Chapter Eleven Fresh Meat Wontons
Next, Qi Yue tasted the tea egg and was amazed by its flavor.
Her eyes lit up, and she quickly asked, "Did you really buy it from that new restaurant across from No. 1 Middle School?"
Just by tasting the fried rice noodles, Qi Yue wondered if this was really not made by a chef from a famous teahouse.
“Really? Doesn’t it taste delicious?” Ms. Li said, leaning back in her chair. “At first, I couldn’t believe it either, especially since the owner is a young girl who can make such delicious food. It’s amazing.”
Qi Yue stirred her instant noodles with a fork. Perhaps because she had just tasted the delicious fried rice noodles and tea eggs, she had lost her appetite for the instant noodles. Qi Yue nodded and said, "Then I'll try it after school this afternoon."
On the other side, Uncle Liu finished the last bite of fried rice noodles and wiped his mouth with satisfaction.
Soon, a video call came in, and Uncle Liu answered it.
It was his daughter. After the video call connected, the girl greeted him warmly and said with a smile, "Dad, have you eaten?"
My daughter is already working, and she's probably just finished eating. She started by saying, "I ate at my company cafeteria today, and it was alright. Oh, and they have fried chicken legs, which are really delicious!"
Uncle Liu straightened his phone so he could take a closer look at his daughter's face. He felt she had lost a lot of weight...
"Dad had fried rice noodles today, bought from across the street from the school, it was delicious," Uncle Liu said, unconsciously giving a thumbs up.
Her daughter's eyebrows furrowed involuntarily. She had graduated from Yuncheng No. 1 High School, a school that was great in every way except for its terrible food. The fried rice noodles sold at the shops across the street were also mediocre, either mushy or greasy at the bottom.
"Dad, you can order takeout from now on. If you really can't, I'll order for you. Don't try to save money," the daughter said. Uncle Liu is very good to his daughter. Even after she started working, he would always find excuses to spend money on her.
He himself lived frugally, even skimping on something as important as food; that wouldn't do.
Uncle Liu laughed heartily, "Don't worry about your dad not eating well. Let me tell you, a new shop opened across from the school, and the food there is cheap and delicious. It's definitely better than that Zhang Ji's you took me to last time."
Speaking of this, Uncle Liu added, "Zhang's takes so long to arrive, the portions are small, and the taste isn't as good as this one. Let me tell you, this place is absolutely delicious."
The more he talked, the more animated he became.
The daughter hummed in agreement, seemingly not quite believing it.
"Alright, alright, go take your lunch break now. You're going home for the Mid-Autumn Festival, right?" Uncle Liu asked.
The daughter nodded and said she would definitely come home.
"Then Dad will take you to try that restaurant, I guarantee you'll be completely convinced," Uncle Liu said with a smile.
"good."
Soon, Uncle Liu returned to his post.
Yu Miaoyin was also tidying up in the kitchen, putting the washed dishes into the sterilizer. September in Yuncheng was still hot, and a little sweat appeared on Yu Miaoyin's forehead.
The ceiling fan creaked and groaned, sending out a little coolness, and sunlight streamed into the small restaurant, just like many extremely leisurely and peaceful afternoons.
All the bowls were put into the sterilizer. She had just taken off her apron when Xiao Ran ran in, and Yu Miaoyin turned to look at her.
Like a child caught red-handed, she became flustered and took two unsteady steps back.
"Xiao Ran is here?" Yu Miaoyin walked over and squatted down to be at eye level with her, so that the child wouldn't feel pressured.
Just now at the store, her mother told her to thank her sister properly and to return the discs. She readily agreed, but now, looking at Yu Miaoyin, she became reserved again.
"Sister Ayin, here are your plates." Xiao Ran handed two clean plates to Yu Miaoyin.
Yu Miaoyin took it and said softly, "Thank you, Xiao Ran, it's so clean."
Upon receiving the praise, her little face flushed slightly. "You're welcome, thank you for the fried rice noodles, Sister Yin. They're delicious, and my mom and I both love them."
"Okay, if you like it, that's good. I'll make wontons for Xiaotangbao today. Xiaoran, why don't you come and eat too?" Perfect, it'll also let the two kids get to know each other and make friends. Xiaotangbao is a bit more lively, so she can play with Xiaoran.
Are these little wontons that look like goldfish? Xiao Ran had drawn them on drawing paper. She thought that the little wontons that Sister Ayin made would definitely taste delicious. She nodded, "Okay, thank you, Sister Ayin."
