Chapter 157 Cai Ling's Sense of Crisis
There was a wedding on the island today, and as childhood friends, Fang Xianfeng and Xu Zhiyuan brought their wives to the banquet.
Fang Wei did not go to join in the fun, and seeing that he did not go, Xu Cailing did not go either. The two of them stayed at home and cooked their own meals.
Strictly speaking, Fang Wei cooks and Xu Cailing eats.
Rather than going to a banquet, the girl preferred to eat the food he cooked, which was much more difficult than going to a banquet. After all, the elders were at home most of the time on weekdays, and the two of them would eat at home separately.
Like now, it's a rare opportunity for the two of them to have some time together, and she's so happy.
She is obviously fourteen years old already, but her personality is just like that of the naughty girl who liked to stick behind him when she was a child. Fang Wei knows Cai Ling doesn't need to say anything, and she is probably imagining some childish game like playing house again.
"So what are we having for lunch today?" Xu Cailing ran into his kitchen and looked around to see what ingredients were available.
"There's a feast but you don't go. Don't the delicious fish and meat taste good?"
“I’m tired of eating it during the Chinese New Year!”
"Then what do you want to eat?"
“I want something special!”
"…What do you mean by special?"
Fang Wei was completely confused and couldn't understand her train of thought. He couldn't just play house with mud and leaves and eat them like he did when he was a kid!
I swear to God, he really doesn't like playing house, but he can't stand Xu Cailing and Asheng always asking him to play. Asheng is keen on being the son, so he plays the father and Cailing plays the mother. The thought of it makes him feel so awkward!
"Well."
Xu Cailing pinched her chin to think for a while, then snapped her fingers: "How about we make dumplings for lunch today!"
“…Making dumplings is also considered special?”
"Do you eat it often?"
"..."
I don't really eat it often.
After all, we are not in the north, and we rarely eat dumplings on a daily basis. We only make some when we want to change the taste occasionally.
After hearing what Cai Ling said, Fang Wei also felt like eating dumplings.
Although his cooking skills are not as good as his mother's, making dumplings is not difficult. In addition to studying and sports, he can now be said to be well-rounded.
Let’s not talk about other ingredients first. The most important thing in making dumplings is to prepare the noodles. I don’t eat much on weekdays, so Fang Wei searched for a long time but couldn’t find where my mother put the noodles.
But this does not pose a problem for clever Xu Cailing.
"I have some at home! I'll get it for you!"
Having said that, Xu Cailing climbed over the wall and went back home. Not long after, she climbed over the wall again and came back with a bag of flour.
"Not so many. How many dumplings do we need to make?"
"You can use them as you like. I can take the extra ones back if you have any."
Fang Wei took out some flour with a spoon and put it in the basin, tied up the bag with the remaining flour, and asked her to take it back later.
Kneading the dough is not difficult. Just add a little salt and then add water while stirring. After a while, the dry flour becomes dough.
Xu Cailing, who was standing by, was not idle either. She washed her hands, rolled up her sleeves, and took the dough from him:
"I'll knead the dough, you go do something else!"
"You don't need to knead it for too long. Just apply some oil on it and cover it with a wet cloth to let it rest."
"oh oh."
Normally, when Xu Cailing helped out at home, she always felt tired. But now she was very excited and full of energy. The dough in her hands was constantly squeezed and deformed with her strength.
Fang Wei took out a piece of pork with fat and lean meat and chopped it into stuffing on the chopping board nearby.
The minced meat tastes better than the meat minced by machine.
Seeing that Xu Cailing had finished making the dough, Fang Wei said while it was resting, "Go to the vegetable garden behind my house and pick a handful of green onions and wash them. There's also a corn here. Peel the kernels off the corn later."
"You are so good at giving orders!"
"Go, do you still want to eat?"
"Okay, Master Fang!"
Xu Cailing hummed, dragging out the last syllable, and went to work swiftly as she was instructed.
