Chapter 181 Making Dumplings
Xiaolan immediately put the New Year picture on the table and ran to Fu Yucheng, smiling with her rosy face: "Really? Then I'll ask my brother to go to the back mountain to chop fir trees. He's strong and can chop wood quickly!"
She suddenly remembered something and took out a frozen hawthorn from her pocket and stuffed it into Fu Yucheng's hand. "This is for you. My mother pickled it. It's sour and refreshing. Hold it in your mouth while chopping wood to keep you awake."
Yun Tangyin put the steamed locust flower cake on a plate, and the brown sugar flowed into small streams on the cake surface: "Xiaolan, try it quickly. The new one is made with osmanthus sugar, and it's sweeter than the last time."
Xiaolan, holding the cake, moved closer to the new rabbit cage. Seeing the gray rabbit scratching the cotton wool with its front paws, she suddenly clapped her hands: "Is it going to build a nest? My mother said that pregnant rabbits always do this."
Fu Yucheng threw a carrot into the cage: "Aunt Zhang said we have to wait for a while. We have to feed soybeans every day, otherwise the cub won't grow strong."
From outside the courtyard came Mrs. Li's shouts, mixed with the clatter of wooden barrels: "Yinyin! Can I borrow your millstone? Mine's stuck!"
She pushed a half-sack of soybeans into the yard. The front of her blue cloth jacket was stained with soybean flour, like a layer of snow. "Grind some soybean flour and make bean curd for the child. You should eat more since you are pregnant."
Seeing the New Year paintings on the wall, he suddenly stopped and said, "This painting of 'Year after year of abundance' is so pretty. The chubby baby's face is as red as an apple. He is more energetic than my kid."
Yun Tangyin stuffed a piece of locust flower cake into her hand and said, "Try it quickly. This is the new recipe that Fu Yucheng learned."
Mrs. Li bit her cake and looked at the new rabbit cage. She saw two rabbits circling a piece of cabbage leaf. She suddenly smiled and said, "This pine wood cage is more exquisitely made than the rice cabinet in my house. Even the cage door is carved with patterns. Yucheng's craftsmanship is really hard to hide."
Fu Yucheng added a piece of coal to the stove. The flames licked the bottom of the pot, casting his shadow on the wall. "I'm just thinking about it. As long as the rabbit can live comfortably, that's fine."
When the sun climbed to the top of the bamboo, Zhou Desheng came to visit carrying a bag of flour, his military boots leaving deep marks on the snow. His wife followed behind him, holding a cloth bag in her arms.
"I'm sending some flour from the canteen to your family," Zhou Desheng put the flour bag on the stove. Seeing the new rabbit cage, he suddenly smiled. "Brother Fu, you treat your rabbits like treasures. My wife said she wants to learn how to make cages from you so that she can improve the living quarters for our chickens."
His wife stuffed a piece of blue cloth into Yun Tangyin's hand and said, "Make a small jacket for the child. My Desheng said that this cloth is windproof and perfect for spring."
Zhou Desheng's wife, pinching melon seeds, peeked into the cage and saw the gray rabbit snatching the white rabbit's dried carrots. She suddenly said, "My Desheng is just like him. He has to fight over everything to make it taste good."
Fu Yucheng stuffed a piece of locust flower cake into Zhou Desheng's hand and said, "I'll make dumplings tonight. Come and eat with us."
Zhou Desheng nodded immediately: "Okay! I'll ask my wife to bring a bottle of vinegar, freshly pickled, sour enough."
The afternoon sun shines through the ice-flowered windows, weaving a glittering web on the ground.
Yun Tangyin sat by the kang embroidering tiger-head shoes. She embroidered a majestic tiger claw on the toe of the shoe with red velvet, and the stitches were as fine as fish scales.
Fu Yucheng squatted beside and brushed tung oil on the pine wood cage. The brush moved across the wood, leaving shiny marks, like a layer of amber.
"This tung oil smells really good," Yun Tangyin smiled, looking up, "even more refreshing than the wax sold at the supply and marketing cooperative."
Fu Yucheng stuffed a piece of rock candy into her mouth: "If you hold it in your mouth, you won't feel choked. Aunt Zhang said that the oil needs to be brushed three times, otherwise it will get moldy in the spring."
