After a simple rebirth

The first day of the Chinese New Year is to sleep until you wake up naturally, but not always. You have to get up and eat the glutinous rice balls when they are cooked, but you can sleep in before they are cooked.

Fu Ying got up and put on a new red coat, wishing the new year a prosperous and festive one.

While Fu Ying was washing up, her father was preparing the dough. He poured 1/3 of glutinous rice flour into a basin, added some hot water, and started kneading the dough.

Fu Ying was clumsy with her hands, and she knew she would definitely put more water in the dough, and more water in the dough, so she was in charge of wrapping them. She dried her hands and went over to help, but it was too early so she didn't ask Fu Zhe to get up and help.

In fact, Fu Ying is not very good at making glutinous rice balls or buns. She can only make dumplings, and only dumplings are good-looking.

The locals eat triangular glutinous rice balls. The standard method is to roll out the dough first, then use a spoon to scoop a small spoonful of fillings into it, and after the two sides of the dough are put together, the two thumbs and two index fingers form a triangle. The thumb pushes the belly of the glutinous rice ball towards you, and the two index fingers press down to form a triangular glutinous rice ball.

But this requires a lot of skill. Fu Ying wraps it ugly every time. It’s good enough if it can form a triangle. Don’t expect it to be beautiful.

After many years, Fu Ying was a little nervous to challenge the triangle glutinous rice balls again.

Dad Fu has already kneaded the dough. He took out a piece and rolled it into a long strip. He then took another small piece and rolled it into a round shape in his palm. Then he pressed it and it became the dough for the glutinous rice balls. The dough does not need to be too thin or too big. A thicker one is easier to pinch.

Fu Ying knew how to do this step, so she followed her father's steps, pinching some of the dough off, rolling it into a ball, and flattening it. Fu Ying was ready to continue pinching, but her father told her to wrap one dough at a time, otherwise the flour would dry out easily.

So the difficulty came. Fu Ying scooped the stuffing with a spoon, but her father reminded her that it was too much, so she scooped off a little bit and started to close and pinch it.

With a push from Fu's father, the triangular glutinous rice balls take shape, like a mountain peak, and also like a standard triangle. If it is well wrapped, the two sides of the triangle will not fit completely in the middle, the lines on both sides are symmetrical, and the small belly in the middle is round, a bit like an official hat, which is the ultimate aesthetics in life. If it is not well wrapped, the two sides are tightly attached, and it can only be considered a shape.

Fu Ying was the type who couldn't wrap it well. When she pushed it with her hand, the middle was not full enough, the triangle was asymmetrical, and it became an isosceles triangle. Fu Ying gave it to Fu Dad in frustration, and Fu Dad took it and pinched it, saving it.

The same is true for the following ones. Either the edges of the triangle are gone, so the middle is like a circle but not round, or it is pinched crooked, with one side higher than the other.

Fu Ying put her failed products aside, waiting for her father Fu to save them one by one.

Fu's father didn't say that her wrapping was too bad and asked her to stop wrapping.

Fu Ying herself wanted to say that instead of making triangular glutinous rice balls, they could just be made like dumplings, but she still had to respect the customs.

Fu's mother also got up, but she went to Fu's second aunt's house first. It was her cousin Wang Jun's birthday on the first day of the Chinese New Year, so she went over to give him a red envelope as a token of her appreciation.

Fu's mother went out for a while, came back, washed her hands, sat down, and started gossiping while making dumplings.

"Fu Yongquan, didn't my second sister look for Wang Jun and his wife yesterday? She called but they didn't answer. She searched everywhere but couldn't find them. Do you know where she went to look?"

"Where did he go? It's so late at night, they should have given up looking for him if they can't find him, right? He's such a grown-up, it's not like he's lost!" Dad Fu kept asking while his hands were still.

"How could I not look for them? You know my second sister. She won't give up until she finds them. I don't know who told her that Wang Jun and his wife went to Renjiazhai. As soon as it was past midnight last night, my second sister took a flashlight and walked there alone. She actually caught the two of them in Renjiazhai, and only then did they come back. It's too late and they are still sleeping now!"