Although this is Fang Wei's home, in the girl's eyes, his home is no more familiar than her own home.
I bent down in the vegetable garden and picked a handful of green onions. The freshly picked onions were very green and there was no need to pinch off the yellow leaves. The onion stems stood straight and fresh, and I could smell the rich onion fragrance when I pinched them open.
But Xu Cailing doesn't like eating green onions.
This is one of the few things she is picky about. She would pick out the green onions from the tofu at school bit by bit.
But she eats the flavor of onions. The only thing she doesn't eat is the onion itself. The seafood dishes she eats at the seaside are basically all seasoned with onions. Except for the onion leaves, which she doesn't eat, she loves the taste of onions.
In short, she doesn’t hate the taste of onions, but the texture of onions! It’s okay to borrow the taste, but onions themselves cannot be eaten!
Such a weird habit! Fang Wei has complained about her for this.
Liu Zhiyi, on the other hand, doesn't eat any fat. She likes dishes cooked with fat oil, but she doesn't eat fat itself!
In a way, the two girls are alike.
As they eat together so often, Fang Wei has already gotten to know each of their tastes and preferences very well. This is probably the awareness of being a chef.
Instead of expecting them to cook for him and conquer his stomach, it would be better for him to do it himself and have enough food and clothing!
The sound of chopping meat could be heard in the kitchen. Xu Cailing was squatting beside the water well in the yard, peeling green onions and corn, draining the water in a basket, and trotted in to bring it to him.
Fang Wei held the kitchen knife horizontally and smashed a piece of ginger. Then he smashed the green onion as well, put it in a bowl, added some water, rubbed it vigorously, and squeezed out the green onion and ginger water.
"Hey! You make it differently from my mom! You don't put green onions in it?" Xu Cailing asked curiously.
"If you put it in, won't you have to pick it out again?"
"Hehe...if it's chopped into small pieces, I won't be able to pick it..."
"hehe."
Although he did not specifically explain why he only used scallion and ginger water, Xu Cailing still felt Fang Wei's doting. The smaller the details, the more she could feel the difference between him and others.
Women are actually all like this. No matter how old they are, as long as someone pampers them, they will always act like a little girl.
"Will this water make the meat filling soggy if added?"
"Meat filling will absorb water, so don't add too much at once. Add it slowly in three times. This way the meat filling will be smoother and more tender."
The most important part of making dumplings is the filling. Chop the mushrooms and add them to the meat filling together with corn kernels. Then add salt, pepper, MSG, oyster sauce, peanut oil and other seasonings. Then slowly add the scallion and ginger water in three times to allow the meat filling to fully absorb the moisture and the aroma of scallion and ginger. Stir well and set aside. The filling is ready.
The next step is to make the dumpling wrappers.
The dough has been proofed, so to prevent sticking, sprinkle some flour on the board, then pinch off a small piece of dough and roll it into a thin round sheet with a rolling pin.
Rolling out dough is a technical job. Although Fang Wei knows how to do it, he doesn't do it very often. He has to slowly get the feel for the size of the dough he pinches off and the size and thickness of the dough.
Xu Cailing on the side was stunned. It turned out that Fang was omnipotent!
"Let me roll out the dough, and you can help me pinch the dough."
"it is good!"
"It should be about the same size as the one I just pulled out."
"it is good!"
The girl enjoyed working with him. She used her little hands to pinch out small pieces of dough from the big dough. They were soft, powdery and very fun to play with!
She patted Fang Wei's arm, leaving a patch of white flour on his skin.
"Look, I made a little duck!"
“…You call this a duck?”
"Isn't it similar?"
“Like a ball.”
"A fat duck."
She chuckled, put the fat duck under his rolling pin, and then rolled it into dumpling skins.
Soon, the dumpling skins were ready, and the two of them stood together by the stove and started making dumplings.
Fang is teaching, Cai Ling is learning.
