PDLP Chapter 46 Uncle, the steamed buns are cooked.
Chapter 46 Uncle, the steamed buns are cooked.
Chen Shi and the others were busy at the old house.
Chen Xiulan and Aunt Wang were also busy on this side.
Before leaving in the morning, Chen Shi took out the white flour and brown sugar.
Chen Xiulan took out the old dough and kneaded it little by little into the white flour. Perhaps because she was still weak from postpartum recovery, she would knead for a while and then stop.
Aunt Wang couldn't stand it anymore. She finished tidying up the firewood, rolled up her sleeves, and said, "Go sit over there. I'll do it. With your hands, you can only do delicate needlework. Don't struggle with the basin."
"Godmother, I'm capable."
"What can you do? Your mother's here, who gave you the right to show off?"
Chen Xiulan was speechless after what she said, so she could only sit aside and watch.
Ya Ya stood guard beside the basin, watching intently.
Wheat flour is different from cornmeal. Cornmeal is coarse, while wheat flour, when kneaded with water, becomes finer and finer with each kneading, becoming soft and delicate. She couldn't resist reaching out to touch it.
"Grandma, will these little steamed buns turn into big steamed buns later?"
"Yes," Aunt Wang said, putting more effort into her work. "Aren't you getting impatient?"
Ya Ya nodded, then shook her head: "Ya Ya wants to eat, Ya Ya can wait."
Aunt Wang laughed heartily, tore off a small piece of dough, found a thin firewood stick, washed it clean, threaded it onto the dough, and handed it to Ya Ya, "Ya Ya, you don't need to wait, take this and go roast it over the fire yourself."
Ya Ya took a stick of firewood and squatted down at the stove opening. There were still several pieces of firewood inside the stove that hadn't been fully burned. She stuck the stick in, not wanting to put it directly on the flames, and roasted it from a distance.
The dough balls started to bubble after being exposed to the heat for a short while, and the outer layer of the crust slowly turned yellow.
"Turn the stick around, make sure it's even," Aunt Wang instructed from behind.
Ya Ya obediently turned the stick, but she turned it a little too late. One side was already charred black, while the other side was still white.
"It's okay, the outside is burnt, but the inside isn't cooked yet. Grandma will make you another one, and the next one will be done."
Ya Ya bit her lip, staring intently at the dough ball in front of her, watching it slowly swell into a ball the size of a small fist. Except for the burnt part, the surface was golden brown with several cracks, emitting white steam and bringing out the aroma of roasted noodles.
"Grandma, it's cooked." Ya Ya took it out, blew on it twice, and pinched it with her fingers. It was so hot that she immediately touched her ear.
Undeterred, I tried to squeeze it again, and this time I broke it open. There were still strands of silk inside, and steam rose straight up.
She took a small bite of the outer layer, which was crunchy, and then bit into the inside. It was so soft and sweet.
"Want some more?" Aunt Wang asked.
Ya Ya nodded vigorously, her cheeks puffed out, she gasped for breath from the heat, her tongue pushing the dough from left to right and back again, unwilling to spit it out, her mouth opening and closing as she exhaled hot air, unable to speak.
Seeing her like this, Chen Xiulan quickly reached out to catch it, saying, "Spit it out, let it cool down before eating, do you hear me?"
Aunt Wang was also anxious, "Eat slowly! Nobody's going to take it from you. Won't you get blisters if you burn your mouth?"
Ya Ya stretched her neck, closed her eyes, and swallowed the noodle in one gulp. It was so hot that she shivered and swallowed hard twice. "Swallow...swallowed it."
Aunt Wang quickly patted her chest with her hand, "Is it hot, my little darling?"
"It's not hot, it's just warm. Mom, may I bake one for Uncle?"
Chen Xiulan nodded, then pinched off another piece of dough and handed it to her.
Over at the old house, Li Cheng was so tired that he sat on the doorstep, not wanting to move. "I'm so tired now, even if the thugs come, I don't want to move."
