While the glutinous rice balls were cooling, she took a small brush, dipped it in oil, and lightly brushed a layer on top. Once the surface of the glutinous rice balls was slightly dry, she wrapped them up one by one with plastic wrap.
She made about fifty or sixty this time, and packed six for each of the two workers, planning to give them another box of mung bean cakes as well.
The mung beans were almost steamed, and Xu Lai started filming again: "Pour the steamed mung beans into a blender, add milk and condensed milk and blend until smooth. If you don't have one, you can use a sieve to strain it. Then pour the blended mung bean paste into a non-stick pan, add butter and sugar, stir until it forms a ball, then prepare a mold, press it into your favorite shape, and the mung bean cake is ready."
Xu Lai packed six mung bean cakes into a box, leaving the portions for the chefs at home, planning to give them to them after get off work in the afternoon. She also packed two more boxes of mung bean cakes, a dozen or so green rice dumplings, and some salted duck eggs she hadn't finished buying that morning, and rode her electric scooter to the courier station to send a package.
While sending a package, Xu Lai suddenly had a thought and asked, "Do you have paper and pen?"
The courier station owner handed over paper and pen. Xu Lai thanked him, took the paper, and wrote: "To my friend Xia Ning. Please give me your feedback after you have tasted it. I will humbly accept it."
After she finished writing, she handed it back, saying, "Hello, could you please put this paper in the package as well? Thank you."
The boss glanced at the paper. Xu Lai's handwriting was beautiful, but it wasn't delicate and petite like a girl's. Instead, it was strong and vigorous. Just looking at the characters, it didn't seem like she had written them.
Back home, after dinner, Xu Lai lay bored on a chair, basking in the sun. She covered her face with a book, intending to take a short nap, but ended up falling asleep.
When she woke up again, it was already four o'clock in the afternoon. The workers had finished their work for the day and were preparing to pack up and go home. When they saw that she was awake, they told her, "It will take ten days before anyone can move into the house, but you and the old lady can move into your room now."
Xu Lai nodded. These two rooms were the first to be painted. Now that they've moved in, the painters will come back tomorrow to finish painting the other two rooms, and then the job will be completely done.
She ran to the kitchen and brought the things she had prepared beforehand to the two chefs, saying, "I made these green rice dumplings and mung bean cakes myself. Take them back and try them."
The driver smiled and accepted it, saying, "Thank you very much."
While cooking dinner, Xu Lai noticed there were still about twenty green rice dumplings and mung bean cakes left. She wondered if she should give some to her neighbors, but then she worried that it might seem like she was being too solicitous.
Xu Lai shook her head: "Oh well, never mind, I'll just consider it a thank you for bringing me rat poison."
She packed it in a small box and went next door. Xu Lai peeked out from the doorway and saw that the car wasn't there. She was secretly pleased, thinking that Zhao Qingyun probably wasn't there either.
Thinking of this, Xu Lai straightened her back and knocked on the door. "Grandma Jiang, I've brought you some green rice dumplings."
Grandma Jiang came out of the house and looked at her with delight, saying, "Oh my, you child, you're always so polite, bringing so many things for this old woman to eat."
Xu Lai originally intended to leave after seeing her off, but Grandma Jiang pulled her to sit down on a chair and chatted with her while holding her hand, saying, "Look at you, child, aren't you wonderful? Whoever has the chance to marry you in the future will be blessed in their past life."
Xu Lai smiled awkwardly: "Grandma Jiang, you're exaggerating."
Grandma Jiang pretended to pick up a piece of mung bean cake and said, "Let me try this mung bean cake. I like to eat this kind of cake when I get old, it doesn't hurt my teeth."
Upon hearing this, Xu Lai said, "I didn't put too much sugar in this mung bean cake, so it's suitable for the elderly. If you like it, I'll make it again next time and send it over."
Grandma Jiang smiled and said okay, thinking to herself, why hasn't this kid come back yet? When she heard Xiao Lai's voice, she sent him a voice message. He's too slow. He can't even seize the opportunity.
After staying there for ten minutes, Xu Lai checked the time and said, "Grandma Jiang, I'm going back now. I need to cook dinner at home."
Grandma Jiang had no choice but to let go and said, "Alright, come over here often when you have time. Grandma gets bored at home all by herself."
Grandma Jiang saw her to the door. As soon as Xu Lai stepped out of the gate, she bumped into Zhao Qingyun, who was driving back. Just as Zhao Qingyun was about to roll down his car window, Xu Lai dashed home.
He drove the car into the yard and slammed the gate shut. Grandma Jiang was sitting in a chair eating qingtuan (a type of glutinous rice dumpling). When she saw him come in, she laughed and said, "Haha, you got what you deserved. They don't want to talk to you."
Zhao Qingyun loosened her tie and said, "Grandma, where did these qingtuan come from?"
Grandma Jiang looked at her with a knowing look on her face: "What do you think? Isn't Xiao Lai accompanied by other people? Do you really think she came here to see you?"
Zhao Qingyun was puzzled. When had he offended her? Why was she avoiding him like the plague?
When Xu Lai got home, she heard her grandmother and father talking on the phone. She leaned over to listen, but didn't say anything because she didn't want to talk to her father for some past reasons.
She only asked after hanging up the phone, "Are Mom and Dad coming back for Qingming Festival?"
Grandma nodded: "They originally said they weren't coming back, but the factory was on holiday, so they hitched a ride home. If the weather is nice tomorrow, I'll take your parents' and Xiaoyan's blankets out to air them."
Xu Lai was surprised to see Xu Yan back. She sent him a WeChat message asking, "How many days off do you get from school? Why did you come back?"
Xu Yan replied with a voice message: "Xu Lai, don't make a fuss, I have my own plans."
Enraged, Xu Lai made a phone call: "Xu Yan, you've really grown bold, daring to call your sister by her full name."
Xu Yan cowered as soon as he heard his sister's voice and begged for forgiveness, "I was wrong, sister."
Xu Lai picked a leaf and played with it, saying, "You'll be a senior soon. Why aren't you looking for an internship? What are you doing back here? Besides, it's not easy for you to come back."
Xu Yan retorted, "Sister, I'm already twenty-one. Stop worrying about me. I'll go do an internship during the summer vacation and take this time to come back and see Grandpa and Grandma."
Xu Lai threw the leaf away, chuckled, and said, "Even if you're eighty-one, I'll still be your sister."
Before hanging up the phone, Xu Yan said, "Wait for me to come back, then we'll go hunting in the wild."
Xu Lai smiled and muttered, "You brat."
After taking a shower, Xu Lai started editing the videos she had filmed during the day. She managed to edit a roughly coherent video, added subtitles, and more than an hour had passed.
She sent it to Xia Ning for review, and Xia Ning gave her suggestions: "It's pretty good. You can add some music, but don't make the volume too loud."
Xu Lai listened to several videos before finally choosing one. She took out her phone to register a short video account, but struggled to come up with a nickname. In the end, she just randomly picked: "Xu Lai's Daily Life Back Home".
She posted the video online, then turned off the lights and went to sleep. Back in the countryside, she went to bed exceptionally early every day, falling asleep around ten o'clock.
The next day, she took out her phone to check the number of views on the short video. It had dozens of likes. She took a screenshot and sent it to Xia Ning, who replied, "Not enough."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
