Chapter 40: Soup Dumplings. Don’t lie to me, this little dumpling can cost so much...
The sudden words scared Qiu Xuan so much that she almost threw the egg in her hand.
She turned around and saw that it was Zong Xiao. She laughed angrily and said, "How come you walked without making any sound? You scared me just now."
She held up the eggs in her hand and showed them to him. "Look, the chicks laid eggs today. I'll make you some steamed egg custard later."
Seeing his listless expression, Qiu Xuan thought his fever hadn't subsided yet, so she urged him again, "Come on, come on, go back to the house. Wearing such thin clothes will definitely make you sick again."
Zong Xiao's Adam's apple rolled. Seeing Qiu Xuan so concerned about him, he was speechless for a moment. He could only let her push him back into the house.
"We're not going down the mountain today. You should rest for a while." After watching Zong Xiao lie down again, Qiu Xuan returned to the kitchen with the eggs.
The pig skin in the pot had been boiled until it became thick. Qiu Xuan found a clean wooden basin and poured all the boiled pig skin into it.
If it is cold today, just leave it outside for half a day and it will solidify into a jelly state.
Qiu Xuan was afraid that something dirty would fall in, so she found a bamboo cover and put it on top.
After finishing all this, she started to make breakfast. In the past, because they had to go down the mountain, they all ate breakfast together in the courtyard. Most of the time, while she was steaming the buns, they would also come out for breakfast.
Today, it was just the two of them eating in their own courtyard, so Qiu Xuan didn't cook porridge. She heated up two spring rolls for herself and made a bowl of egg custard for Zong Xiao.
The steaming hot spring rolls are wrapped with bean sprouts and fried pork shreds, emitting a fragrant aroma of oil.
Zong Xiao raised his hand to pick up the spring roll, but Qiu Yu blocked it with a pair of bamboo chopsticks.
"Eat your egg custard. Eat light food these two days and wait until you feel better." Qiu Xuan pushed the egg custard in front of him, not allowing him to refuse.
Seeing this, Zong Xiao could only finish his bowl of egg custard. However, one bowl of egg custard was not enough for him, so he had to have two more dry buns.
"I don't have anything to do today. I'll go check on mom later. You can continue to rest in the house."
Qiu Xuan couldn't sit still, and secondly, she felt uncomfortable sharing the same kang with Zong Xiao in broad daylight.
Night is night, but day and night are different!
"Okay." Zong Xiao was not someone who could lie down in the house, but now he listened to Qiu Yun's words. Since she asked him to have a good rest, he would have a good rest.
-
In the small courtyard next door, the grandmother woke up at dawn.
She tucked the corners of Huaixue's quilt, fearing that she would be cold.
"Grandma." Huaixue turned over and snuggled into the arms of the clan mother, saying in a baby voice, "Are we not going down the mountain today?"
"Not going down the mountain?" The clan mother drank too much yesterday and didn't remember who mentioned this.
Huaixue closed her eyes and touched her mother with her little hand. "Auntie seemed to say that we should take a day off today."
"Okay, then you sleep a little longer." The grandmother patted her back and coaxed her to sleep again.
After about an incense stick of time had passed, the grandmother saw that Huaixue was sleeping soundly, so she quietly got off the kang.
Although Huaixue said so, she was still worried. What if she went down the mountain?
She pushed open the gate and was about to go out when she ran into Qiu Xuan who came to see her.
"mother."
"Xiaoxuan." They both spoke at the same time.
"Aren't you going down the mountain today?" asked the clan mother.
Qiu Xuan nodded and followed the clan mother into the courtyard. "I won't go today. I'll go tomorrow."
Although one day off means one day's less money earned, one cannot stay tense all the time. One should take a break when necessary.
"I made some pork skin jelly today." Qiu Xuan came over to ask her grandmother if she had ever eaten soup dumplings.
"Pig skin jelly?" The clan mother had never eaten this before and asked in confusion, "Is it made from pig skin?"
Seeing that her mother didn't understand, Qiu Yun breathed a sigh of relief. This thing wasn't difficult to find. She remembered that it was recorded in books and had existed in ancient times.
But the clan mother didn't know. I guess it wasn't discovered during this dynasty.
"Yes, it's made of pig skin. It will be ready tomorrow. You can try it and decide how much to order."
Pig skin is cheaper than pork. At the same time, one pound of pig skin can make a pot of pig skin jelly. When converted in this way, it is really a good deal.
However, cooking requires firewood. If this were done in town, the cost would have to be a few cents higher. Fortunately, they were in the mountains and had no shortage of firewood.
The clan mother was so happy that she couldn't hide her smile. "Mom, have you come up with a new food?"
The grandmother felt like she had found a treasure, otherwise how could they come up with so many new foods in such a short time, and she had never heard of them before.
"Mom, I'll bring some over for you to try when it's ready. I'm also thinking of getting some soup dumplings."
With the aspic, making soup dumplings is much easier. Qiu Xuan is thinking of giving it a try tomorrow, after all, soup dumplings are very popular no matter where they are eaten.
