Chapter 45: Eating Sweet Dumplings
The New Year’s Eve was long. When Jiang Huaizhen woke up, it was already broad daylight.
She felt that she had slept for a long, long time, and had had one dream after another. The dreams were all chaotic, and her whole body seemed to be floating in the sky. Just as she was about to be sucked into a vortex, she was pulled back by something…
She opened her eyes and subconsciously looked beside her.
Seeing that there was no one there, her heart suddenly jumped, and she sat up abruptly.
It wasn’t until the faint sound of conversation from the back kitchen of the west room reached her ears that she relaxed and fell back down, nestling in the quilt for a while before she recovered.
Only her side of the quilt was still warm. She didn’t know how long the person beside her had been up.
Seeing that it was getting late, she sat up, rubbed her head, which was throbbing from the hangover, and got out of bed.
On the stool by the bed, there was a neatly folded set of clothes, which she was to wear today.
She had been drunk last night and didn’t remember how she had gotten back to bed or how she had changed her clothes, let alone preparing the clothes for the next day.
It went without saying who had prepared them for her.
The clothes were new, bought when they had gone to get the new year’s goods, and she had never worn them before.
The upper garment was a light purple tight-fitting padded jacket, with a few exquisite lotus flowers embroidered on the collar and cuffs, adding a touch of elegance. The lower garment was a deep purple long skirt that reached her ankles. It was cold, so there was also a layer of padded petticoat inside.
The brand-new clothes made Jiang Huaizhen a little uncomfortable. She walked to the window, pushed it open, and saw that the wind outside was still quite strong, howling. She pulled the window back, turned, and walked toward the west room.
When she entered the kitchen, the room was filled with the fragrance of sesame and peanuts. The old and the young were sitting at the table, making sweet dumplings.
Seeing a figure appear at the door, Lin Shuang looked up, a flash of astonishment in her eyes, and then smiled. “Sister Jiang is up. Go and wash up.”
Old Madam Jiang was also blinded by her granddaughter’s new look. She finally uttered the first praise of the new year. “Shuang’er has good taste. You look like a young lady from a wealthy family, so spirited. You should dress like this from now on. Throw away all your gray and drab clothes.”
“Sister Jiang is good-looking. She looks good in anything,” Lin Shuang said.
She was also wearing a new cotton-padded jacket today. The red outer layer was festive. Because she was slender, it didn’t look bulky at all. She looked a little rounder than usual, and also more gentle and lovely.
Jiang Huaizhen’s gaze swept over her slender waist, hummed in agreement, and turned to get a basin.
The weather was cold, and the kang was always burning, so there was always hot water on the stove.
The Jiang family didn’t make sweet dumplings every year. They would make them occasionally, depending on Old Madam Jiang’s mood. Even when they did, it was just glutinous rice flour kneaded into balls, and the taste was all from the sugar water.
But it was still a rare delicacy of the year.
This time, Lin Shuang had roasted the sesame and peanuts, crushed them, and then added fine sugar and lard, mixing them together to make a filling, which was then wrapped in the glutinous rice skin.
Just by watching her make them, you could already imagine how delicious they would be.
Jiang Huaizhen washed her face with the hot water, and her muddled head instantly cleared. She applied some fragrant cream, and her face became moist.
The old woman instructed, “Apply some to your hands too. It’s cold these two days, and your chilblains will act up when it gets cold. If you don’t take good care of them, you’ll be like me, an old tree bark before you’re old.”
Jiang Huaizhen agreed and applied some to her hands.
Lin Shuang looked up, her gaze sweeping over her long, slender, white, yet powerful fingers.
“Sister Jiang’s hands are so beautiful.”
Jiang Huaizhen glanced at her nimble hands, which were making sweet dumplings.
“Yours are not bad either.”
It was impossible for a farmer’s child to have a pair of delicate fingers. Even the most beautiful hands would be covered with large and small scars and calluses.
She didn’t want to talk about this topic and asked, “Is there anything else to do?”
Lin Shuang looked at the remaining glutinous rice skin in her hand. “I’m almost done here. Let’s start cooking now. We can boil the water on the kang stove. Put in two scoops of water, a piece of rock sugar, and a slice of ginger.”
The filling was sweet enough. If the sugar water was too sweet, it would be cloying.
Jiang Huaizhen agreed and turned to change the pot.
When the fire was ready, she went out to feed the chickens as usual.
Lin Shuang called out to her, “I’ve already fed the chickens and rabbits. There are still a few glutinous rice skins left. Do you want to come and try?”
