Chapter 8: Making Dumplings
Thinking about the delicious dumplings that would be out of the pot in the evening, Wu Yuetang gritted her teeth.
"Weigh me a pound of fine flour."
As soon as the words came out, the waiter's expression changed and he walked over with a fawning look, as if he was afraid that Wu Yuetang would go back on her word. He weighed the noodles very quickly.
Soon, a cloth bag containing a pound of flour was handed over. Wu Yuetang put 26 copper coins on the second hand and left with the cloth bag.
Wu Zhiyun was terrified when she saw she had spent another 26 coins on flour. If my mother knew she had spent so much, she would probably start scolding me again when she got home.
But thinking about what her younger sister had just said, that this was her own money and she had the final say on how to spend it, she pursed her lips and still said nothing.
Wu Yuetang put the last three copper coins in his pocket and walked towards the village.
By the time they both got home, the sky had already begun to darken. It was almost time for dinner.
Wu Yuetang handed the sweet potatoes in her backpack to Wu Zhiyun, and walked into the kitchen with her pork, flour and lard.
When they came back, there was no one in the yard. The three of them were still busy working in the fields, while the eldest and second sisters-in-law were embroidering in the house. They could make some embroidery and sell it in town for some money.
Li was in the cellar counting the remaining food in the house, so she was not in the yard either.
It was quiet without anyone around, at least no one would scream and howl when they saw her chopping pork.
But what she didn't expect was that the idiot Wu Zhiyun went straight to the cellar with the sweet potatoes, and told Li that he had made money from selling herbs today and had spent all the money.
So, before I could enjoy this quiet time for long, I heard Li's pig-slaughtering scream coming towards me.
"Hey, you bastard! You made money from selling herbs and you spent it all so lavishly? Why don't you think about your family's situation and bring some money back to support them? You still buy such expensive fine flour. Oh my god, you are really suffering! Why did I give birth to such a glutton like you? You will die if you don't eat for a day!"
Wu Yuetang stopped chopping the meat and picked her ears.
"That's so noisy. I earn my own money, so is there anything wrong with me buying my own food?"
As he said this, he threw the knife on the cutting board, turned around and looked at Li who was cursing behind him, and took a deep breath.
"Have you scolded me enough? If you think I'm wasting money, then fine, don't eat a single bite of what I make tonight."
His tone was as cold as his expression. He glanced at his eldest and second sisters-in-law who came out because of the noise, and his voice became louder.
"I went up the mountain to pick herbs and took them to town to exchange for silver. Why can't I buy myself some delicious food to reward myself? Not to mention the pork and flour I bought, the three sweet potatoes I dug up are enough to last me for a long time. What's wrong with that? I'm tired all day, so I buy myself some meat. Is there anything wrong with that?"
When the eldest and second sisters-in-law heard that Wu Yuetang had bought meat and dug up sweet potatoes, they immediately came over with happy faces.
"Oh, little sister, did you really buy meat?"
My sister-in-law looked at the finely chopped meat on the cutting board with curiosity, and she was so greedy.
"Little sister, what are you planning to do?"
The second sister-in-law also came over and asked curiously when she saw the lard and flour.
"Let's eat pork dumplings tonight!"
Wu Yuetang responded, especially when she mentioned pork dumplings, her voice getting louder, and she spoke word by word. Her smug look infuriated Li, who was standing in the outer courtyard.
"Yulan, Zhaodi, come back here, you two are so useless."
Li couldn't scold Wu Yuetang, so she could only stare at her two daughters-in-law and yell at them.
The eldest and second sisters-in-law looked at each other, then walked out of the kitchen and pulled Li away.
"Mom, why are you so angry with me? Besides, I can earn money to buy whatever I want to eat now. This is much better than being lazy and gluttonous before. At least I don't waste the family's food, right?"
The eldest sister-in-law helped Li sit down and comforted her mother softly. The second sister-in-law looked at Li's chest heaving, reached out to support her back, slowly helped her breathe, and kept talking.
"Besides, how long has it been since we last had meat? It's rare that my younger sister bought some pork, so isn't it for everyone to eat together? Just think of it as nourishing the whole family, don't be angry."
Mrs. Li listened to her two daughters-in-law's soothing words, and her anger gradually subsided. She watched from afar as they bustled about in the kitchen. This girl was indeed different from before. Before, she had nothing to do but sit around all day doing nothing. Now she knew how to make money and cook, which wasn't a bad thing after all.
Thinking of this, Li closed her mouth and said nothing.
After Wu Yuetang chopped the pork filling, she glanced at the other people in the family. Wu Zhiyun was busy in the cellar, while Li and her two sisters-in-law were sitting in the yard. After making sure that no one was watching her, she used her mind to take out black pepper, cooking wine, light soy sauce, thirteen spices, fine salt, and chicken essence from the manor in the space.
After secretly adding the ingredients to the pork filling, he immediately returned it to the space. Then he refined some lard and added it in. After stirring the pork filling, he set it aside to marinate.
The next step was to knead the dough. For a family of eight, this pound of flour would definitely be eaten up. Fortunately, I poured it all into the basin, took some mineral water from the space, and added it to the flour in small amounts several times, adding meat as I went.
Wu Yuetang’s favorite thing to make is pasta, especially kneading the dough. Watching a plate of loose flour being kneaded into a round shape by herself, she felt so happy in her heart. The dough was like a fat baby, white and tender.
After the dough is kneaded, it is rolled into long strips and cut into countless small pieces, and then the dough is rolled out.
Wu Yuetang rolled out the dough very quickly, dragging it around under the rolling pin twice, and a big, round dumpling wrapper was ready.
When everything was ready, Wu Yuetang shouted towards the outer courtyard.
"Sister-in-law and second sister-in-law, come and help make dumplings."
When the two heard this, they immediately ran over and asked, "Little sister, what are dumplings?"
Wu Yuetang was stunned. "Dumplings?" She thought carefully and realized that there seemed to be no dumplings in this book from beginning to end. It seemed that this was a new product.
Wu Yuetang curled her lips, pulled her eldest and second sister-in-law over, picked up a dumpling wrapper, put some meat stuffing in it, and then taught them step by step how to pinch out folds and wrap it up.
The two sisters-in-law followed suit and after trying two, they got the hang of it. They learned very quickly. Wu Yuetang felt a sense of accomplishment watching the two women making dumplings.
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