Chapter 36: Winter Solstice Dumplings Come, Dumplings with Chestnuts
After five days of snow, the sky finally cleared up on the morning of the winter solstice. Under the sunlight, the Jiuque Mountains were covered in silver, like a fairyland.
After Xinyi’s advice last night, Long Qi didn’t completely resolve his worries, but he finally came out of the haze.
The moves in "The Manual of the Coiling Dragon Sword" looked extremely familiar. Long Qi tried to imitate a few of them. Although they went smoothly, he always felt that they started well but ended badly. The further he went, the weaker he felt, as if something was missing.
Smoke rose from Qiuyun Peak early in the morning, and Lingxiang could smell the fragrance as soon as she went out.
Following the smell, I came to the kitchen and saw Maidong and several disciples busy making dumplings. There was already a pot of dumplings on the stove. The white and plump dumplings were rolling in the soup, looking very cute.
Lingxiang leaned against the door frame and watched Maidong chatting and laughing with her senior brothers. Suddenly, she remembered that this girl seemed to have been brought up the mountain by Senior Brother Fuyin not long after that.
In the first few days after her arrival, she had a high fever that wouldn't go away for a long time, she was sobbing and unconscious. Thanks to Senior Brother Fu Yin's day and night care and meticulous treatment, she was able to save her life. But after waking up, she had forgotten everything in her life, not even her own name.
"I guessed that you would be the first one to get up. No one's nose is as sharp as yours." Maidong saw Lingxiang as soon as he raised his eyes and couldn't help teasing her.
A joke interrupted Lingxiang's thoughts. She didn't show any expression and joked with Maidong.
"I was wondering who it was that was making my stomach restless so early in the morning. It turned out to be you, girl. I'm sure your brothers have been tormented by you a lot."
"What I said is really not what I mean. You have to come here to eat and drink for free every year. It just happened that it snowed before the Winter Festival this year. But you took advantage of me and used this excuse to squeeze me. This year, I can't give you any dumplings at all." Maidong scolded with a smile, turned around and took out the dumplings from the pot one by one.
As soon as Lingxiang stretched out her hand, Maidong slapped her with a palm.
"This first pot is meant for my uncles and master, so why are you being so unruly?"
"What are you saying? Could it be that I am not your master?"
Mai Dong glanced at Ling Xiang and sneered, "You are just a peak master now, and you still want to sit with the head elder?"
Lingxiang curled her lips when she heard that - this damn girl has been looking down on her less and less lately.
The outer disciples were also very busy. The sect sent a lot of dumplings, saying that it was the winter solstice and everyone should celebrate the festival together.
The boys in the kitchen cook it freshly. There are those with shepherd's purse and tofu filling, those with leek and vermicelli filling, and those with winter bamboo shoots and mushroom filling. Just let them know what kind of filling you want and it will be cooked in a moment.
As soon as they heard that there were dumplings to eat, Long Qi dragged Liu Xia and the other two to the kitchen, but they were disappointed to hear that they were all filled with vegetarian stuffing.
"I haven't had any meat since I came up the mountain. I finally had some dumplings, but they were all vegetarian. I'm so full I could almost feed a sheep."
"Once you enter the Daoist sect, you naturally can't eat meat. Cultivating your mind and spirit is essential." Liu Xia stepped forward, picked up a few of each, and handed them to the boy in the kitchen. "So, it seems there's also a saying about starving your body. It's said that when you reach a certain level of cultivation, you must fast in order to improve your cultivation."
"So, from now on, we can only live on these green vegetables and leaves?" Long Qi lazily picked up a few dumplings and handed them over.
"I heard that if one succeeds in cultivation and ascends to the thirty-third heaven, there will be meat to eat. The storybook says that whenever the heavenly officials and generals have a banquet, there will always be immortal products such as dragon liver and phoenix marrow to eat as a tonic, which can not only improve one's cultivation, but also satisfy one's appetite, killing two birds with one stone." Zhao Wuyang held the plate and hesitated about which kind of dumplings to choose.
