33 Bracken and Pork Flower Roll
"County Magistrate Ye, I am grateful to you."
Madam Cuihua carefully placed the chopped meat in a backpack, took out a copper coin from her bosom and handed it to Aunt Hu, pretending not to see Aunt Wang and walked out happily.
Aunt Wang, who was left behind by her, shook her sleeves and no longer cared about being angry. She secretly followed Madam Cuihua and saw her go to the grocery store and stay for half an incense stick of time. Then she walked into the county government office with a happy smile on her face.
Entered the county government office!
Aunt Wang was now anxious. What was going on? Could it be that County Magistrate Ye really wanted to be Madam Cuihua's teacher?
She carried her backpack and hurried home.
When she got home, Wang Laiwang had just returned from the wasteland. He had been picking yellow clay a few days ago and kneading clay these days. He was so tired that his back and waist ached.
He raised his hand and pounded his shoulder, looking at the cold stove in the room, grinning and said:
"Mom! I'm as tired as an old ox in the fields all day, and I don't even have a hot meal when I get home. Are you really my mother?"
Aunt Wang was furious when she heard this. She tore off her linen shoes and chased after Wang Laiwang, slapping him: "You heartless bastard! Tell me! Tell me if I am your real mother!"
Wang Laiwang ran while shouting, "Come on, come on! Mom, mom! Stop hitting me! Who is this blind person who messed you up again?"
Aunt Wang threw the shoes she was holding to the ground, her mouth grimacing, her face uglier than tears. "You have no idea! Wang Cuihua can actually afford pork! She even made it to the county government office. Do you think this is what County Magistrate Ye secretly told me about the county school?"
"What? What kind of windfall did Brother Dazhuang's family make?"
The relationship between Aunt Wang and Wang Cuihua is quite complicated. Wang Cuihua's grandfather and Aunt Wang's uncle are brothers-in-law, but the two families have never gotten along. Although now, the two men who were at odds with each other have long died, the relationship between the two families has eased a lot.
But Aunt Wang, as an elder, grew up listening to the uncle's ridicule of Grandfather Wang. Now, seeing that the annoying guy who was once not as good as her is getting better and better, she even bought such a big piece of meat!
You know, my family only cuts the grass half a year during festivals.
The more Aunt Wang thought about it, the angrier she became. She was not only angry that Wang Cuihua could afford to eat meat, but she was even more angry that her lovely granddaughter could not go to school!
"If you were a promising and discerning person, and had never offended County Magistrate Ye, why would I be angry with you? You don't care about your children's future all day long, but only think about doing hard labor. Do you think that when Erya and Erdan grow up, they will also go to the county to do hard labor?"
Aunt Wang looked at her disappointing son and sighed heavily, almost wanting to cry. She shook her hands and turned to go to the kitchen.
Wang Laiwang squatted in the yard, scratched his dusty hair without any objection, and looked at Xiao Erya who was drawing on the ground with a branch in the yard.
He stood up suddenly, as if he had made a great decision, and ran all the way to the county government office.
*
The county government office is busier today than usual, as Madam Cuihua is seeking a disciple!
When Madam Cuihua first told Ye Yunzhao about this idea, she disagreed.
The reason is very simple. The recipe for crystal cake was not invented by her, but she learned it from a book in her previous life.
But Cuihua made up her mind: "County Magistrate Ye, I won't hide it from you. Before I met you, I thought this might be how I would live my life, just like the women in the mountains. I would have a child every two years, cook and bring water to my husband during the busy farming season, and go to the mountains to pick fruits and mushrooms during the slack season..."
"Actually, when you first came to Lingnan County, I went to the city gate to take a look, but you definitely didn't know."
Madam Cuihua pursed her lips and smiled. "Back then, you were much paler and thinner than you are now. When I looked at you, I wondered what was so different about you from us, that you could actually eat the emperor's salary and become a court lady. Then you invented the three-legged plow, and I understood. You had something in your head that I didn't... County Magistrate Ye, if you hadn't taught me how to make crystal cakes, how would I have made any money?"
"I can't read. If it weren't for you, even if you put the book you mentioned in front of me, I wouldn't know how to make crystal cake. I wouldn't even know what crystal cake is!"
As soon as these words came out, they both laughed. Cuihua's eyes moistened: "County Magistrate Ye, I am grateful to you..."