Jiang Huaizhen looked at her hands, which she had just applied fragrant cream to, and hesitated for a moment. “Forget it. Next time.”
When they made sweet dumplings next year, she would try.
Lin Shuang didn’t insist and quickly kneaded the remaining few sweet dumplings, placing them on a sieve lined with a layer of oiled paper. When the water boiled, she put them in the pot.
“Did Uncle Hu come to get the goods this morning?”
“He did. Guiying’s older brother also came. Today is the first day of the new year, and it’s the busiest time in the city. The two families, with their several members, are all working together. They wanted over a hundred catties of dough.”
With that, Lin Shuang looked up at her. “There’s no secret to our dough. I was thinking, why don’t we let them knead it at home from now on? We’ll just provide the oil pastry and sauce. That way, they won’t have to go to the trouble of coming here every day.”
She had mentioned this before, but Lu Erqiao and Wang Zhimei didn’t want to get involved in the raw materials, afraid that Lin Shuang would think they were coveting the flatbread recipe, and had drawn a clear line.
Old Madam Jiang interjected, “We still have to keep the raw materials in our own hands. Even if there’s no secret to the dough, outsiders don’t know. The more they can’t tell the difference, the more unique we can be.”
Lin Shuang said helplessly, “It’s just that it’s not very necessary to transport so much white flour from outside, add water, knead it, and then send it out again. It’s quite troublesome.”
Jiang Huaizhen said, “The two aunts are honest people. Let’s bring it up again in a while.”
As they were talking, the water on the stove quickly boiled. Lin Shuang got up and carried the sieve to the stove.
Seeing this, Jiang Huaizhen got up and lifted the lid for her, watching her put the white and plump glutinous rice balls into the pot.
“How long do you cook them?”
“They’ll be ready a little while after they float to the top. By the way, I specially wrapped a candied fruit in one. Whoever gets it will be lucky for the whole year.”
Jiang Huaizhen didn’t seem to expect this kind of game. She was not an ignorant person and had, of course, heard that many families would put a copper coin in a dumpling for good luck during the holidays.
But that was other families. Their Jiang family had never done that.
To her, being able to eat her fill and wear warm clothes was enough. Other emotions were never in the scope of her pursuit.
Old Madam Jiang would not provide her with such a luxury.
Only because they had an executioner in the family, and this identity was accompanied by a curse, no amount of joy could escape this curse.
Gradually, the goal in this family became “just to live.” At most, it was to eat well, eat beautifully, not be cold, and not be frozen. This kind of playful interaction would never appear in their family.
But now, the person before her said that she had wrapped a different sweet dumpling, and eating it would bring good luck for a whole year.
This made Jiang Huaizhen feel a little dazed.
Old Madam Jiang, who was behind her, had known about this for a long time. She had even watched Lin Shuang wrap the candied fruit just now and had even sneered at her for it, saying that their family had never done this, and that the stubborn girl didn’t care about it either.
Lin Shuang looked at Jiang Huaizhen, who was standing in front of her, and asked, “Does Sister Jiang hope to get that sweet dumpling?”
Jiang Huaizhen replied, “It’s alright…”
Lin Shuang glared at her. “Why are you such a wet blanket too?”
Jiang Huaizhen didn’t say anything.
To her, it was good no matter which of the three of them got it.
The fire was strong, and the sweet dumplings floated to the top in no time, squeezing together on the surface of the water. Lin Shuang pushed them with a spoon to prevent them from sticking together. Seeing that they were almost done, she took the pot and placed it on the table.
She ladled a large bowl for herself and Jiang Huaizhen, and only six for Old Madam Jiang. “Grandma, glutinous rice is easy to get stuck in your stomach. You eat this first. If it’s not enough, you can have more.”
How could Old Madam Jiang not know? She still grumbled, “You little girl, you’re so fussy.” Then she picked up a spoon, scooped one up, blew on it, and put it in her mouth.
The skin of the sweet dumpling was so soft and glutinous it was almost juicy. With a gentle bite, the thin layer of skin broke, and the peanut and sesame filling flowed out like a stream from the opening.
The rich sweetness filled her mouth.
It was a little hot, but this honey-like taste was something the old woman had never tasted in her life.
Only two words could describe it.
Delicious.
The old woman couldn’t help but squint her eyes, her wrinkled face full of enjoyment. She hummed a couple of times. “This filling is not bad.”
Seeing this, Lin Shuang couldn’t hold back any longer. She quickly scooped one up and took a bite of the steaming hot sweet dumpling.
