After returning from Grandma Yaoâs house, the father and daughter brought back quite a few things, much more than what they had initially brought over.
Once Gu Linglingâs family finished steaming their buns, it was Liu Yatingâs familyâs turn.
As early as the beginning of the lunar month, Wang Shuxia had already informed Gu Lingling that this year their buns and dumplings would rely on Gu Linglingâs help.
Although Wang Shuxiaâs cooking skills had improved a little under Gu Linglingâs careful guidance over the past six months,
she figured it was better not to risk ruining the food when it comes to steaming buns during Chinese New Year.
Gu Lingling went over the afternoon of the first day to prepare the dough.
With heating in Wang Shuxiaâs home, the dough was left in the kitchen overnight and could be steamed the next morning.
The stuffing was also prepared in advance on the first day to avoid the hassle of steaming buns and chopping stuffing on the second day. Besides, although Wang Shuxiaâs house is big, the kitchen isnât as spacious as those in the countryside.
"Oh wow... Linglingâs dumplings are really well made," exclaimed Wang Shuxia for the Nth time.
Just look at the way she pinches the folds; she decided not to embarrass herself for fear that the dumplings might be so poorly made that no one would want to eat them.
There were quite a few dumplings steamed that day, and as soon as the first batch was out, Yang Yunhai, Su Ziqiao, and Liu Jun came in, led by the aroma.
Oh boy, these three, along with Liu Jianping, four grown men, gobbled up the first batch of dumplings.
Even the two plates of cold dishes that Gu Lingling had specially prepared were wiped clean.
"This..." Wang Shuxia found herself both amused and helpless.
Her plan was that these dumplings would last until at least the fifth day when the cafeteria reopens.
"How about I mix a bit more stuffing, and we just steam this dough into dumplings. Then Aunt, you could steam some buns tomorrow," Gu Lingling suggested.
"Linglingâs dumplings are simply too delicious. I still have some meat and vegetables left; how about I bring them all over, and we make dumplings together?" Su Ziqiao said, jumping at the idea, "Working together, weâre stronger."
Yang Yunhai glanced at Su Ziqiao indifferently, suddenly finding this fellow somewhat annoying.
Unaware that Yang Yunhai was already a bit fed up with him, Su Ziqiao eagerly went to fetch the ingredients, and further instigated Liu Jun and Yang Yunhai to also bring their veggies and meat over to Liu Jianpingâs place.
There were so many vegetables; how much dough would be needed to match?
"All right, Iâll knead the dough," Yang Yunhai said casually, rolling up his sleeves.
Considering Gu Linglingâs thin arms, there was quite a large basin of dough.
Gu Lingling, "..."
The chiefâs approach was really off, wasnât it?
But for such a laborious task, itâs better suited for men, so she decisively handed over the spot to Yang Yunhai and went off to prepare the yeast dough.
Indeed, as the saying goes, "Many hands make light work," especially when working with laughter and chatter; the speed was fast.
"Brother Hai, when did you become so good at making dumplings?" Su Ziqiao protested.
Before making dumplings, the political commissar had said that the dumplings each of them wrapped would be theirs to take home, no matter how ugly they were.
"Idiot," Yang Yunhai said, looking at Su Ziqiao with disdain. He wasnât going to tell him how last time Gu Linglingâs culinary skills humbled him, leading the head of the Special Teamâs kitchen class to teach him for quite some days.
Now, if Yang Yunhai were to chop vegetables, he would surely stun Gu Lingling.
It was an absolute art form.
Even more artistic than what the chefs at the Overseas Chinese Hotel could manage.