binnovel Chapter 189 The Rural Girl in "Metamorphosis" 32
Chapter 189 The Rural Girl in "Metamorphosis" 32
Grandpa and Grandma slept quite soundly, but at four o'clock, Liu Yuxi asked Lin Ziye and the others to wake them up, otherwise they wouldn't be able to sleep at night.
The group still looked tired after waking up, clearly not fully recovered. After discussing it, the production team gave the "travel group" an extra 5000 yuan in budget.
With more funds available, the group gathered in the lobby on the first floor, discussing whether to visit Jade Dragon Snow Mountain the next day. They planned to take the cable car, saying it shouldn't be too tiring, and that coming all the way to Lijiang without visiting Jade Dragon Snow Mountain would feel like a waste.
However, the specifics will depend on the condition of the elderly people tomorrow morning, but with money, things can be arranged easily. After discussing it, everyone decided to make dumplings for dinner, which would be a good way to pass the time.
Liu Yuxi took out the meat to thaw and asked Lin Ziye and Ma Lin to chop the filling later. Liu Yuxi then went to the market and bought a bunch of chives, a bunch of celery, some chili powder to make dipping sauce, and five jin of flour. There would be enough flour at home to make dumplings.
Seeing that the scallions were still fresh, I bought another bunch. I'll make some steamed buns tonight when I have nothing to do, and eat them tomorrow morning. If there's any filling left, I can also make a few steamed dumplings.
When Liu Yuxi got back, she saw her grandmother kneading dough, so she washed her hands and went to help. She first kneaded the dough for dumplings, asked for everyone's opinions, and then started kneading the dough for steamed buns and rolls for tomorrow. This dough needed to be mixed with yeast. Because of the hot weather, the dough rose quickly, so she left it to rest.
Once the meat and vegetables were ready, Liu Yuxi fried a few eggs, chopped them up, and mixed them with chives. This made vegetarian dumplings. There were also three kinds: chive and meat dumplings, and celery and meat dumplings.
Liu Yuxi and Grandpa Ma were rolling out dough. No one expected the old man to have this skill. While working, Grandpa Ma said, "When I was a child, I learned the craft from my master and lived in his house. I helped with all the housework. Back then, eating dumplings was like celebrating the New Year. I wished I could eat dumplings every day."
So when my teacher's wife made dumplings, I followed her from the very beginning, starting with kneading the dough. She wouldn't let me help with the wrapping, afraid the dumplings would break when cooked, so I learned to roll out the wrappers. After all, if I messed up the rolling, I could just roll them again! That's how I acquired this skill.”
"That's right. When we were kids, we looked forward to the New Year because we could eat dumplings. Back then, there wasn't much meat. If there was a bit of meaty smell or some pork cracklings, we were lucky. But back then, everything tasted delicious. Unlike now, even dragon meat doesn't taste good!" Grandpa Lin chimed in.
"Yes, we lived in the mountains. In the past, we only ate fresh meat twice a year, during the Spring Festival. The rest of the time, we ate vegetables. Sometimes, we would just fry an egg and that was considered a meal. But back then, everything tasted delicious. Now, things are different. Life is better, but the food doesn't taste as good anymore," Grandma Liu said.
Grandma Ye: "Little sister, you're so lucky! I love the food Xiaoxi cooks. Why don't you let Xiaoxi stay at my house for a while? I'll definitely take good care of her!"
"That won't do! Haha! My Xiaoxi is a great cook. She was only nine years old when she was still shorter than the stove. But her cooking has gotten better and better ever since. My Xiaoxi is such a sensible girl! I wasn't feeling well those years, and she always took the initiative to do all the housework. She didn't fall behind in her studies either. She was busy from morning till night and still had to figure out how to make money!"
As Grandma Liu spoke, she became somewhat emotional, as if those years were still fresh in her mind. During those years, what she thought about most was that no matter what, she would persevere until she could send her granddaughter to university. At that time, she was afraid that if she couldn't hold on one day, how would her little granddaughter live alone?
"Grandma, don't think like that. Look how good our life is now, and it will only get better in the future." Seeing that her grandmother wasn't in a good mood, Liu Yuxi quickly said, "You will definitely live to be a hundred years old and stay with me forever!"
"Of course! Life is so comfortable now. Living to be a hundred is great, I'd be grateful if I could live to be over 80. Hahaha!"
"Haha, yeah! I also think I'd be grateful to live to 80 or 90!"
"No!"
The elderly people seemed to be in good spirits, and the group was having a lively time, but the comments section was filled with sadness.
"I miss my grandma. She loved me so much when I was little. I told her that when I started working and earning money, I would buy her delicious food and take her out to play. But I hadn't even graduated from university when my grandma passed away. Waaah!"
"Me too. I grew up with my grandparents when I was little. After I went back to the city for school, I went back to my hometown less often. Later, my grandparents would come to the city to see me because they missed me so much, but they couldn't get used to living in the city, so they would go back to the village after a few days. Now my grandfather is gone, boohoo, I only have my grandmother left!"
“I miss my grandma. After my parents divorced, I lived with my mom. My mom had to earn money, so my grandma basically raised me. I didn’t leave my grandma until I went to college. When I was young, I always wanted to be far away from home. The college I went to was more than 2000 kilometers away from home. When my grandma passed away this year, I didn’t even get to see her one last time. I think the biggest regret of my life is that I chose to go to college so far away from home.”
"After hearing what you all say, maybe I should choose a university in a city closer to home!"
Ignoring the comments, the group finished making the dumplings in a lively atmosphere. Sure enough, there was still some filling left. Liu Yuxi added a little more salt to the remaining filling, because the filling for steamed buns should be a little saltier than that for dumplings.
The dough next to us had already risen. We took some and used the remaining filling to make steamed buns. The others went to cook dumplings and steam buns. Liu Yuxi was making flower rolls. She didn't make big flower rolls because big flower rolls don't taste good with fillings, while small flower rolls taste good with fillings.
Liu Yuxi added extra chopped green onions, which are the soul of the steamed buns. Just as the buns were steamed, the steamed buns were put on the pot. Liu Yuxi also fried some chili oil. Everyone prepared their own dipping sauce, and the group happily ate dumplings.
The atmosphere at dinner was quite pleasant. After everyone finished eating and cleaning up together, they sat on the first floor to digest and chat. Every now and then, they would ask the younger generation to perform a program. Liu Yuxi even sang a piece of Peking Opera for them, but she sang it in a restrained manner, only saying that she had learned it from an old actor in the crew.
This surprised Grandpa Ma, who kept praising her, saying it was a pity she hadn't started learning from a young age, she would definitely have become a great person. Grandma Liu was so happy she couldn't stop smiling, and in her joy she sang a local opera for everyone, probably to say, "Look, my granddaughter is just like me." And I must say, Grandma Liu's voice is really good.
Grandpa Ma listened with amusement and sang a section of Taiping lyrics. Grandpa Lin and Grandma Ye also sang popular songs from their youth. You know what, old songs are always good.