The moment her teeth broke through the soft and glutinous outer skin, the peanut and sesame filling gushed out, and the sweetness burned to the tip of her heart.
She had never had enough to eat or warm clothes to wear since she was little, and she had never had enough salt, let alone sugar. Now, tasting this sweet flavor, she couldn’t help but let out a satisfied sigh. “Delicious, sweet!”
It wasn’t that she was praising her own cooking. The food itself was delicious, and it had nothing to do with her skills.
Only Jiang Huaizhen sat with her eyes lowered, with no major reaction, eating slowly. But if you looked closely, you would see that she was eating one after another, as if she were not afraid of the heat at all. Her usually steady swallowing was clearly a little more rushed than usual.
If you still couldn’t tell that she liked the taste, you would be blind.
The spoon clinked against the porcelain bowl, making a crisp sound, accompanied by the sounds of chewing and swallowing, and the old woman’s endless nagging. This first meal of the new year, everyone ate very happily.
But they had already eaten more than half, and no one had gotten the candied fruit yet.
Lin Shuang would look at Jiang Huaizhen every time she ate one, because if the old woman had gotten it, she would definitely not have been so calm. Only the person before her, if she had gotten it, might not have said anything.
Seeing her staring at her, Jiang Huaizhen coughed lightly. “I didn’t get it.”
Lin Shuang said, “You didn’t get it just now. Who knows if you will in a while?”
With that, she continued to stare at her.
Old Madam Jiang, who was next to her, quickly finished her six sweet dumplings and put down her spoon. “It seems I’m not so lucky this year.”
With that, she wiped her mouth, stood up, and hobbled back to her room with her cane.
There were still two young girls left in the kitchen, one looking at the other.
Lin Shuang said, “Eat.”
“You’re always staring at me like this. How can I eat?”
“I’m not blocking your mouth. Why can’t you eat?”
Jiang Huaizhen was helpless and had to lower her head and continue to eat. But she didn’t expect that just as her upper teeth were about to bite down, her tongue seemed to touch something different from the peanut and sesame filling. Her chewing motion paused slightly.
But it quickly returned to normal. Just as she was about to swallow, Lin Shuang, who was next to her, quickly grabbed her chin.
“Don’t swallow it.”
Jiang Huaizhen put down her chopsticks, grabbed her hand, and was about to speak when she heard her say, “Don’t talk. Open your mouth.”
This made her a little resistant, but she also felt that the little woman before her was fierce and a little cute. She really didn’t want to disappoint her. But her mouth was full of peanut and sesame paste, and it was really indecent to open her mouth. She shook her head in embarrassment.
“If you dare to swallow it, I’ll bite you,” Lin Shuang stared at her rosy lips, her thumb accidentally sliding over her lower lip.
Jiang Huaizhen’s ears had turned pink at some point. The food in her mouth was stuck. She said with difficulty, “I won’t swallow…”
Lin Shuang stared at her. “You got the candied fruit, didn’t you?”
Jiang Huaizhen nodded.
Lin Shuang snorted. “If I hadn’t been paying attention, you would have swallowed it, wouldn’t you?”
Jiang Huaizhen replied, “I wasn’t paying much attention…”
“You weren’t not paying attention. You were just deliberately going to swallow it,” Lin Shuang felt that she was a wet blanket and lowered her eyes, letting go of her hand.
Seeing this, Jiang Huaizhen quickly put down her chopsticks, swallowed the food in her mouth, and said softly, “I just feel that it’s the same no matter which of the three of us gets it. If this sweet dumpling can really bring good luck, I would rather you and Grandma get it.”
Her tone was different from her usual coldness, a little soft, with a strong sense of compromise.
Lin Shuang sensed her caution and remembered what the old woman had said last night, that when she was first brought back, wherever the old woman went, the little her would clutch her clothes and follow her, afraid of being abandoned.
Her heart softened again.
But she still looked at the person before her with a wronged expression. “But Grandma and I also want you to get it…”
“It’s my fault,” Jiang Huaizhen said with an apology. “I should have shared it with you openly.”
Lin Shuang snorted.
“I won’t be a wet blanket next time,” Jiang Huaizhen promised.
Lin Shuang: “You’re sensible.”
With that, she looked at the two sweet dumplings left in her bowl. “I’m full. I can’t eat these three. I’ll save them for lunch.”
She had overestimated her fighting power. The sweet dumplings with filling were really filling.
But a slender arm reached over, took her bowl, and said, “No need to save it. I can still eat.”
