Making Tangyuan Ourselves
“Today we’re eating thin pancakes. Your sister-in-law wants them.”
“Sister-in-law, when are you going to want braised big carp? Our family still has one frozen.”
“Then when do you think Sister-in-law will want to eat it?” Su Su teased him with a smile.
“I think tomorrow or the day after, you’ll want it.” Lin Jiang knew he was being teased, so he answered with a grin. As a result, he was smacked on the back of the head.
“I think you’re asking for a beating,” Lin Chuan said blandly.
Lin Jiang stuck out his tongue and ran off. Mother Lin said, “Fourth is getting more and more mischievous. Only you can control him.”
Su Su said, “It’s good for him to be lively.” He was still so young, after all.
“You shouldn’t spoil them too much. Look, you’ve spoiled them so much they even dare joke with you now.”
“They’re our own younger brothers. Spoiling them a little is nothing.”
“You’re the eldest sister-in-law. If they get too cheeky, just hit them.” Lin Chuan was never polite with his younger brothers. He was the typical sort who believed boys should be raised a little roughly.
Su Su did not know whether to laugh or cry. “I’ll slice the potatoes. You teach me?”
“I’ll do it.”
“I want to learn.”
“Learn something else.”
“Why?”
“You’ll cut your hand.” Lin Chuan nudged her aside, washed the potatoes, pressed them onto the chopping board, and began slicing. Only then did Su Su notice that the shredded potatoes Lin Chuan cut were extremely, extremely thin, each strand identical, as if copied and pasted.
“So amazing. How are you so amazing?” Su Su said in surprise, lifting up the potato shreds.
“…” What was so amazing about this? Although Lin Chuan did not think much of it, being praised by his wife like this made him feel comfortable and a little shy. He said, “It’s not difficult.”
“I can’t cut them like this at all.” Su Su watched from the side, then heard Lin Chuan say, “Help me get some cold water.”
“Okay.” Su Su immediately fetched cold water to help the expert. Lin Chuan placed the shredded potatoes in the cold water.
“Haven’t they already been washed?”
“It’s not for washing. It’s to soak out the starch inside. That way, the shredded potatoes will be crisp when stir-fried.” Lin Chuan taught her as he cut.
Su Su learned obediently. “No wonder the shredded potatoes I fried before always stuck to the pan. So that was why.”
The corner of Lin Chuan’s mouth lifted, and he continued cutting. Then he added, “If you want to eat them in the future, ask Mother to make them. You can’t cut them yourself. You’ll cut your hand.”
“I can do it slowly.”
“You should just fry potato slices.”
“…” Su Su glared at him, then reached out and pinched his waist.
But she had forgotten that a man’s waist absolutely could not be touched casually. His whole body stiffened, and he lurched forward, almost knocking the chopping board away.
“Ah, are you all right?” Mother Lin asked from the side.
“I’m… I’m fine.” Lin Chuan’s neck had turned red, and his breathing was a little uneven. “You should go to the side and tend the fire.”
“Oh, okay.” Su Su felt a little embarrassed and went off to tend the fire. Lin Chuan poured in oil and stir-fried the shredded potatoes. Before long, they were done, and they smelled delicious. Mother Lin’s pancakes were also nearly ready, so everyone began setting the table.
Only then did Lin Chuan notice the pancakes. “Mother, where did this flour come from? It’s whiter than the flour ground in our village.”
Eh, he could even notice that?
Su Su felt that flour was just flour. In this era, all flour looked much darker than the flour from her own time.
The dumplings they had made before had all looked dark, and she had thought something had been mixed into the flour. Now she knew it was the opposite. The flour was dark because nothing had been mixed in; it only became whiter when something was added.
So what they ate was all natural.
She had thought all flour was this dark, but Lin Chuan, a man, could actually notice the difference between the two kinds of flour.
