When pickling sauerkraut in autumn, the bottom of the jar is usually filled with well-formed cabbages, layered one by one.

The top layer, or the top of the container, is where you put those kinds of cabbages that aren't very good, which the locals call "ba la ke zi" (literally "unwhole cabbages").

This is done to prevent the jar head from rotting. We use some shrubs as the jar head, so it's not a big deal if it rots.

Zhang Shuzhen's pickling skills are quite good; the pickled cabbage in the jar is pickled very well and hasn't rotted.

But this stuff doesn't have any filling; it's all cabbage stalks and stuff. It's not good for stewing, but it's great for making steamed buns.

We happen to have some wild boar that Sheng Xiping hunted a couple of days ago. We'll chop some up, add some oil, and steam some buns. That would be great.

It's also convenient; I can just make a pot of porridge in the morning and eat it with steamed buns.

"Come on, here's a big steamed bun with sauerkraut filling. Sit down and eat."

Two baskets of steamed buns were served, along with a bowl of garlic sauce; that was dinner.

How many children wouldn't want to eat these fragrant sauerkraut-filled buns?

At this moment, Sheng Xitai and the others no longer cared about the flowers. They all sat around the table and each took a big steamed bun and started eating.

Sheng Xinhua is still too young to eat such a big bun, so Zhang Shuzhen specially cooked a bowl of noodles for her grandson, with chopped meat and cabbage in it.

Zhang Shuzhen picked up her grandson, sat him on her lap, scooped up some noodles with a spoon, blew on them to cool them down, and fed Xinhua spoonful by spoonful.

But Sheng Xinhua saw everyone else eating steamed buns and enjoying them, which made him very envious.

So the little one ate two bites of noodles, then refused to eat any more, insisting on making noises towards Zhou Qinglan.

"Xinhua, what are you doing? Why don't you want to eat anymore?"

Zhang Shuzhen tried to feed him with a spoon, but Sheng Xinhua kept his mouth shut and refused to eat, which puzzled Zhang Shuzhen.

When Zhang Shuzhen said this, Sheng Xiping and his wife also noticed it, but they still didn't understand.

Sheng Xinhua has always been a very hearty eater, basically eating whatever he's given and never being picky. Otherwise, how could he have gotten so fat? What's wrong with him tonight?

"Grandma, little brother wants to eat steamed buns, he's craving them." Chen Feng suddenly said from the other end.

"Steamed buns?" Zhang Shuzhen was taken aback for a moment, then picked up her own steamed bun and brought it to Sheng Xinhua's mouth.

Zhang Shuzhen had just taken two bites of that bun, which revealed the filling inside.

As soon as Sheng Xinhua saw his grandmother hand him a steamed bun, he immediately grabbed her hands, stretched his head forward, and took a bite.

The little boy's mouth wasn't very big, and Sheng Xinhua's bite landed perfectly on the filling. The little guy was immediately delighted and clapped his hands with joy.

"Oh dear, so he's craving our steamed buns. This little guy is easy to take care of; he wants to eat everything."

When Zhang Shuzhen saw this, she laughed and quickly bit off most of the dough around the bun in her hand, revealing the filling inside, and even fed it to the child.

These days, people feed their children roughly, and very few prepare any special complementary foods for them. They just chew up whatever the adults are eating and feed it to the children.

Sheng Xiping was afraid that Zhang Shuzhen would do the same, so from the beginning of introducing complementary foods, he instructed her to make some food for the child separately, with little or no salt, and not to chew the food before feeding it to her.

Now that the family's financial situation has improved, Zhang Shuzhen is happy to take better care of the child, so she always cooks separate meals for Sheng Xinhua.

But to my surprise, this little guy wouldn't eat his own food, and insisted on eating the adults' food instead.