Meng Yan's Transformation

Zhan Yu's family has this "Old Doctor Han". Every day, Yun Qing racks her brains to cook a few dishes. Zhan Yu feels embarrassed for not cooking more dishes, so he scolds Yun Qing, which makes Yun Qing miserable and exhausted physically and mentally. At first, only "Old Doctor Han" and Zhan Yu eat together. After the two of them finish eating, the children and Yun Qing can go to the table to eat some leftovers. The so-called leftovers are actually just a pitiful amount of vegetable soup. Sometimes Yun Qing is hungry all day. The children are growing up and have a big appetite, so they often can't eat enough. Yun Qing has no choice but to cook some more earthenware or roast some potatoes to supplement the children's food. But as soon as the potatoes are cooked, this "Old Doctor Han" promises to be the first to come over. "The roasted potatoes in the Great Northern Wilderness smell so good! My sister-in-law, pass them to me first." This "Old Doctor Han" said when he saw Yun Qing was about to pass the roasted potatoes to Zifeng, Ziqiang, Zi'an and other children.

"Is the food I cooked not to Brother Han's liking? Did it make you hungry?" Yunqing said when she saw that each child could only get one or two potatoes. (Zifeng, Ziqiang, Zi'an, and Zixun each got two potatoes, and Xiao Mengyan and Yingying each got one, for a total of ten cooked potatoes)

"No! No! I'm quite full, but these roasted potatoes are so delicious that I can't help but want to eat them, so I just want to try them." The "Old Doctor Han" said as he reached out and took away six roasted potatoes.

In the end, Zifeng, Ziqiang and Zi'an could only get one cooked potato each.

"Mom, I'm hungry!" Yingying said to Yunqing with tears in her eyes when she saw her potatoes being taken away by "Dr. Han".

"Good child, don't cry. It's etiquette to give food to guests first. A crying child is not a good child. Mommy will go find some sticky rice dumplings to cook for you and Mengyan. They taste better than cooked potatoes. Stop crying." Yunqing wiped Yingying's tears with her hands and comforted her.

Yunqing went to the warehouse to get some sticky rice dumplings and pulled out some charcoal.

Yunqing prepared to make another sticky rice dumpling for Xiao Mengyan and Yingying.

"Sister-in-law, do you want to make more sticky bean buns? Make a few more. I want to try sticky bean buns again." When "Old Doctor Han" heard that Yunqing wanted to make sticky bean buns, he swallowed the roasted potatoes in his mouth and said to Yunqing.

"Brother Han, can you eat any more? Do you want to burst your stomach?" Yun Qing asked in astonishment.

"No, no, I have a rubber belly, it's very elastic! Hahaha!" "Old Doctor Han" said this in a self-proclaimed "humorous and witty" manner.

In this way, Yingying and Xiao Mengyan’s roasted sticky rice dumplings were also "eaten" up by this "old doctor Han".

Under the disgusted eyes of the children, this "Old Doctor Han" touched his bulging belly with one hand, stroked his sparse, yellow hair with the other, walked in a square step, shook his fat short neck, and sang: "Walking through the forest, crossing the snowfield, with my heart soaring into the sky. Expressing my heroic feelings, sending my aspirations, facing the mountains..." and then lay back on the kang.

On the morning of the fifth day of the New Year, Zhan Yu woke up the children early and went outside to set off firecrackers, saying that it was to send away the God of Poverty.

Zhan Zifeng, Zhan Ziqiang, Zhan Zian and Zhan Zixun all came outside to set off firecrackers.

Zhan Zi'an said, "Don't let go yet. Let's call Yingying and Xiao Mengyan over and let everyone make a wish!"

"What wish do you want to make?" asked Zhan Ziqiang.

"Are you a pig-brained person? Think about what wish you want to make?" Zhan Zifeng said, tapping Zhan Ziqiang's forehead.

"I know what wish to make!" said Zhan Zixun.

"Let this dead old man, who is a reincarnation of a starving ghost, leave our house as soon as possible!" everyone said in unison.

So Yingying and Xiao Mengyan were called out, and the children formed a circle, holding hands with their hands stretched out, then loosened their hands, stood at an equal distance, took a deep breath, put their hands together, placed them in front of their chests, closed their eyes, and silently prayed in their hearts: "Let the dead old man who died of hunger and reincarnation, leave our house as soon as possible! Heaven and earth, please show your spirit soon!"

"Why are you not setting off firecrackers? What are you all mumbling about?" Zhan Yu shouted.

