Chapter 203 Stockpiling Dumplings
The heavy snow fell on and off for three days. Whenever I had free time, I went out to clear the snow, keeping the roads leading to the pigsty, the sheds, and the gate clear.
Mancang hasn't been idle these past two days either; he's taken care of all the housework, from lighting the fire to washing the dishes.
The snow eventually stopped at knee-deep, but it didn't really affect my daily life.
Looking at the thick snow outside the window, I was lost in thought. I felt a little unwilling to let it lie there in the yard.
"Let's make a lot of dumplings and freeze them in the snow. They'll be so convenient for breakfast and late-night snacks..."
Suddenly an idea popped into my head, and I muttered it aloud.
"Yay! I love dumplings. I can't remember how old I was, but my mom fed me some. They were filled with meat and tasted so good. My third uncle's family also made dumplings for Chinese New Year, but they didn't let me eat any..."
Mancang's voice trailed off, tinged with anger and deep sorrow.
I patted Mancang's slightly prickly head and comforted him, "It's all in the past now, help me make dumplings!"
One of the main reasons why Mancang and I get along well is that we are both foodies and not lazy.
If you're craving something, just do it without delay; you'll be able to eat it in no time.
Mancang didn't know how to help, but he happily followed me to the kitchen.
The thought of stocking up on dumplings, coupled with the sight of my piles of vegetables, instantly energized me, and I decided to make a huge batch all at once.
I prepared beef filling, pork and mushroom filling, pork and cabbage filling, pork and sauerkraut filling, and lard and pumpkin filling.
Mancang sat by the stove, tending the fire, his eyes fixed on me as I prepared the filling. He seemed somewhat surprised to see five bowls of filling.
"Aunt Cheng, isn't this a bit too much?"
"What's the big deal? Let's take our time wrapping them. What else can we do in this snowy weather?"
Mancang dared not refute my words and nodded repeatedly.
Pick out the biggest basin in the house, scoop out ten bowls of flour, and knead it into a huge dough.
Mancang, with his two small, dark hands sticking out, wanted to come up and help, but I slapped him away: "Oh, I don't need your help. I can pack them myself. I'll teach you when it gets warmer and we have more supplies at home."
Mancang stood to one side, rubbing his little hands together, and asked, "Then what should I do?"
"You peel the garlic, we'll have dumplings later."
Mancang sat on a small stool by the stove, slowly peeling garlic, glancing up at me every now and then.
These dumplings are waiting to be wrapped; it will take at least two hours to wrap them all.
After making five or six beef dumplings, I felt a little empty inside. If I couldn't take it anymore, I went back to my room to get my phone and started making dumplings while watching TV.
When doing this kind of slow work, you still need some entertainment.
After peeling the garlic, Mancang squatted by the stove like a little dog, craning his neck to stare at his phone, occasionally bursting into laughter.
Seeing him like this, I suddenly remembered what he had said before, that he slept by the stove and his cousin peed on him. I immediately felt sorry for Mancang.
"Don't squat by the stove anymore. Get Aunt Cheng a chair. Standing while making dumplings is making my back ache."
Mancang quickly got up and soon brought over a chair.
Instead of sitting down, I called Mancang and me back to the east room, found an animated film in my notebook, and had him lie on the kang (a heated brick bed) to watch it slowly.
"Aunt Cheng, you're still working, how can I lie on the kang and watch cartoons?"
Mancang was not happy and refused to get on the kang (heated brick bed).
“You’re still a child. You don’t need to be ready to work all the time. Watch for a while. Aunt Cheng will call you over to start the fire after she finishes making dumplings.”
Hearing that they would need to start a fire soon, Mancang felt relieved and took off his shoes to get onto the kang (heated brick bed).
Without Mancang squatting on the ground like a puppy, I felt much more at ease while watching TV and making dumplings.
I easily finished the first two bowls of filling, but when I started making dumplings with the third type of filling, my shoulders and arms were sore.
You must insist on finishing the package. It's your own fault for not controlling the quantity; you have to bear the consequences of your own actions.
After I had been wrapping for more than an hour, Mancang finished watching cartoons and came to check on me in the kitchen. Seeing that I was still wrapping, he stopped watching cartoons and squatted by the stove with Xiaodi, watching over me.
I spent over an hour making dumplings, and every possible place to put dumplings was filled with them.
I had Mancang and I put on our cotton-padded coats, and we laid out the dumplings we had made one by one in the snow. Then we took the empty bamboo steamer back inside to continue making dumplings.
It took more than three hours to wrap all five bowls of filling.
"We can start a fire now, the warehouse is full, let's cook dumplings!"
While giving instructions to Mancang, he took the freshly wrapped dumplings outside to continue freezing them.
The batch of dumplings that were frozen earlier were already frozen solid. I picked them out and put them in a basin, rinsed them with cold water, and carefully put them into plastic bags and put them in the back room for freezing.
After processing the first batch of dumplings, the warehouse was also filled with boiling water.
The room contained beef dumplings, which were then boiled directly in the pot.
One by one, plump, white dumplings came out of the pot, steaming hot, and my stomach was already growling with hunger.
Beef dumplings are just different; they're incredibly flavorful.
With some minced garlic, several large plates of dumplings were enjoyed to my heart's content by Mancang and me.
There were some dumplings left, but it was clearly not enough to feed the dog.
There was still some dumpling soup left in the pot. Add another handful of firewood to the stove, and once the soup boiled, cook the remaining dumplings and a large bowl of noodles in it.
The tender beef dumplings and noodles were served together in the dog bowl, and the puppies ate them with gusto, like little pigs.
Tie Dan has the right to eat alone, and he eats happily while holding his own cat bowl.
The second batch of dumplings was also frozen in the back room. Looking at the densely packed dumplings, I felt a great sense of security.
From now on, I can stay in bed as long as I want. When I don't feel like cooking, I can boil dumplings, or make pan-fried dumplings, steamed dumplings, and so on. Today's three hours were well spent.
When the mountain is covered in snow, it reminds me of catching rabbits last year.
However, this year my family has become overrun with rabbits, and I'm torn between the idea that catching rabbits is fun and the fact that I have too many rabbits at home.
If they still couldn't decide, they had to ask another person in the family who had the option.
"Mancang, would you like to go catching rabbits in the mountains on a snowy day?"
"Huh? Can there be rabbits in such cold weather?"
Oh right, I overlooked the temperature issue. Last year was a normal winter, so I was able to catch rabbits. This year, with such cold temperatures, the rabbits should be leaving their burrows much.
Rabbits don't reproduce easily in cold weather, so let's stop catching rabbits and protect biodiversity.
I was originally full of energy, but the thought that it was best not to catch rabbits immediately made me feel listless.
"Aunt Cheng, shall we go up the mountain?"
"I'm not going, I'll just lie down."
I went to the west room to find a book on traditional Chinese medicine, kicked off my slippers, and nestled into the sofa.
Mancang was lying in bed reading comic books, while I was lying on the sofa reading books on traditional Chinese medicine.
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