Jiang Yuwei took out the bamboo shoots she had just dug that day and made a stir-fry of bamboo shoots and pork. She also steamed a large pot of rice, and the family of four had another hearty meal. After everyone went to bed,
Jiang Yuwei was calculating that if she were to sell braised food at the next market, Ning Qiu's help alone wouldn't be enough; she would have to bring Ning Zhao and Ning Wan to help with packing. If the market sold well this time, they would have enough money to repair the house.
Jiang Yuwei then thought that the wheelchair should be ready, so she might as well take Ning Huaizhi to the market. He could try out the new wheelchair. It wasn't good for him to stay cooped up at home all the time. It would be best to go to town to find a doctor to check if there was any hope for his leg.
As Jiang Yuwei pondered this, her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and she slowly drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Jiang Yuwei was woken up by Ning Zhao:
"Mother, wake up! I hear noises outside. Could it be that another prey has come?"
Upon hearing the word "prey," Jiang Yuwei jolted awake. She scrambled to her feet, threw on her coat, and ran outside. She saw the commotion coming from the small trap near the door and rushed over to investigate. Inside, she found a nest of wild rabbits. Jiang Yuwei was somewhat disappointed; compared to wild boars, rabbits were indeed nothing.
Ning Wan also came out, and lay down by the pit, laughing as she looked at the little rabbit inside. She pointed at the rabbit and looked at Jiang Yuwei.
Jiang Yuwei hurriedly said:
"This is a little rabbit, Wan'er."
Ning Wan also read along:
"Little bunny, bunny, cute."
Jiang Yuwei had a sudden thought, and said with a smile:
"Since Wan'er likes it, let's raise it for now. We can also save some rabbit fur to knit sweaters for you and your brother. Rabbits reproduce quickly, so we can raise more to make spicy rabbit heads to sell at the market. Oh, and we can also make cold rabbit meat."
Jiang Yuwei became more and more excited as she talked, and hurriedly went to cut some bamboo to make a large bamboo cage for the rabbits.
They then climbed down the ladder into the pit, put the rabbit in a basket, and brought it up.
Once the rabbits were in the bamboo cage, Jiang Yuwei finally felt relieved. The reason she raised this litter of rabbits was because rabbits are omnivores, and they could be fed any wild grass and fruit she could find on the mountain. There was no need to waste food, so she didn't have to worry about raising them.
Ning Zhao and Ning Wan were overjoyed to see that they had raised a litter of rabbits. They didn't even have time to eat, and instead picked up their small baskets and went to the foot of the mountain to cut grass for the rabbits.
Seeing that Ning Zhao's foot injury had healed, Jiang Yuwei stopped trying to stop them and let them go.
She went inside and changed the water used to soak the willow leaves several times. Only when she felt that there was no bitterness did she start preparing the filling and making the buns. Jiang Yuwei originally wanted to put pork in, but then she thought it was a bit extravagant, so she simply mixed the leftover pork cracklings from a few days ago into the filling. It tasted just as good after steaming.
After Jiang Yuwei finished wrapping the buns and steaming them, the two children returned carrying two large baskets full of wild grass and wild fruits. Seeing this, Jiang Yuwei could only shake her head helplessly and call out into the yard:
"You can throw the fruit into the cage to feed them first. If they can't finish eating the wild grass, dry it in the yard to make hay, which they also like to eat. Don't feed them too much, just enough to eat."
Ning Zhao shouted happily:
"Yes, Mother!"
Jiang Yuwei added a few more pieces of wood to the bottom of the pot and continued to make the next batch of buns. This time she picked more willow leaves, enough to steam two batches. She had to send some to Aunt Zhou to try, since she used other people's carts all day long. After the house was built, she would need to get her own cart to make it easier to transport goods.