Fu Ying opened her mouth in surprise. Second Aunt Fu is so awesome!

Renjiazhai is the hometown of Wang Jun’s wife. It is even farther than Zhangjiabian. It takes about an hour to walk there. Fu Ergu is at least 50 years old. She is an old lady and she didn’t ask anyone to accompany her. She walked so far alone in the early morning. The paths were all deserted between the fields. If there was an accident on the road, she would not have time to call for help. It was really too much!

Fu Ying finally understood why her father was not allowed to go to high school after graduating from junior high school. She thought it was a joke, that her father could not pass the entrance exam or did not want to study, but it turned out to be very likely true!

Second Aunt Fu was so concerned about her only son that she had already gone to such lengths to find him in less than one night. Grandma Fu's situation would have been even worse. If Second Aunt hadn't taken him with her, then Father Fu wouldn't have been allowed to go to Anhui Province to work.

"It's good for Second Sister to scold them. Let's see if Wang Jun and the others dare to go so far to gamble. They only come back for a few days and don't accompany the elderly or take care of the children. They are really going too far." Dad Fu was surprised by Second Aunt Fu and did not approve of what Wang Jun and the others did.

"It's all because of my second sister's spoiled behavior. She takes care of everything by herself, and Wang Jun indulges his wife. The couple is lazy every day and has nothing to do so they just want to gamble!" Fu's mother disagreed.

Hearing this, Fu Ying wanted to remind Fu's mother: You are too indulgent to your eldest son. If your eldest son really finds a wife, they will both be lazy and expect you to do the work.

But people are often caught in a situation without realizing it, and during the New Year, Fu Ying doesn’t want to irritate Fu’s mother for the time being.

The three of them quickly wrapped the dumplings. Mother Fu boiled water, and Father Fu finished. The remaining fillings were kept and would be used later. In addition to the morning of the first day of the new year, triangular dumplings are also eaten on the morning of the Lantern Festival.

Fu Ying went to wake Fu Zhe up, and then asked Fu Zhe to wake up Fu Wei.

Fu Zhe must have stayed up for a long time last night. He got up in a daze, looking like he hadn't gotten enough sleep. Fu Ying slapped him on the head.

"We are going to eat glutinous rice dumplings on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Call Fu Wei over and remember to wear new clothes.

Wait and watch how mom makes the glutinous rice balls. Watch carefully and I will ask you questions later!"

Fu Ying returned to the stove, but the water was not yet boiling.

Fu Zhe came over soon, and Fu Ying asked Fu's father,

"Dad, didn't we have a jingle when we were kids, something about high and low? Tell it to Fu Zhe."

Father Fu was puzzled, "What do you mean by high and low?"

"It's used to cook glutinous rice balls. When they're put in, they're up and down." Fu Ying couldn't remember the whole thing.

"Oh, you mean 'A flock of geese flew down the river, some floating, some falling.'"

Fu Ying clapped her hands.

"Yes, yes, that's it. Fu Zhe, repeat this jingle, look carefully at the glutinous rice balls, and observe the origin of this sentence."

"It's because of whether the dumplings are cooked or not. The cooked ones float up, and the uncooked ones are at the bottom." Fu's mother continued.

"Yes, the glutinous rice balls will float up when they are cooked." Fu Zhe scratched his head, not quite understanding what Fu Ying asked him to look at?

"I want you to watch the process of the glutinous rice balls being put into the pot and cooked, and imagine the reasons according to the rhyme. Then you can use the knowledge of physics to solve it. You will learn it next semester, so you can learn about it in advance.

This phenomenon is called buoyancy in physics. Whether it is glutinous rice balls, dumplings, or the noodles we often eat, uncooked objects will sink to the bottom of the water because their density is greater than the density of water; while cooked objects will float on the water surface because their internal air expands and their density decreases. The buoyancy principle is that the buoyancy of an object in a liquid is equal to the weight of the liquid it displaces. "

When they heard that Fu Ying was teaching Fu Zhe, Fu's parents shut up and Fu Zhe nodded as if he understood.