"We are making a wish. We want to send the God of Poverty away as soon as possible!" the children replied.

"What kind of wish will a child make? Let's set off the firecrackers quickly!" Zhan Yu urged.

"Okay, okay, let's set off the firecrackers right away!" the children said as they set off the firecrackers.

The fifth day of the New Year is a big day for eating dumplings. The dumplings should be wrapped tightly, which means pinching the mouth of a villain. Cooking the dumplings without leaking is equivalent to blocking the villain's mouth tightly, which is an expectation for the new year.

Yunqing prepared flour, and added cornmeal, millet flour, and sticky yellow rice flour to it for fear that it would not be enough. Pour the flour into a bowl, add warm water and knead it into a dough of moderate hardness, and let it sit for more than 20 minutes.

Cut the pickled cabbage into shreds and wash it several times to reduce the sour taste. Then, squeeze the shredded cabbage into a ball with your hands, put it on the chopping board, and chop it into small pieces. Take a piece of frozen meat from the ice cellar outside, thaw it slowly until it is half frozen, cut the meat into slices and then into shreds, and finally chop it into small pieces. Put the shredded cabbage and pork together, add appropriate amount of salt, chopped green onion, soy sauce, and cooking oil, and stir clockwise to make it even.

"This time the children can finally eat their fill!" Yunqing muttered to herself with satisfaction as she looked at the increased dosage of dumpling noodles and dumpling fillings.

Yunqing took out the dough and kneaded it into a cylindrical shape, cut it into small pieces, kneaded it into small balls with her hands, flattened it, took out a rolling pin and rolled it into dumpling wrappers that were thick in the middle and thin at the edges, put the dumpling fillings on it, and pinched the edges to wrap the dumplings.

Zhan Ziqiang put the water in a pot and boiled it. He started to put the dumplings in, stirring slowly with a colander. He added some cold water every time the water boiled. After the water boiled three times, the steaming dumplings floated up in the boiling water one by one, like naughty dolls; crystal clear, like freshly cooked egg yolks. Yunqing used a large colander to fish out the dumplings rolling in the boiling pot, and the children's mood also boiled. The children drooled and swallowed their saliva while helping Yunqing take the plates and shallow basins for the dumplings. The dumplings were cooked, and the aroma was fragrant and refreshing. The whole house was filled with the aroma of dumplings. The children wished that their throats could grow little hands to grab the dumplings and eat a big meal.

It was the same old rule, the guests were served first. The children could only eat the delicious dumplings after Dr. Han had eaten his fill. The children were asked to do this and that, but they had no intention of working, as their minds were focused on the delicious dumplings.

Yunqing put the cooked dumplings in a plate and a shallow basin and brought them to the kang table.

"Let me taste your sister-in-law's cooking!" The "old doctor Han" said, picking up the chopsticks impatiently, picking up a dumpling and stuffing it into his mouth. "It's so hot, so hot!" The "old doctor Han" almost jumped off the kang, swallowed it with his head shaking because it was so hot, and spit out the dumpling.

"Brother Han, why are you in such a hurry? I'm not snatching the dumplings from you. The children have to wait for us to finish eating, and then they will eat the leftovers you have." Zhan Yu said to "Old Doctor Han" who was in tears due to the burns.

Zhan Yu picked up the chopsticks, carefully picked up a plump dumpling that had just come out of the pot and put it in the bowl, then gently took a small bite...

"Knock knock" there was a rapid knock on the door.

Zhan Yu hurriedly got off the kang and opened the door.

"Is this Zhan Yu's home?" Zhan Yu opened the door and saw a short man with red cheeks, about forty years old, standing in front of him and asked.

"Yes, yes, it's Zhan Yu's family. I am Zhan Yu. May I ask who you are?" Zhan Yu asked.

The visitor explained his purpose. He was from Liaoning, his surname was An and his given name was Zhirui. He heard that Zhan Yu was also from Liaoning, so he came to seek refuge with his fellow countryman.

Zhan Yu enthusiastically invited his fellow villager An Zhirui to sit on the kang in the house, "Yunqing, bring a pair of bowls and chopsticks for Brother An." Zhan Yu shouted.

Yunqing quickly put the bowl and chopsticks on the table and was surprised to see that most of the dumplings had been eaten by "Dr. Han".

Yunqing returned to the outer kitchen, looked at the disappointed eyes of the children with helplessness and pity, and continued to knead the dough to make pancakes for the children, because it was too late to make dumplings, and the children were too hungry to wait...