Although the girl was not as skilled as him, she was very serious in learning.
She spread out her left palm, spread the dumpling skin flat on it, scooped a spoonful of stuffing into it with a small spoon, and then folded it into a semicircle. Her delicate fingers pinched the edges and corners of the dumpling skin, and she wrapped a fat dumpling with beautiful folds. Maybe because she put too much stuffing in it, it was bulging like a gold ingot.
"How's it going? My martial arts skills are pretty good, right?"
"not bad."
"Haha, I didn't expect I have a talent for making dumplings!"
"Indeed, I was shocked. I'll leave the rest to you."
"it is good!"
Xu Cailing readily agreed, turned herself into an ox or a horse, and worked tirelessly.
Seeing that she was wrapping things quite fast, Fang Wei decided not to take away her work.
He cleaned the pot, added water, and stuffed a handful of hay into the stove, ready to start a fire. Suddenly, a cat jumped out of the stove, scaring both of them.
"July!"
"Meow wow."
"Are you that cold?"
"Meow."
July, who had just come out of the stove, was dirty all over, with streaks of black and white on his thick hair.
It stretched on the spot, shook off the dust on its fur, and before Fang Wei could scold it, the fat cat ran outside to bask in the sun.
The fire in the stove was lit.
Smoke rose from the chimney on the roof.
"Put it in the pot~!"
Xu Cailing felt a great sense of accomplishment as she held the board and put the neatly arranged dumplings one by one into the pot of boiling water.
The dumplings that were just put into the pot began to sink. Gradually, as time passed, the plump white dumplings floated to the surface.
The girl's upturned little nose moved, and she could already smell the aroma of dumplings!
It was almost twelve o'clock in the afternoon and she was feeling very hungry!
"Is it done? Is it done? It's all floating!"
"Don't worry, cook it for a little longer."
Because the dough was rolled a little thick, Fang Wei was not sure whether they were fully cooked. He poked it with chopsticks and saw that they were fully cooked. Then he used a large colander to scoop out all the dumplings from the pot and filled a large basin with them.
It was mid-February and the temperature was still a little low. The dumplings in the bowl were steaming, making Xu Cailing very hungry.
"Dinner is ready! Dinner is ready!"
Xu Cailing carried the dumplings out and put them on the dining table, then trotted into the kitchen and washed two pairs of dishes and chopsticks.
Fang Wei took an extra bowl, poured some vinegar, a little light soy sauce, a little chili oil, a little sesame oil, and minced garlic into it, and mixed them together to make a dipping sauce. The two of them had similar tastes, so they used this bowl as a dipping sauce together.
As for eating saliva, I don't eat much! I don't mind it.
Without the elders at home, the two of them felt comfortable eating.
Xu Cailing went to turn on the TV, moved a chair and sat down with Fang Wei, eating dumplings and watching TV.
The cooked dumpling skin presents an attractive translucent state. Through the slightly yellowed skin, you can vaguely see the plump filling inside, a mixture of the mellowness of fresh pork and the sweetness of sweet corn, with a faint aroma of scallion and ginger. Put it in your mouth with the dipping sauce, and you will feel so satisfied after taking a bite!
“Mmm! So good, so good… oh… so hot! So good!”
"Don't get burned, it's like you haven't eaten in a hundred thousand years."
Fang Wei was both angry and amused. This stupid little childhood sweetheart refused to attend the big banquet but insisted on coming to eat dumplings with him.
“It turns out that what you make yourself tastes delicious!”
Xu Cailing ate happily, her eyes and brows narrowed, and her pair of legs stretched out from under the table, swaying comfortably.
Originally Fang Wei thought that he had made a little too many dumplings, but he didn't expect that the whole pot of dumplings would be eaten up by the two of them, without even a piece of dumpling wrapper left.
Xu Cailing hadn't eaten so full in a long time. She touched her belly and sat contentedly on the sofa with Fang Wei.