We still need to send some to Uncle Ning Wu. Tomorrow, we'll have to trouble him to take a longer route to pick up Ning Huaizhi from our house. With that in mind, Jiang Yuwei went into the inner room to discuss it with Ning Huaizhi:
“Huaizhi, I had a carpenter make you a wheelchair in town last time. Come with me to the market tomorrow. I’ll have Uncle Ning come to the house to pick you up. You can try out the new wheelchair and browse the market. It’s not good to stay cooped up at home all the time.”
Ning Huaizhi didn't want to trouble Jiang Yuwei with his injured leg, but when he thought about how Jiang Yuwei always thought of him and even had a wheelchair custom-made for him, he felt embarrassed to refuse again, so he nodded and said:
"Alright, then I'll go to the market with you tomorrow."
Jiang Yuwei was very happy to see that Ning Huaizhi had agreed. She went to the kitchen, took out the freshly steamed buns, added some water, put the remaining buns in to steam, and after finishing, she put a few pieces of wood at the bottom of the pot before going to the yard to call Ning Zhao and Ning Wan back to the house to eat buns.
Jiang Yuwei tried one herself first. The taste was just right, and the flavor was extremely delicious. The buns made from the first batch of tender willow leaves were really good. Ning Huaizhi also nodded and praised them after eating them. Ning Zhao and Ning Wan, needless to say, each ate two big buns and their little bellies were round and full.
Jiang Yuwei said with a smile:
"You can't eat anymore. There are plenty of buns. Save them for the next meal. Don't overeat and upset your stomach."
Jiang Yuwei then asked Ning Zhao to watch the fire, while she picked out a few pretty buns, wrapped them in lotus leaves, made two portions, and went out.
First, she delivered a portion to Aunt Zhou. Aunt Zhou felt really bad about always taking things from Jiang Yuwei for free, so she shared some of the greens she had just picked that day with Jiang Yuwei. Jiang Yuwei naturally didn't refuse and happily accepted them.
After saying goodbye to Aunt Zhou, Jiang Yuwei went to find Uncle Ning Wu. His family was having dinner at the same time, and Jiang Yuwei quickly handed him a steamed bun, saying with a smile:
"Fifth Uncle, quickly try these freshly steamed willow leaf buns, they're so delicious!"
When Fifth Aunt saw Jiang Yuwei bring food again, she quickly pulled her into the house, asking in confusion:
"Eldest daughter-in-law, you just said these are steamed buns made with willow leaves? Willow leaves are so bitter, how can they be used to make steamed buns?"
Jiang Yuwei smiled and said:
"Yes, Aunt Wu, after picking the willow leaves, you need to soak them for a few days to remove the bitterness. They'll taste better when used to make steamed buns. Try the ones I made."
Fifth Aunt didn't refuse, took out a steamed bun, took a bite, and exclaimed in surprise:
"Eldest daughter-in-law, you really know how to cook! These steamed buns are really delicious, even better than the meat buns sold at the market!"
Uncle Ning, unable to resist the aroma of the steamed buns any longer, quickly grabbed one, stuffed it into his mouth, and nodded repeatedly, saying:
"Delicious, delicious, truly delicious!"
Seeing this, Aunt Wu smiled helplessly:
"You old geezer, eat slowly, don't choke. You look like you haven't eaten a steamed bun in ages."
Jiang Yuwei covered her mouth and chuckled softly, then slowly said:
"Fifth Uncle, I'd like to take my son Huaizhi with me to the market tomorrow. You know Huaizhi's leg isn't very good for walking, so I'd like to trouble you to take a detour to pick him up from my house. We can pay you a little more."
Uncle Ning waved his hand as he ate his steamed bun and said:
“Eldest daughter-in-law, what are you saying? We’re all from the same village, how could I possibly charge you more money? Don’t worry, I’ll go to your house to pick you up first thing tomorrow morning.”
Jiang Yuwei said gratefully:
"Then thank you very much, Uncle Wu. Uncle Wu and Aunt Wu, please eat first. I'll go home and clean up now."
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