It turned out that Wen Ruan had just stepped out of the bathroom when her head bumped into Song Yan's chest, who had come looking for her.
Song Yan quickly reached out to help her up, rubbed Wen Ruan's head where she had bumped it, and asked if she was alright, his face filled with self-reproach and regret.
Wen Ruan quickly waved her hand and took a few steps back, as if that would dispel the burning heat she had just felt from Song Yan's body.
She quickly said, "Go eat quickly, don't keep Mom and the others waiting." Then she walked past Song Yan toward the living room.
Song Yan felt a little confused and disappointed. Was Ruan Ruan avoiding him just now? But everything was normal this morning. He was a bit frustrated.
At the dinner table, everyone was discussing the snow skin mooncakes that Wen Ruan was going to make today. They were all very curious about this variety that they had never seen before and asked her all sorts of questions.
Only Song Yan remained silent throughout, quietly eating his bowl of noodles with soybean paste without participating.
For some reason, Wen Ruan seemed to see a sense of pity in him. Song Yan was like a big dog that no one paid attention to, silently staying there and doing his own thing.
She felt a little soft-hearted and offered, "Brother Song Yan, could you help me peel the mung beans later?"
Song Yan looked up at Wen Ruan, a hint of pleasure in his eyes, and nodded solemnly, "Okay."
It was as if Wen Ruan had just told him something extremely important.
After the meal, everyone came to help, and the whole group participated in making the snow skin mooncakes.
Wen Ruan steamed the peeled mung beans in a pot until cooked, then had Song Yan mash them in the pot. Remembering there was no butter, she scooped out a piece of lard, poured half a bowl of white sugar into the pot, added the mashed mung beans, and stir-fried them until the excess moisture evaporated. Once they clumped together, the filling was ready. She used the same method for the pumpkin filling. She planned to make two flavors: mung bean and pumpkin.
Song's mother and the others waited in the living room, sniffing the delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen. They exclaimed to Song Heng, "Ruan Ruan is truly skillful. Most people don't have such talent. Your father and I were so wise back then to arrange such a good wife for your brother."
After preparing the filling, begin making the dough. Mix glutinous rice flour, wheat starch, and sugar evenly, then pour in boiling water to mix it. Sift the batter until smooth, cover it with a plate, and place it in a steamer over boiling water. Steam over high heat for about twenty minutes. Once the dough is steamed, add a little lard and stir with chopsticks until smooth and even. That completes all the preparation.
They brought the mooncakes to the living room and the whole family worked together to make them. After Wen Ruan shared her ideas yesterday, Song's father even made a special trip to the carpenter's shop to order two molds urgently. Because of the tight schedule, the designs were very simple, but even so, the resulting snow skin mooncakes were crystal clear and very beautiful.
Song's mother was delighted. When Wen Ruan said that she could try it now, she quickly picked up a mung bean filling one to taste. It was soft and delicate, and the texture of the icy skin felt like cool water flowing over her skin. When she tasted the filling inside, it was truly "the best taste of autumn".
The whole family was overjoyed to eat the snow skin mooncakes, feeling like they'd been missing out on all the other mooncakes they'd eaten before. Everyone worked quickly, making over fifty mooncakes in just over half an hour.
After discussing it with her family, Wen Ruan sorted the mooncakes and prepared to distribute them to her close neighbors, giving each household two mooncakes and one of each flavor. The neighbors who received the mooncakes couldn't hide their smiles and praised Wen Ruan endlessly.
She wrapped six more mooncakes in paper, planning to deliver them to Wen's parents that afternoon with Song Yan. After discussing it with Song Yan, they decided not to deliver any to the family compound, as they were all Song Yan's colleagues, and it wouldn't be appropriate to give too many or too few to anyone. Originally, Wen Ruan had considered giving some to the steel factory director, but Song Yan said that the director would be retiring this year, and it would be too conspicuous for them to visit now. They decided to wait for a later opportunity, and so the plan was dropped.
Seeing the remaining mooncakes at home, Wen Ruan thought for a moment and said to her mother, "Mom, my older brother will be going back to his unit after the Mid-Autumn Festival tomorrow. Let's not divide these leftovers. Let's give some to him to take to his unit so his comrades can have a taste." Wen's mother was very touched and kept holding Wen Ruan's hand, saying okay.
Song Heng looked at Wen Ruan from the side, his eyes filled with tenderness, "I really didn't spoil you for nothing before, you brat."
This made Wen Ruan so angry that she stomped her feet and warned, "If you call me a brat again, I'll have Song Yan beat you up."
Everyone burst into laughter when they saw Wen Ruan's spoiled little appearance.
......
The Song family has a habit of taking a nap at noon. Perhaps everyone was tired after a busy morning, so they slept longer than usual. Suddenly, a knock on the door woke everyone up.
Song Yan got up and went to the outer room, opening the door. "Excuse me, is Comrade Wen Ruan here? There's a letter from her that needs her signature," said a man who looked like a postman.
“Yes, yes, yes, I am Wen Ruan.” Wen Ruan quickly stepped forward and said.
"Comrade Wen, the original address for this letter was the steel factory's residential compound, but your mother said you got married and changed the address. However, this letter requires your signature upon receipt, so we asked for your address before delivering it to you."
"Thank you, mailman. Please come in and have a seat, have some water," Wen Ruan said.
The postman waved his hand and refused, saying, "No need. I'm just serving the people. I have other packages and letters to deliver. Just sign here after you've confirmed everything is okay."
Wen Ruan checked the letter; it was from the Beijing Daily. There were no signs that the letter had been opened. After confirming that there was no problem, she signed it.
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