After saying that, she loosened her clenched hands. Her palms, which had been gripping for so long, were slightly sweaty. Inside her palm lay a strawberry-flavored candy, a reward from her teacher, but she wanted to give it to Sister Ayin.
Because Sister Ayin's fried rice noodles are so delicious.
"For you."
Receiving candy from the children made Yu Miaoyin's afternoon nap sweeter, and she even had a beautiful dream.
After her afternoon nap, Yu Miaoyin was full of energy. She took out the meat filling she had prepared in advance. The meat filling was made by mincing pork tenderloin, adding scallion and ginger water, and then adding eggs and starch after beating it until it became elastic.
She had the meat filling, but not the wonton wrappers. Yu Miaoyin decided to make them herself because the wonton wrappers from the store didn't look appetizing. She bought flour, added water according to the ratio, and even sprinkled some salt to make the dough more elastic. She kneaded it into a dough, let it rest, and then kneaded it again after a while. The dough became smoother and smoother, and the wonton wrappers she rolled out were evenly thin, smooth to the touch, and elastic when gently stretched.
The dough was ready, and the filling was ready too. Yu Miaoyin sat in the shop watching people start wrapping wontons.
"Sister, I'm back!" Little Tangbao ran in excitedly as soon as she finished wrapping the first wonton.
Yu Miaoyin had some flour on her hands, so she didn't hug her. Xiao Tangbao put down her schoolbag, sat opposite Yu Miaoyin, and looked at her with a beaming smile, propping her chin up with her hand.
"Why are you back so early today?" It wasn't even 4:30 when Xiao Tangbao returned.
"I missed my older sister so much that I flew back. Can you see my little wings, older sister?" Xiao Tangbao said, watching her older sister skillfully wrap the meat filling into the wonton wrappers. She was fast but also wrapped them very beautifully.
Amused by her innocent and naive words, Yu Miaoyin suppressed a laugh and played along: "See? Our little Tangbao is a little angel. A little angel's wings are transparent and they even glow!"
"Hehe." Little Tangbao jumped off the chair. "The little angel is going to make wontons with her older sister."
"Okay, thank you, little angel."
There's no special technique to making wontons, and since Xiaotangbao is clever, she quickly made some that looked quite decent. Since they weren't for sale, she didn't make many, and soon the filling and wonton wrappers were all used up.
"I'll cook you something to eat first." Thinking of Xiao Ran's portion, Yu Miaoyin added a little more.
The wontons were tumbling in the boiling water. When the time was almost up, Yu Miaoyin scooped them out with a slotted spoon.
There were pre-prepared seasonings at the bottom of the bowl. The wontons were placed in the bowl, and Yu Miaoyin also broke off some seaweed and put it in. When boiling water was poured over them, the seaweed spread out and the fresh aroma wafted out.
"Little Tangbao, sit down. I'll bring it out for you. It's very hot, so be careful." Yu Miaoyin brought out two bowls, placing the other bowl opposite Little Tangbao.
"A little girl is coming over, are you going to welcome her?"
"Welcome! I love playing with little friends because she's the same age as me, and I can tell her lots of stories!" Little Tangbao said excitedly. She has many good friends at kindergarten, and they whisper secrets to each other. But after school, she doesn't see her friends anymore. She wishes she could have a friend to whisper secrets to after school.
The little girl came over quickly. She was a little shy and hid behind Yu Miaoyin, showing only half of her face.
Little Tangbao ran up to her, smiled, and extended her hand, saying, "Hello."
A few seconds later, Xiao Ran extended her hand as well, saying, "Hello."
The two sat down together, facing each other. Xiao Ran looked down at the wontons; they really did look like little goldfish, and even had transparent tails.
Both children lowered their heads, picked up a spoon, scooped up a small wonton, blew on it to cool it down, and then put it in their mouths.
The thin-skinned wonton was bitten open, revealing a smooth yet chewy texture. Then, biting into the meat filling, Xiao Tangbao felt that the meat was like a chewy, bouncy candy, and tasted delicious.
She ate with reluctance, some soup dripping onto the corners of her lips. Little Tangbao muttered softly, "These wontons are so delicious, and the soup is so good too!"
"Do you think my older sister's wontons are delicious?" Little Tangbao didn't forget her good friend and hurriedly asked Xiao Ran what she thought.
Holding the spoon in her hand, Xiao Ran nodded and said very seriously, "Delicious..."
Then she quickly scooped up the next one and put it in her mouth.
Hearing this, Xiao Tangbao unconsciously puffed out her chest; everyone really liked her older sister!
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