Before she knew it, both little ones were on winter break. Looking out the window at the white expanse of winter, Xia Liang knew going back to her hometown now wasn't a wise move, so she didn't mention it to the children. She stayed home with them, enjoying the warmth of the heating. Xia Liang supervised their homework, especially Gu Yuanzhi. Her older daughter was more self-disciplined, starting her homework the very first night of the break. Her younger daughter, however, wanted to go out and play every morning after martial arts practice with Chen Yanling and the others, and Xia Liang couldn't stop her, even offering cartoons in exchange. Today, Xia Liang caught her after her practice: "If you finish your homework early, Mommy will take you home to see Grandpa and Grandma when the weather gets warmer, and we can go to the zoo too." The little one struggled at first, trying to run away, but when she heard she could go to kindergarten, she obediently let Xia Liang do as she pleased. She wondered how angry Gu Weiguo and Han Yulan would be if they knew the zoo was more attractive than the elderly couple.
Xia Liang watched her two daughters doing their homework. The older one was focused, while the younger one was multitasking, playing with the eraser one minute and wanting to go to the bathroom the next. Xia Liang knew she was losing patience, so she coaxed, "If you two behave and do your homework here, Mommy will make you something delicious." Gu Yuanzhi's eyes immediately lit up as she looked at her mother and asked, "What delicious food will you make, Mommy?" Xia Liang looked at her younger daughter jumping up and down and said helplessly, "You sit down and do your homework quietly, and you'll know when Mommy makes it." The little one could only suppress her curiosity and continue doing her homework obediently. After Xia Liang left, the little one wasn't so well-behaved anymore, asking her older sister every now and then, "Sister, what delicious food do you think Mommy will make?" Gu Yunxi said, "I don't know!" She asked every now and then, until her older sister became impatient and said, "If you ask me again, I'll tell Mommy you're not concentrating, and Mommy won't give you anything delicious." Seeing her sister getting angry, the perceptive Gu Yuanzhi shut her mouth.
Xia Liang went to the kitchen, found glutinous rice flour, dates, and purple sweet potatoes. First, she washed the dates and purple sweet potatoes and steamed them. Then, she mixed the glutinous rice flour with water and sugar until smooth. After the dates and purple sweet potatoes were cooked, she wrapped her hands in a cloth and took them down. She removed the pits from the dates and mashed them into a paste. She also mashed the purple sweet potatoes into a paste. After they cooled, she wrapped them in the glutinous rice dough. She divided the glutinous rice dough into equal portions. She added sugar to the date paste and purple sweet potato paste and mixed them well. She rolled them into small balls, then wrapped the date paste and purple sweet potato paste in the glutinous rice dough and rolled them into balls. She pressed the dough into a flat disc, then used chopsticks to press five marks around the edge, making it look like little flowers. The new aunt Liu, seeing Xia Liang's skillful hands, praised her, "Factory Director Xia is truly skillful!" Xia Liang smiled modestly and waved her hand, "Not at all! These are just little toys to amuse children." Without stopping her work, she found some osmanthus sugar, dipped chopsticks in water, and placed a dot in the center of each flower, then added the osmanthus sugar to represent the stamen. Looking at the finished product, Xia Liang was extremely satisfied; she was sure this would win over her youngest daughter. She placed the semi-finished products in the steamer to continue steaming, asking Aunt Liu to watch them while Xia Liang went to the study to check on her daughter's homework. Hearing her mother's footsteps from afar, little Gu Yuanzhi quickly put down her eraser and pretended to be diligently doing her homework. Xia Liang knew her daughter's nature and didn't expose her.
The little one pretended to have just noticed her mother come in, looking up and asking, "Mommy, what have you been doing? Are you done?" Xia Liang shook her head and sat down beside her. "Not yet, it's still steaming. Wait about forty minutes. I'll watch you do your homework first." The little one gave a disappointed "Oh" and obediently lowered her head to do her homework. Xia Liang could tell from the progress on her homework how careless she had been, but she didn't intend to blame her. After all, she inherited it, right? In her past life, she was a procrastinator; otherwise, she wouldn't have ended up as a factory worker. Fortunately, God gave her a second chance, allowing her to change her life and, in the future, her daughter's life. If her younger daughter didn't want to work hard, she would buy her more houses, so she could live comfortably even on rent. Sigh! It seems she still has to work hard to earn money to buy a house!
Judging that it was about time, Xia Liang went to the kitchen, took the steamer off the pot, and placed it on the table. She opened the lid, and a fragrant aroma wafted out. Aunt Liu praised, "Director Xia's cooking is truly excellent." Xia Liang smiled but didn't reply. After the steam dissipated, seeing that the finished product looked quite good, she used chopsticks to pick some out and put it in a bowl, then handed the chopsticks to Aunt Liu: "Aunt Liu, would you like to try some?" Aunt Liu didn't stand on ceremony, picked up the chopsticks, took a piece, and put it in her mouth. Instantly, the sweet and soft texture burst in her mouth. Aunt Liu nodded: "Very delicious, chewy and not greasy at all." Xia Liang left a few pieces for Aunt Liu, took two pairs of chopsticks, and carried the rest to the study for the two children.
The two little ones smelled the aroma and put down their pencils, asking, "Mommy, what is it?" Xia Liang didn't know what to say. What should it be called? After thinking for a moment, she made up some random names: "Glutinous Rice and Red Date Cake and Glutinous Rice and Purple Sweet Potato Cake." The two little ones were delighted with the flower-like shapes, the translucent exteriors, and the red and purple fillings inside. They looked delicious. Xia Liang handed chopsticks to her daughters, saying, "Eat up, it won't taste good when it gets cold." The two little ones nodded, "Mmm," and took the chopsticks from Xia Liang to eat.
Seeing the two children eating without even looking up, Xia Liang knew they really loved desserts. Thinking about how, in this era of scarcity, although the two children weren't lacking in food or clothing and ate meat every day, compared to children in later generations, their living conditions were only relatively good. Their entertainment consisted mainly of watching TV and going to the zoo. She decided she should make more snacks and desserts for them to enjoy. After all, no child dislikes snacks. Xia Liang, being decisive in this life, was determined to do what she set her mind to. Just as she was about to get up to find someone to help with chores, she heard her younger daughter ask, "Mommy, can you make us these red dates again?" "Is cake okay?" Xia Liang looked at her two daughters looking at her expectantly, how could she disagree? She patted their heads and nodded, "Of course, no problem. Mommy has some things to do. Mommy will prepare something delicious to make for you. I'll make you different kinds of delicious food." After saying that, Xia Liang went to find her brother Xia Rong. Ever since Xia Rong bought the courtyard house, Xia Dahe didn't want to live in his daughter's house anymore. In his mind, once a daughter is married, she belongs to another family. He hadn't moved out before because he had no choice. After Xia Rong's courtyard house was cleaned and furnished, Xia Dahe moved out without delay.
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