"Heavenly officials and heavenly generals? That's a realm that requires hundreds of years of cultivation. It's a pity that my stomach has not been fed for such a long time, it's really heartbreaking..." Long Qi said as he looked at Xinyi, but saw that he was looking at Jiaozi, as if he was thinking about something.
“Dumplings…”
…
"Mom said, there is a dumpling filled with chestnuts. Whoever eats it will be as rich and prosperous as the chestnuts throughout the next year." The girl shook the two tufts of hair on her head and jumped towards the boy. The tufts of hair also jumped happily as the girl ran, which was extremely cute.
When she was about to get closer, she stumbled on the steps and was about to fall to the ground. Seeing this, the young man in the yard quickly stopped his horse stance and leaped towards the girl, grabbing her before she fell. The bowl that was originally on his head shattered to the ground at the moment he moved.
The young man pulled the girl up, but the girl acted as if nothing had happened and said with a smile, "Thank goodness Brother Lu has good kung fu, otherwise you would have to marry an ugly and disfigured wife in the future."
The young man smiled lovingly upon hearing this.
…
After finishing their dumplings, Zhenren Chengxin and Zhenren Fuyin resumed the unfinished game from yesterday. Zhenren Donghui was still comprehending the "Tianxuan Fragments", while Lingxiang was peeling pine seeds on the side.
Click~click~click~
Zhenren Donghui frowned slightly and glanced at Lingxiang beside him, but she seemed to be fine and kept making annoying noises.
"Cough..." Master Donghui put his fist to his mouth and coughed lightly.
"What's the matter? Fourth Brother, do you want to eat some?" Lingxiang said, handing over a handful of pine seeds with a sincere look on her face.
"Cough!" Master Donghui was so angry that he actually started coughing. After calming down, he said to Lingxiang, "It's not that I don't want to help you, but this is the rule. There is no such thing as lending the skills in Langhuan Pavilion, especially to outer disciples."
"In that case, I won't make it difficult for you, Fourth Senior Brother. Since it can't be loaned out, I'll just take someone to see it." Lingxiang said, stuffing a pine kernel into her mouth.
"Nonsense! How dare you bring outer disciples into Langhuan Pavilion!"
"Look at what you're saying. Who said I'm bringing him in now? After the three martial arts performances, he'll naturally be my direct disciple. Wouldn't it be natural for him to enter Langhuan Pavilion then? Right now, this is just a formality."
"Speaking of martial arts performances..." Fu Yin, who was waiting for Cheng Xin to make her move, said, "Why did Han Yang hide the matter of Hui Wu? You should know that the headmaster is in charge of Wangxiantai. He knows everything."
"Who said I wanted Han Yang to keep it a secret? I just wanted him to keep it quiet," Lingxiang said, gazing at the misty clouds outside the corridor. "As for that man, I feel like I've seen him somewhere before, but I can't remember where. I'll just keep an eye on him for now. If he's up to something bad, he must have someone behind him. If I let him go, wouldn't it alert the enemy?"
Master Chengxin considered for a long time and finally made a choice.
"The Yuanqing sect has just opened its doors, so it's better to be cautious."
…
Long Qi ate a dumpling listlessly, but found that it tasted really good, and hurriedly praised the cooking skills of the boy in the kitchen.
The child felt embarrassed by the praise and scratched his head, saying, "We just put the dumplings in the pot and cooked them. It's not like we're skilled at that. Even if they're delicious, it's because we made the filling well."
"Huh? Could it be that these dumplings were not made by you?" Long Qi took another breath and asked vaguely.
"These dumplings are given out by Qiuyun Peak every year. In previous years, before the mountain gate opened, each person was given a bowl of cooked dumplings. Now that there are so many outer disciples, Senior Sister Maidong asked us to make them hot. I heard that she and the brothers from Qiuyun Peak were busy making them before dawn."
It was actually Ophiopogon japonicus? She had this skill?
Xinyi picked up a dumpling and took a bite, then was stunned for a moment.
Those dumplings...
It actually contained a chestnut!
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