How could Ye Yunzhao refuse? How could he refuse?
"Okay, you can learn from me from now on."
When Madam Cuihua heard the answer she wanted, she burst into laughter and said, "It's better to do it today than to wait for a day. How about I do the ceremony of becoming your disciple today?"
"A gift for becoming a disciple?" Ye Yunzhao was stunned. She originally thought that Madam Cuihua was just acting on impulse, but she didn't expect that she had already made preparations.
Seeing her expectant look, Ye Yunzhao couldn't say no anymore, so he walked up to Madam Cuihua and straightened her clothes according to the way he remembered becoming a disciple.
"First dress properly, then understand the truth."
Then Ye Yunzhao took her to wash her hands in a wooden basin, and wiped the water droplets on the back and palms of her hands with a coarse cloth.
“Cleanse your hands and mind, and remove distracting thoughts.”
"Originally, after finishing these two items, we should worship the ancestors." Ye Yunzhao scratched his head, feeling a little bit at a loss, "But I don't know which ancestor to worship when I teach you how to make cakes."
Madam Cuihua looked bewildered. She didn't understand, but she didn't hesitate. "Then I will worship the heavens and the earth. The ancestor must be between heaven and earth."
Ye Yunzhao thought her words made sense, so he nodded in agreement.
Madam Cuihua turned her back to her, kowtowed three times towards the vast sky and earth, then slowly stood up and knelt down towards Ye Yunzhao again.
Ye Yunzhao had never seen such a posture before, and hurried to help her, but Madam Cuihua shook her head and said firmly: "Master, please accept my disciple's greeting."
As he said this, he kowtowed three times vigorously.
Only then did Ye Yunzhao successfully help her up and gently wiped the dust off her forehead: "Why are you so hard? Look, it's all red."
Madam Cuihua smiled foolishly: "Master cares about me."
Seeing her change her address, Ye Yunzhao suddenly remembered something and reminded her, "You should still call me County Magistrate Ye in front of outsiders. If others knew that I accepted you as my apprentice, I'm afraid everyone would come to me to be their master."
Madam Cuihua knew her dilemma and was very happy. In this way, she would be the only disciple of County Magistrate Ye. She nodded like a chick pecking at rice and quickly agreed.
"I bought this piece of pork with the money I earned yesterday, and it's also my gift to my master." Madam Cuihua saw that Ye Yunzhao was about to refuse, "This is my first time as a disciple giving me meat, and Master is going to refuse it?"
Ye Yunzhao looked at her and blinked his watery eyes, looking aggrieved. He reluctantly took the pork and said seriously, "Just this once. Don't leave today. I'll use this piece of pork to make something delicious later. You can learn from me."
Her eyes lit up: "Okay!"
Ye Yunzhao first went to the county government warehouse. As the county magistrate, he could take out a certain amount of grain every day. Because there were several women picking silk in the yard, she specially took out a lot of wheat flour and millet flour, and also brought out half a bag of corn.
She didn't let her new apprentice sit idle either, and said to Madam Cuihua, "I'll knead the dough, and you chop the pork into minced meat."
People in the mountains don't just make lard and eat the dregs of fat when they buy it. Cuihua's family occasionally buys a piece of meat and sometimes chop the leaner parts into minced meat, which can be eaten for several days.
She first cut the fatty pork belly into small pieces before starting to chop the stuffing.
On the other side, Ye Yunzhao poured the wheat flour and millet flour into a rather sturdy wooden basin, dug a small hole in the flour pile with washed meat, scooped up half a spoonful of well water, and slowly added it in. He added water with his right hand, and slowly gathered the mixed flour to the middle with his left hand.
After a while, the loose flour turned into sticky dough. Ye Yunzhao didn't want to waste it, so he kneaded the dough vigorously while gently pulling off the dough stuck to his fingers and kneading it into the dough.
The color of mixed dough and pure dough is different, with a slightly reversed grayish yellow color, but it smells better than fine flour, with a faint, indescribable smell of crops.
"The mixed noodles smell so good." Ye Yunzhao lowered his head and asked, unable to help but speak out what was in his heart.
Cuihua, who was chopping stuffing nearby, disagreed: "Master, mixed noodles are not as fragrant as fine noodles!"
Her eyes sparkled with longing for the future: "When I make money, I'll have noodles every day, fine noodles, and meat every meal. Master, I'll come and bother you every day then."
