate a few of Li He's goldfish wontons and praised them a few times. When she ate the Yuanbao wontons she had made, she prayed silently in her heart, Yuanbao, Yuanbao, may my wish come true and I will make a fortune next year.

Xie Wuyang was halfway through his meal when he seemed to have eaten something hard. With a "click", he took out the copper coin with a little white dough on it from his mouth.

He frowned and looked at Song Jinyi with a puzzled look.

"You actually got to eat it." Song Jinyi said with a smile on her face.

What's this?

Except for Song Jinyi, the other three were a little puzzled by this behavior.

Song Jinyi said that this was a custom in their hometown. When making wontons, they would put a clean copper coin inside. Whoever ate it would be considered lucky.

After Song Jinyi finished her explanation, she looked at him with a sincere and gentle gaze, and said in a very serious tone: "Congratulations on getting the copper coins. I wish you happiness and joy every year, Jiaqing and Shixin [2]."

Xie Wuyang's gaze fell on Song Jinyi's smiling eyebrows, and then on her face. The two looked at each other, and she smiled as bright as the sun.

This smile was like a raging fire, burning in his heart, burning all the way down, making his blood boil.

He held the copper coin tightly in his hand hidden under the table.

【Author’s words】

【1】-"Moon over the River"

【2】-《Youth Travel》

——Small Theater——

Regarding Student Xie’s truancy during Teacher Song’s class

Song Jinyi os: How can he be so stupid? He still can’t do it after being taught for a long time. It makes me so angry (flame value up up)

Xie Wuyang os: She is so patient, I love her so much (starry eyes)

The author, who is fair and honest (gives nutrient solution, maybe shows mercy), sees this: if he truants off in class, he will be punished later (spoilers included)