Chapter 27: Making Dumplings

Li Xiue looked at the two large Napa cabbages on the cutting board, as well as the pork belly she was holding in her hand...

She felt a bit amused, finding that this Educated Youth An was quite carefree.

An Yinan went to Aunt Li's house to get some potatoes; the rabbit Zhang Qian had hunted in the afternoon had already been prepared by him, and stewing the rabbit meat with plenty of potatoes would be incredibly fragrant.

Upon arriving at Aunt Li's house, Aunt Li carefully asked An Yinan what vegetable seedlings she needed (these are small vegetable sprouts that can be planted directly into the soil, with a high survival rate).

"Cucumbers, persimmons, green beans, long beans, eggplants, chili peppers, winter melons, and bell peppers; if there are potatoes and sweet potatoes, that would be even better." An Yinan didn't stand on ceremony, mentioning things that were grown throughout the village.

As for the watermelon and strawberry seedlings... she actually had them in her space, along with some flowers, but she couldn't take them out.

"Alright, I'll also put in two luffa and gourd plants for you. Later, I'll see what I'm planting and add more for you. I heard from Xie Laoer that the garden you're opening is quite large; Aunt Li will definitely get it all sorted out for you." Aunt Li had a rough idea in her mind; these vegetable seedlings were easy to manage, and when spring approached next year, they could all be planted together.

"Great, what I eat next year will all depend on Aunt Li." An Yinan felt reassured, and it was settled just like that.

For the things that needed seeds sown, she had already spoken to Aunt Li, so there was no need to mention them again.

"Done, done, done." Aunt Li smiled and tapped her.

When An Yinan returned, Xie Yuanyuan had also come over to help, and Zhang Qian had sent over the skinned rabbit as well.

The vegetable filling had already been minced and put into a basin, and Li Xiue was currently mincing the meat.

An Yinan handed over a large scallion and found a small piece of ginger, "Chop these up in a moment, okay?"

Li Xiue took them and set them aside; why did she feel so at ease eating this meal now?

After Zhang Qian delivered the rabbit, he went back; after all, there were female Educated Youths inside, so it wasn't appropriate for him to be in the room.

Xie Yuanyuan washed her hands clean, but didn't know what to do.

Who am I, where am I, what should I be doing? These became the three questions in Xie Yuanyuan's mind.

"Go to your room and bring over the kitchen knife and cutting board." An Yinan assigned the task directly without standing on ceremony.

"Okay, right away." The little girl hopped, immediately turned, and left the room without any hesitation.

Seeing how they interacted, Li Xiue felt a sense of envy in her eyes; she had been at the Educated Youth Courtyard for three years and had had close friends, but in the end...

Xie Yuanyuan returned, bringing the cutting board and kitchen knife.

"Give them to me, you go to your room and boil some water," An Yinan said.

Xie Yuanyuan nodded and left again; although she didn't cook, she had to heat the kang every day, otherwise it was truly cold.

An Yinan quickly kneaded the dough and let it rest.

Then, with a flash of the knife, the rabbit was chopped into uniform small pieces. She put the rabbit meat into a basin, covered it with a cloth, and cut a piece of ginger and a few cloves of garlic.

She then picked up a small spoon and quickly peeled the potatoes; her wrists were very flexible, and in a short while, more than a dozen potatoes were neatly lined up, like an army waiting for inspection.

Li Xiue suddenly discovered that Educated Youth An seemed to have a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder; everything that passed through her hands was without exception neat and tidy.

One horizontal row, one vertical column—how should one put it? It was very mesmerizing.

After finishing the preparations, she carried the items to Xie Yuanyuan's room. Xie Yuanyuan's water was almost boiled; she blanched the rabbit meat in hot water to remove the blood, then...

She put soybean oil into the pot, stir-fried the scallions, ginger, and garlic until golden, added the rabbit meat, and the aroma instantly wafted out.

After stir-frying the rabbit meat, she added a tiny bit of white liquor to remove the gamey smell, followed by various seasonings, then poured in hot water and began to stew it over low heat.

"You didn't put the potatoes in." Little girl Xie Yuanyuan had been watching, her nose sniffing hard; it was so fragrant, the smell of meat.

An Yinan put down the spatula, "You can only add them when the pot boils and the rabbit meat is half-cooked. Potatoes cook very quickly; if you put them in too early, they won't hold their shape when served."

"I see." Xie Yuanyuan honestly began to tend the fire; what could she do? Who told her she couldn't do anything?

"Go to the hallway by my place, get a piece of wood, and just let it stew slowly. Let's go make dumplings." An Yinan gave an instruction before returning to her own room.

Having learned from the last lesson, the people in the Educated Youth Dormitory could only silently drink their vegetable porridge, using the aroma to help them eat, but they didn't dare say anything more.

Educated Youth An was too fierce...

After An Yinan returned, she found that both the meat filling and the vegetable filling had been minced.

She added some salt to the Napa cabbage to draw out the moisture, making it easier to wrap; otherwise, the cabbage would release liquid, and it would be all water, making it impossible to wrap.

Using a fine cheesecloth, she pressed the cabbage hard, and the green vegetable water flowed out. She pressed it two more times and set the cabbage filling aside.

Only then did she start the pot, heated it, added some lard, and put the minced meat into the pot. After stir-frying for a while, she added the chopped scallions and ginger, seasoned it with salt, soy sauce, five-spice powder, and a spoonful of bean paste, then poured in the cabbage. After a quick stir, the cabbage absorbed all the oil in the pot. Only then was the dumpling filling ready. The aroma made Li Xiue swallow her saliva.

She had always known Educated Youth An was generous with oil, but only today did she realize just how generous.

An Yinan brought the rested dough over and handed it to Li Xiue, "You two start wrapping, I'm going to that room to check the pot."

The filling was ready, and the dough had rested. Li Xiue took the dough to roll out the wrappers. Xie Yuanyuan still knew how to wrap dumplings, and the two of them quickly coordinated to wrap them.

While wrapping, they kept swallowing their saliva; this dumpling filling was truly too fragrant. (All the cooking processes are basically my own cooking processes; ahem, just take it as a bit of fun—whoever argues is right!)

An Yinan went to the other room and saw that the rabbit meat was almost cooked, so she quickly added the potatoes to the pot and adjusted the fire.

The three of them began to wrap dumplings together. An Yinan held chopsticks in one hand and a wrapper in the other, placed the filling on the wrapper, and with a direct press of both hands, a dumpling was wrapped.

Previously, Li Xiue often had to help Xie Yuanyuan wrap, but now the speed of rolling wrappers had increased linearly, yet it still couldn't keep up with An Yinan wrapping alone.

Shall we say, is this person omnipotent? Earning so many Work Points, cooking so fragrantly, and even wrapping dumplings so quickly?

Is there anything this person doesn't know how to do?

"I'll go watch the fire." Xie Yuanyuan raised her hand; that little action was just like a primary school student.

Having received permission, she immediately ran back to her room. Fearing the potatoes would stick to the pot, she used a spatula to scrape them, then took out a large bowl and set it aside. She went to Nan Nan's hallway to get some firewood, returned to An Yinan's room, and silently washed the pot and boiled water.

The speed of Li Xiue and An Yinan took off; the dumplings for five people were wrapped in less than half an hour. Xie Yuanyuan's water boiled, and the dumplings went into the pot.

"Go call Zhang Qian over to eat," An Yinan said to Xie Yuanyuan.

Xie Yuanyuan put down the firewood, went to the First Courtyard, and called out for Zhang Qian.