Chapter 355 Schadenfreude
Spring returns to the earth, and wild vegetables grow wildly.
Sheng An specially changed into clothes that were neither new nor old, and took Zhuo Zhuo to the fields to dig for wild vegetables.
Zhuozhuo didn't know which were wild vegetables and which were wild grasses. When she saw her mother pick a green wild grass with her sickle and put it in the basket, she followed suit and picked green grasses as well.
Sheng An watched with a smile as the little one plucked the pig feed into the basket. Instead of immediately correcting her mistake, she gently patted her head with the back of her clean hand and praised her loudly:
"My daughter is amazing! She's so young and already knows how to do chores!"
Zhuozhuo understood "Great job!" and knew that her mother was praising her. She immediately showed a sweet smile, and her few white teeth were faintly visible.
My baby is so cute!
Sheng An leaned over and kissed her daughter's fair cheek, then pointed to a bunch of wild garlic in the basket and said, "Dig this. This wild vegetable is delicious when stir-fried with eggs. Mom will make you wild garlic and egg potstickers for lunch."
Upon hearing the word "delicious," his bright, dark eyes lit up immediately: "Delicious!"
Sheng An nodded: "Yes, it's delicious."
Zhuozhuo stared at the wild garlic for a few moments, trying to memorize its appearance in her little brain.
Perhaps thinking he had memorized it, he immediately looked around for wild garlic.
Soon, the little guy spotted what looked like wild garlic, quickly stood up, and charged over with great pride.
She crouched down, reached out her chubby little hand, and grabbed it, excitedly turning to Sheng An and shouting, "Mommy, it's delicious!"
Sheng An looked closely and his lips twitched.
Hmm, they are a few thin, long weeds that look somewhat like wild garlic.
Looking at her excited daughter, Sheng An didn't want to dampen her confidence, so she reluctantly said, "Yes, it's delicious."
Now the little guy got even more excited and started pulling and tearing at the pile of weeds.
Sheng An silently apologized to the innocent weeds, then ignored her daughter who was picking at everything and continued digging for wild vegetables.
At this time of year, venomous snakes and insects haven't come out yet, so she wasn't worried about the little one getting hurt.
Many villagers came out to dig for wild vegetables, and they all found it unbelievable to see the mother and daughter digging as well.
They dig for wild vegetables to save food, but what are these two doing it for?
Wild vegetables are far less delicious than cultivated vegetables. They not only have a bitter taste, but also a poor texture, unless you are willing to stir-fry them with a lot of oil.
Seeing the villagers' confusion, Sheng An pointed to his daughter, who was running around on the ground, and explained with a smile, "She can't stay at home, so I brought her out to find something for her to do."
The villagers nodded in understanding: "Yes, yes, the sun is shining these days, so letting the children out in the sun will prevent them from getting sick."
Sheng An worked for more than an hour and filled the basket.
During this time, I also had to carry the little one on my back and throw away the weeds she had put in, afraid that she would burst into tears if I threw them in front of her.
Zhuozhuo couldn't distinguish between weeds and wild vegetables, nor did she know that the "wild vegetables" she put in had been thrown away. Looking at her mother's basket full of wild vegetables, she felt an immense sense of accomplishment.
Before the mother and daughter even reached their doorstep, hand in hand, the little one shouted at the top of her lungs, "Great-grandpa, great-grandma, grandpa, we dug up so many wild vegetables!"
Hearing the childish voice calling out, the three elders inside the house smiled and came out to see what was going on.
Zhuozhuo wiggled her short legs and jumped into Xu Chenglin's arms, who was standing at the front: "Grandpa, so many wild vegetables, I dug them up!"
Xu Chenglin smiled, bent down, picked up his little granddaughter who was covered in mud, and praised her profusely: "My granddaughter is so amazing, she has learned to dig for wild vegetables at such a young age!"
Grandpa and Grandma Sheng also praised her repeatedly, holding her little hands in their left and right hands to examine them carefully. They found that her palms were a little red, obviously from being squeezed too hard, and they felt sorry for her again.
Zhuozhuo ignored the words of concern and proudly raised her chin, looking incredibly proud: "Mmm, I'm so awesome~"
Sheng An was amused by her smug look and didn't expose her for picking half a basket of weeds in front of her.
At noon, Sheng An kept his promise and prepared two kinds of fillings for potstickers.
One type is filled with shepherd's purse and pork, and the other is filled with wild garlic and eggs.
Wild vegetables have a bitter taste and a rough texture, so they need to be blanched. When preparing the filling, add more oil.
After being processed by Sheng An's magically enhanced hands, these two fillings were left with only an irresistible aroma and flavor, making people drool and nausea, their mouths gurgling as if they wanted to grab a handful of filling and stuff it into their mouths.
This was the first time the adults had seen her so anxious about a bite to eat, so they all joked with her:
"There are many people in the family, and this amount of filling isn't enough for everyone. Zhuozhuo can only have one, and the rest can be given to the elders, okay?"
Of all the long words, Zhuozhuo only understood "can only eat one," and looked at her mother expectantly: "Can I eat two?"
As she spoke, she held up two little fingers on her chubby little hand.
Absolutely adorable!
Sheng Anxin's heart trembled. How could she bear to disappoint her daughter? She immediately said, "Okay, eat as much as you want. If you like it, we'll go dig for wild vegetables again tomorrow!"
Hearing her mother's words, the little one, who was on the verge of tears, beamed and hugged her leg, whining, "Mommy's the best! I love Mommy the most!"
This wasn't the first time Sheng An had heard her daughter's sweet words, but she still couldn't help being happy. She bent down and kissed her little face: "Go play outside. I'll call you when Mom is done cooking."
Zhuozhuo obediently left the kitchen and played games with Hongliu in the yard.
Once the crispy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside potstickers are ready, the entire courtyard is filled with an enticing aroma.
Zhuozhuo ate five potstickers in one go until she was so full she couldn't eat anymore. She reluctantly left the table, her eyes still lingering on the few unfinished potstickers on her plate.
She's definitely a little glutton.
In the following days, Sheng An took the little guy to dig for wild vegetables every day, and made dumplings, wontons and steamed buns in rotation. Not only did the little guy have a good meal, but he also successfully identified four or five kinds of wild vegetables.
While the mother and daughter were engrossed in digging for wild vegetables, Xu Jinnian's second letter arrived.
The content was similar to the first letter, with most of it expressing the author's longing for the mother and daughter, but it did not mention when he could return to Qingzhou to pick them up.
Sheng An guessed that the situation in the capital was serious, and the man himself was not sure when it would end, which was why he did not give a time in the letter.
Thinking that Master Jiang should have returned from Jinling by now, she decided to take Zhuozhuo to visit him and subtly inquire whether Master Jiang knew anything about the situation in the capital.
The next day, Sheng An told his three elders and then took Zhuozhuo into the city by carriage.
As expected, Master Jiang and his wife returned.
Upon seeing Zhuozhuo's face, which so closely resembled Xu Jinnian's, before the little one could even bow or greet him, Master Jiang quickly stepped forward and picked her up with great delight, exclaiming, "So alike! So much like him!"
Not only do they look alike, but they also have that same kind of spirit in their eyes and brows. When they get a few years older, they'll probably be a real headache.
No wonder he's that kid's son; that kid's going to get what's coming to him!
Master Jiang looked at the little fellow who was curiously tugging at his beard, and a gloating smile appeared on his face.
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