Ye Yunzhao smiled softly. Since she came to this strange world, she had never thought about her future. Cuihua Madam's words were touching, and she thought they were good. "Okay, wait until you become the shopkeeper or the boss. Then I will make delicious food for you every day."
The two of them grinned. Ye Yunzhao placed the kneaded dough in a wooden basin, covered it with something, and then placed the basin on the stove. In the stove was the fire that Madam Cuihua had just started. The fire was not big at the moment. Although it was not enough to cook, it was very suitable for rising the dough.
Ye Yunzhao washed the ferns in the yard and threw the picked fern roots into the chicken coop. A few chicks clucked a few times. Seeing that they were eating with relish, Ye Yunzhao picked up the washed ferns and walked towards the kitchen.
Madam Cuihua poked her head out and said, "Master, I see that your house only has a chicken coop but no chicken coop. It's going to get cold soon, and without a chicken coop to keep them warm, the hens won't lay eggs."
Hearing this, Ye Yunzhao was shocked. In her previous life, she had only raised shrike chickens, and that was on her own balcony. She had the floor heating on all day in winter, so she naturally didn't know about this habit. "Fortunately, you reminded me, otherwise..."
Before she could finish her words, Madam Cuihua said with a smile, "Master, don't even think about building the chicken coop yourself. Let Dazhuang do it. I'm not bragging, but the chicken coop he builds is both sturdy and beautiful!"
"Okay." Ye Yunzhao didn't hesitate to say anything. "Come with Brother Dazhuang when the time comes. I'll make you something delicious."
"That's great, he's in for a treat."
The two chatted with each other, but their hands never stopped moving. Ye Yunzhao was cutting bracken on one side, and Madam Cuihua was chopping meat on the other side.
Seeing Ye Yunzhao mixing the meat filling and bracken together, adding some salt and some seasonings she didn't recognize, she asked, "Master, are you going to make steamed meat buns?"
Ye Yunzhao shook her head. She could make the bun folds thicker than the countertop. “It’s a meat roll.”
"What is a meat roll?" Madam Cuihua divided the dough into several large pieces according to her request and rolled it into a large round pancake.
Ye Yunzhao spread the mixed meat filling on the pancake. Under Madam Cuihua's curious gaze, she folded the pancake into three and completely wrapped the meat filling in it.
Then he used a kitchen knife to cut the dough into strips. Ye Yunzhao took a bamboo chopstick and pressed it hard in the middle of the strip. The green fern and the red and white meat filling were revealed, making a beautiful meat roll.
Ye Yunzhao demonstrated several times, and seeing that Madam Cuihua was eager to try, he gave the task to her. He then washed the large steamer from the county restaurant and placed it on the boiling iron pot.
The two of them quickly placed the steamed meat rolls on the steamer, and Ye Yunzhao covered it. "I see the fire in the stove is strong, it will be cooked in about a quarter of an hour."
The task of adding firewood to the stove was given to Madam Cuihua, who cooked a full pot of corn porridge in the stove in the yard.
Less than a quarter of an hour later, the aroma of rice wafted through the courtyard. The woman in the outer courtyard, who was sorting silk, swallowed her saliva and asked another woman, "Gou Wa's mother, do you smell anything special?"
The woman called Gou Wa Niang twitched her nose, not understanding what was going on. "What did you smell?"
Another woman in tattered hemp shoes nodded vigorously: "I smell it, it's the aroma of meat!"
Everyone leaned their heads over to smell it. Although it was faint, it was definitely the scent of meat, a scent that was somewhat unfamiliar to them.
"Yesterday, when Liu Yayi was looking for someone, he said he would provide a lunch. What do you think..." the woman swallowed again, "Could it be meat?"
"Don't even think about it. Meat is so precious, how could we possibly eat it?" Another woman swallowed her saliva and suddenly pulled her out of her daydream.
"But those laborers in the mountains only get meat once every two or three days!"
"Other people are doing the hard work of felling trees and carrying mud. What are we doing? I advise you to give up this idea as soon as possible."
The words were rough but the truth was there. The people who were ecstatic just now calmed down.
Gou Wa's mother quickly said, "Well, what's the point of meat? Just giving us two bowls of porridge is a great treat. Have you forgotten that we can't even afford to eat at home?"
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