"The sugar concentration... is too high."
"Ah?" Sun Guixiang was stunned, then burst into laughter and slapped her thigh with her skinny hand.
"Oh! My silly little friend! It's sweet, so what? 'Too high a sugar concentration'! Grandma understands, it's sweet enough! Okay! Then we won't add sugar!"
She smiled, turned around and went back to stir-frying the thick and sweet bean paste.
Grandma Zhang and the fat aunt next to them couldn't help laughing. Looking at Ye Qingliu who was obviously touched by the sweetness but had to pretend to be calm, the love in their eyes was about to overflow.
"This child is so honest!"
"Exactly! If it's sweet, just say it's sweet! What's the concentration?! I'm dying of laughter!"
"But the kid is right! This bean paste smells so sweet it's almost tooth-destroying!"
Ye Qingliu stood where he was, the explosive sweetness on the tip of his tongue still seemed to be spreading.
He listened to the laughter of the old people and looked at the lively back of Grandma Sun as she stir-fried the red bean paste, his eyes behind the lenses flashing slightly.
In the center of the main room, the mixed glutinous rice flour and flour were piled on thick cotton cloth, like a small snow mountain.
Master Wang brought warm water, and Sun Guixiang rolled up her sleeves and prepared to knead the dough.
"Little boy," Sun Guixiang called him, encouragement in her cloudy eyes, "Come, learn from grandma! Kneading the dough is the key to making pancakes! Add water little by little, and knead your hands like this..."
Ye Qingliu walked to the table as he was told.
He took off the light beige knitted cardigan, revealing the ironed white shirt underneath, and then meticulously rolled up the shirt cuffs, revealing two cold, white, and strong arms.
Sun Guixiang demonstrated, inserting her skinny but powerful hands into the center of the powder pile, digging out a small hole, then slowly pouring in warm water. Her fingers began to rotate and knead in the hole, as if performing some ancient craft.
Ye Qingliu's gray-blue eyes focused on observing her every subtle movement: the strength of her fingers, the angle of rotation, the changes in the shape of the water and powder as they came into contact and merged...
He quickly built a model in his mind, analyzing the optimal water-gouache ratio range and kneading force threshold.
Ye Qingliu stretched out his hand, and his cold, slender fingers imitated Grandma Sun's movements, precisely inserting into the center of the powder pile and digging out a perfect hemispherical pit.
Then, he took the scoop handed to him by Master Wang, tilted his wrist steadily, and the warm stream, like a precisely controlled burette, poured into the center of the pit at a constant speed.
The movements are standard, just like in a textbook.
However, when Ye Qingliu's fingertips actually touched the moist powder ball, an accident happened.
The sticky, flexible and chaotic physical properties of the wet dough made of glutinous rice flour mixed with wheat flour were completely beyond the calculation range of his precise model.
The mass seemed to have its own life will, and the moment he tried to apply standard kneading force, it suddenly counterattacked.
A large mass of wet, extremely sticky paste, like the most stubborn glue, suddenly and without warning, firmly grasped the cold, white, slender, and bony fingers of his right hand.
Ye Qingliu's movements froze instantly.
He lowered his head in astonishment, his gray-blue eyes looking in disbelief at his fingers that were now wrapped in white sticky substance and had almost lost their "freedom". They were fingers that he had used to operate precision instruments and deconstruct the mysteries of the universe.
The paste was still stubbornly spreading downwards, trying to devour more of his hand.
An extremely rare emotion called panic, like an undercurrent beneath the ice, clearly emerged for the first time on his usually calm face.
He even subconsciously and awkwardly shook his hands, trying to get rid of the unusual attachment.
Phew!
A few drops of white powder splashed with his movements!
One of the drops landed squarely on his left cheek.
A cold and sticky touch came instantly!
He slightly widened his eyes, and his gray-blue pupils clearly reflected his "miserable situation" at the moment - his fingers were stuck deep in the muddy powder ball, and there was still "trophy" hanging on his face.
"Pfft—hahaha!" The fat aunt who had been paying close attention to the children was the first one who couldn't help but burst into earth-shaking laughter.
"Oh my god! Little boy! You...you look like a little cat!"
"Hahaha! I let you slap it! It hit your face!" Grandma Zhang also laughed so hard that she fell over.
"Oh my! This look is so rare!" Even Grandpa Li held on to the table and laughed so hard that he couldn't straighten his back.
The whole hall was instantly filled with joyful laughter.
The old people looked at the young man who had always been as clean as ice and snow, and was not stained by dust. Now he had flour all over his face, his fingers were deeply stuck in the flour, and he looked so embarrassed that they thought he was cute and funny, and their hearts melted!
Sun Guixiang laughed so hard that tears almost came out.
She quickly put down the work in her hands, picked up a clean wet towel next to her, and walked quickly to Ye Qingliu.
"Don't move, don't move! Don't move, little boy!" She held back her laughter while very gently and carefully wiping the annoying white spot on his cheek with a wet towel.
"This glutinous rice flour is so sticky! It's always like this when you first start using it! Don't be afraid! Grandma will teach you!"
She held Ye Qingliu's wrist that was "captured" by the dough, and covered it with her other hand. With his stuck hand, she began to knead, press, push, and fold it in the slippery and sticky dough with a specific rhythm and strength...
"You have to do it this way... Use the flesh at the base of your palm to press down... Then fold it up... Press again... That's right! Take your time! Don't rush! Put some dry powder on your hands so they won't be so sticky..."
Sun Guixiang's voice was filled with a smile, as well as immense patience and guidance.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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