Old Scarface wiped his sweat. "You're the one who can brag. When those bastards come, you're the one who runs faster than anyone else."
Li Cheng looked around the room. "Is it safe for anyone to stay here today?"
"Let it dry overnight," Zhao Defa said. "Tomorrow we'll put the mats and other things on the kang. We don't need the rest for now, so we can move them over here."
"You guys rest for a bit, Li Cheng and I will go over there and get the food," Chen Shi said.
Old Scarface leaned against the doorframe. "Hurry up and come back, I'm starving."
On the way back, Chen Shi and Li Cheng were covered in dirt. They took pictures as they walked, but they weren't clean by the time they reached the gate of the courtyard.
"What's that smell? Is it Chinese New Year?" Li Cheng's nose was sharper than anyone else's, and he walked to the stove based on the smell.
Ya Ya stood to the side, her little face flushed red from the fire.
Aunt Wang Er took a piece of cloth to cushion her hands and lifted the pot lid.
A cloud of white steam suddenly billowed out, and when it dissipated, one could see that the fish soup in another pot on the stove was still bubbling, and a stack of cornbreads was piled up in a basket next to it, covered with a cloth to keep them warm.
Ya Ya held up a stick of firewood and handed it to Chen Shi, saying, "Uncle, this is a steamed bun that Ya Ya made."
Chen Shi looked at the baked dough in front of him, and only when he picked it up did he realize that the dough was still raw in the center.
"After half a year of struggling, I baked two. The first one burned my own eyes so badly that tears streamed down my face, but I couldn't bear to spit it out, so I insisted on making one for you," Aunt Wang Er chimed in from the side.
Under Ya Ya's watchful gaze, Chen Shi took a bite. The noodles tasted raw and were still sticky. He chewed a couple of times, swallowed, and said, "Delicious. This was my uncle's favorite when he was little. Now that he's grown up, no one makes it for him anymore."
Ya Ya grinned and ran back towards the stove, saying, "I'll bake another one for Uncle."
"A godfather is still not as good as a biological father," Li Cheng said jealously, his eyes drifting back to the pot. "Is it really made with white flour?"
Aunt Wang glared at him, "Are those eyes of yours to breathe? Or are they made of flour or snow?"
"Snow cubes don't smell this good," Li Cheng said as he shuffled forward.
Aunt Wang raised her hand and smacked her with her chopsticks, "Go wash your hands! You just finished working, and you're all filthy. You stick your hands in the pot like that? Do you want the whole family to eat your mud-covered buns?"
Li Cheng yelled and withdrew his hand, "I haven't even touched it yet."
"I can't even think about it."
Baiweibajian, who was lying in the nest, stumbled over when he smelled the fragrance.
Yellow Ear lay on the threshold, lifted its eyelids slightly, and exhaled through its nose.
As if given permission, Baiweibajian boldly sat down at Yaya's feet, looking up at the pot.
Ya Ya looked down at it and said, "You're too young to eat the candy-filled ones."
When Li Cheng returned after washing his hands and heard this, he couldn't help but laugh. "Does it understand?"
"Yes, it can understand. Yellow ears can understand it."
Huang Er exhaled again, as if responding to Ya Ya, or as if he was too lazy to pay attention to Li Cheng.
Aunt Wang took out the sugar triangles from the first drawer.
The white dough was steamed until it was shiny, and the triangular pinched edges bulged up a little. There were two holes that weren't pinched tightly, and some sugar syrup leaked out.
Ya Ya stared at the little bit of syrup, her mouth watering.
Chen Shi picked up the plumpest sugar triangle and put it in the bowl. He blew on it, but it was too hot, so he poked a small hole in it with his chopsticks.
Li Cheng exclaimed, "Ouch! If you bite into this thing, won't you burn your tongue off?"
"Shut up, it's not for you," said Aunt Wang.
Li Cheng touched his nose. "I didn't say it was mine."