Chapter 59 Spring Obsession - Shepherd's Purse Dumplings

After the county examination, the next step is to prepare for the provincial examination.

The prefectural examination is an examination presided over by prefectural officials, and is not far from the county examination, about a month later.

Several people passed the county examination successfully, and now they have to prepare well for the provincial examination.

In order to have more time to prepare for the exam, Gu Jinghuai and others may not have time to take a break and go home when they go to the academy this time.

Fearing that they would not have enough to eat in the academy, Qin Zhizhi gave Gu Jinghuai five taels of silver, and Mrs. Qin also gave Qin Qingyuan and Qin Qingyun five taels each.

Li and Zhang were very touched. They didn't expect their mother-in-law to give them so much silver from the public fund.

Gu Jinghuai was very reluctant to leave home, but he knew that if he wanted to give Qin Zhizhi a better life, he had to work harder.

A short separation is just for a better together in the future.

After returning to the academy, Gu Jinghuai studied like crazy, and the other students in the class did not dare to slack off at all.

But Qin Zhizhi didn't know these things.

Today, Qin Zhizhi took the children out to pick shepherd's purse while they didn't have to go to school.

Shepherd's purse dumplings are Qin Zhizhi's obsession every spring.

Before she traveled through the book, Qin Zhizhi would visit her grandmother every year, dig shepherd's purse, and eat the shepherd's purse dumplings her grandmother made.

"Sister-in-law, what does shepherd's purse look like?"

The children have been craving for shepherd's purse dumplings for a long time ever since they heard Qin Zhizhi's description of how delicious they were.

Since they didn't have to go to school today, they pestered Qin Zhizhi to take them to dig shepherd's purse.

"Come here, sister-in-law will teach you." Qin Zhizhi squatted down and dug a shepherd's purse to show the children.

"Third sister, we recognize this. It's ground rice." Qin Qinghui had dug this kind of wild vegetable before.

Qin Zhizhi also remembered that shepherd's purse is called ground rice here.

"Do Jingyao and Jingshu also know Di Micai?" Qin Zhizhi asked uncertainly.

"Sister-in-law, we know each other." The brother and sister responded happily.

"Okay, since you all know each other, let's dig separately. Be diligent and bring it back to make dumplings for you."

Seeing that several children knew it, Qin Zhizhi encouraged everyone to work hard to dig.

"Sister, Zheng'er doesn't know me. Zheng'er is with you. Sister, please teach me."

Gu Zheng really didn’t know it, but Xiaotuanzi was willing to learn, and besides, she could follow Qin Zhizhi, so Xiaotuanzi smiled even sweeter.

"Okay, then Zheng'er will follow me."

Qin Zhizhi took Xiaotuanzi and found a place with a lot of shepherd's purse, and taught Gu Zheng seriously.

Xiaotuanzi has a good memory and learns quickly. The two of them work together in perfect harmony.

Soon, they dug up two large baskets full of shepherd's purse.

Qin Zhizhi saw that the basket could no longer hold the food and that it was enough for them to eat, so she took the children home.

Along the way, several children were dancing with joy, and their cheerful voices made people feel better.

After returning to the Gu family, Qin Zhizhi called Qin Qinghui.

"Fifth brother, go home and call your mother over. Tell her that I need her help. And by the way, tell Grandpa to come over for dumplings tonight."

"Got it, Third Sister. Qinghui will be there right away."

"Sister-in-law, I'm going too!"

Gu Jingshu and Qin Qinghui went to Qin's house together to call Wang and notify Old Man Qin.

Wang was mending shoe soles in the yard when she saw her son and Gu Jingshu come in.

"Mom, stop sewing the soles. My third sister asked us to call you to help make dumplings at Gu's house."

"Now?"

"Yes, we just went to dig up some ground rice and we'll have ground rice dumplings tonight."