"Aren't you going to wash the dishes yet?"
"It's your bowl!"
"Isn't it fair that I cook and you wash the dishes?"
"I can't move anymore. I'll wash it later..."
"Have you finished your winter vacation homework? School is about to start."
"I've already finished it!"
"I said I circled it for you to change!"
"…There's still a little left, but we can finish it tonight!"
Now that the Lantern Festival has passed and school is about to start, Xu Cailing is still looking forward to the arrival of the new semester.
It's strange to say, in the past, when she mentioned the start of school, she wished that the vacation could last forever... Although she still thinks so now, she doesn't seem so distressed about the start of school.
Maybe it’s because my grades have improved and I have won honors in school.
Not knowing what she was thinking of, she sighed again and said with some envy:
"Zhiyi is amazing, her academic performance is so good, and she can also publish articles..."
"Well, it's quite powerful."
Fang Wei nodded, and seeing the girl's absent-minded look, he poked her arm and asked, "Why, what are you thinking about?"
"Nothing!"
"Wow, are you hiding something?"
"…No! I just, um…"
Xu Cailing didn't know how to explain it. Since when, she would occasionally subconsciously compare herself with Zhiyi.
For example, Zhiyi is much fairer than her, has seen the world, is quiet and likable, has very good grades, and can publish articles in magazines. These things are already amazing things for her, and they are something she will never be able to do in her life...
Looking at herself again, her grades were barely good enough to get into a regular high school, her clothing taste was never fashionable, and she couldn't even keep up with Fang Wei and Zhi Yi when they chatted about books. She had a mountain of problems, and the only thing worth mentioning was her sports performance. But is being good at sports really an advantage that can be put on the table...
But then again, even she herself wasn't sure what kind of results she expected from such a comparison, or who she wanted to please.
It was so annoying, so annoying. She never cared about these things before, and never thought about them. What happened...
Seeing that the girl fell silent again, Fang Wei asked, "That's all? It's not your style to leave something half-said, eh?"
Xu Cailing sat up straight, looked at Fang Wei, and asked seriously:
"I'm asking you."
"Ah."
"What do you think about me practicing writing, too?"
"what?"
Fang Wei was stunned by her question. Seeing the girl's serious look, it didn't seem like she was joking.
He thought for a moment and asked:
"It's a good thing that you want to practice writing, but why did you suddenly want to do this? This is not like you at all!"
"Well, that's it..."
"Are you struck by Zhiyi's excellence?"
"..."
Xu Cailing was silent for a while after being hit by his words, and then nodded.
Fang Wei did not laugh at her arrogance, nor did he rebuke her inexplicable desire to compare. He just reached out and rubbed her head, saying with a smile: "Silly girl!"
Xu Cailing was not convinced: "Why? Can't I, can't I?"
"So you're just an idiot. Why do you compare your shortcomings with Zhiyi's strengths? Zhiyi has her own dreams and pride, and you have your own dreams and pride, too. This is what makes you special. A young and lively athletic girl is also very attractive!"
"Do you really think so?"
"Of course, a person who has the courage to be himself is always more attractive than someone who follows the crowd!"
"But I'm so tanned..."
"Because you exercise, it's normal to get a tan, and tanned skin is healthy and beautiful!"
"But my grades are so bad..."
"You are making progress, aren't you? Your academic performance is steadily improving, and your sports performance is even better!"
"I haven't seen much of the world..."
"I haven't seen it either. I'll take you there next time!"
"……real?"
"real!"
"Then make a pinky promise..."
Xu Cailing stretched out her little finger towards him.
"Do we still need to make a promise?"
"need!"
"Okay, okay, I'm not going to lie to you."
Fang Wei had no choice but to stretch out his little finger and hook it with hers.
Looking at the two people's little fingers hooked together, the girl's mood instantly brightened. She stood up, cleared the dishes, and went to wash the dishes happily.
(End of this chapter)