“This is the flour Su Su earned last time when she organised the women in our village to perform. The commune mills it more finely than our village does, so it’s whiter,” Mother Lin said, pride in her tone.
Su Su felt a little embarrassed and scratched her head. Then she noticed Lin Chuan looking at her with great warmth. Finally, he reached out, touched her head, and said, “You did well.”
“Oh… oh.” Did doing well mean getting her head patted? She was not a puppy.
Mother Lin rolled her eyes at the sky, utterly speechless at her eldest son. This was his wife, not his daughter. Why pat her head when praising her? Would it kill him to hug her?
Once the pancakes were ready, everyone sat down to eat. Su Su ate one and a half pancakes in one go and was so full she could barely walk. Lin Chuan and the others also ate quite a lot, and very heartily.
After the meal, Lin Chuan was covered in sweat. He had originally wanted to go back, but Su Su stopped him. “You’re all sweaty. What if you go out and the wind chills you? Wait a while until the sweat dries before going out.” This was what her mother used to tell them.
Lin Chuan was speechless. Usually in the army, he would sweat all over after running and still walk around freely. How could he be that delicate? But since his wife was worried, he could only stay in the front courtyard and sit for a while.
Mother Lin, however, sighed inwardly. No matter what she said, he never listened, but one word from his wife was worth a hundred from her. Sure enough, once a son grew up, his mother could no longer control him.
During the first lunar month, needlework was not done. Tomorrow was the Lantern Festival, so Mother Lin was preparing glutinous rice flour to make yuanxiao.
**Nomad: Yuanxiao are dumplings of glutinous rice flour, filled with sesame or peanut powder and sugar, or sweet red bean paste, eaten in a soup during the Lantern Festival, the fifteenth day of the Chinese New Year. They are similar to tangyuan, but are traditionally prepared in a basket, and served mainly in Northern China.**
Su Su had never seen yuanxiao being made before, so she was curious. In her era, yuanxiao were bought ready-made.
She was just asking how to make them when Lin Chuan stood up. “Let’s go.”
Why was he so eager to go home? It was so lively staying here and chatting for a while. But seeing that Lin Chuan was determined to leave, she could only follow him. After they got home, she said, “I still wanted to stay a little longer…” But before she could finish, Lin Chuan hugged her from behind and said by her ear, “Wife, you’re really capable.”
Was he praising her for winning that prize?
Wasn’t his reaction a little delayed?
Still, being hugged made Su Su a little excited. She said, “It… it wasn’t anything much.”
“Wife…”
Here he went again.
Whether there was something or not, he kept calling her wife, then began taking advantage of her.
Their room was warm, so Lin Chuan took off Su Su’s outer coat. Not only did he take all sorts of liberties, his hands even restlessly slipped under her sweater.
That was a bit too much, hey!
“Wife, today, we…” He had not finished speaking, but Su Su had already been pushed to the edge of the kang. Lin Chuan quickly drew the curtains, then climbed onto the kang and spread out the quilt.
Su Su was speechless. Without needing to ask, she knew this fellow wanted to make up for their wedding night. But she was worried about his injury. Even if it had already scabbed over, what if it split open? So she put on a stern face and said, “No.”
Lin Chuan’s skin had grown thicker now, and he said solemnly, “There’s no problem with my injury.”
Although he could only do fewer than two hundred push-ups, as long as he rested midway, it would be fine.
“If I say there’s a problem, then there’s a problem,” Su Su said strictly.
“Mm.” Seeing his wife decisively refuse, the little sparrow in Lin Chuan’s heart was brutally strangled halfway through fluttering. He could only behave properly under his wife’s instructions: wash his face, wash his feet, get on the kang, and sleep.
Fortunately, there were still benefits. Being able to hold his wife was pretty good too.
Author’s note: Yesterday, I noticed the clicks had increased. Could it be that everyone is staying home and reading instead of going out?
For that reason, there will be three updates today.
I won’t go out either. I’ll write more.
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