The rabbits in the bamboo cage probably smelled the tung oil and suddenly huddled in the corner to take a nap. The white rabbit put its head on the belly of the gray rabbit, like a snowball pressing on a ball of gray fluff.
Yun Tangyin added a handful of alfalfa to the cage and said, "Look how affectionate they are. They're even more affectionate than when we first met."
Fu Yucheng put down the brush and sat down next to her. The snow on his boots melted on the ground, forming a small puddle. "We're not bad off now. When the baby is born, the three of us can squeeze on the kang and stay warmer than them."
In the evening, Zhou Desheng's wife came with a bottle of vinegar to make dumplings, and Mrs. Li also came with a basin of cabbage stuffing. The yard suddenly became lively.
Zhou Desheng's wife rolled out the dough, the rolling pin turned very quickly on the chopping board, and the dough looked like a blooming white lotus.
Mrs. Li mixed the stuffing, sprinkled in chopped green onions and minced ginger, and the fragrance filled the whole yard.
Yun Tangyin sat on the kang and made dumplings. Her fingertips were dipped in flour, and the dumplings she made looked like little ingots.
Fu Yucheng squatted in front of the stove and added firewood. The firelight reflected his profile, and the collar of his army green cotton jacket was stained with flour.
"Yinyin, you make really beautiful dumplings," Zhou Desheng's wife said as she put the dumplings into the pot. The white dumplings rolled in the boiling water like a group of small silver fish. "They are even more beautiful than the ones made by the canteen chef. When the baby is one month old, I will definitely ask you to prepare a feast for him."
Yun Tangyin stuffed a piece of locust flower cake into her hand: "Try it quickly, it will fill your stomach. Making dumplings takes a lot of effort."
Mrs. Li bit her cake and peeked into the cage. She saw two rabbits nibbling on the soybeans Fu Yucheng had just added. She suddenly laughed and said, "These two little ones really know how to enjoy themselves. They eat better than my own children."
"You need to cook it a little longer," Yun Tangyin reminded as she sat on the kang, holding an unfinished dumpling in her hand. "Cook the vegetarian ones for three boils, and the meat ones for four boils, otherwise they won't be cooked through."
Mrs. Li added a handful of pine needles to the stove, and the delicate fragrance of pine resin mixed with the aroma of dumplings filled the air. "Yinyin really knows a lot. My husband always boils dumplings until they break, and he says he's still not convinced."
Fu Yucheng squatted in front of the stove, gently pushing the dumplings with a long-handled spoon to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
"You have to turn the dumplings frequently when cooking," he said with a smile. "It's like folding blankets in the army. You have to be patient to do it properly."
Zhou Desheng came over to take a look. Seeing that the dumplings were all plump and round, he suddenly swallowed his saliva and said, "They smell delicious. They are even more tempting than the pork and cabbage dumplings in the cafeteria."
Yun Tangyin handed each person a pair of chopsticks wrapped with red cloth strips that she had just wrapped the day before.
"Try it quickly," she put a dumpling into Zhou Desheng's wife's bowl, "It's hot."
Zhou Desheng's wife took a bite, and the delicious soup spread in her mouth: "This stuffing is really well-seasoned, much more fragrant than the one I have at home. Yinyin, you have to teach me."
Mrs. Li stuffed a dumpling into her mouth and mumbled, "I want to learn this, too. When my little one is one month old, I'll make dumplings with this stuffing for her."
Yun Tangyin smiled and nodded. "It's not difficult, but you have to squeeze out the water from the cabbage, otherwise the filling will be watery. Add some dried shrimp to enhance the flavor. It's more fragrant than meat."
Fu Yucheng put a dumpling in her bowl and ate a piece of locust flower cake himself: "Eat more to replenish your body."
Director Wang's loud voice could be heard from outside the courtyard, mixed with the crying of his little grandson: "Are you home? My kid is clamoring for some locust flower cake!"
Yun Tangyin stuffed a piece of cake wrapped in oil paper into Fu Yucheng's hand and said, "Send it over quickly, don't let the child cry."
When Fu Yucheng came back, the dumplings were almost finished.
Zhou Desheng's wife was cleaning up the dishes, and Mrs. Li was helping to wipe the table. The two of them were chatting and laughing, like real sisters.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