"Soup dumplings? Okay, let's make noodles tomorrow. We'll do it in the yard."
After the two of them had agreed, Qiu Xuan returned home. She had to prepare well for the soup dumplings tomorrow.
-
In the next village, Liu the butcher’s house.
Liu Zhong, the eldest son of Liu the butcher, was sitting at the table, talking to everyone in the room about what had happened in the town yesterday.
"You didn't see how shameless Zongjia Erlang's father-in-law was at the noodle stall. He directly accused his daughter of being unfilial in front of everyone. The incident became a huge commotion."
Butcher Liu's wife frowned and asked, "What about the Zong family? Are they being protected?"
"Of course I will protect her. If I don't, the girl will definitely be beaten by her father." Liu Zhong looked at his mother with a grin on his face, "Mom, are you worried about the people of the Zong family?"
"What are you talking about?" Butcher Liu snorted coldly, "The Zong family is good and trustworthy. Besides, with me here, how can Fatty be wronged?"
"Dad!" The girl called Fatty was the one who had spoken to Zong Anji. She blushed and got a little irritated. "Don't call me Fatty anymore!"
Butcher Liu didn't take it seriously. "What's wrong? Fatty sounds nice. Dad just wants you to be plump and white. It's a blessing."
"Listen to the girl. Besides, she will be getting married in less than a month, so you can't call her that. It's better to call her Yueyang." Liu the butcher's wife also agreed with her daughter's words.
Liu Zhong thought that Fatty Ball sounded better, but when he saw his younger sister's angry look, he finally changed his mind.
Although the family said this during the day, at night, Liu the butcher's wife still went to find Liu Zhong.
As a mother, she was still worried, after all, her daughter was going to get married.
"Mom, if you have something to worry about, why don't you tell me during the day?" Liu Zhong yawned because he was sleepy.
Mother Liu sighed, "It's not that I don't trust the Zong family, I'm just worried that Erlang's wife's family will always cause trouble. What if they hurt your little sister?"
"Okay, then I'll go to town and take a look tomorrow."
The next day, Qiu Xuan and her friends got up early. The pig skin jelly they had made yesterday was already formed. Qiu Xuan cut two pieces with a knife, chopped one piece and mixed it with meat stuffing to steam four steamers of soup dumplings, and cut the other piece into slices and ate it with vinegar.
"Is it delicious? How does it taste? Do you like it?" Qiu Yu asked three times in a row, her bright eyes looking from left to right.
Zong Xiao nodded: "Very soft and elastic."
The clan mother and Huaixue also praised it in the same way.
Only Zong Anji was busy eating and didn't even have time to say anything.
"It's just a little cold. It would be better if it were heated up." My grandmother is old and can't eat cold food early in the morning. This piece is okay, but if she eats a few more pieces, her stomach will definitely feel uncomfortable.
"Mom, this can't be heated. It will turn into water if heated. It has to be eaten cold." Qiu Xuan pointed to the small buns in the steamer and said, "This bun may suit Mom's taste. Try it."
The grandmother said she would not eat anything. The meat bun was full of meat and she couldn't bear to eat it.
Finally, Qiu Xuan came up with an idea. She said, "Mom, if you don't want to eat it now, eat it when you get to the stall. Then we can show everyone the difference between our soup dumplings and other dumplings!"
"Yes! Someone will definitely ask us."
After being persuaded, the clan mother finally agreed. However, she still felt bad about the money, because Qiu Xuan was going to sell this small meat bun for four coins, which was one coin more expensive than the other large meat buns.
At the stall, as Qiu Xuan and the others had just put the food on the table, diners came over.
The man sat on a stool, drinking hot tea and asked, "Why didn't you come yesterday? I came twice and didn't see you."
"But you're worried that he'll cause trouble again?"
Qiu Xuan recognized him; he was the first customer to arrive at their stall. She picked up a soup dumpling, placed it on a small plate, and passed it to him.
"It's not that I'm afraid of causing trouble. I took a day off yesterday to research new food at home. How about you try it?"
The man rubbed his hands and said with a smile: "Wow, I am lucky. I got a free meal from you this morning."
As he said this, he picked up the small soup dumpling.
He thought it was an ordinary bun, so he bit into it without thinking, and the soup overflowed instantly.
"There's so much juice!" Liu Zhong, who got up early, looked at the meat bun in surprise.
He asked, "How much are these buns? Give me a basket."
Qiu Xuan didn't recognize him and thought he was just an ordinary customer. Seeing that he asked for a whole basket of food right away, she thought he was a wealthy customer. She said, "Four cents a piece, six in a basket."
Twenty-four copper coins!
Liu Zhong felt a little painful. He just followed his mother's instructions and came to see if this man was easy to get along with. In a blink of an eye, he spent twenty-four copper coins.
At noon, the Liu family looked at the basket of buns on the table with disbelief on their faces.
"You mean these little buns cost only twenty-four coins?!" Butcher Liu was a little skeptical. He looked Liu Zhong up and down and said, "Don't lie to me, Dad. But what happened to you out there? Did you spend any money?"
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