Chapter 21 Taro Dumplings
The third day of the twelfth lunar month.
Before two o'clock in the morning, Mother Song got up, crushed the taro that she had steamed last night and mixed it with sweet potato flour. According to her daughter-in-law's instructions, she added some salt and a small amount of boiling water, and began to knead it into dough.
By the time she had kneaded and let the special dough rest, it was already past three o'clock.
She took out the minced meat that she had chopped last night and added onions to it... After she had done everything she could, she urged her daughter-in-law and granddaughters, who were still asleep, to get up and work.
She wondered, what kind of dumplings could be wrapped into a triangle?
What Chu Hong least wanted to do was to get up early in the winter, but when she thought about how she hadn't eaten meat for a long time and that she could finally eat it today, she got up and worked in a hurry.
Chu Hong also joked: "We are also hardworking people who get up earlier than chickens, right? We should be the model of model workers, right?"
Mrs. Song was amused: "If someone like you can become a model worker, there will be no lazy people in our village."
Then he urged them: "Hurry up and teach us how to wrap it."
Wu Xiu demonstrated to her mother-in-law and little daughter: "Put some meat filling in the dough, fold it in half, pinch one corner, fold the other side, and seal it."
It looks simple, but it’s not easy until you try it. I made several and none of them looked as good as these.
Chu Dan looked at the strangely shaped taro dumplings he had made and said weakly, "How about I go and light the fire?"
Chu Hong didn't care: "It's okay, we can keep the ones you packed for ourselves later."
Don't think about avoiding work. She wants to finish the work early, fill her stomach, and then have a good sleep.
The four of them worked quickly. They were busy until around four o'clock and cooked all the food that didn't look that good. They ate a bowl of food themselves first.
Then put the beautifully wrapped taro dumplings into two pots and start steaming.
Chu Dan stared at the taro dumplings in the bowl with wide eyes: "How magical! The color is so beautiful."
After eating several taro dumplings, Old Lady Song muttered to herself: They are smooth and chewy, and contain delicious meat fillings. No wonder they are sold at such a high price.
Don’t worry about being scolded: Are you crazy about money?
She was very impressed: "Xiaohong is really smart when it comes to food. Who would have thought that taro and sweet potato flour could be used to make dough?"
Chu Honghou came to grandma, hugged her arm and acted coquettishly: "Grandma, how can you say I'm greedy? I just want to make something delicious to show my filial piety to you and grandpa."
"Grandma, you used to love me the most. Have you changed your mind now?"
As I recall, the elders in the village often said: When Chu Hong was in Wu Xiu's belly, there was turmoil outside and the Japanese invaders came to raid the area. She was so frightened that she gave birth prematurely.
Wu Xiu was still in poor health after giving birth to her second daughter. Apart from giving the child to her daughter-in-law to feed, Old Lady Song took care of the child herself.
Old Lady Song gave birth to two sons. Naturally, she was more partial to her granddaughter whom she raised, even her eldest grandson was not as good as her.
Of course, Old Lady Song loved her other grandchildren as well, but if she steamed a bowl of egg custard, the other grandchildren could only eat one bite, but Chu Hong could definitely eat two bites.
Mrs. Song’s motto is: Xiaohong didn’t stay in my belly for long enough, she is weak and needs to be looked after carefully.
At that time, all children were raised freely, that is, Chu Hong was either carried on Song Lao Niang's back or in her arms.
When Chu Hong recalled these things, she felt that she had to be filial to her grandmother.
Old Lady Song was so amused by Chu Hong's annoyance that she pretended to be impatient: "Who cares about a lazy bug like you? Why don't you go and wake up your father and the others to have breakfast?"
Secretary Song and Old Man Song also ate to their satisfaction. At this time, all the taro dumplings in the pot were steamed and placed on the rice dumplings leaves. Take it out to cool down to prevent sticking.
It was a little after six in the winter, when the sky was still dim, and Chu Dan followed Party Secretary Song, carrying a backpack.
Chu Hong looked at the remaining forty or so taro dumplings and said, "Grandma, can you send half to Second Uncle and his family later, and give the other half to Chu Chu and his family to try?"
In the past, Old Lady Song would have been reluctant to give up such a good thing. After all, her family seldom ate meat throughout the year.
But just because Gu Ci saved her granddaughter twice, and because of Gu Ci, she was able to pick up a hundred dollars for free, she was much kinder to Lao Chu and the others.
She felt that since they could raise a good child like Gu Ci, Lao Chu and the others could not be bad people.
Furthermore, the old man had some old-fashioned ideas, which were superstitious. He felt that Gu Ci was his granddaughter's destined man and a noble man, otherwise how could he have saved his granddaughter in Shencheng, thousands of miles away.
Can we meet again in our hometown?
She had discussed it with her husband and was ready to match him up with Xiaohong.
It’s just that we’ve known each other for too short a time, so I need to get to know him more.
In the future, Old Chu and his family will also be formal relatives, so she naturally has to be generous, otherwise they will have objections if Gu Ci becomes a son-in-law.
That’s right, in the old people’s minds, it’s really not easy to be a son-in-law. He will be looked down upon and he has to treat his wife’s family as his own.
When they are old, they will have to rely on their son-in-law to support them in their old age.
Even if there are people out there who keep shouting about old ways of thinking, it is impossible to change their old ideas.
Therefore, Mrs. Song said generously: "Okay, there is still a lot of soup left in the pot. I will put the leftovers from last night into it and cook it into rice soup, which will save them from making breakfast."
It is neither cheap nor easy to buy an iron pot nowadays.
A small pot costs six or seven yuan, and most importantly, you have to buy it with a ticket.
Even if Gu Ci could buy it for them on the black market, how could they dare to use things of unknown origin?
Otherwise, why would Gu Ci hide the rice and flour he bought in Chu Hong's house?
Now Mr. Chu and his family use a stove and clay pots to cook and boil water, which is of course much slower than their earthen stove and iron pot.
Chu Hong also noticed that her grandmother was becoming more and more generous. She thought it was because her family now had some savings and no debt, so she responded and walked to the back.
In fact, there is still a lot of meat filling left, but the dough has been used up. However, Chu Hong is not too generous. It is rare for her family to have a good meal. Hasn’t she eaten enough?
If she wasn't afraid that the rest of the people would have objections, she would just want Chu Chu to have a good meal, and the rest of the people would just be taking away Chu Chu's attention.
Now in winter, Lao Chu and his family don’t have to get up early and work in the fields, but they still have to feed the pigs and cows first.
Therefore, when Chu Hong went there, the four old people had all gone to feed the pigs, leaving only three children gathered outside to make a fire and boil water.
They definitely can't afford coal briquettes. This furnace can only be burned with firewood, which is difficult to start and produces a lot of smoke.
Chu Hong felt really sad when she saw them wearing thin, worn-out cotton jackets and gathering together to light a fire. She hurried over and said, "Stop lighting the fire and come to our house for dinner."
With Chu Hong's deliberate closeness, Chu Chu is now also very close to her.
Hearing her words, his eyes lit up: "Sister, is it really possible?"
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