"Okay, Mom will go to your brother-in-law's house after I send the soles back." Wang put away the basket of shoe soles and prepared to put it in the house.

"Then please walk slowly, Mom. By the way, where is Grandpa?"

"Your grandfather is weeding in the vegetable garden. If you want to find him, go to the back."

After Wang told her son the location of her father-in-law, she went back to the house to deliver something. She was still anxious to find her niece.

Qin Qinghui found Old Man Qin weeding in the vegetable garden and conveyed his third sister Qin Zhizhi's original words. When he was about to leave, he was stopped by Old Man Qin.

"Go get a basket and pick some vegetables for your third sister's house that she likes to eat."

The reason why Old Man Qin and Mrs. Qin care so much about their vegetable garden is partly because Qin Zhizhi likes the vegetables grown at home.

"Grandpa, cut some fennel too. Third sister likes to eat it."

There was a fennel in the Qin family's vegetable garden, which was secretly exchanged by Qin Zhizhi and Wanwan before. She lied to Mrs. Qin and said that she bought it in the county town.

Mrs. Qin treasured this fennel very much and took good care of Qin Zhizhi.

The whole family knew that Qin Zhizhi liked dumplings stuffed with fennel, so Qin Qinghui thought of picking some for Qin Zhizhi.

"Grandpa knows. Go get the basket quickly and don't delay your third sister."

Old man Qin urged his grandson Qin Qinghui to get the basket, and his hands moved quickly to pick the vegetables that his granddaughter liked.

Qin Zhizhi was very happy to see Qin Qinghui and Gu Jingshu bringing back a basket full of her favorite dishes. It was great to have such a family.

Shepherd's purse is the most delicious in this season. Qin Zhizhi picked out the impurities from the shepherd's purse she dug up from the mountain. With the help of her third aunt Wang, she was able to do it much faster.

The cleaned shepherd's purse needs to be blanched in boiling water and then quickly cooled with cold water to remove the oxalic acid in the shepherd's purse.

Third Aunt is responsible for chopping the blanched shepherd's purse. Although Wang is pregnant now, she can still do these small things.

Qin Zhizhi was responsible for chopping the pork filling herself. After the pork filling was chopped, she added chopped shepherd's purse, salt, chopped green onion, vegetable oil, sesame oil, etc., and then stirred it evenly.

The noodles were made by Gu's mother. She made more noodles because she was afraid that there wouldn't be enough.

Today, there are only three of them at home, and everyone else is busy, so Mother Gu rolls the dough, while Qin Zhizhi and Third Aunt are responsible for wrapping it.

Qin Zhizhi prepared plenty of meat filling and shepherd's purse, so each dumpling was filled with enough.

Qin Zhizhi was very good at making dumplings, and soon the winnowing basket was full of plump dumplings.

Before cooking the dumplings, Qin Zhizhi specially prepared the dipping sauce and fried a few dishes.

When the Qin family came back, Old Man Qin conveyed Qin Zhizhi's words, and everyone went to the Gu family together.

"I know Zhizhi is making dumplings, why didn't you call me back earlier to help?" Mrs. Qin blamed Old Man Qin a little.

"Aren't you busy today? The third daughter-in-law is gone, so you can rest assured."

Old man Qin was not angry, and explained to Mrs. Qin in a gentle voice.

Qin Zhizhi started making dumplings only after everyone arrived. The few people who had not helped finally found a chance and went to the kitchen to help.

The kitchen suddenly became lively and soon the shepherd's purse dumplings were ready.

The skin is thin and the filling is large. After taking a light bite, the mellow and thick sauce immediately hits everyone's taste buds.

"Third sister, today's dumplings are especially delicious."

“It tastes better than last time.”

"Sister, Zheng'er likes today's dumplings."

…

"If you like it, eat more. When you're free, we can go to the back mountain to dig shepherd's purse buns."

Qin Zhizhi smiled happily. In the warm time, cooking for the one you love is a happy thing in itself.