Chapter 41 Aunt Cai is Here

At noon the next day, the sun was high in the sky, and the scorching sunlight shone into every corner of Taohua Village.

Hu Zi pushed the door open and entered, bringing Madam Cai into the Gu family's courtyard.

When Aunt Cai saw Gu Jiayue standing under the eaves waiting for her, her eyes suddenly turned red and her face was full of heartache.

She hurried to Gu Jiayue in two steps, gently holding her arms with both hands, and carefully looked her up and down over and over again, muttering to herself, "My poor young lady, look at you, it's only been a few days since we last met, and you've become so thin."

His eyes were full of concern and pity, as if Gu Jiayue had suffered a great injustice.

Wasn't she wronged? Her daughter was raised in the lap of luxury in the Marquis's mansion. When had she ever suffered so much torture and pain?

I heard from Hu Zi that the young lady went to the fields to plant rice a few days ago. Oh my god, is that something the young lady is capable of doing? When she was in the Marquis' Mansion, the only thing she could do was water the flowers on the windowsill.

So she must have been forced to do it. I heard that these ignorant people in the countryside don't treat their daughters as human beings at all, but treat them like animals.

Especially when he saw that Gu Jiayue's originally fair and tender palms had several marks left by broken blisters, he became very depressed.

Poor lady!

Sad Madam Cai was somewhat displeased with the Gu family. She even gave Hu Zi, who came to pick her up, a cold shoulder.

Hu Zi, who was given a blank stare for no apparent reason, asked: "What's wrong with him? Did the carriage hit Madam?"

Gu Jiayue couldn't help but feel a little warm in her heart. Although what the nanny said was a bit exaggerated, after all, it had only been a few days, how could she have lost that much weight?

But this care made her feel warm.

The marquis' wife in her memory was very kind to her original self, but she left the mansion right after she crossed over and had not had the chance to fully appreciate that love.

After returning to the Gu family, Li Juhua was also very caring towards him, but she was too cautious, even to the point of obeying his every word.

But Aunt Cai was different. She had followed me all the way from Kyoto to this remote southwest, taking meticulous care of me along the way, always worrying about whether I was cold or hungry. Although this was a bond that Aunt Cai had cultivated with my original self over many years of living together, I was the real beneficiary, so how could I not be moved?

"Are you tired, Mama? I asked Hua Chao to rent two rooms next door. You and Hu Zi can stay there for now. It will be much more convenient after the house is repaired after a while." Gu Jiayue said with concern.

The Gu family's house was simply too crowded to accommodate so many people. Fortunately, the neighbors next door had two empty houses, so Gu Jiayue instructed Hua Chao to rent them and let Madam Cai and Hu Zi live there temporarily.

This way, Madam Cai wouldn't feel wronged. After all, the bed they slept in now was too small. With three people crammed into it every day, it was difficult to even turn over. It would be difficult to fit another person in.

Aunt Cai was slightly startled, then waved her hand and refused firmly: "How can you say that you are tiring me out? Miss must not have eaten well these days, right? I brought white flour here. Didn't Miss say a few days ago that she wanted to eat wild vegetable dumplings? I brought them too. I'll go make them for Miss right away." As she said that, she was about to walk towards the kitchen.

It was because she was not around that the young lady had to live a hard life.

Now, her Aunt Cai is here, and with her watching over her, she will ensure that the young lady doesn't have to suffer at all.

Gu Jiayue quickly reached out and pulled the nanny, saying, "Mammy, there's no need to be so troublesome. There are so many people at home, you can't handle it all by yourself."

Nanny Cai patted Gu Jiayue's hand gently, sat her down under the eaves, and handed her a washed pear from her bag. "How many people are there? Back when I was in charge of the kitchen at the Marquis' Mansion, I had to prepare meals for everyone. This is nothing to me."

Aunt Cai had never mentioned this past, and Gu Jiayue immediately became interested. She followed Aunt Cai to the kitchen, picked up a kitchen knife, and cut the pear into four pieces, giving each of them half. She handed the pear to Aunt Cai and curiously asked about the past.

Aunt Cai felt a little warm in her heart as she held the pear. Her young lady was still as kind-hearted as ever.

She must protect such a kind lady.

Aunt Cai raised her voice and called out to Hu Zi, who was sweeping the yard: "Hu Zi, come over and chop the meat!"

Then he handed the wild vegetables to Hua Chao, "Hua Chao, go wash these wild vegetables."

After giving the instructions, she skillfully opened the bag of flour and poured half of it into the basin without hesitation, then kneaded the dough with warm water.

Her hands kept kneading in the basin. The originally incompatible flour and water were mixed together under her skillful hands, and soon they were kneaded into a smooth dough.

Aunt Cai covered the dough with a white cloth and placed it on the stove.

At this time, Hu Zi had just finished chopping the pork with fat and lean parts.

"Don't underestimate making dumplings; there are many details involved." Madam Cai pointed at the minced meat and said, "We should choose pork from the hind leg. 30% fat and 70% lean is the best. Some people make dry and unappetizing dumplings because they don't have my secret recipe."

At this point, Aunt Cai mysteriously brought out a bowl of water with a smug smile on her face. "This is it! Soak scallions and ginger in hot water. Pour the scallion and ginger water into the minced meat three times, then stir the minced meat in one direction until it's firm. That's it. Finally, add cooking oil and sesame oil for flavor, and the minced meat is ready."

Gu Jiayue was secretly amazed. She really didn't know that there were so many tricks in making a simple dumpling.

She couldn't help but think back to her past life, when her family was so poor she never had the chance to eat dumplings. When she grew up and could earn her own money, she had no time to make them. When she wanted to eat them, she would buy frozen ones at the supermarket or go to a restaurant. She had never made dumplings herself.

She pointed curiously at the wild vegetables Hua Chao had washed and asked, "When do we put these wild vegetables in?"

Aunt Cai took the wild vegetables, chopped them up on the chopping board, and then put them aside. "We should put the wild vegetables in when we wrap them, otherwise the taste will be bad." After that, Aunt Cai went to check the dough and found that the dough had become soft, so she took out the chopping board and continued to knead it.

I saw her using both hands to exert force, and the dough kept rolling in her hands, becoming smoother and more delicate, and it seemed that it had been kneaded.

Aunt Cai divided the dough into several portions, took one of them and rolled it into a long round strip. Then she picked up a kitchen knife and cut the long strip into small pieces of uniform size with a few "clicks".

Then she flattened the small dough balls one by one.

I saw her hands flying, pinching the edge of the dough with her thumb and index finger, turning it back, pinching it gently, and then pushing it back. Soon, a stack of evenly thin dumpling skins appeared on the chopping board.

"Mammy, you are so amazing. You don't even need a rolling pin?" Gu Jiayue asked in surprise.

Aunt Cai laughed, "A rolling pin is not as fast as my hands. Miss, please go out quickly. It's very fumy in here. I'll call you when the dumplings are ready." As she said that, she gently pushed Gu Jiayue out with the back of her hand that was not stained with flour.

Gu Jiayue was originally eager to try and wanted to learn how to make dumplings from Madam Cai, but she had to give up after being pushed by Madam Cai.

She returned to the house, handed the written application to Hu Zi, and carefully explained to him some details about her visit to the village chief tomorrow.